Anderson Winery

Not long ago, I was asked to lead a wine-tasting fundraiser for the Madisonville Education and Assistance Center (MEAC). The event, a blind tasting called "The Sauvignons of Spring," gave the folks in attendance the opportunity to sample around 70 different cabernet sauvignons and sauvignon blancs. Each bottle had to be under $15. At the end of the evening, the slightly-tipsy assembled group voted on their favorites.

Honestly, I can't remember the cabernet sauvignon which took top honors, but the announcement of the group's favorite sauvignon blanc raised eyebrows and brought a loud cheer from the crowd. The winner?

Anderson Winery.

No, not wine from Anderson Valley in Mendocino County, California, but Anderson Winery in Hamilton County, Ohio. This very small operation cranked out a white that trumped a collection from all over the world. So, what's the story of this little winery that could?

Anderson Winery is the brainchild of Larry Brokamp, a Cincinnati lawyer, and his wife Kelly. I asked Larry how they got started:

"I started making wine about 8 years ago after my wife and I drove up the Northern California coast and came back down through Napa. We also spent some time in Calistoga.

"When our first daughter, Ella, was born, we passed out our bottles of wine with labels reading 'Celebrating the Birth of Ella Marie Brokamp' with her picture and birth date along with weight, length, etc. Everyone was impressed with the wine and labels.

'My wife had the idea of selling custom labeled wine for special occasions and I looked into licensing requirements because you can't sell wine without a manufacturers license. After about a year and a half of research we figured out how to do it and have always enjoyed it."

They only produce two wines -- the aforementioned sauvignon blanc and a sangiovese-based red. The custom labels are produced to the order of the customer, and are quite nicely done, as you can see here:



Since they make such small quantities of the wines, they don't market to stores and restaurants. Their sales are largely either Internet-based or done through word of mouth. Larry said that the most they've made in a year is about 40 cases. Larry said that he'd like to spend more time on his winemaking, but raising their three kids and running his law practice keeps him too busy to focus on expanding the business too much.


How do the wines taste? Both wines are, by design, simple, straightforward quaffers. Larry said that his goal is to produce "something that most everyone can drink so it can be served at functions such as weddings where there are usually both [regular] wine drinkers and non-wine drinkers."

The award-winning sauvignon blanc is definitely done in an American style -- acidic, but not overly so, with some very pleasant melon and green apple flavors and a mildly tart finish. It's quite popular, and as of the writing of this article, the white was currently sold out. However, there is more in the pipeline.

The red is very "soft." It's quite light (only 12% alcohol) and fruity. The tannins are extremely light -- almost nonexistent, actually. It reminds me a bit of a Beaujolais, right down to the fact that it's best with a slight chill on it. The Sweet Partner in Crime and I had the bottle on a warm summer evening and it was a good, basic wine to just sip on, relax, and watch the neighborhood go by.

Both wines sell for $12/bottle, which includes the labeling.

I've tried a number of wines from "make your own label" places and have found most of them to be barely palatable. Larry and Kelly's wines are a fairly large level above most of those. If you're in the market for some interesting wine-based gifts or if you've got a party to plan, you won't need to look much further than Wooster Pike in Cincinnati.

For more information, check out their website (http://www.andersonwinery.com) or email them at info@andersonwinery.com

Julie & Julia

No, I'm not branching the Vine off into movie reviews -- although anyone that knows me or has followed the site knows that I'm a movie buff. The Sweet Partner in Crime and I decided to walk down to the Levee and catch "Julie and Julia." (And no, I'm not ashamed to say that I was looking forward to seeing a Nora Ephron movie...)

The movie itself was a nice afternoon's diversion -- Meryl Streep absolutely channels Julia Child and Amy Adams does "pixie searching for her purpose" as well as anyone. (Stanley Tucci's Paul Child is a dead ringer for my uncle Harry, also, in so many ways.)

I was really struck by how well Nora Ephron's screenplay (interpreted wonderfully by Adams) actually hit the emotions of a foodie blogger. Little things that showed up -- Adams' reaction when she started getting comments from folks other than family; the giddiness the first time samples showed up on the door; the whole load of "is there anybody out there actually reading this stuff?" stuff. (I like to think the SPinC is a little less frustrated by this endeavor, as well.) Plus, there's just so much good food on screen (well, aside from the aspic). As Vine Reader Mike B. said when we were at Nectar's scrumptious Dinner Club (the theme was "peaches" -- yum!): "When the movie was over, I just wanted to cook something!" I know I did.

The movie's a fairy tale -- since she gets "discovered" and all that. I don't expect a phone call from Anthony Bourdain any time soon. But the thrill I get when the realization comes that a fair number of people actually read the stuff on here -- I think that gets conveyed well in the film. So, thanks to all of you who read the Vine and who keep me plugging away here. It's a great motivator knowing you're out there.

I'd certainly recommend the movie itself, as well. As I said, it was a nice, easy way to spend an afternoon: lighthearted, well-scripted, and (except for a few rough parts in the "modern" segments) nicely acted. A solid, comfortable movie -- think of it as Hogue Cellars Cinema.

Riesling Redux

One of the dangers in writing a wine column is that certain wines can get buried -- wines that I really like, but for whatever reason -- just don't end up making it into the columns all that often. The other day, I was looking at the article from CinWeekly that the Sweet Partner in Crime had framed for me. I noticed in the article that I mentioned Riesling as my favorite wine at the time of the interview, and it hit me...I haven't talked about Riesling in awhile, other than in the context of our recent trip to New York. So, what the heck? Riesling it is! A quick review:

Riesling is known to many folks who are just starting their wine education as "that sweet German wine that comes in the bottle that looks like a tower." That's true. Many cheap Rieslings are simply thick, tooth-searingly sweet concoctions. They don't have to be.

It's true -- Germany is best known for Riesling, but it's a grape that's fairly common in cool climates all over the world. In the U.S., for instance, the best Rieslings tend to come from the Pacific Northwest and from New York -- our colder domestic wine growing climes. As with most cool weather wines, Riesling tends to be fruity and fragrant. They're also wonderful food wines. They're among the most pairing-friendly wines out there, standing proudly next to anything from sausage to Szechuan to sushi. They're some of the few wines out there that don't get absolutely clobbered by capsaicin, the chemical that makes hot peppers hot. Some Riesling, unlike many white wines, can even be aged, so don't get scared if you see older Rieslings in your local wine store.

