tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90459992854280964652024-03-19T01:47:06.993-07:00Vine & CheesePurveyors of Fine Food & Beverages.
Located at 1290 Thompson Bridge Rd.
Gainesville, GAVine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.comBlogger618125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-89483648611263222642024-03-05T12:12:00.000-08:002024-03-14T14:57:10.541-07:00Frey<p>Frey Vineyards was established in 1980, about the same time as we got into this business. They claim to be the first organic and biodynamic California winery. Girard has been organic since the 1950's so they must be referring to the <i>biodynamic </i>part. Between their wine label and website, they cite ten claims that serve to validate their bonafides.</p><p>#1. USDA Organic Certification. This is the biggie. It involves stringent advance planning, implementation and regular inspections. It's serious stuff.</p><p>#2. California Certified Organic Farmers. CCOF certification preceded USDA (1973) and today works within the USDA to certify farmers. The CCOF foundation educates the public about organic values.</p><p>#3. Demeter Certification. This is also huge. Demeter is biodynamics and also involves regular inspections. With Demeter, the property is an ecosystem where nothing is added from the outside. </p><p>#4. No Sulfites Added. Again, huge. No pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or chemical additives.</p><p>#5. Vegan. Fining is the filtering process wines undergo before bottling. It typically involves the use of eggs or <i>casein</i> protein from fish. This kind of fining is not done at Frey. </p><p>#6. Non-GMO. This concerns yeasts that may be genetically modified. There are no laws concerning GMOs but since Frey is Demeter-certified all yeasts are local.</p><p>#7. Gluten-free. This goes to the current popularity of flavor additives in wine which may have a small percentage of gluten. Frey wines are unadulterated. </p><p>#8. 1% for the Planet. This international certification goes to business owners who pledge a percent of their profits to environmental causes.</p><p>#9. Regenerative. This catchword applies to agricultural land management. There are no legal standards for the use of this term.</p><p>#10 FSC Certification. This applies to the wine label paper which must come from managed forests where de-forestation will not be accepted. </p><p>Frey sells <i>organics. </i>That's their schtick. The most important attribute listed above is their Demeter Certification. If you have that, much of the rest is not necessary.<i> </i></p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-29490043207511813582024-02-29T09:41:00.000-08:002024-02-29T09:41:48.802-08:00Bolgheri<p>This post is a long overdue exercise in remedial education for those of us who thought we were so smart. With just a little research we learned just how wrong we were about the wine appellation Bolgheri and it's place in greater Tuscany. It's not just a cut above standard issue Tuscan Sangiovese. Bolgheri is home to Sassacaia, which on at least three occasions in the last fifty years has shown better than the best Bordeaux has to offer. The Bolgheri wine appellation, replete with its Bordeaux varietal vineyards, is, in fact, Italy's answer to Bordeaux.</p><p>Bolgheri is an Italian DOC (denominazione di controllata) in Maremma along the northern Tuscan coast just south of Livorno. Like everywhere else in Italy, viticulture and wine making there has an exceedingly long history. The traditional ways were adjusted two to three hundred years ago when the Bordeaux varietals (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot) were first introduced. Still, today the popular sentiment <i>and</i> Italian Wine Law dictate that wine is to be made in the traditional fashion. Viticulture and oenological procedures are to be appropriate and consistent with longstanding local customs.</p><p>The Bolgheri DOC allows for two quality levels, Bolgheri and Bolgheri Superiore <i>and</i> the autonomous stand alone Sassacaia appellation. Basic Bolgheri appellation red wine may contain up to 50% Sangiovese or Syrah <i>or</i> it may be 100% Cabernet, Merlot or Cabernet Franc <i>or</i> any combination of those grapes not to exceed the Sangiovese/Syrah limits. Any Bolgheri wine must conform in color, bouquet and taste to traditional standards. It should be red-garnet in color with a heady bouquet and dry and balanced on the palate. The <i>Superiore </i>version must be aged two years and must impress with elegance and structure.</p><p>Sassacaia is the product of Tenuta San Guido in western Bolgheri. They <u>are</u> the wine appellation. They make three wines: Sassacaia (85%,Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc) and Guidalberto and Le Difese, two Bordeaux Blends that include Sangiovese in the blends. </p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-31145721198286746092024-02-22T12:59:00.000-08:002024-02-24T09:58:29.150-08:00South Africa<p>It hasn't all been smooth sailing but South Africa seems to have finally arrived. The turning point in their journey was in the early 1990's when apartheid ended and the government got out of the wine industry. Up to that point the government-sponsored KWV cooperative had run things and they did a good job. They actually built the South African wine industry, albeit with brandy as the base product. Ten years after the big change, the sales percentages would be reversed with dinner wines becoming the order of the day.</p><p>The South African Wine law was enacted in 1973 but revised in the early nineties to allow for an expanding wine industry. At the same time the newer technologies that were dominating the industry elsewhere were brought to South Africa along with some of the world's best winemakers as the country prepared for a boon. But it didn't happen right away. South Africa has always been isolated from the well known wine markets and each of those markets had the <i>homecooking </i>of its own wine industry to compete with.</p><p>There is an unfortunate sacrifice inherent in trying to satisfy an international market. You have to make what people from other cultures want. The most popular South African red and white wine grapes of the twentieth century were Cinsault and Chenin Blanc. They grew well so they were popular with industry insiders but more importantly, the critics acclaimed their quality. Cinsault, a Cotes du Rhone blender, largely went into brandy so it had to be sacrificed. Chenin Blanc, while still the most widely planted grape in the country, is but a fraction of the juggernaut it once was.