It's Difficult To Teach Your Students To Appreciate Wines That You Don't Care For

But, that's just part of teaching!  Currently, we are studying Chardonnay -- I love White Burgundy, many Chardonnay's from California and even Chile but I don't admire this variety, for the most part, from Australia. Mainly, because I'm not a fan of lot's of butter and lot's of oak (some California Chardonnays fit this bill as well.) However, I can honestly say that I  do love Leeuwin Estate Chardonnay from the Margaret River area of Australia.

What you should know about Chardonnay?  It's one of the easiest wine varietals to grow, it's considered an international grape variety (because it is grown so many places and is so popular,) and it can be made in several different styles from un-oaked and fruity to rich and buttery.

I'm drinking B.R. COHN 2009 Sonoma County Chardonnay at the moment -- on the .05 cent sale at BEVMO.  It's easy to drink, good overtones of fruit, apple and butter -- easy on the palate and the second bottle is basically free!

Wine Quotes That I Love!

There are more old wine drinkers than old doctors -- German Proverb

  

If wine interferes with your business, put your business aside -- Spanish Proverb

The best kind of wine is that which is most pleasant to him who drinks it -- Pliny The Elder

I like best the wine drunk at the cost to others -- Diogenes the Cynic (Greek Philosopher)

Legs, Tears and All Those Fears!

Legs -- also referred to as Tears:  provides information on the amount of viscosity or body in the wine and can help determine if the wine is from a cool or warm climate.  

Many a client has asked me about the legs or tears in wine, usually with a voice full of trepidation, worried that because they don't really know what legs are, they can't get a grasp of the wine in their glass.

If you want to know what all the fuss is about, take a glass of wine and swirl it, then, watch the wine fall down the sides of the glass.  If it runs fast, the wine is most likely lighter in body and in alcohol and the grapes are from a cooler climate.  If the legs are slow, than the opposite -- higher body and alcohol, with grapes from a warmer climate.  But there are always exceptions, such as dessert wine because of their sugar content.   

Legs can give you indications about the wine but are not absolutes -- tasting the wine will provide you with much more concrete evidence and is a bit more fun than watching it fall down the sides of your glass!

Lively Minerality, Lemon Zest And Apple - As Only A TRUE Chablis Can Offer

May sound odd, but I'm tasting this lovely William Fevre Champs Royaux 2009 Chablis at room temperature.  I evaluate almost all my wines at room temp because this temperature gives a clearer picture of the wine, faults and all.  At tonight's dinner party, we will serve it much cooler to give the lively acidity and minerality room to shine.

Chablis is a region in France that produces amazing Chardonnay --.once the largest white wine import into the United States. Famous for flintiness, stoniness, razing acidity, and fruit, most Chablis are great food wines and this William Fevre is no exception (and extremely well-priced, under $20.)  Try it as an aperitif, with oysters, almost any shellfish (minus the butter sauce,) cheese, fish and chicken piccata.

Spent yesterday in Monterey, Carmel By The Sea and Carmel Valley (organizing WineFUNdamental's first ever consumer wine weekend -- details soon to follow.)  Met with Michelle at Chateau Julian -- great wines and fantastic place to have a party!  Check it out at www.chateaujulien.com.

In Solidarity With My Bordeaux Brethren...

VINEXPO, the largest wine trade show (i.e. wine tasting) in the world is taking place in Bordeaux this week and, unfortunately for me, I'm still in California.  I've rarely missed it but just couldn't fit it in the schedule this year.  I've had to endure the opening of invitation after invitation to special tastings going on at the show, soirees at famous chateau's, meeting opportunities, etc., and frankly, in lieu of being depressed, I decided to open my last bottle of 2000 Bordeaux -- Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse De Lalande. 

Oh yeah, it's good and I'm feeling a bit better! 

Earthy and complex with cigar and cedar -- fruit and tannins still young and delightful.