However, they don't necessarily have to be sweet. You've probably seen more and more "dry Rieslings" in stores as many winemakers realize that not everyone wants a bunch of residual sugar with their meal. Many of the "dry" Rieslings still have a hint of sweetness to them (try some Oregon dry Riesling if you want to see what I mean). While there's not as much variation in flavor as, say, Chardonnay -- each region that grows the stuff tends to put its own spin on it. The Alsace region of France, for instance, makes Rieslings that are fruity, but absolutely bone-dry. They've also got a more mineral character. German Rieslings range from very sweet to dry and generally have strong apple and pear tastes. American Rieslings, even of the dry variety, tend to be on the sweeter side and are usually very fruit-forward.

Jump on back in the Riesling pool if it's a wine you haven't had for awhile. You'll be glad to rediscover it. Here are a few you could consider:

Pierre Sparr 2007 Riesling -- This is one of those Alsace wines that I mentioned. It's a really nice example of a lighter styled, bone dry wine. The nose is of tart apples, with a flavor to match. The finish is crisp with lots of lime flavors. An absolutely delicious pairing with Asian cuisine. I had this with baked trout smothered in tomatoes, green onions, and shiitake mushrooms, flavored with ginger, garlic, and soy. Right around $15.

Leasingham 2007 "Magnus" Riesling -- Australian Riesling has a completely different flavor profile. Much of the Riesling in Australia comes from Clare Valley, a relatively warm region for growing Riesling. Partly because of this climate, the fruit flavors tend to be fuller and the wines are often a little less complex. This particular wine has a spicy, apricot nose. It's full bodied, with intense flavors of peaches and apricots. Finish is fruity and dry with a smoky undertone. The recommended pairings from the winemaker are "seafood and spicy Thai dishes." I'd certainly agree. $10.

Hogue 2006 Riesling -- Hogue, one of my go-to value wines, usually blends their Riesling with another German grape, Gewurztraminer. Gewurztraminer carries a spicy flavor, and that spice comes through strongly on the nose of this wine, as well as some apricot. It's full bodied and is somewhat sweet to go along with the fresh, gentle apricot and pear flavors. On the finish, however, the pepper returns, balanced with a slight sweetness and lasting fruit. The recommended pairings for this are salads or sushi. Anything with a fresh flavor will go nicely here. Again, around $10

Schloss Gobelsburg 2006 Riesling -- If you feel like treating yourself and going a little bit over the $15 (this is more like $20), you can get one of the more delicious Rieslings I've tried in my recent memory. This wine is from Austria -- known more for gruner veltliner, but slowly earning respect (and rightfully so) for other varietals. Simply put, this is a genuinely pretty wine. The nose is full of melon and apple blossoms, but that doesn't tell the real story. The SPinC described it as a "fruity, flowery cacophony." I concur. There's certainly a lot going on here, but the taste is probably best described as apple dominant. The flavor has just a touch of sugar and a little smoky note in the background. The finish is a little bit peppery -- like a junior gewürztraminer -- and slightly tart. Wonderfully balanced and just scrumptious to sip on. For dinner we had a calamari and rice noodle salad with a Thai-flavored dressing and loads of herbs from the garden. Worked nicely.

Lake County, California

Monica from Balzac, who previously let me try samples of both Espiritu de Chile and Golden Kaan wines, sent me something a little different this time around. I opened the box to discover a couple of cabernets from Lake County, California -- two 2005's from Snows Lake Vineyards named "One" and "Two." "One" was 100% cabernet sauvignon. "Two" was a 3-to-1 blend of cab sauv and cab franc. Both wines retail for around $45.

I had to do a little background on Lake County to know what I was getting into. Lake County is immediately to the north of Napa. The soil is similar to Napa's, albeit on more mountainous terrain and with higher elevations. Lake County had a thriving wine business from the 1860's up until Prohibition. Wine production started up again in earnest in the 1960's. There are now about 9,000 acres of vineyards in Lake County (compared to Napa's 40,000+). Lake County, like Napa, is largely known for cabernets -- specifically powerful, tannic cabs.

Tasting big cabernets, of course, is a perfect excuse (like I need one) to fire up the grill and toss a couple of ribeyes on there. No fancy rubs -- just salt, pepper, and olive oil. Sides were some grilled, herbed Yukon gold potatoes and some halved Cremini mushrooms, cooked down in a sauce of ginger, garlic, tomato paste, curry and cumin.

I opened both of these wines a couple of hours before I thought we'd be having dinner. I wanted to give them enough time to breathe. My experiences with tannic wines have taught me that a couple of hours is a minimum for bottles like these. After the steaks came off the grill and were resting, we did a side by side of the two wines.

Even after the time to breathe, the One was a tannic monster. The nose was huge with wood and violets, but the flavors of the wine were obscured initially by the overwhelming tannin. We broke out an aerator and eventually my super-duper Taste of Monterey tasting glass to speed up the process. That helped a little. The other flavors began to emerge. Layers of smoke, wood, and tobacco. (I guess this is what people refer to as "cigar box.") There are some currant and blackberry flavors in there, too. The finish hits you with a surprisingly tart burst that fades pretty quickly into a lingering coffee taste. "This doesn't finish as long as I thought it would...and I think that's a good thing."

The Two was more pleasant. The cabernet franc blended in mellowed the experience considerably. The wine wasn't as tannic, but still certainly wasn't to be taken lightly. ("Doesn't beat you over the head" was my note.) The nose was much more berry and vanilla. The flavors were better balanced -- cherry, blackberry, and cocoa dominated. The bitterness of the tannins start out very strong on the finish, but they mellow quickly into smoke and chocolate with a mineral undertone that certainly wasn't unpleasant.

With the meal, both wines changed. The One lost a little of its tannic edge and revealed more blueberry flavors. That tart burst on the finish remained, which I didn't find all that pleasant. The Two was much better. The tannins balanced the fruit nicely when paired with the steak. The mushrooms were really interesting, since they had a spice to them. The spice flavors gave way gently to fruit, then as the wine finished the spice picked back up pleasantly. That was probably my favorite gustation sensation of the meal.