</p><p>Also sacrificed was Pinotage, the signature red wine grape of the country. It proved to be too hard of a sell to the western world. The Pinotage that has survived in more recent shipments here is a superior <i>pinot-ish</i> red dinner wine that is much more to our tastes than earlier efforts. </p><p>The industry expansion that was begun in the 1990's includes new wine appellations to the east of the historic center in the Western Cape. Those newer vineyards have a long way to go before they can compete in quality with the Cape. The learning curve can be lengthy. In the meantime Western Cape reds and whites are finally selling like they should. Our Klein Constantia (est.1685!) Sauvignon Blanc and red blend sell quite well here and by the way, South African Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc are acclaimed by many of us to be second only to France in quality.</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-17803152033138438502024-02-08T10:13:00.000-08:002024-02-13T07:21:28.166-08:00Matthews - In Pursuit of Pure Washington Wine<p>While that mission statement sounds a little grandiose, when you consider the quality displayed across everything they make, the claim seems reasonable. For instance, they have what many of us think is the best Sauvignon Blanc on the continent and a red Bordeaux blend that rivals any from Napa. Maybe they aren't just <i>in pursuit </i>of purity; maybe they've arrived.</p><p>Matthews was established in 1993 but re-born when the Otis family took over in 2004. They make one white wine, the Sauvignon Blanc, and just a few reds using Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. Matthews' Columbia Valley vineyards are located in the Royal Slope, Red Mountain and Horse Heaven Hills AVA's at the same latitude as Bordeaux and Burgundy in France. That latitude offers the long sunny days and cool nights that ripen wine grapes ever so optimally.</p><p>In 2021 Matthews was re-born again with a new winemaking crew. From the winery website blog, the three gentlemen now in charge "completely overhauled the existing winemaking techniques and processes." They sourced grapes from new places and planted new clones "for complexity and dimension at blending." To concentrate and intensify their product they reduced yields by 30%; harvested later for riper fruit and dramatically extended grape maceration for richness and depth. </p><p>Maybe they're now in pursuit of perfection.</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-728389611277438092024-01-31T13:35:00.000-08:002024-02-07T08:23:34.201-08:00Sancerre<p>If it's light dry white wine and it sells in January, it must be good and Sancerre has its own punched ticket as the best there is in Sauvignon Blanc. With its light bone dry, clean fruit flavors and distinct minerality, Sancerre's historic reputation is secure. Nowhere else in the world comes close to what Sancerre does...unless you look next door at Pouilly Fume.</p><p>So what makes the stuff so good? It's got to be the soils. As we've reported in the past, this part of northern France was under water for most of the life of the planet resulting in Kimmeridgian marlstone soils for the most part. This is a limestone/clay soil type that influences the full bodied perfumed roundedness of Sancerre fruit. Silex (flint) is a secondary soil of the region that provides the Sauvignon Blanc grapes with their steely minerality. </p><p>As we said above, nowhere else does Sauvignon Blanc approach the quality of Sancerre. Everywhere else the grape shows an herbaceous grassiness to one degree or another and that is fine in itself. We don't believe the spectrum of flavors a wine can exhibit should be segmented judgmentally into positive and negative categories. Without sounding too contradictory, however, we do believe in the historic model for each and that's where Sancerre wins out. </p><p>What was to become the Sancerre wine appellation was first planted by the Romans in the first century. It became a legally defined Sauvignon Blanc wine appellation in the inaugural class in 1936 and has been expanded four times since then. We mentioned the Pouilly Fume AOC earlier. Sancerre is sandwiched between Menatou-Salon on the left and Pouilly Fume on the right and for most of us, examples from each appellation would be indistinguishable. They're all great!</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-58259698561985890632024-01-30T12:37:00.000-08:002024-01-31T13:39:08.394-08:00Rosenblum Cellars Chenin Blanc/Viognier<p>In theory each bottle in a wine tasting lineup should be better than the one before. In theory. So when our vendor went through the lineup starting with three somewhat similar white blends followed by three reds, we were struck by how good that very first wine was. By the way, in most wine tastings the price of the wines usually ascends so if that first inexpensive bottle is memorable, to our way of thinking, it is a find indeed.</p><p>Rosenblum Cellars was established in 1978 in Alameda, California maybe five miles from where we were living at the time. Had we known we would be writing this now we could've been doing our spade work back then but it took us a few years to find our career path. When we did land in the wine industry permanently, Rosenblum was still there.</p><p>Actually Kent Rosenblum hit the ground running when he started his operation. Zinfandel was his <i>thing</i> back then and finding superior fruit in vineyards untapped by the larger industry players was his forte. Rasmussen befriended these growers, struck a deal with each and then bottled single vineyard Zinfandels with the individual vineyard owner's name on each label. At the time Rasmussen was crowned "The King of Zins."</p><p>Charlie Tsegeletos is the current Rosenblum winemaker and he was nice enough to educate me on the Chenin/Viognier. The blend is 85% Chenin and 15% Viognier and the fruit is sourced from two estate vineyards in the greater Lodi region. The wine shows bright citrus, pineapple and honey flavors with the Chenin being responsible for most of the light crispness and fresh fruit flavors. The Viognier lends body and apricot flavor to the blend. The wine is cold fermented in stainless steel and sees no oak or malolactic fermentation.