At least by not going to VINEXPO, I won't have to suffer plate fatigue for the next several weeks.  Yep, that's the best I can do...

Looking For A Graduation or Wedding Gift? Bubbles Never Disappoint ...

Tis the truth, bubbles never disappoint.  As much as I would contend that sparkling wines should be an everyday experience, the American mind set is that they are for celebrations.  So, try the wines described below and celebrate!  And, if you need an idea for a graduation or wedding gift, put together a box with two wines; the first, a non-vintage Brut and the second a vintage Champagne.  Add a note that tells your recipient that he/she should drink the non-vintage at the time of opening and the vintage exactly one year later.  You will be amazed at how much the second bottle will be cherished!

Quick Teaching Moment -- all Champagnes are from the area of Champagne in France (someday Korbel of Sonoma will get the message!)  Most Champagnes are good, if not wonderful and may say "Method Champenoise" but if you don't want to pay the price or if you're more akin to another region but want the quality of production, look for "Method Traditionnelle" which means that wine was made in the traditional Champagne method but not produced in Champagne.


Suggestions:
Non-Vintage Brut - Mumm Napa Brut Prestige (Method Traditionelle)
Creamy with a hint of vanilla, bit of yeast, green apple and lingering flavors!

Francois Montand Brut Rose -- for the more adventuresome (Method Traditionelle and inexpensive)
Think dried strawberries with bubbles!

Rivata Moscato D'Asti - for the younger recipient or the sweet at heart
Fun, fruity, sweet and floral...easy to drink and enjoy!

For the Vintage:
Champagne Mailly Grand Cru 2004
Lot's of yeast and complexity - worth waiting for!

My Students Loved The Fact That I Got A Wine Trivia Question Wrong

 The question?  True or Falise -- Is Gattinara 100% Nebbiolo? I answered "True" because I think of it as mainly Nebbiolo.  At a mandatory 90% Nebbiolo it practically is, but here it comes, I WAS WRONG.  Ok, I've said it now time to move on!

 

A Trio Of Nebbiolos:

Three of my recent reviews... 

 

Travaglini Gattinara Tre Vigne 2001 -- drinking beautifully now and still available commerically -- a ten-year-old, ALMOST 100% Nebbiolo wine.  Lot's of blackberry fruit with bramble thrown in and smooth, silky tannins.  Perfectly complex with the aromas of age...

Rivata Barbaresco 2006 -- easy to drink, fruity with sour cherry and some depth (not the best example of Barbaresco but not bad and certainly affordable.)

Casa Sant'Orsola I Siglati Barolo 2007 -- rich, earthy flavors with more sour cherry, bright acids and solid tannins. Save a glass or two for tomorrow as this wine continues to open up!

Technology Is An Amazing Thing!

A friend of mine sent me a text while having dinner at a restaurant in Florida last evening  (I live in California.) She was asking me to help her choose a bottle of wine - not much unusual in that, however, she took photos of the wine menu and sent them as well so I could actually peruse the wine list!  It was fun reading through all the wines and helping her choose but a few minutes after we finished conversing it suddenly hit me that no one was going to be bringing me a taste of that wine!

So...I pulled a bottle we had tasted in class yesterday and poured a little.  Showing the fat and sassy side of white wines, we studied oaked Chardonnays and White Bordeaux.  Quite pleased with Barons De Rothschild (Lafite) Selection Prestige AOC Bordeaux 2009 -- round in the mouth, nutty on the palate.  Not quite the red Bordeaux my friend was enjoying but it certainly worked for me!

Done With Disney, Next Up A Week At Wente Vineyards!

Just finished a WineFUNdamentals event at the Anaheim Convention Center for one of the largest conventions in the State (CDA -- California Dental Association).  Great program, fun wines!  Favorite wines of the evening...La Crema Pinot Noir and Trinchero Cabernet Sauvignon - Chicken Ranch.  Then off to Downtown Disney for dinner and into Disneyland for staff appreciation!  Realized while we were there that the Disney Food and Wine Festival would have been going on ( it was canceled this year due to the restoration of California Adventure) -- Can't wait for it to come back in 2012 -- hoping to be asked to speak again!