I had high hopes for these wines with chocolate, but I was disappointed in both. With both Dove dark chocolate and a brownie, each wine ended up a tart, tannic overload. Honestly, the leftover two day-old zinfandel that we had laying around before was a much better pairing.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that these are bad wines by any stretch. They simply aren't wines built for my palate. A couple of weeks ago, I linked an article from the Daily Beast by Keith Wallace entitled "The Great Cabernet Ripoff," which bemoaned the huge price increase in recent years for Cabernet Sauvignon. In my semi-uninformed opinion, my guess is that this huge increase is driven by folks who are more interested in collecting wine than actually drinking the stuff. Wine collectors' eyes big up when they see the words "aging potential." You've seen shelf talkers for wines that might state something like, "Drinks well now, but best between 2012-2017."

The growers of premium Napa-style cabernets market to this. Both these Snows Lake wines are so powerfully tannic that, at least for me, they just aren't very pleasant to drink right now (although we both much preferred the "Two" to the "One") -- and I can imagine that they're built to be bought and stashed in a cellar for four or five years until the tannins settle down. I know that there are many folks out there who can taste these wines now and project how they will drink in 2015. Maybe these are good investments for some folks at $45 a bottle. As much as I really appreciated the opportunity to try these wines, they're difficult for me to pass appropriate judgment upon. Now, if some of you want to pick some of this up and invite me over in a few years to give them another go, be my guest!

Before I leave Lake County, I wanted to find a Lake County wine that was more in my price range. I ended up with the Guenoc 2006 Lake County Cabernet Sauvignon for about $11. It certainly wasn't bad, and you could open this up right now without batting an eye. It started with cedar and blackberry on the nose. It's medium bodied, slightly alcoholic tasting, with straightforward blackberry flavors and some earthiness. The finish is a bit clipped -- starts strong with fruit, but quickly tapers off into a mild tannin. It's not nearly as complex as its more expensive cousins, but it's not built to be. It's a pleasant enough cabernet, especially with food (and it's much better with chocolate...).

Alabama Wine Porn: Cycles Gladiator

Oh, fer gossake. You can't make this up. Thanks to Vine Reader Bev E. for cluing me in to this little gem.

I did a review a while ago of Cycles Gladiator wine. It's pretty widely available, and you may have seen the bottle in your local wine store. They make a few different varietals, and those I've tried are at least inoffensive, if not appropriately decent. However, "decent" is apparently not the appropriate descriptor in the Great State of Alabama. The wine's label is apparently a bit much for the gentle souls in The Land of the Crimson Tide.


Alabama's state Alcoholic Beverage Control has put a statewide ban into place on the sale of wines in these bottles, and given a huge free marketing boost to the folks at Hahn Winery -- producers of Cycles:

The Alabama ABC code states that "No advertisement may include any illustration(s) of any person(s) consuming alcoholic beverages or any person(s) posed in an immodest or sensuous manner." In a letter to Alabama restaurants and retailers, the ABC stated that the sale of Cycles Gladiator wines are prohibited. An attorney for the ABC was quoted as saying the label was submitted twice last year for approval and it was rejected both times. However, an Alabama citizen sent the ABC a bottle, indicating it was still being sold in stores. Consequently, the ABC issued a cease and desist order.

I do declare...this wine label has given me the vapors! Help me to my fainting couch...

UPDATE: Vine reader Jason M. suggested I make this update to the Cycles label, making it more palatable to the folks in Alabama:

remembering the face of my father

It's natural, I guess, for a fledgling wine reviewer like myself to fall into the game of adjectives that is the wine reviewing world. It's a seductive trap for writers -- trying to "describe a sunset to the blind" by getting super specific in my writeups; trying to reduce flavors and sensations to minute components rather than simply writing about how the damned stuff tastes and whether I've enjoyed it. (After all, that's why most of you are here, right?)

About six months after I started the Naked Vine, the Sweet Editor-in-Crime read one of my columns and said, after reading one particularly clunky entry, "Who's your audience again? I don't think you're writing for them, or for me for that matter. You lost me about halfway through." She was right, of course. (Stop gloating over that admission, m'dear...) I was trying to prove that I was a "real" wine writer by churning out 400 words about a $6 sauvignon blanc. As the old cliché goes, you gotta play to your strengths. Being a junior Parker isn't mine.

After I write up my tasting notes, I admit I sometimes check my work against those of other writers to see if I've at least landed in the ballpark. I don't expect to have the same descriptions, but there should be commonalities among different tastings of the same bottle. I was doing just that for a cabernet sauvignon I'll be featuring in an upcoming column. I came across a review so glorious in its ostentatiousness that I did a literal spit-take. Check it out:

"The bouquet offers an immediate burst of slate, lead pencil, cedar and tobacco leaf, smoky and toasty oak and hints of intense and concentrated black currants and black raspberries; given a few moments, the nose draws up touches of leafy, dried herbs, brambles and underbrush. All of these elements testify to the wine’s structural integrity and tannic power. In the mouth, though, [this wine] feels sleek and elegant; it’s packed with spice and black fruit flavors but it’s neither fleshy nor over-ripe. The wine gains depth and dimension in the glass, darkening, as it were, as more mineral, tannin and oaken qualities make themselves known. The finish concludes with another burst of spice and a wild high-note of foxy plums."

Egads. Lead pencil? Brambles and underbrush? Foxy plums?

I realize that I shouldn't be too critical. This writer clearly has a particular voice and niche and writes to it. Even so, I hope this isn't like any review you'll ever see from me. If any of you ever notice me veering too far in that direction, feel free to metaphorically kick my ass.

By the way, I did look up what "brambles" refers to. It's a fancy way of saying "blackberries." I'm still stumped on "foxy plums." For the sake of full disclosure, this particular writer won the 2009 American Wine Blog Award for "Best Wine Reviews," so what the heck do I know?

Some Hometown Love -- NuVo Restaurant

You may have noticed that the Sweet Partner in Crime and I do a lot of cooking. Comes with the territory with the wine stuff. Friday, though, we decided we needed to head out. We had a nice night at our disposal and we decided to take a stroll.

NuVo "Modern American Cuisine," originally located in Florence, moved to Newport last September to great reviews and some nice buzz. Embarrassingly, we'd never been there, even though it's less than a mile from The Naked Vineyard. We decided to remedy the situation.