</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-78795670708582551992024-01-18T11:12:00.000-08:002024-01-25T09:36:13.750-08:00Gehricke/Sebastiani and the Knight's Valley AVA<p>Gehricke is a very successful line of five varietal wines made by 3 Badge Beverage of Sonoma. We have at least a five year history of selling them here at the store. Sebastiani, established in 1904 and also Sonoma-based, was one of the most successful wine companies of the twentieth century. Unfortunately they went under in the early 1990's. We knew the two operations were related somehow but just how that happened always eluded us. It's complicated. Stop in the store if you want to know more. Suffice it to say Gehricke is <i>sort of </i>a decendant of Sebastiani.</p><p>The current best seller from Gehricke is the Knight's Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. It shows full bodied rich red fruit flavors, soft tannins, prominent oak with vanilla and clove spice. While Knight's Valley is most definitely a part of Sonoma, in many respects it is more like Napa. The Knight's Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area) abuts the Alexander Valley AVA with the Chalk Hill AVA lying just south of it. It is the furthest east of Sonoma's wine country where it's southern end meets Napa's northwest corner.</p><p>The Knight's Valley AVA is one of the five original 1983 Sonoma AVAs. It contains 37,000 acres where thirty growers maintain 2,000 vineyard acres. Three of those thirty are huge. Beringer and Kendall-Jackson both market their own Knight's Valley Cabernets while Bavarian Lion Vineyards (est. 1996) has five hundred acres in vines. It is from the less well-known Bavarian Lion Vineyards that we assume Gehricke sources their fruit.</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-64204644386731143102024-01-17T08:14:00.000-08:002024-01-18T11:23:07.830-08:00Alsatian Whites<p>We've made no secret about our tastes in white wines. We like 'em light, dry and minerally. If it's summertime and seafood or salads are in the offing, Sauvignon Blanc is our go-to. If we just want to taste a generally great example of a white wine other than Sauv Banc, we go to Alsace where we have yet to taste one that fails to impress.</p><p>There are ten white grape types allowed in Alsace. For our purposes here we'll concern ourselves with the five biggies: Gewurztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Muscat and Auxxerrois. The first four are considered to be <i>noble</i> types by the locals. The Muscat name in Alsace is a little different in that it encompasses four different Muscat types. Auxxerois is genetically the same as Chardonnay and produces a white wine in that vein. While Muscat and Pinot Gris don't conjure up notions of nobility for us we'll defer to the Alsatians and their classification. We feel, however, Alsatian Riesling and Gewurz are bonafide stars within any white wine lineup.</p><p>Ninety percent of the wines of Alsace are white with about 60% of those being AOC varietals made from the noble types listed above. Another four percent are varietals sourced from recognized Grand Cru vineyards. Another fifteen percent are Cremant sparkling wines. The rest are either blends of the notable grapes and/or lesser grapes and since the AOC (noble) types are the only types rated, all of these others are considered to be mere table wine. Since Alsace makes 100% varietal wines, some of the <i>table wine</i> blends consist of the great types while others are of the lesser five types. In general a Gentil is usually a blend of superior grapes; Edelzwickers are usually lower quality blends.</p><p>Alsace has an identity problem, by the way. For much or its history it has been German including four stints in the last hundred fifty years. While most French wine labels identify by place names, Alsace, like Germany, labels with varietal names. In fact, Riesling and Gewurztraminer are German grape types and therein lies the problem. The public sees the wines as German and generalizes about style and quality based on what they have tasted in the past. Sweeter mass marketed German plonk doesn't begin to represent the nobility of dry Alsatian Riesling and Gewurztraminer. Germany has now learned this from Alsace and is currently making drier wines. </p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-90600764223640699122024-01-10T12:07:00.000-08:002024-01-10T12:07:27.661-08:00Malbec<p>Okay, so we've tackled this subject several times in the past. Hang with me. We've found a new angle on this one.</p><p>Black Cabra is one of the real bargains in Argentine Malbec at a mere $12.99/btl. We thought we would post about it here only to find importer Vino del Sol really has nothing in the way of relevant information about the product. Moreover, depending on the vintage, the "estate bottling" on the label may refer to different estates in Argentina. So while Black Cabra isn't winery-specific, to our way of thinking, we're fine with it as long as Vino del Sol maintains the quality it has.</p><p>So we pivoted to a quick study of the Malbec grape and learned a few things. While the experts believe Malbec originated in Burgundy, Cahor in southwestern France is the current home for Malbec today. Now popularly called <i>Cot, </i>in the Cahor AOC the grape produces an inky tannic dark purple version that contrasts with the more popular style from Argentina. </p><p>Why is that? It has to do with Malbec's vineyard problems in France where diseases like coulure, downy mildew and rot from frost inordinately affect the vines. It has become so problematic that Bordeaux has largely replaced Malbec plantings with Merlot and Cabernet Franc.</p><p>So once again, why is Argentine Malbec so different from the French version? It's because the Malbec vines in Argentina which date back to 1868 are not the same as what is currently in France. Over time that clone of Malbec was in all likelihood ravaged by disease into extinction.</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-37835551614614557042023-10-25T11:17:00.000-07:002023-10-25T13:55:06.124-07:00Tapiz Extra Brut Malbec Rose<p>We've gotten a lot of tips on great wines though the years from customers and vendors alike but never before have we gotten a good tip from a truck driver. The fellow had just dropped off my order when in the middle of some small talk he drops a bomb - Tapiz Sparkling Rose was selling like hotcakes. His truck was loaded with the stuff. Everyone was ordering it. So while this wasn't an actual product endorsement, it struck me as something worth pursuing.