Back when I got into this business Dolcettos were quite the hot item. They were every bit the equal of Barberas and frequently rivaled Nebbiolos. Not so nowadays. Nebbiolos have rightfully assumed the throne in Piedmont, the finest wine region of Italy, and Barberas have become the hot commodity worldwide due to their ample production and international style. Dolcettos, by default, seem to have been left in the dust.
So the good news for wine lovers everywhere in just such a situation is that pricing becomes favorable for the commercial loser and experimentation with new wine styles becomes alluring. Historically Dolcettos have always been light fruity pizza and pasta wines. Now with mass marketers running the show, the hang time in the vineyards is being extended to achieve the rich, intense and overpowering fruit and alcohol that the new world loves. And if that style sells then that will be the norm going forward and, of course, the price increases will follow.
Our entry into the field currently is the Due Corti Dolcetto d'Alba and it is most definitely a food wine. It has not been reconstructed for the current tastes and would satisfy with most any red meat dish. Say you saw it here and Due Corte is just $10/bottle.
So what does the future hold for this variety? With Nebbiolo-based Barolos being such cellar selections, Dolcetto should be able to find store shelf space among the Barberas. The Piedmontese need a successful worldwide Dolcetto presence. Early maturing with a limited maceration period, Dolcetto is a cash flow must for winemakers who want money in their pockets while they wait on the Barolos.
Monday, April 17, 2017
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Vinfusion
The following is a report on an article from the 11/5/16 The Economist magazine entitled, "The War on Terroir". Terroir is the historic term meant to encompass all of the conditions in the vineyard that makes a wine from that vineyard unique; the sunlight, wine, soil, terrain, climate, and more. The problem for the term in this modern era is that consumers now don't value such distinction. Shoppers typically look for wines that fit the flavor profile of what they think it should taste like. And then, of course, in this modern era the wine mass marketers aim to make the wine that best fits that profile.
In their research on the subject Cambridge Consultants, the English technology company that created the Vinfusion apparatus, found that wine drinkers in restaurants and bars are creatures of habit, always ordering the same type. Even though seventy percent of them are dissatisfied by what they get, according to the research, they continue to order the same thing instead of venturing out and trying others. So apparently even the mass marketers haven't nailed down the ideal restaurant wine style.
Cambridge Consultants took this situation as a jumping off point to throw their hat into the winemaking ring. They surveyed wine drinkers for common tasting adjectives and then narrowed their findings down to three contrasting qualities; light/full bodied, dry/sweet, and soft/fiery. They then proceeded to examine several wines for the best examples of these different traits before narrowing the field to four; an Australian Shiraz, a French Muscat, and a Chilean Merlot and Pinot Noir.
Those four paradigms are stored in tanks beneath the apparatus which sort of resembles a coffee filter/funnel over a pad where your wine glass rests instead of a coffee pot. A touch screen allows the customer to slide a dial between sweetness and dryness, lightness and full-bodied, and softness and fieriness to create their ideal glass. After the blend is selected, you push the button and...voila! The perfect glass of wine!
So is this revolutionary? Not really. Wine making has always had blending as part of its science and being a commercial endeavor, customer satisfaction has always been the goal. In the modern era no one does it like the mass marketers, but even so, wine preferences are still coming down to personal choice so Vinfusion has a place in the modern scheme of thing.
In their research on the subject Cambridge Consultants, the English technology company that created the Vinfusion apparatus, found that wine drinkers in restaurants and bars are creatures of habit, always ordering the same type. Even though seventy percent of them are dissatisfied by what they get, according to the research, they continue to order the same thing instead of venturing out and trying others. So apparently even the mass marketers haven't nailed down the ideal restaurant wine style.
Cambridge Consultants took this situation as a jumping off point to throw their hat into the winemaking ring. They surveyed wine drinkers for common tasting adjectives and then narrowed their findings down to three contrasting qualities; light/full bodied, dry/sweet, and soft/fiery. They then proceeded to examine several wines for the best examples of these different traits before narrowing the field to four; an Australian Shiraz, a French Muscat, and a Chilean Merlot and Pinot Noir.
