Carmenere

This post is about Carmenere, the finest wine grape of Chile.  We've written about it several times in the past, alway recounting its fascinating backstory about how it became what it is today.  Now it's time to move on.  Stop by the store if you want to hear the story. 

Carmenere finds its best expression in the Central Valley of Chile.  The Central Valley is huge with several microclimates going both north to south and east to west.  North and South in the southern hemisphere would, of course, reverse what we know about climate in the Central Coast of California.  The east-west business has no obvious parallel elsewhere.  The Andes Mountain foothills offer much desired elevation for fine wine vineyards while the flatlands closer to the ocean offer a venue for bulk wine production. All within a hundred miles or so!

So, is Carmenere one of the great wine grapes of the world?  Probably not.  Although the usual disclaimer applies here like everywhere else - If you get the right grape planted in the ideal location the wine can potentially be world class.  The Apalta vineyards of the Colchagua Valley are just that and if you want proof, scroll down to our February 16th post.

Today there are just a few hundred acres of Carmenere left in all of Europe.  A limited amount is still found in its birthplace, Bordeaux, where it retains its original name, Grand Vidure. The grape has a legacy there, having parented most of the better known Bordeaux varieties.  Most European Carmenere today can be found in northeastern Italy where it wears the moniker Carmenero.  The name Carmenere, of course, comes from the dark red-purplish color, carmine.

So we said earlier that Carmenere was probably not one of the top tier wine grapes.  It is however one helluva blender and that is what its role was in Bordeaux.  It is most similar to Petit Verdot.  In Chile it is an essential component of the greatest wines of the country.  It adds soft structured tannins and aromas of red fruit (berries) and spices.  On the palate it offers dark chocolate, tobacco and leather.  If yields are restricted, the herbaceousness that puts some of us off, is limited.  

When bottled as a single varietal, Carmenere makes a fine glass of dry red wine.  But when it's in a blend with Syrah, Cabernet and/or the other usual components, Carmenere shows its full potential.  Chile, like California, only requires 75% of a varietally labeled wine to be composed of that grape.  So if you get into a bottle of varietal Carmenere, knowing what we know about its usage, it is probably a 25% mixture of Cabernet, Syrah or any of the usual blenders.  Usually a darker color in the glass shows it's a blend and that is what you want.

Mistral Winds & Matthew Fritz

Mistral (Masterly) Winds are strong cold northwesterly winds that greatly affect the French viticulture in Provence and the Languedoc region as a whole.  Languedoc is where a third of the wines of France come from and Provence is the worldwide model for Rose.  Depending on location, the winds can either be beneficial or harmful to vineyards.  They range from 40 mph to 115 mph and can last for a day or two to more than a week.

Camargue is a natural region south of the city of Arles encompassing the Rhone River delta at the Mediterranean Sea.  It's sizable expanse includes many lakes and marshes providing habitat for its unique flora and fauna.  This region, which has been protected since 1970, faces the brunt of the strongest Mistral Winds.

While the winds don't start in the Rhone Valley it is there that their speed accelerates and their temperatures drop.  Coming from Chicago we are familiar with wind tunnels through highrise buildings.  The Rhone does that but it also channels in the colder air dropping downward from the mountains, further driving the force of the winds. 

Just like the river delta, the winds fan out at land's end with the stronger ones seeming to head eastward toward Provence while the French Basque region gets relatively mild breezes.  While the winds can happen at any time of the year, the winter and spring seasons have the strongest, most dangerous winds.

So why are we writing about the winds of France?  Because similar winds have helped to create one of the finest Pinot Noir venues of California.  Santa Lucia Highlands is an eighteen mile long ribbon of land carved out of the Central Coast wine appellation in 1991.   It lies thirty-five minutes southeast of Monterey Bay in a diagonal groove between the Santa Lucia Mountains to the west and the Gavilan Mountains to the east.  The appellation, of course, is so named because it's on the Santa Lucia side of the groove with eastern facing vineyards.

Matthew Fritz is a wine company formed by the collaboration of Matthew Bonanno and Fritz Stuhlmuller, two gentlemen whose last names are synonymous with high quality California wines.  The Bonanno and Stuhlmuller family wineries lie respectively in Napa and Alexander Valleys, two of the finest venues in the state. 

Pinot Noir, being a cool weather grape, prefers northern latitudes.  In this case, however, it's the Mistral-like winds from the bay that brought Matthew Fritz to Santa Lucia Highlands for their fine pinot.

Red Wine and Seafood, Part 2

Last time we wanted to convey an understanding that while anyone can opt for any pairing they would like, there are some whites that are intended to be served with seafood.  We concluded with the pitch for considering Rose wine because it really does go with anything.