</p><p>Tapiz Malbec and Cabernet have been staples here for at least twenty years. They are as good as any in the twenty dollar range but until now we didn't know about the sparkler. After consulting with the salesman we added that one to the set on the next order.</p><p>Tapiz means tapestry (of terroir & innovation.) The winery is a modern state of the art operation located in the celebrated Uco Valley in central Mendoza, Argentina. The vineyards are amongst the highest in the world at 4,600 feet altitude. The winemaking team is led by Jean Claude Berrouet who for forty-four years made the wines at Chateau Petrus, the most expensive wine in the world.</p><p>Tapiz Extra Brut Malbec Rose is a 100% varietal methode champenoise sparkler. The wine color is bright pink; the aromas and flavors feature fresh and fruity cherry and strawberry. Uco Valley vineyards are known for their diurnal temperature swing that creates berries that are both ripe yet balanced between sugar and acidity. This wine is fermented in stainless steel at a low temperature followed by eight to ten months aging on the lees. The finished product is "full bodied and concentrated yet elegant and balanced." </p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-14470197936888529612023-10-17T09:43:00.002-07:002023-10-20T12:36:17.943-07:00Angelini Veneto Pinot Noir<p>Angelini was recommended to us as an example of type that surpasses in quality what we have come to expect in everyday priced pinot, which isn't saying much since these things are pretty disappointing as a category. As an Italian <i>IGT</i> (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) wine, the juice is sourced from an expanded region and made in the <i>international </i>style but still, according to our research, <i>maintains Veneto appellation characteristics</i>. This begs the question - What are the typical characteristics of Veneto Pinot Noir? Try as we might we couldn't find them. Which probably means they are just playing off the prestige of the Veneto appellation name. </p><p>Veneto, in northeast Italy, has been called "the engine of the Italian wine industry." As tastes have become more sophisticated in the modern era, it has grown in importance. Not only is it home to Soave, Prosecco, Valpolicella and Amarone; it has also assumed a heightened role in the production of what California might call "fighting varietals," those everyday wines that are a step above bulk quality. And that is what we think we have in Angelini...except that's not really fair to our most reliable vendor who, when he says something is good, it just IS.</p><p>There may be more to recommend this wine if we consider the long winemaking history of the region. As we have said here many times, the pinot family of grapes has an unstable genome resulting in a history of vineyard mutations across Europe. Currently there are fifty clones of Pinot Noir in Europe. While origins for the grape geographically are uncertain, most ampelographers would put it around the middle of the continent. Evidence shows this grape to have been around for a couple thousand years which probably means it found its way to Veneto a very long time ago. Who would doubt the abilities of Italian winemakers with that kind of time to find the right clone and get the winemaking right? </p><p>Pinot Noir is the great red grape of the world if you have an extra hundred dollars or so for that kind of quality. Descriptors for any European Pinot Noir worth its salt should include finesse, elegance and complexity. We believe Angelini may have those qualities. Give it a try!</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-56465600055602247082023-10-10T13:45:00.001-07:002023-10-11T12:21:44.449-07:00The Paradigm Shift<p>The question we pose today is this: When did the historic "nose-taste-finish" model for wine structure morph into the now common <i>fruit forward </i>style of today. Relatedly, with the ancillary <i>jamminess</i> that so often attends to this style; when did that supercede <i>finesse</i> and <i>sculpture</i> in the body of a wine. Am I too deep in the weeds? Let's clear out some underbrush.</p><p>The historic model for most wine appreciators starts with the nose, the aroma of the wine. So much of tasting is done at the beginning, before even getting the stuff into your mouth. It's a foretelling of the entire experience. Tasting the wine then reveals a fuller breadth of flavors you anticipated in the nose. And just like even lighter wines must have some body, even simpler wines must show some breadth of flavors and they must be complementary. Are you with me so far? Those flavors that so enticed you at the beginning should unfold into something greater in the mouth and then continue into an extended pleasant finish.</p><p>That is the historic model.</p><p>To our understanding, two things happened to accelerate the change to the California forward fruit style. In the mid 1980's Kendall-Jackson emerged as a major player in the industry with their off-dry style Chardonnay. Before that there was White Zinfandel, of course. We have a sweet tooth in this country and with KJ's success, wines in general became more forward and a little less dry. </p><p>The other factor goes back much further in history. We're talking about jug wines. For most of American wine industry history it was jugs of off-dry muddy red and white plonk that was the norm for what wine was in America. The better quality wine industry was always there, but always only in the background. In the 1960's estate producers of better wines began to get a toehold and continued to grow in popularity but, in all honesty, it was probably around 1990 before the jug business waned. But the style persisted, less structure and more fruity flavors. </p><p>Now here's a factor number three: The old model was European in origin. This is America. European-style sauces, stews and soups require a <i>wininess</i> of longer flavors that wrap around the complexity of the sauces. We're a hamburger and steak culture and we consume a lower fat diet in general than the Europeans do. So in that light it makes sense that we want a fatter wine. </p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-64353415998590168042023-10-03T08:34:00.006-07:002023-10-22T12:39:02.637-07:00Thermal Amplitude<p>We've written about thermal amplitude in the past. It's basically the same thing as the diurnal shift, the difference in temperature between daytime and nighttime. The greater the temperature difference, the better the fruit. Today's post was prompted by seeing the thermal amplitude wording on the back label of Puramun's Co-Fermented Malbec/Petite Verdot blend. </p><p>Puramun is a prestigious label from Pepe Gallante of the Valle de Uco of Mendoza, Argentina. For this wine the two grape types are hand harvested and then fermented together, a process they think brings out more of the great Malbec character. The wine then sees twelve months in oak.