NuVo, for those of you who aren't familiar, is in the old Mokka location on York Street between 5th and 6th. The location isn't large -- it probably can seat around 50 people inside. The back patio (where we sat) seats about another 15 in the back. Like many of the other better restaurants in the Cincy metro area, they do a lot of interesting things with locally raised ingredients. While not everything on the menu was truly "locavore" (Understandably...the Ohio's not a good place to harvest scallops) we could tell the chef, Michael Peterson, made an effort to incorporate wherever he could.

We ordered a couple of glasses of Dom du Tariquet Sauvignon Blanc to go with our salads -- which was NuVo's take on a Caesar (the roasted garlic dressing was delicious), topped with some delicious goat cheese. We were lucky/unlucky with this course. We got large pours of the wine since we got the last pour from the last bottle of that wine. They also ran out of the promised pink peppercorn croutons, so they gave us...well...larger portions of everything else in the salads. Not a bad trade.

Between courses, our server brought us a palate cleanser -- a carrot and orange sorbet topped with a dot of balsamic vinegar. This little bite was a combination of strangely complimentary flavors. Sweet and tart -- with the carrot flavor very much up front. I could have imagined these flavors in a salad instead of a sorbet, but cold and creamy certainly worked.

The night was still fairly warm and neither of us were quite feeling up to anything overly heavy. We ordered a couple of glasses of Ugni Blanc (also by Tariquet) for our entrees. The SPinC ordered the seared red snapper with vanilla and orange glazed veggies over some annatto spiced rice. I had the restaurant-made fettuccini with lobster, pancetta and tomatoes. Ordinarily, I've seen pasta dishes like this done in cream sauces -- but this one was in a sweet corn and lemon juice emulsion.

The snapper was meaty, tasted exceptionally fresh and was cooked to perfection. The combination of the annatto flavors with the fish gave us happy flashbacks to our Aruba vacation several years back. The pasta was exceptional. The lobster's creaminess, the firm flavor of the pasta, the pancetta's smoke, and the acid of the tomatoes were rounded off by the sweetness and tang of the corn and lemon juice. Plenty of care went into making the flavors balance in both dishes. Harmonious is the adjective I'd use.

We didn't end up staying for dessert (we had a date with some Dry Creek zin and chocolate on our back patio at home), but the server did bring a final sweet. Homemade dark chocolates (one with a caramel filling) topped with a little sea salt and a "Dr. Pepper reduction." Yum.

NuVo's certainly not an inexpensive meal. The entrees range from $17-28. Our bill, which included a salad, our wine, and two entrees was $86, but for a nice night out -- definitely worth it. The service was laid back and extremely pleasant. We were able to relaxedly dine without feeling rushed. The only drawback was the décor on the patio -- which was, for all intents and purposes, nonexistent. (The SPinC said, "Give me $500 and an afternoon and I could really spruce this up.") That nitpick aside, we'll definitely be back -- hopefully for one of their Wednesday tapas nights, which sound absolutely fabulous.

Arizona Stronghold

“Learn to swim, I’ll see you down in Arizona Bay…”
– Tool, “Aenema”

"Wine, song, food, and fire/Clothes, shelter, and seed.
No more need for the old empire/(When the) indigo children (come.)"
-- Maynard Keenan, "The Indigo Children"

Maybe Maynard Keenan is just being prescient.

Keenan (lead singer of Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer) writes a song in the mid-90’s about Los Angeles sliding into the ocean. At around the same time, according to the trailer for the documentary “Blood into Wine,” he has a vision about growing grapes and making wine on an Arizona hillside. A continuation of the same dream? Whatever his motive, he headed to the hills in Jerome, Arizona, to plant himself a vineyard.

Along the way, Keenan hooked up with Eric Glomski, an Arizona native and true believer in the power of the southwestern soil. Glomski’s Page Spring Cellars has as a part of its mission statement (that I wholeheartedly embrace), “Good wine is not strictly the esoteric fare of nobility: Wine is for the people.” Glomski served as Keenan’s oenological advisor for Caduceus Cellars and the pair founded Arizona Stronghold Vineyards as a joint “second label” wine for both Page Springs and Caduceus.

I harbor a natural suspicion towards “celebrity” wines. As my friend Jim Voltz of Bond Street Imports put it, “That’s how you sell average wine – market, market, market, market.” I’ve tried a number of wines “made” by famous folks – and the results have been mixed, at best. Many of them are pretty average, driven by cute logos and recognizable names rather than actual winemaking acumen. (For the record, Bond Street's wines are anything but "average")

I’ve been curious about Keenan’s wine, though – his music may not be everyone’s glass of grapes (and it’s hit or miss with me, depending on my mood and state of mind) but it’s always painstakingly crafted, highly structured, and remarkably creative. I figured if he were going to undertake winemaking, he'd probably throw himself into it as a creative endeavor with great attention to detail rather than having it simply as a vanity project. I also figured Arizona could become an interesting viticultural area. Grapes love lousy soil, blazing hot days, and dry cool nights. My old Southwestern stomping grounds have all of those in abundance.

When I saw the press release come down the pike about Keenan & Glomski’s recent publicity tour, I made an inquiry (when I saw they weren’t coming nearby) and they generously offered to send some samples. Eric was also good enough to pass along some recipe recommendations which, as you know, I can’t resist.

The first one we tried was the Page Springs Cellars 2007 Estate Vineyards "Landscape." This is a 50/50 split of syrah & petit sirah -- all estate grown in Yavapai County. This was described as a "classic Rhone" style. After giving it a little time to open up, we were greeted with a wonderfully fragrant nose of caramel, mint, and blackberries. The body, as expected from a blend like this, is very full and loaded with the syrah's fruitiness. Layers of berries and smoke work towards a finish that goes on for a minute or more by itself, ending with some very firm, balanced tannins and chocolate flavors. I asked Eric (a self-admitted "die hard meat eater") what food would go best with these wines. He suggested "highly seasoned meat, like lamb or goat." Taking this cue, we put together a lamb shoulder braised in tomatoes with sides of wilted spinach & sautéed mushrooms and some polenta cakes. The Landscape is nicely complex and great by itself, but with the lamb -- transcendent. Mint always goes well with lamb, and those tones paired up nicely -- but you add in the tannins slicing through the fat, and you end up with a slightly fruity, exceptionally smooth finish. Retails for about $40.