Those four paradigms are stored in tanks beneath the apparatus which sort of resembles a coffee filter/funnel over a pad where your wine glass rests instead of a coffee pot. A touch screen allows the customer to slide a dial between sweetness and dryness, lightness and full-bodied, and softness and fieriness to create their ideal glass. After the blend is selected, you push the button and...voila! The perfect glass of wine!
So is this revolutionary? Not really. Wine making has always had blending as part of its science and being a commercial endeavor, customer satisfaction has always been the goal. In the modern era no one does it like the mass marketers, but even so, wine preferences are still coming down to personal choice so Vinfusion has a place in the modern scheme of thing.
Saturday, March 25, 2017
Vina Perez Cruz
Have you ever tasted a wine that was so good you couldn't shake it from your memory? I know some of you have because you bring in your often old and tattered notes from some bygone time and place where the stuff was so great you simply must have it again. This is where some sober figure is supposed to step in and remind you that that was then and this is now...so just grow up!
Well, I'm with you on this one because when I tasted the 2012 Vina Perez Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva from Chile I didn't just write it down, I kept the bottle behind the counter here to make sure I eventually got the wine. That was over a year ago when the vendor convinced me that, as good as it was, Perez Cruz wouldn't sell and I'd be better off with the well known brand. And I let him!
Now a year and a half later I'm in the Perez Cruz business, albeit with the current 2013 vintage. So because this is an unknown brand with an exceedingly plain white label, I did some much needed homework and here are the selling points:
1. Perez Cruz is a Paul Hobbs import which means a lot to many of us.
2. It is a family-owned, single vineyard, estate bottled effort, which means quality control.
3. The grapes are hand harvested from low yielding vines, again, quality control.
4. The property exhibits the diurnal effect of contrasting temperatures (Mediterranean Climate) meaning ripe fruit.
5. The vineyards are sustainably farmed in stony soils poor in nutrients, just what you want.
6. The vineyards are situated in the Andean foothills of Maipo Alta at 1,400-1,700 feet altitude.
7. The estate's thoroughly modern, gravity-fed winery is an architectural masterpiece which may not have a bearing on the wine quality but impressive none the less!
8. German Lyon is the French winemaker who probably knows what he's doing.
Now here are the adjectives culled from several reviews: fresh, soft (tannins), well-balanced, bright acidity, smoky oak, red fruits, black cherry, cassis, herbs, and mint.
Instead of doing the same with food affinities, let's just say burgers and any other red meat off the grill.
Now, buy it here for under twenty dollars!
Well, I'm with you on this one because when I tasted the 2012 Vina Perez Cruz Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva from Chile I didn't just write it down, I kept the bottle behind the counter here to make sure I eventually got the wine. That was over a year ago when the vendor convinced me that, as good as it was, Perez Cruz wouldn't sell and I'd be better off with the well known brand. And I let him!
Now a year and a half later I'm in the Perez Cruz business, albeit with the current 2013 vintage. So because this is an unknown brand with an exceedingly plain white label, I did some much needed homework and here are the selling points:
1. Perez Cruz is a Paul Hobbs import which means a lot to many of us.
2. It is a family-owned, single vineyard, estate bottled effort, which means quality control.
3. The grapes are hand harvested from low yielding vines, again, quality control.
4. The property exhibits the diurnal effect of contrasting temperatures (Mediterranean Climate) meaning ripe fruit.
5. The vineyards are sustainably farmed in stony soils poor in nutrients, just what you want.
6. The vineyards are situated in the Andean foothills of Maipo Alta at 1,400-1,700 feet altitude.
7. The estate's thoroughly modern, gravity-fed winery is an architectural masterpiece which may not have a bearing on the wine quality but impressive none the less!
8. German Lyon is the French winemaker who probably knows what he's doing.
Now here are the adjectives culled from several reviews: fresh, soft (tannins), well-balanced, bright acidity, smoky oak, red fruits, black cherry, cassis, herbs, and mint.
Instead of doing the same with food affinities, let's just say burgers and any other red meat off the grill.
Now, buy it here for under twenty dollars!