</p><p>Valle de Uco is a special place within the larger special place of Mendoza, one of the truly great wine venues of the world. Mendoza is the huge plateau in the middle of Argentina that has received financial investment from many of the greatest international wine companies. It is a high altitude, sandy soil environment that has never seen the phylloxera problem other wine regions have been plagued with because of those conditions. Apparently the plant louse behind the problem doesn't care for high altitude sandy soils.</p><p>The subject of thermal amplitude was clearly explained in a blogpost by APU Winery: Daytime photosynthesis creates energy and stores carbohydrates (glucose) while at the same time plant respiration converts nutrients from the soil into energy for internal cellular activities. At nighttime when less energy is needed respiration slows with the colder temperatures. The leftover energy from the daytime activities is then directed to the fruit which develops rich intense flavors, color and acidity. If the daytime heat is sufficient, the grapes ripen faster, developing darker fruit flavors and thicker skins for desirable tannins. </p><p>And there you have it.</p><p><br /></p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-18170617754834551832023-09-09T05:38:00.000-07:002023-09-16T09:58:23.954-07:00Diatom Chardonnay<p>"Diatomaceous earth," she says when I introduce her to the wine, clearly something that stuck with her from prior reading. She followed with, "It has to do with soil that was previously part of a seabed." And that is essentially correct. More specifically it involves all kinds of dead fossilized algae (diatoms) of all shapes and sizes that have been accumulating in certain locations worldwide over the course of a hundred fifty million years. That onset, if you're keeping score, was in the Jurassic Period. Prior to that there was some kind of bacteria that didn't require light to exist. It was effectively killed off by the algae leaving really no trace of what it might have been.</p><p>Algae was a gamechanger in the history of the planet because, if you recall your high school science classes, algae is a plant and what do plants do? Photosynthesis. They convert light energy into chemical energy. And how much photosynthesis can a little algae do? Living algae, which may account for half of all organic matter in the oceans, actually do twenty-five to fifty percent of all photosynthesis in the world. To state the obvious, this is huge.</p><p>The layer of dead algae on the bottom of the oceans may be a half mile thick. Because of the currents at work around the world, those dead diatoms work themselves up to our soils in certain locations around the world, one of them being in Santa Barbara, California where Diatom Vineyards exists. The Santa Barbara diatomaceous earth is a siliceous sedimentary rock that crumbles into a powder that has proven useful in winemaking. It is an abrasive, like pumice, with tiny pores that both filter and <i>polish</i> a wine that is poured through it.</p><p>Diatom is the best California Chardonnay we have tasted in quite a while. It is unoaked with no malolactic fermentation yet tastes rich. Winemaker Greg Brewer uses low yield, perfectly ripe fruit from Santa Maria Valley to make this wine. The nose features "fresh melon, key lime, and celery (!)"; the palate has "herbs and zesty citrus fruit." Most critics scores Diatom Chardonnay in the mid-nineties.</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-40129853849890494822023-08-29T12:51:00.002-07:002023-09-07T08:27:03.193-07:00A Couple of Noteworthy Italians<p>From the Val di Noto in southeast Sicily comes the Morellito Cala Ianco (white grapes), a 90% Grillo/10% Catarotto blend that may be too good for its salad and seafood intentions. This organic wonder follows its zesty/nutty nose with nuances of apricot, herbs, salinity, lemon and tangerine on the palate. The management of this property says there is freshness and tension in this chalky textured, acid-driven effort. Again from the winery owner comes this chestnut: "It's like diving into the ocean on a hot day."</p><p>Fonterenza's Pettirosso contrasts with Cala Ianco in every way. Obviously, it's red wine. It also has a pedigree, being from the Mt. Amiata neighborhood of Tuscany, although you wouldn't know it from the sparse bottle label. The grapes here are Sangiovese and Ciliegiolo, again, if not <i>great</i> types, certainly more highly regarded than Sicillian Grillo. And the marketing effort for this one is different. Much more text is devoted to the making of this organic effort than to any colorful adjectives for the finished product.</p><p>Pettirosso is Sangiovese-based so it marries well with typical Italian pasta dishes. Reviews available to us say "black cherries, brown spice, balsam herbs and cocoa." Someone else said "wild berries with violet florals." We like that. It says the wine is complex and the sum of all the company winemaking analytics tells us this is a serious example of its type. </p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-36118382081244099602023-08-16T07:45:00.002-07:002023-08-30T08:28:42.294-07:00Sicily<p>This reminds me of the time we intended to compare and contrast Zinfandel wines made from grapes grown at different latitudes. In our mind's eye we assumed northern California was a higher latitude than southern Italy. It isn't. They are pretty much the same latitude so our tasting of examples from both places morphed into a contrast of wine cultures. Based on wine styles our conclusion was: California makes cocktail wines; Europe makes drier dinner wines.</p><p>Sicily is an Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea so to our way of thinking, it must be small. Islands are small, right? Wrong again. This island contains twenty-three DOCs (wine appellations) and one DOCG, a guaranteed highest quality level appellation. The island itself is a DOC, making it Italy's largest wine appellation. </p><p>Six thousand years ago Greek traders introduced the first vines to Sicilian soil. Three thousand years ago they brought their winemaking skills and technology to the island and the Sicilian wine industry was born. As "the Crossroads of the Mediterranean," that industry flourished.