Next up was the Caduceus Cellars 2006 Merkin Vineyards "Anubis" -- This wine, named for the dog-headed Egyptian god who protected and guided spirits through the underworld, marks the transition of Caduceus to using predominantly Arizona-grown fruit. Eric said that the wine "bears the Bordeaux mark" -- which makes sense, as it is largely a cabernet franc/cabernet sauvignon blend with a little syrah and sangiovese thrown in for good measure. We found it was an absolute must to decant this wine. Even after an hour open, there was still a lot of alcohol on the nose, and the fruit was extremely tight. After a good deal of swirling and decanting, the nose of violets and smoke start to emerge more strongly. Powerful dark fruit flavors and licorice lead to layers of smoke and balanced tannins on the finish. Eric's recommendation was a big steak, and I went with porterhouse. Divine. The wine brought out the flavors in the meat and the fruit in the wine ahead of any lingering fatty taste from the steak. We saved a little for chocolate and sipping, and the flavors continued to balance and marry. The Sweet Partner in Crime summed it up: "It's seductive. It's really fruity, but not an overwhelming fruit bomb. It's big and tannic, but that doesn't detract from the fruit or dry you out. It's not like anything jumps out at you. The whole flavor just draws you in." About $35-40 for about as well-balanced a wine as you'll find.

Finally, we had the Arizona Stronghold 2007 "Nachise" Red Wine -- another Rhone blend named after Cochise's son, former leader of the Chiricahua Apache. The blend is about 2/3 syrah, with the rest grenache and petit sirah. Once decanted, I expected it to be earthy with a little fruit. While a Cotes-du-Rhone is a reflection of the soil with its funk, the Nachise is a reflection of the sun and sky. The fruit flavors are certainly forward, but they're extremely bright for a wine this big. The earth that exists in this wine provides a nice backbone that's full without being thick. The finish is nicely long, with some tasty coffee and plum notes. It actually reminded me more of a Rioja than a Rhone. Rather than going back to meat, we paired this with a "Southwesterny" vegetarian meal -- grilled, marinated portabella mushrooms with avocados and a salsa of black beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, and fresh cayenne pepper from our garden. The Nachise embraced both the earth and the spice and held its own against the spread of flavors. About $20 and well worth it.

If these selections are any indication, the partners of Arizona Stronghold (and Arizona wine in general) have an extremely bright future. As for Keenan, was he looking for future oceanside terroir when he planted the Merkin vines? In a 2006 interview with IGN, he quipped: "This is a prime spot for vineyards. An untapped resource. But the master plan is to have the Merkin Vineyards Bed and Breakfast set up for when California drops in the ocean. Beach front property and the New Napa Valley. You got it."

The Great Cabernet Ripoff

Vine reader and ol' drinkin' buddy Nate L. passed along this little gem of an article from The Daily Beast:

The Great Cabernet Ripoff

I really can't argue too much with too much in here. I was talking to another friend of mine who regularly attends private "wine tasting competitions" of cabernets and such. The latest cab to win one of those competitions cost around $300 a bottle, which is utterly ridiculous.

As you all know, I'm pretty partial to wines I feel like I can crack everyday, but after a certain point -- do you really gain anything other than showing people that you have $300 to spend on a bottle of wine?

UPDATE: K2 writes on a similar subject (and about Kings X!) over at Under the Grape Tree.

Finger Lake'n Good™ -- Part II

For part I of the trip, click here. For pictures, watch below and click for closeups...



As you drive around Seneca, there's a bend in the lake east of Watkins Glen, which is on the southern tip. The southeastern side of Seneca Lake is known as the "Banana Belt" because of its shape. This stretch of the lake catches the most daily sun of anywhere on the lake. Since red wines tend to need more sunlight and heat, we found the better reds on Seneca come from there. To wit:

Shalestone Vineyards-- "Red Is All We Do" proclaims the sign at the entrance to this little winery on the east side of Seneca -- and they do it quite well. Tasting there is a wonderfully laid back experience. The tasting notes on their wines are fabulous, such as this from their luscious 2007 Pinot Noir: "Pinot Noir has a presence that is very seductive. Black cherry aromas and flavors are indeed there, but tune your senses… there is a whole lot more. Oh the fickle femme fatale! Some are like a cold shower and others give you multiple orgasms. They are always worth a try."
Their "Red Legend" blend was also a favorite of ours. They have an interesting setup -- they built their cellars into the side of the hill on which the tasting room rests. Natural a/c!

Red Newt Cellars -- One of the prettiest views that we found just about anywhere around either lake. Most of their wines were very solid offerings, but their "Sawmill Creek" 2007 Gewurztraminer was absolutely exceptional. Made in the Alsatian style -- so quite dry -- there were layers and layers of watermelon, kiwi, spice, and various other yumminess. One of the better representations of that varietal we'd ever tried, honestly. (It's a little pricey at $36 a bottle, though.) Red Newt also had a very good bistro where we had a thoroughly enjoyable late lunch and some flights of various wines.

Atwater Estate Vineyards -- Our last stop on Seneca Lake was a winner. Atwater's friendly folks gave us a thorough rundown of much of their current catalog in their gorgeous tasting facility. We were especially impressed with their 2007 Chardonnay. Many of the Chardonnays in the Finger Lakes were overoaked, in our opinion. This one had just a hint of oak, some tasty tart apple flavors, and a nice vanilla finish. Their 2005 "Celsius" ice wine, also made from chardonnay, was absolutely delicious, full of tangerines and honey.

Seneca Lake is much more heavily populated winery-wise than its neighbor to the East, Cayuga Lake. Most of Cayuga Lake's wineries are clustered about midway up the western shore of the lake. We'd heard more about the wineries on Seneca and Keuka, and after our first couple of stops on Cayuga, we thought we understood why. We stopped at a couple of the "more established" wineries on Cayuga and were roundly disappointed in both. Their wines were clearly "made for the tourists" -- lots of cheap, sweet plonk that they'd been selling to tour busses from NYC and bachelorette parties for years. We were filled with trepidation -- and then our luck changed:

Buttonwood Grove Winery -- We were a little nervous when we drove up to the place. When I see wineries that offer a lot of non-wine stuff, I start to wonder how much effort they actually put into crafting their wines. Signs at Buttonwood advertised "cabins for rent," grape pies, and goat cheese. By the parking area we met Melody, a long-haired Scottish Highland cow and her three friendly goat companions (which we unsuccessfully tried to feed on the way out -- they sold treats for them at the register). Despite possible appearances to the contrary, Buttonwood clearly takes the wine seriously. They poured the best tasting chardonnay (Their 2005 Reserve -- $16!) we had in the whole region -- a little oaky with a balanced creaminess and excellent, refreshing fruit. Also had a very nice 2004 Cabernet Franc which was exceptionally smooth.