Monday, March 20, 2017
Franciscan Vineyards Magnificat
This coming Thursday, the 23rd of March, we will be tasting the 2012 vintage of Magnificat, one of the original Meritage wines from the creation of that category in 1985. This vintage is 73% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, and 3% Malbec. The grapes are sourced from Franciscan's best Napa Valley vineyards and aged for twenty months in 70% new oak barrels. This vintage received 91 points from the Wine Enthusiast magazine.
Magnificat is named after the Bach masterpiece so you would expect complexity and more. If the reviews on the internet are to mean anything then they reflect that complexity to a fault; that is, every review sites different flavors and aromas, which, to put a good slant on it, means the wine oozes complexity and defies easy description. I guess maybe it could have been reviewed at different times too to account for the divergent observations. The great New York retailer Sherry-Lehman may have stated it best with "multi-layered, remarkably complex, impressive array of aromas and flavors." The most common color description noted is "garnet".
In 1985 the great twentieth century wine giant, Agustin Huneeus (blogposts 1/31/13, 4/7/15), bought a floundering and thoroughly mediocre Franciscan Vineyards and instantly turned around their fortunes. In the 1985 inaugural year for Meritage wines Magnificat was one of two dozen offered in the category. A Meritage red by definition is the best wine a California estate can make using all or any of the Bordeaux blending grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petite Verdot.
In 1999 Huneeus sold Franciscan Vineyards to Constellation Brands, the second largest wine company in the world (after Gallo). It is now operated as part of a separate division of the company dedicated to prestigious northern California Estates and has been re-christened Franciscan Estates.
Magnificat is named after the Bach masterpiece so you would expect complexity and more. If the reviews on the internet are to mean anything then they reflect that complexity to a fault; that is, every review sites different flavors and aromas, which, to put a good slant on it, means the wine oozes complexity and defies easy description. I guess maybe it could have been reviewed at different times too to account for the divergent observations. The great New York retailer Sherry-Lehman may have stated it best with "multi-layered, remarkably complex, impressive array of aromas and flavors." The most common color description noted is "garnet".
In 1985 the great twentieth century wine giant, Agustin Huneeus (blogposts 1/31/13, 4/7/15), bought a floundering and thoroughly mediocre Franciscan Vineyards and instantly turned around their fortunes. In the 1985 inaugural year for Meritage wines Magnificat was one of two dozen offered in the category. A Meritage red by definition is the best wine a California estate can make using all or any of the Bordeaux blending grapes: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petite Verdot.
In 1999 Huneeus sold Franciscan Vineyards to Constellation Brands, the second largest wine company in the world (after Gallo). It is now operated as part of a separate division of the company dedicated to prestigious northern California Estates and has been re-christened Franciscan Estates.
Saturday, February 25, 2017
The Wine Series by Cosentino
I met a Cosentino winery representative a few years ago after making a sizable purchase of their proprietary Napa wines. Considering all of the consolidation going on in the industry, I had to ask this individual whether Cosentino was still privately held. Sheepishly he said they had recently made the decision to partner with some other small wineries in order to compete with the mass marketers.
I have since learned that the historic Cosentino Winery failed in 2010, a casualty of the recession, and it was bought in bankruptcy by Vintage Wine Estates in 2011. So it was already a mass marketer in its own right when I had my conversation with the rep. Vintage Wine Estates markets twenty-five or so wineries including Swanson, Girard, Clos Pegas, B R Cohn, Buried Cane, Viansa, Delectus, and even Gougenheim from Argentina.
We're writing about Cosentino because we just received five reds from The Wine Series by Cosentino, a line of Lodi sourced wines with names like The Cab, The Chard, and so on. The wines are really quite good and retail in the sweet spot economically. Even though I'm not a fan of either Lodi or Zinfandel, The Zin is the best in the line and recommended to all who are reading this.