Lets dissect this issue a little further.  Seafood isn't uniform.  There are many types and they can be prepared a lot of different ways.  Skipping to the chase, if you're broiling a lean white fish you really need a light wine, preferably a white or rose.  If you're roasting a hearty, meaty piece of fish, a lighter red sounds good.  If you're grilling salmon or tuna outside or blackening it in the house, all bets are off.  Go for it.  Get that great red you're dying to try and feature it with the meal.

Last time we used the map of Italy as a visual aid to justify Italian white wine as a go-to for seafood meals.  Using the same motivation can we say Italian reds are potentially seafood wines?  I think so, at least a good many of the lighter ones.  Recently we wrote about the rustic reds from the heel of the Italian boot.  They are truly red meat wines.  Would they work with blackened fish?  We'd love to try it!

Now here are three cautions to keep in mind with red wine and seafood.  

    1. Wine Enthusiast says skip the lemon.  Your red wine flavors will take a beating if they have to compete with lemon.

    2. From Phil Berardelli in Science Insider - There is a fatty acid in fish that breaks down rapidly when mixed with red wine.  Iron is the problem.  All red wines contain some level of iron courtesy of the soils in the vineyards.  The ones with a higher level will bring out the fishiness in sea food.  The problem?  How do you know the iron content of your wine?

    3. Want to make your pairing really pop?  Choose your wine to complement the dominant flavor in the dish.  Whether it's an herb or spice or if there is a sauce, stew, gravy or soup in the offing, consider pairing that element with your wine selection.

Red Wine with Seafood

When we got into this business way back in 1976, white wines outsold reds three to one.  Maybe it was four to one.  Anyway, trying to sell reds was difficult.  Now, fifty years later, reds are what everyone wants and that is good.  They are, objectively, better than whites.  More breadth and richness, more developed structure, more character in every respect.

Regularly we hear from our red wine lovers that the food pairing rules really don't apply anymore; like that kind of quaint stuff should be relegated to a bygone time.  If a big California Cabernet is what I want with my dinner, no matter what it is, then that is what I will have.  And that mandate is perfectly fine.  We aren't old Europe.  We do things differently here.  And like I said, that's okay. 

Pinot Noir is the great red grape of the world.  So said Jim Sanders, my long passed fine wine mentor.  Jim was a French Burgundy expert and said amongst other things, "Cabernet Sauvignon opens up in the glass; Pinot noir actually i-m-p-r-o-v-e-s."  It's been at least twenty years since his passing so I think it's safe to say, that subject could be debated.

Recently a customer came in consulting his wine app which said he needed a Pinot Noir with his Asian seafood dish.  Generously, the app said either French Burgundy or Oregon pinot would be fine.  Upon hearing this I wanted to pull out my non-existent hair.  His Asian sauce sounded sweet and a dry burgundy would have been the culinary equivalent of fingernails scratching on the blackboard.  So we sold him the Oregon wine.  And Jim did cartwheels in his grave.  

The customer is alway right.

This post is not sour grapes.  There are reasons for choosing any food and wine combination and they are personal.  But here's the thing: There are wines that are intended to go with seafood.  While you may choose a red with your seafood, and that is perfectly fine if you do, you may also choose a white from, say, Italy, which you may notice on the map, is surrounded by water.

And just for the record, Roses go with anything.

Cantine San Marzano

A couple weeks ago we had the opportunity to taste six from Cantine San Marzano located in the heel of the boot of Italy.  The larger wine appellation running up the back side of the boot is called Puglia but the heel itself is called Salento.  It is comprised of three wine producing provinces; Tarantino, Brindisi and Lecce; from north to south.  Marzano is a small village near the middle of the boot (Brindisi region) located in the Primitivo di Manduria DOP (Denominazione di Origine Protetta.)

At their website Cantine San Marzano traces their history to 1962 when nineteen growers affiliated for the purpose of advancing their common interest - grape growing.  In 1996 through the efforts of their leadership they built their physical plant and in 2000 they created their signature wine, Sessantani Primitivo Di Manduria.  Of the six new Marzano wines in the store only two have DOP status, the one we just mentioned and the 62 Anniversario Riserva Primitivo Di Manduria.  Much of Salento is apparently undistinguished according to Italian wine law.  Even perhaps the best known wine of the region, Salice Salentino, is considered vino da tavola.  