</p><p>So not only is Sicily huge with a very long winemaking history, it is also very diverse in its winemaking culture. Twenty-four percent of Sicily is mountainous allowing for Sicily to reflect the same gamut of climates the mainland has. The Val Demone in the northeast side of Sicily is home to the finest wines of Sicily. That is where Mount Etna reigns as the highest peak in Italy with vineyards inhabiting elevations up to 4,000 feet. The red wines made from the Nero Mascalese grape are comparable to Barolo. The Bianco from the Caricante grape has a Riesling-like character.</p><p>The most well known wine of Sicily is Marsala and it is sourced from the Val di Mazara on the west side of the island. The Val di Noto is on the southeast side and it provides our store shelves with Sicily's most popular red, Nero d'Avola. Catarratto is the most widely planted white grape but most of it is destined for Marsala. Grillo and Inzolia are the most popular white table wine grapes. In all, Sicily offers sixty-five native grape varieties.</p><p>Now you know what an incredible place Sicily is in the wine industry. We have to stop this too-large undertaking at some point but not before this last tidbit: Being an arid island, Sicilian vineyards benefit from breezes that cool vineyards and prevent mildew and rot from getting started so there is a disproportionately large amount of organic farming going on there.</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-81926530554825117942023-08-15T14:18:00.002-07:002023-08-17T08:28:33.626-07:00Girasole<p>Do we need pesticides in our vineyards? It's a good question. What if our regular glass of wine contains some small percentage of bad stuff and that little bit could lead to health problems later in life? Girasole (geer-uh-so-lay) Vineyards believes we should be concerned.</p><p>Girasole is a Mendocino County family-owned and operated <i>certified organic </i>estate winery established by Charlie Barra in 1955. Once again an Italian-American leads a family winery into generational success. Only this time the achievement is more impressive because of the <i>organics</i> emphasis.</p><p>To attain the CCOF (California Certified Organic Farmers) label means accepting annual audits, regular verification paperwork and additional labor requirements. It also means accepting risks, pests being the worst of them. </p><p>To be labeled organic a wine must limit sulphur to less than 99ppm. Non-organics are allowed up to 350ppm. Barra organic wines test at half of what's allowed. While regular yeasts show a small petrochemical content, Barra's organic yeasts have none. For sixty years, way before others got on the bandwagon, Barra has farmed the organic way while concurrently being a board member of the California North Coast Grape Growers Association.</p><p>Girasole (Italian for sunflower) is a three hundred acre estate in the Redwood Valley, the headwaters of the Russian River. All of the grapes are estate grown and handharvested, making this operation all the more impressive.</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-46383773470491044382023-08-03T07:58:00.003-07:002023-08-10T07:36:41.546-07:00The Happiest Wine on Earth<p>Credit for this post title goes to wine writer Jan Bonne for calling Bugey-Cerdon what it is, a niche wine anomaly if we ever heard of one. Patrick Bottex, the best known Bugey-Cerdon producer, says his wine is "lively and playful, has a deep pink color with a fine (sparkling) bead, ambrosial fragrances of strawberry and roses and finishes crisply." Winesearcher says, "floral, somewhat sweet with fresh minerality." Eater says it's "a touch sweet," adding nuances of rhubarb and wildberries. The Bugey importer, Kermit Lynch, gets into it with "watermelon." It's also light, low-alcohol and when you consider it's SUMMER, you get the idea: this stuff is a charming borderline fruit bomb and with that, we think Jan Bonne got it right.</p><p>Bugey-Cerdon is one of ten subappellations of Bugey and the only one to receive AOC certification (2009). For fifty years before that it was a VDQS wine, one step above vin de table, and we're betting you really had to be a wine geek to even stumble upon the stuff. The Bugey-Cerdon locale is on the western edge of the Alps between Jura and Savoie. Historically the region was loosely considered to be a part of Burgundy, which it wasn't, but the locals thought of it that way. It's actually twenty miles or so from both Burgundy to the west and Savoie to the east. Maybe thirty miles or so to Geneva, Switzerland.</p><p>Bugey-Cerdon is typically made with a blend of Gamay and Poulsard grapes. It may legally be made with 100% Gamay grapes. It is made into bubbly using the pre-Champagne, Methode Ancestrale process that uses no second yeast application leaving the wine off-dry and somewhat grapey. Alcohol is 7-8.5%; residual sugar is 22-80g per liter (off-dry to sweet). </p><p>The village of Cerdon is in the southern Jura mountains. The vineyards surround the village on steep southeastern mountainside slopes. The soils are rocky, so free draining; the climate is cool.</p><p>There is more to the Burgundy connection: In the pre-wine appellation middle ages, the Bugey region was considered to be Burgundy. And while the sparkling roses of Bugey-Cerdon are what the region is known for today, there are some serious pinots made in the other subappellations of Bugey.</p><p>Food affinities for Bugey-Cerdon? Try breakfast pastries. If it's a sweeter version, maybe some desserts.</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-57853689980671545882023-08-02T08:25:00.001-07:002023-08-03T08:02:47.127-07:00The EmilyThe Emily is a South African Chardonnay that curiously includes two percent Pinot Noir. Two percent. Why? Who knows? We would say just for the slightly pink color, except the two percent pinot also beefs up the body and enhances the flavor. So like we always say, there's no reason to blend grapes unless you improve the end result, and the proprietor, Longridge, has made The Emily a very worthwhile quaff.<div><br /></div><div>The <i>Emily</i> commemorated in the wine name is Emily Hobhouse, a humanitarian who exposed the cruelty of Anglo-Boer war concentration camps at the turn of the last century. They say as much on the back label. They also hint at the reason for the two percent Pinot Noir. They say it <u>is</u> for the color. "Oeil de Perdrix" (eye of the partridge) is a historic <i>very </i>blush color which wine makers seemingly aspire to recreate.