Wine Business Monthly is a publication that issues an annual "Top 30 Wine Companies" list that is interesting in the same way going to a horse race is if you're a sharecropper with a mule. You don't envy the participants so much as you stand in awe of the spectacle. Here are the top eight:
1. E&J Gallo Winery
2. The Wine Group
3. Constellation Brands
4. Trinchero Family Estates
5. Bronco Wine Company
6. Treasury Wine Estates
7. DFV
8. Jackson Family Estates
I'm stopping at eight because you have to subscribe to WBM to get the whole list. Wine Curmudgeon.com analyses the list and concludes that these top thirty wine companies make 90% of the wine consumed in America. They represent .04% of the wine companies in the country. The top three companies make more than half of all wine sold here which means the other 7,400 wine companies in America are competing for the remaining 40% or so.
I am sure Vintage Wine Estates is on the list somewhere. As for the mass marketing of wine in general, I guess it is what it is.
I have since learned that the historic Cosentino Winery failed in 2010, a casualty of the recession, and it was bought in bankruptcy by Vintage Wine Estates in 2011. So it was already a mass marketer in its own right when I had my conversation with the rep. Vintage Wine Estates markets twenty-five or so wineries including Swanson, Girard, Clos Pegas, B R Cohn, Buried Cane, Viansa, Delectus, and even Gougenheim from Argentina.
We're writing about Cosentino because we just received five reds from The Wine Series by Cosentino, a line of Lodi sourced wines with names like The Cab, The Chard, and so on. The wines are really quite good and retail in the sweet spot economically. Even though I'm not a fan of either Lodi or Zinfandel, The Zin is the best in the line and recommended to all who are reading this.
Wine Business Monthly is a publication that issues an annual "Top 30 Wine Companies" list that is interesting in the same way going to a horse race is if you're a sharecropper with a mule. You don't envy the participants so much as you stand in awe of the spectacle. Here are the top eight:
1. E&J Gallo Winery
2. The Wine Group
3. Constellation Brands
4. Trinchero Family Estates
5. Bronco Wine Company
6. Treasury Wine Estates
7. DFV
8. Jackson Family Estates
I'm stopping at eight because you have to subscribe to WBM to get the whole list. Wine Curmudgeon.com analyses the list and concludes that these top thirty wine companies make 90% of the wine consumed in America. They represent .04% of the wine companies in the country. The top three companies make more than half of all wine sold here which means the other 7,400 wine companies in America are competing for the remaining 40% or so.
I am sure Vintage Wine Estates is on the list somewhere. As for the mass marketing of wine in general, I guess it is what it is.
Monday, February 20, 2017
Cantina La-Vis
Last Thursday at the weekly event we featured three new Italian reds along with a Russian River Chardonnay. Dave Klepinger, our vendor, said his company really didn't need new Italians in a portfolio that was already rich in that category but succumbed to them after tasting them. When he tasted me on them a week before the event, I too fell for them. The selling point? Easy...price!
Our best seller that evening was the La-Vis Pinot Nero (Noir), a wine that was more substantial than the standard "light, refreshing, fruity & perfumy" red that seems to be the standard. This one had depth, earthiness, and texture", if not Burgundian in style, at least a step above similarly priced New World fare. I think it would pair well with a variety of lighter grilled foods.
The La-Vis wines (Pinot Grigio is here too) are made at the winery in the village of the same name which was established by the Cembran family in 1850. In 1948 it became a cooperative venture with eight hundred members (1300 growers) and eight hundred hectares in vineyards. The winery lies in the Avisiane hills in the Trentino province of northeastern Italy where ninety percent of the production is classified DOC (denominazione di origine controllata).
Cantina La-Vis is part of the cooperative movement in Italy that advocates for "mutuality" in production benefits at a time when cooperation is imperative considering the competitive world market. They also follow the 1980 Progetto Zonazione (Zoning Project) motto, "The right vine in the right place." The cooperative evaluates its vineyard qualities in order to market multiple wine labels reflecting different quality levels to fit different price points. The La-Vis pinots are a $12.99 retail here.
This Thursday at 5pm Ryan Woolfolk offers us a tasting of French Chinon, Spanish Red Rioja, Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, and Italian Pinot Grigio. Please join us.
Our best seller that evening was the La-Vis Pinot Nero (Noir), a wine that was more substantial than the standard "light, refreshing, fruity & perfumy" red that seems to be the standard. This one had depth, earthiness, and texture", if not Burgundian in style, at least a step above similarly priced New World fare. I think it would pair well with a variety of lighter grilled foods.