Thirsty Owl Winery -- Another wonderful bit of scenery to back up some very tasty wines. Our favorites were their 2008 Pinot Gris, which was fresh and clean with some wonderful acidity and fruit that rivaled much more expensive Pinot Gris'; and their 2008 semi-dry Riesling, which was an absolute crowd-pleasing peach explosion. They also had a great little bistro where we enjoyed some appetizers for another late lunch and watched the lake for awhile.

Finally, our tour ended at Hosmer Winery -- which was, again, one of the real finds of our trip. They had a ton of excellent selections. Both their 2007 Pinot Gris and Dry Rosé were fresh, tastily acidic, and full of fruit. The rosé, at $6, was a steal. They did a wonderful methode champenoise brut made of a blend of chardonnay and Cayuga grapes that was bone dry and yet tasted of honey. Absolutely delicious. Friendly atmosphere as well. They also were one of the few wineries that shipped to Kentucky, so we took full advantage.

So, all in all, what did we think? For scenic beauty, the lake views were hard to beat. For white wines, while Riesling was certainly king, they're growing a number of other really solid varietals, including some of the hybrids. The whites also tend to be very consistent across vintages. The reds were a little more uneven, but considerably better than we expected. The quality of the reds tends to be inversely proportional to rainfall. 2007, for instance, was a very dry year in the area -- and the reds from that year were a slice better, on balance, than the 2006's. Also, with the exception of Hosmer, most of the wineries we liked best were the relatively new ones -- quite different from our experience in a number of other places. I wouldn't hesitate to suggest this area for a getaway. So, make your reservations to fly into Ithaca -- the only airport I've seen where the gates don't even open until 45 minutes before a flight. You'll find plenty to help you relax.

Finger Lake'n Good™ -- Part I

The Sweet Partner in Crime and I finally got to the end of our school year. We decided, in conjunction with the SPinC's birthday, to unplug; do some hiking, snag some good grub; and maybe work a little wine in. Neither of us had been to the Finger Lakes and, after finding some inexpensive flights into Ithaca, set ourselves up for a long weekend jaunt.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Finger Lakes region, it's in west-central New York State. The lakes are long and narrow and look like...well...you get the idea. These lakes, and the beautiful attendant waterfalls and gorgeous gorges in the surrounding area, were formed by the receding sea at the foot of what is now the Appalachian Mountains, a few hundred million years of erosion and weather, and one really big ice age. The result is an absolutely beautiful natural landscape, full of fantastic hikes, photo ops, and the chance to simply sit and listen to the water rush by for hours.

We set our home base in Trumansburg, about 10 miles from Ithaca at the absolutely wonderful Halsey House bed & breakfast. Mitch, the owner -- alongside Tess the sweet dog and his impressive aviary full of parrots -- treated us royally. Breakfasts were excellent and filling, and the accommodations were first-rate. As Mitch put it after we told him about the kinds of vacations we usually lean towards: "You're in the right place. All we do around here is eat and drink. Or, more accurately, drink and eat and drink."

We sandwiched some winery visits around the time we spent exploring the gorges and state parks of the area. (Treman State Park and Watkins Glen had the best trails. Taughannock Falls was the single most impressive sight, in my humble opinion.) When we started sampling, I half-expected to simply OD on sweeter white wines. I did have an inkling about the wines from there. I knew New York wineries cranked out a fair amount of Riesling (Dr. Konstantin Frank and Heron Hill being the largest producers) and I guessed they'd probably grow a few other white varietals. I also knew that we'd run into a lot of cheap, sweet fruit wines. The rest was open for discovery.

What did we find? Riesling was certainly the star of the show. There were scads of them. Most wineries that made Riesling had at least three varieties. You could almost always count on a dry, semi-dry, and sweet versions -- and various "reserves." There was, of course, the ubiquitous chardonnay and some other cool-climate grapes like Gewurztraminer.

There were also some hybrid varietals I'd seen -- grapes like Seyval, Traminette, and Corot Noir. These grape varietals are bred to be winter hearty, so you'll see them in a lot of "nontraditional" wine growing areas like Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana, for instance. What I didn't know was that these hybrids were developed at nearby Cornell University (where my maternal grandfather, Walter, proudly earned his engineering degree). In many wineries around the country, these wines end up being full of residual sugar to mask flaws in the winemaking. I was interested to learn how these grapes were supposed to taste when grown in soil they were bred into.

There were also some cool-weather reds bring produced. We were told to expect the Finger Lakes reds to be "bug juice," but that wasn't our typical experience. Cabernet franc and pinot noir were fairly common and grew reasonably well. There was some cabernet sauvignon, and a few scattered Rhone varietals.

Across the board, the Finger Lakes wines were also universally affordable. Almost every winery produced very solid wines in the $10-20 price range.

There are three "major" lakes -- Keuka (pronounced Q-kuh), Seneca, and Cayuga. To get an idea of the geography (almost to scale, no less), hold out your left hand, palm away from you, and bend your ring finger at the knuckle. Your index finger is Cayuga Lake, your middle finger is Seneca, and your ring finger is about the area of the bifurcations of Keuka Lake.

The wineries tend to be right on the lakefront, so we had some wonderful views from their tasting rooms. We weren't able to get all the way over to Keuka Lake in the time we had, so we weren't able to get to Dr. Frank's and Heron Hill, but I felt like we got a pretty good sense of the area and the wine production. Many of these wineries are starting to be available more broadly, as well -- so certainly check some of them out.

Here are a couple of our favorites from Seneca Lake:

Glenora Wine Cellars -- Our first stop on the west shore of Seneca was a good one. We were given the dollar tour of Glenora by Bridget, the winery manager, who was understandably proud of the esprit de corps of her tasting room staff. Had a nice chat with the winemaker, Steve DiFranscesco, as well. Definitely a fun experience. Both their 2007 Riesling and Dry Riesling were very solid. I found their 2007 Seyval Blanc to be especially light, pleasant, and refreshing. They also made a wonderful 2002 Pinot Noir/Chardonnay Brut sparkling wine done methode champenoise which was an impeccably delicate creation.