</div><div><br /></div><div>The wine is sourced from Stellenbosch, the oldest and finest wine appellation in South Africa. Their claim to fame is Cabernet Sauvignon and those grapes, of course, get the choice hillside vineyards with their rocky soils. The white wine grapes typically are sourced from clayey Stellenbosch valley vineyards closer to the maritime influencing False Bay. The vineyards used for this wine are biodynamically farmed and the fruit is hand harvested.</div><div><br /></div><div>(FYI - Geologists claim South African soils to be the oldest vineyard soils in the world.)</div><div><br /></div><div>The Emily is unoaked Chardonnay but the wine is left on the lees for nine months before blending in the two percent oaked pinot. That would also account for some of its richness. Depending on which review you look at, the wine may have aromas and flavors of guava, kiwi, citrus, kumquat, peach, melon or green apple. We think this wine would go with chicken, turkey or maybe...partridge.</div>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-11668168587466698962023-07-27T08:42:00.000-07:002023-07-27T08:42:38.400-07:00Humbolt Fog<p>Humbolt Fog is a soft-ripening goat cheese with a layer of edible vegetarian ash in the middle. It is made by Cypress Grove Chevre of Arcata, California in Humbolt County.</p><p>Humbolt Fog's natural mould rind allows for ripening from outside of the cheese while at the same time keeping the middle soft and runny. Flavors include buttermilk and fresh cream with floral notes and herbaceous overtones. The cheese has a clean citrusy finish.</p><p>The Humbolt Fog cheesemaker suggests serving the cheese with prosciutto, tart apple, Marcona Almonds or with drizzled honey. Wine pairings include light roses and Blanc de Blancs Champagne and white wines that are not more acidic than the cheese, so probably something off-dry.</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-42638959636398228562023-07-18T09:18:00.000-07:002023-07-18T09:18:33.077-07:00Nals Margreid<p>It's always nice to get a wine tip from someone further up the distribution chain. That tip is usually more informed and objective and leads to some positive retail outcomes. This time we learned that "for the first time ever the Nals Margreid Italian wines were now available in this country," to which we more or less shrugged our shoulders. Who the hell is Nals Margreid anyway? Here's what we learned.</p><p>Nals Margreid is a cooperative venture of up to 140 grape growers in Alto Adige in the northeast corner of Italy. That region produces some of the country's finest white wines. Alto Adige vineyards are typically 300-400 meters above sea level with a southeastern exposure and sheltered to the north by the Alps. The climate is Mediterranean; the soils are rocky with evidence of ancient alluvial fans.</p><p>My supplier is usually reliable so I turned him loose and told him to send me a case of what he thought was the best Nals Margreid wine. He sent me the Sauvignon Blanc. It is a full-bodied white with straw yellow color with greenish hues. The nose is complex with aromatic herbs, citrus, berry and lychee nuts. The wine is crisp and tangy with grapefruit, gooseberry, cantaloup and sage. The memorable finish is long and balanced.</p><p>As good as it sounds the Nals Margreid Sauvignon Blanc in the store is from their entry level tier. It is 100% Sauv Blanc, hand harvested from the Alto Adige DOC, aged on the lees for five months in stainless steel, all of which accounts for its full-bodied racy character. </p><p>Gambero Rosso is the bible of Italian wines. They say Nals Margreid practices "severe selection" in grape harvesting, which must indicate quality. Moreover the winemaker is a young rising star in the business and blends from many of their select vineyards. Since this one is so fine we can only imagine how fine their higher tier wines are.</p><p>Try this one with spicy (perhaps Asian) white meats and seafood.</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-36771678354604500112023-07-12T12:04:00.001-07:002023-07-12T12:04:37.054-07:00Cabernet Sauvignon<p>Cabernet Sauvignon is the most popular red wine on the planet. We're not going to pretend we can do it justice here in one post, so what follows will be a condensed and contextualized summary of our recent Saturday afternoon Cabernet class. </p><p>The Cabernet Sauvignon grape is one of the younger vinifera wine grapes. It emerged from a vineyard mutation in 1700's western France, perhaps in Bordeaux. That mutation was caused by an accidental crossing of a Sauvignon Blanc vine with a Cabernet Franc vine.</p><p>As it turns out, that crossing may have been the best thing to happen in the wine industry in centuries. Not only is Cabernet wine as popular as it is but viticulturalists love the ease with which it grows. Sauvignon is French for "savage" meaning "wildness," and the term refers to the vine's adaptability to different environs. Nutritionally poor soil is not a problem for Cabernet vines. And while most grapes are locked into one climate or another, Cabernet does okay in a spectrum of climates, although the warmer the climate, the more pyrazines (bell pepper flavors) become apparent. Well draining soils are still optimal for Cabernet viticulture but you get the idea - growers love this grape.</p><p>The finest Cabernet Sauvignon comes from Bordeaux. Napa is second best. Maipo, Chile is third and Tuscany is fourth. At least that is the opinion of one expert we consulted. As we've said here many times - Good wine is where you find it and since this grape does so well in so many places, there are probably new great venues yet to be discovered.</p><p>California Cabernet is, of course, the toast of the town in this country. Common characteristics include a high acidity, leathery tannins and flavors of black cherry, pepper and, courtesy of oak barrel ageing, vanilla. Oak also tends to lighten tannins and accentuate the more complementary flavors in wine. When blended, and most Cabernet-labeled wines are actually blends, expect more dark berry flavors.</p><p>And finally, Cabernet Sauvignon is quintessential red meat wine; be it steak, hamburgers or really, anything else on the grill. Knowing what we know about how well this grape does everywhere, if you're in the neighborhood wine shop looking for something to have with dinner, hedge your bets and pick up a cab!