Traditional red wines from Salento are powerful, dry, rustic reds that are meant to complement strongly flavored red meat meals.  Because of the hot and dry growing conditions there, that is basically the only red wine style possible for them.  Fifty grape types are allowed in Salento, most of which arrived on their shores thousands of years ago from Greece.  Primitivo (Zinfandel), while originally from Croatia, most likely arrived here like the others, courtesy of Greek traders.  Most reds are constructed of Primitivo or Negroamaro with Malvasia Nera as filler.  The main white of the region is Fiano.

Like elsewhere in Italy and around the world, the international grapes have taken hold in Salento.  The white wine in our Marzano purchase is predominantly Chardonnay.  We have both a Primitivo and Negroamaro that are exceptional everyday-priced reds.  Aside from the two primo Primitivos listed above we also have a Negroamaro called F, short for Feudi di San Marzano.  

As we said, the two lower priced reds are formidable entries into that category.  The white is exceptional.  F is an IGP (Indicazione Geographica Protetta), a less distinguished quality level, but still priced like a DOP and of comparable quality to the two Primitivos.  What makes the higher tier worth the bigger bucks?  The grapes are hand harvested from old bush vines.  They have a 24-48 hour cold soak maceration before undergoing a temperature controlled malolactic fermentation.  The wine is then aged a year in oak. 

Slovenia

When we think of Slovenia, if we think of it at all, Melania Trump may be what comes to mind.  We need to expand our horizons.  Slovenia, like so many other eastern European countries, has fine wines that probably rank with the better known examples from France and Italy.

The Slovenian type we are most familiar with is Pinot Grigio.  The grape originated in northern France centuries ago and migrated east showing distinction only sporadically, like in Alsace and Alto Adige, Italy.  Ordinary Pinot is light, simple and without distinction.  In Slovenia, adjacent to Italy to the east, it's fatter, richer, softer and ideal for lazy afternoon porch sitting.

Other successful wine grapes in Slovenia include Riesling and Pinot Noir and some native types that are probably as good or better than the acclaimed types but we won't see them here because they won't sell in this market.  Spelling and pronounciation are the issue.  Slovenian names for places and things are kind of hard to digest.  But because they have a winemaking history that goes back to the 4th-5th centuries B.C., you have to assume they know what they're doing.  

We have two types in the store right now, a Pinot Noir and a Dry Riesling.  They are both 100% varietal wines, sourced from eastern Slovenia just south of Austria.  The climate there is continental, featuring great temperature variation and windy steep hillside vineyards suitable for blowing off pests and fungi.  The soils are marl, clay and sand.

The Sanctum Pinot Noir has a bright cranberry and vegetal nose with an elegant and intense mouthfeel featuring a garden salad of vegetable and spice flavors.  It would complement soups, stews, sauces and gravies and most any red meat dishes.

The Joannes Protner Riesling has a floral nose with pronounced stone fruit and petroleum.  Those structured flavors become electrified on the palate when combined with the wine's chalky minerality.

Demarie & Roero

Paolo Demarie is a third generation winemaker for his family-owned Demarie wine company.  Their easy drinking Barbera d'Alba Superiore has been a staple here at the store for the last couple years.    Only recently have we learned how good their Langhe Nebbiolo is; first from our vendor and then from our customer base who tried it.  So rest assured, the Nebbiolo should be a fixture here for the foreseeable future.

Demarie owns twenty-nine hectares of vineyards in Vezza d'Alba in the Roero district of Piedmont, the finest wine region of Italy.  Only two grapes are allowed in Roero; Italy's great red, Nebbiolo, and Piedmont's great white, Arneis.  Plantings in Roero tend to favor Arneis three to one over Nebbiolo so since both the Demarie Barbera and Nebbiolo carry appellations other than Roero, it's safe to assume it's mostly Arneis growing in the estate vineyards.  Italian wine law is loose enough though to assume some of the Demarie estate Nebbiolo can find its way into both the Barbera and Nebbiolo.

The Roero wine appellation has a continental climate with steep hillside vineyards with sandy, calcareous clay.  It is located in south-central Piedmont which is in the upper western corner of Italy.  Both our Barbera d'Alba and Langhe Nebbiolo are sourced within a mile of Roero.  Langhe is adjacent to Roero to the southwest; d'Alba is due south.  Demarie also owns vineyards in Italy's two premier wine regions, Barolo and Barbaresco, which lie an equidistant three miles away to the southeast and southwest.  As should be obvious at this point, this is not a bad neighborhood to be in.

Demarie has a versatile food-friendly wine style that aims for elegance and finesse while basically complementing any meal on the dinner table.  This model for both the Barbera and Nebbiolo makes it a sure winner for most of our needs.  When you consider how tannic some of those gold standard Barolos and Barbarescos can be, the Demarie style is a pure delight.