Fox Run Winery -- At the very top of the west shore of Seneca, near the town of Geneva, is a very cool winery with a fun vibe and some excellent wines. They made an excellent Gewurztraminer (2007) full of floral notes and spice and a 2008 Dry Riesling which will be absolutely wonderful when the acidity calms down a little -- probably after about six months in bottle allowing the citrus flavors to emerge some more. At that point, it will be stellar. While almost of the wineries did dessert wines, Fox Run was one of the few that made actual port. Their ruby port stacks up nicely about just about anyone else's at that price point (around $20).

So to avoid overwhelming you (and to give myself a ready-made tease for the next installment), I'll start you off with these two. I'll send along the rest -- and our pictures -- next time!

Barbera

As a child of the 70's, I can't read "Barbera" without tagging "Hannah" in front of it. Anyone my age who doesn't at least crack a smile at the casual mention of Hannah-Barbera was raised by wolves or the Amish. (This is not to be confused with mentions of various Sid and Marty Krofft productions like H.R. Pufnstuf and Sigmund the Sea Monster. Those usually arise in totally different contexts.)

The Superfriends were de rigueur every Saturday morning. So were the Herculoids, Laff-A-Lympics, Speed Buggy and so many others. Thanks to my old Saturday ritual, I can't stroll past that section of the Italian wine aisle without my minds filling up with images of these cartoons, hanging around the recesses of my cerebrum like old friends. I know I can't be the only one.

So what's the deal with this wine? Why is it hanging out amidst the Chianti and the Montepulciano, re-triggering my horror stemming from Scrappy-Doo's first appearance in the Mystery Machine?

Barbera got its start in the Piedmont region of Italy. The Piedmont is still Barbera's best known home, although it's planted all over Italy and often shows up as a blending grape in various red table wines. It's the third-most widely planted grape in Italy. Barbera, like Dolcetto, is a wine that folks in the Piedmont drink while they're waiting for the Nebbiolo to finish aging for use in Barolo and Barbaresco.

General "Barbera" can be grown almost anywhere in Italy, but there are some viticultural areas that are well known for this wine. The towns of Alba and Asti are the most famous and are the sources of the higher quality versions. Thus, in general, if you see "Barbera d'Alba" or "Barbera d'Asti" on a bottle, it'll likely be a little more expensive, but much more interesting and complex.

Elsewhere in Europe, Barbera isn't grown very much except for in small pockets here and there. It's planted fairly widely in California where, because of its normally high yield per vine, it's a common component in a lot of jug wine. Thankfully, some California winemakers have started taking care of this grape properly -- producing it as either a largely single-varietal wine or as a feature grape in blends.

Barbera's flavor profile is all over the map. Since it's a fairly flexible vine that can grow in many types of soil, the terroir and the care taken to limit yields play huge roles in the eventual flavor of the wine. In general, however, Barbera tends to produce somewhat fruity, fairly tannic, and highly acidic wine. The color always tends to be dark -- Barbera was and is often blended in small quantities into Nebbiolo (which tends to produce light-colored wines) for aesthetic purposes. The high acidity level makes it an excellent complement to many kinds of food -- especially rich foods. Pepperoni pizza and Barbera make a remarkably good pairing.

Bazzini 2006 Barbera -- I grabbed a one-liter bottle of this when I knew I was going to be making an Italian meal and couldn't come up with a pairing off the top of my head. For the record, it was pan-cooked salmon filets in an onion-and-anchovy sauce over some risotto. Lots of rich flavors, so I wanted a wine that was acidic to cut through the oil and fruity enough to be a complement. Barbera's usually a pretty safe bet. What I didn't expect was that this eight-dollar liter of wine ended up being a pretty decent quaffer. Not watery at all, plenty of bright fruit and acidity, and pleasant enough to have on its own. It worked well with the fish, which ended up being absolutely delicious, by the way...

Hey Mambo 2007 Bistro Style Sultry Red -- As I mentioned, Barbera winds up in a lot of California wine, and not all of these are jug quality. The Hey Mambo is a blend of Barbera and four other grapes: syrah, malbec, petit sirah, and zinfandel. The result is what I'd term an inexpensive substitute to a Super Tuscan. This wine starts you out with a Syrah-like, plummy nose. The taste is full bodied, with a hint of that Italian "chalkiness," which is balanced by the full fruit of the other grapes. The finish is long and fruity. We had this with rotini in a spicy tomato sauce, and it went very well -- but I certainly would not waver in putting it up against a heartier, meatier dish. About $9-10.

La Spinetta 2005 Barbera d'Asti "Ca' Di Pian" -- Now, if you want to experience a wonderful expression of what Barbera can really be when it's truly taken care of -- and you're willing to go over the $15 limit for a special occasion (you'll probably shell out $22-25), have a look at this one. Big blackberries and flowers on the nose. Long, complex flavors -- dark berries and chocolate with a little bit of oak that transitions to a full, lasting, and slightly, pleasantly fruity finish. It's a perfect wine to break out for a meal to linger over in good company. Or, put more poetically by one of the folks in the wine store: "This is a 'get-you-laid' bottle." (I cannot make that kind of unequivocal guarantee. Your mileage may vary. And, no, I ain't tellin'.)

Golden Kaan

Monica from Balzac, who was goodly enough to let me try the Espiritu de Chile selections back in January, asked me to give my impressions of Golden Kaan wines, a new series of wines from the Western Cape of South Africa near Cape Town.

Golden Kaan 2007 Chenin Blanc -- South African chenin blanc is an entirely different animal than the light, crisp chenin that quality winemakers are doing in California, or the fruit-laden minerality of the Loire whites from France. South African chenins tend to be a little heavier, and the Kaan certainly is an excellent representation of this varietal. The nose is quite full of caramel and vanilla. The body is as full as I've tasted in a chenin, and contains a pleasantly complex mix of citrus, vanilla, and toasty oak. The finish is a nice, lasting balance of oak and melon.