</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-24054407939211743202023-06-27T07:10:00.004-07:002023-06-28T13:47:42.491-07:00Maddalena Cabernet Sauvignon<p>Maddalena is both a wine brand name and that brand's namesake. Born in Piedmont, Italy, Maddalena would marry into the Riboli wine-making family of Los Angeles and then became instrumental in their San Antonio Winery. The winery had been established in 1917 concurrently with the family's ongoing wholesale food business. If you follow their timeline, things at San Antonio really started taking off when Maddalena became involved in the 1940's.</p><p>Today the Riboli family has vineyard holdings in Monterey, Paso Robles and Napa and markets wines under thirteen labels. The Maddalena label was started in 1983 and today uses fruit from their estate in the El Pomar American Viticultural Area (AVA) within the larger Paso Robles AVA.</p><p>Back on April 15th we blogged about the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA and the strong winds from the Monterey Bay that cooled the area sufficiently enough to grow some pretty good Pinot Noir. El Pomar gets those same breezes further south through the Templeton Gap. Central to the whole of Paso Robles, the AVA is a higher elevation than most of Paso and has soils that reflect its marine past with alluvial fans and dry river and creek beds. Drainage is no problem with these kinds of soils so root systems can flourish.</p><p>The winds mentioned earlier serve to modulate the temperatures often providing a twenty to thirty-five degree shift daily, essential for creating lush ripe flavorful fruit. The 2021 Maddalena Cabernet Sauvignon in the store right now is bold and structured with a rich round body, silky texture and soft tannins. Flavors may include ripe dark plum, spicy cherry, vanilla, carmel and oak. It is the best we have under twenty dollars.</p><p><br /></p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-7344542999020898832023-06-17T05:02:00.060-07:002023-06-21T10:48:20.211-07:00Montepulciano and Montepulciano<p>Leave it to Italy to legislate two different wines with the same name. If you like muddy water, Italy can muddy the waters like no one else in this business.</p><p>So the greater of the two Montepulcianos is the Vino Nobile di Montepulciano which comes from the area around the village of Montepulciano in Tuscany. Like Chianti, Vino Nobile can be 100% Sangiovese but most versions are blends. By law that blend must be at least 70% Sangiovese but the remainder may include a number of local varieties or international types like Cabernet Sauvignon. This is a larger trend throughout Tuscany but what sets Vino Nobile apart is the care with which clones of Sangiovese are selected. Tuscany is full of the lesser clones that serve a purpose in quantifying production but Vino Nobile seems to have selected wisely and a lot of Chianti makers are now following their lead.</p><p>Over in Abuzzo on the other side of the penninsula the Montepulciano grape variety holds court. Always a value-driven wine from a less auspicious part of the country, Montepulciano d'Abuzzo too is upgrading its game. Hillside vineyards throughout the appellation are now producing better wines with ground zero for the upgrade being the town of Teramo where in 2003 its hillside vineyards were awarded a DOCG quality grade for their Montepulciano d'Abuzzo Colline Teramane.</p><p>Why this post now? Because Montepulciano d'Abruzzo was the subject Lettie Teague chose for a recent WSJ wine article. Teague is our favorite wine writer and her recommmendation of the Tiberio Montepulciano d'Abruzzo prompted us to add it to our inventory. Of the wine, she said, "...structured with dark fruit, spice and a firm mineral core." </p><p>We wrote about the Vino Nobile as an admission of our own confusion about Montepulcianos.</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9045999285428096465.post-82037644415496529112023-06-08T11:13:00.002-07:002023-06-14T11:12:25.737-07:00Zinfandel<p>Lets suspend reality for a minute and imagine 1850's California and the gold rush that was beckoning immigrants from around the world. They all wanted to get rich and they believed in their abilities to earn a slice of what in today's money would be a twenty-six billion dollar fortune. For the Italians among them, many tucked something special from the homeland into their backpacks, a grapevine packed in Italian soil. Primitivo, Italian Zinfandel, would have been the preferred type in most of those packs.</p><p>We know now that most of the gold rush bootie ended up in the coffers of the already affluent and the corporations they owned while most of the free agent miners probably got little for their efforts. But they did start an industry with their vines. For the next one 150 years Zinfandel would be crowned king in California, the most widely planted wine grape in the state. As recently as twenty years ago Zinfandel still held that status. Today it is ranked third behind, Cabernet and Chardonnay.</p><p>Why such popularity for such a humble vine? Simple - its vines produce a lot of berries. The nascent wine industry needed a workhorse to fill all those jugs that were the order of the day. Secondly - malleability. We think of big soft lucious red wine but Zinfandel can be light, full, sweet, dry, fortified, rose and lest we forget - white! White Zinfandel still makes up ten percent of the sales today. </p><p>Personally, we fondly remember the red field blends of fifty years ago that were probably mostly Zinfandel along with some combination of Petite Sirah, Syrah, Carignan, Grenache or really anything, such as field blends are. As long as the grapes weren't sourced from the Central Valley of California the wines were fine. Yeah, they were a little rough but they weren't aspiring to be Bordeaux. And they were better than the most celebrated Zinfandel of the time, Gallo's Hearty Burgundy.</p><p>And why are we writing about Zinfandel now? Because we just did a tasting of two types; one from the heel of the boot of Italy, the other from Napa Valley. Cooler climate Zin shows more red fruit while warmer climate Zin shows more black fruit according to the experts. So the Napa wine should've been raspberry and the Italian should've been blackberry, right? Well, not exactly. It turns out both venues are about the same latitude! So we just judged the wines on their attributes. They were both very good in their own way!</p>Vine & Cheesehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05385916827960205723noreply@blogger.com0