The La-Vis wines (Pinot Grigio is here too) are made at the winery in the village of the same name which was established by the Cembran family in 1850. In 1948 it became a cooperative venture with eight hundred members (1300 growers) and eight hundred hectares in vineyards. The winery lies in the Avisiane hills in the Trentino province of northeastern Italy where ninety percent of the production is classified DOC (denominazione di origine controllata).
Cantina La-Vis is part of the cooperative movement in Italy that advocates for "mutuality" in production benefits at a time when cooperation is imperative considering the competitive world market. They also follow the 1980 Progetto Zonazione (Zoning Project) motto, "The right vine in the right place." The cooperative evaluates its vineyard qualities in order to market multiple wine labels reflecting different quality levels to fit different price points. The La-Vis pinots are a $12.99 retail here.
This Thursday at 5pm Ryan Woolfolk offers us a tasting of French Chinon, Spanish Red Rioja, Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon, and Italian Pinot Grigio. Please join us.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Meinklang and Demeter Certification
At yesterday's wine tasting here at the store the most interesting wine on the table was the 2015 Meinklang Burgenlandwhite, a Gruner Veltliner blend from Austria. The wine is biodynamic and Demeter certified which is one way of saying it's about as wholesome and politically correct as it gets.
Meinklang is the name of the farm run by the Michlits family in Burgenland which is in eastern Austria south of Vienna. The estate features unpruned or "graupert" vineyards along with fruit orchards, agricultural fields, and livestock in the form of Angus cattle. The wine is matured in concrete egg-shaped containers on the property.
Demeter certification requires crop rotation, composting, and homeopathic sprays instead of all of the commercial fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides in use today. All of the components of the estate listed above must work together to provide a self contained sustainability for the property. An allowance for ten percent of the property to be set aside for biodiversity (flowers, trees, water features, and wildlife habitat) is another requirement. When the Demeter Farm Standard is met, the property is certified and then inspected annually for compliance.
The healthier soil provided by the Demeter system create larger vine root systems resulting in wines displaying greater terroir. Natural wines made in this manner exemplify the finest expression of what an environment can produced without additives.
Wine is a relative latecomer to the Demeter system which is philosophy that treats a certified estate as a living organism. The system was in place for food production well before the advent of biodynamic wine into the system. The term biodynamic is trademarked by Demeter and may only legally appear on a Demeter certified property label.
The 2015 Meinklang Burgenlandwhite is a blend of 50% Gruner Veltliner, 40% Welschriesling, and 10% Muscat. It is light and dry with a slight spritz probably due to its youth. This wine would work fine with shellfish and green salads.
Meinklang is the name of the farm run by the Michlits family in Burgenland which is in eastern Austria south of Vienna. The estate features unpruned or "graupert" vineyards along with fruit orchards, agricultural fields, and livestock in the form of Angus cattle. The wine is matured in concrete egg-shaped containers on the property.
Demeter certification requires crop rotation, composting, and homeopathic sprays instead of all of the commercial fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides in use today. All of the components of the estate listed above must work together to provide a self contained sustainability for the property. An allowance for ten percent of the property to be set aside for biodiversity (flowers, trees, water features, and wildlife habitat) is another requirement. When the Demeter Farm Standard is met, the property is certified and then inspected annually for compliance.
The healthier soil provided by the Demeter system create larger vine root systems resulting in wines displaying greater terroir. Natural wines made in this manner exemplify the finest expression of what an environment can produced without additives.
Wine is a relative latecomer to the Demeter system which is philosophy that treats a certified estate as a living organism. The system was in place for food production well before the advent of biodynamic wine into the system. The term biodynamic is trademarked by Demeter and may only legally appear on a Demeter certified property label.
The 2015 Meinklang Burgenlandwhite is a blend of 50% Gruner Veltliner, 40% Welschriesling, and 10% Muscat. It is light and dry with a slight spritz probably due to its youth. This wine would work fine with shellfish and green salads.
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