The recommended pairing was a warm green bean salad (which ended up helping me discover a great way to put fresh, uncooked onions in a dish without having stank-breath after!) and I added a grilled grouper recipe from the Giuliano Hazan cookbook I mentioned once before. The pairing was spot-on. The bean salad had a lemon-based dressing which pointed up some citrus notes in the wine. The smokiness of the wine's flavors went very well with the grilled fish.

Golden Kaan 2006 Pinotage & Golden Kaan 2007 Shiraz -- The SPinC and I tried these two wines side by side, since the recommended food pairing for both was this tasty looking "lamb soasities" recipe. (In case you're wondering what in tarnation that is, it's lamb shoulder cut into chunks and marinated in a mixture of onion, lemon juice, garlic, and various curry-themed spices; skewered with green pepper, shallots, and dried apricots; and cooked over hot coals. Recipe here. Yum!)

We tasted the wines by themselves initially. We discovered that using the aerator that we brought back from California was a huge help for these wines. Both of them definitely needed some time to breathe, since they were both a) relatively young and b) varietals that can always stand a little bit of air to wake up the flavors.

Pinotage, for many people, is a "love it or hate it" varietal. Pinotage is a crossbreed of Cinsault and Pinot Noir, and is the wine South Africa is best known for. This hybrid produces a wine that's slightly heavier than many Pinot Noirs, with some very strong flavors. These wines are often very smoky and rich, and they can have any number of flavors that don't appear in many wines. Done well, these wines stand up nicely to grilled and smoked game and pungent spices.

This version, while possessing some of the characteristics you'd expect in Pinotage, is a reasonably approachable wine. The nose is full of tart cherries and chocolate with a strong smoky flavor on the palate. There's a slightly bitter flavor on the finish, almost like coffee, and it's dry. The shiraz is a light styled wine. The nose is of fresh cut wood and cherries -- more sweet cherry than the tartness of the Pinotage. There's a tobacco flavor as well, but the cherries dominate the palate from front to end.

With the food, I thought that the Pinotage was much more interesting. I thought it stood up to the spices in the marinade and the sauce, and the flavors in the wine itself stood out. The SPinC was of a different mind. She enjoyed the shiraz more, since there were already so many varied flavors in the food -- she felt that the shiraz allowed the food to take center stage and be a solid complementary taste. She said, "If it were January, I'd probably like the Pinotage more."

I think the Pinotage is an excellent "starter" if you're not too familiar with the varietal and you want to get a sense of it. The shiraz was OK -- but I think there are some better ones out there in the same price point.

All three wines retail for around $10 and are broadly available.

P.S. Vine reader Steve G pointed out my patently obvious missed opportunity for a Star Trek reference with the name of this wine. But after about a dozen "KAAAAAAAAAN!" exclamations with the SPinC looking at me sideways, I decided to let it slide. But please, feel free to unleash your inner Shatner after killing a bottle of one of these.

Vote for Me! -- updated!

Your intrepid wine blogger has thrown his name in the hat for Murphy-Goode winery's "A Really Goode Job" promotion. One lucky winner gets to move to Healdsburg, California for six months, tasting wine -- blogging and tweeting along the way.

I had to put a short video together. I went for "Brevity is the soul of wit."

You can see my video (and hopefully vote for it!) here. (UPDATE: This takes you directly to the video without having to sift through all the entries...)

All support is appreciated! I'll keep you updated as things move along.

(Many thanks to Michelle Lentz, the Wine Girl, for helping me figure out how to get the link working...)

Cracking Open the Good Stuff -- Volume 1 -- Göpfrich

After our 100th review, I figure this is a good a time to make a slight change around here. Now don't go worrying, I'm still keeping my focus on inexpensive, quality wines. You'll still be able to get your Vine fix and that will remain the primary focus of the site. As I've tried more and more wine, my palate has broadened -- as does anyone's who keeps one hand on a tasting glass for any length of time. Many of these wines are simply too good not to share my thoughts about with all of you out there.

So, from time to time, I'm going to start jotting down a few notes on wines that are slightly higher priced -- because everyone needs a good special occasion wine from time to time. (Or, to paraphrase Virginia Madsen from Sideways -- anytime you open a good bottle of wine is a special occasion.) I'm going to start with a bottle that helped me first understand what a good bottle of wine can be.

The Sweet Partner in Crime came home with a delicious looking porterhouse steak that simply begged to be grilled up. We put together a couple of foil packs for vegetables -- new potatoes with some rosemary and basil from our garden and Brussels sprouts with some garlic, olive oil, and feta cheese. It was a Friday night after a particularly grueling couple of weeks at work, so we decided to pull something out of the "special occasion" rack.

I dug around and came out with the Göpfrich 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. Göpfrich is a Sonoma Country winery that we visited on our first trip to wine country. It's a small operation in Dry Creek Valley run by Ray and Bonnie Goepfrich. We stumbled upon the place while we were out tasting and Ray was good enough to let us try some of his bounty even though we didn't have an appointment when we popped in.

At the time, I thought his wines were some of the best I'd ever tasted, especially the Cabernet Sauvignon. Many bottles of wine have passed under the bridge and through the liver since then, and I still stand by my estimation. Especially at the price point (the current reserve cab is $38 a bottle), these wines are astoundingly good. Theirs was the first wine club that we joined, and we've been loyal customers every since that day.

Most Göpfrich wines are high in alcohol, so they're a little "hot" when first poured. So, after letting the wine breathe for a little while, we got to work on dinner and eventually poured a little -- just to get a sense. Even after half an hour, the wine still hadn't quite opened up -- but once it did (took about another 20 minutes -- just in time to eat), the wine was nothing short of spectacular.

The nose was rich and layered with blackberries, coffee, and chocolate. There was a quick burst of fruit when first sipped, but that fruit quickly mellowed into a long, rich, chocolate-and-berry filled midpalate. The wine's richness continued into an exceptionally well-balanced finish that lingered strongly for well over a minute. This was a "take a sip, close your eyes, and dream" sort of wine, one that continued to open up over the course of the evening -- flavors of blueberry peeked out around the edges, and the finish became smokier.

With the food? Well...nothing short of divine. There's really not much I can add. A great cut of meat, grilled properly and a top line cabernet -- there's simply no way to go wrong. We saved a splash for chocolate later in the evening. Again, impeccable.

Göpfrich is always my first recommendation when I get asked about Sonoma wine country. They ship nationwide.