Came home with a cold...but off in the morning for a week long United States Sommelier Association certificate course at Wente Vineyards in Livermore --  blind tasting test on Friday, hopefully by then I can breath!

Not being able to breath isn't stopping me though -- enjoying 2009 Crios Torrontes -- it's amazing how much like a Muscat the Torrontes varietal can smell (I know this from tasting this same wine on a normal nose day) -- it's still tastes pretty good even with a cold!

Eleven Week Course and the World of Wine to cover!

Tasted 10 wines in class yesterday -- mostly white aromatics and possibly a few too many for the newer-to-winetasting students.  By the time we were done, their palates were wiped.  But, it's only an eleven week course and the world of wine to cover so taste we must!  What a great opportunity to taste through a wide variety of varietals, countries, and styles.  The last three were not as much aromatic as they were to show the difference between aromatics and more rounded wines (also, because they're good and my favorites!)  Most interesting wine of the day, Kenneth Volk Malvasia (not suggesting it -- however, I do like most of his wines) and best wine was an Albarino from Spain.  Love that with wine, there's just so much to learn!
What's Your Favorite Aromatic?

There Are Few Wines I Would Call Amazing...

Not too ripe and not too thin, Clos De L'Oratoire Des Papes 2007 is AMAZING!  It's perfect for both the American and the European palate with the juicy fruits (Americans) and elegant complexity (European) of black berry, sour cherry, espresso and minerality.  A lovely wine from AC Châteauneuf-du-Pape (for you history lovers - new chateau of the pope, google the "Avignon Papacy")  and the really great news is you can find it at Costco!  

But find it soon as the Wine Spectator gave it a 91 score so it won't be available long.  Frankly, it deserves a higher score but maybe Clos De L'Oratoire Des Papes doesn't spend that much in advertising...

Interesting -- The Most Inoffensive Word In Wine Tasting

Tried an "interesting" wine today.  Actually, it's the fourth day in a row that I've tasted the same wine from the same bottle and I must admit, that I prefer it best today, probably because the oxidation has made it almost sherry like.  Interesting is the best word to describe this wine's taste as it is a safe word for a wine writer.  The "meaning" is left up to the reader.  Push to shove, I would define interesting as neither great nor completely insipid.  For those of you without a child studying for the SAT exam, insipid means dull, bland, unexciting.  The wine?  Senorio de Fuentealamo Macabeo.  Serious wine students should try it as rarely will you find this varietal botteling in the United States.  For the rest of you who just want a pleasurable glass of wine to enjoy on a Friday afternoon, join me as I've already moved on to Shoreline Sauvignon Blanc from Marlborough...

My mother (who I adore) likes to lecture to the extent that my sister and I actually numbered her lectures and now simply say "yes Mom, we know, lecture #15 would be appropriate at this time."  I think I've inherited that trait as I'm about to give you my lecture on Riesling, the same one I just gave my students.  Riesling is a great varietal and usually produces a fabulous wine especially if it's from specific producers in Germany, Alsace (France) and Washington State.  Riesling can be made dry, off-dry or sweet and pairs well with many different types of food.  A couple of common descriptors for Riesling would be petrol (yes, gas but good gas), lime, stone fruits, lemon chiffon and honey.  In class, we recently tried two examples with different sugar levels but both extremely well made:
2008 Trimbach  Riesling AC Alsace -- yummy lime, petrol and lemon.  Dry. Wonderful for a warm day (today is our first 90+ day of the year.)
2007 Columbia Crest Grand Estates Riesling, Columbia Valley -- much less expensive and much more petrol on the nose along with stones fruits (apricots, peaches,) a hint of minerality and off-dry (on the sweeter side of a table wine - also very good on a hot day.)
Consider a Riesling for Mother's Day.  My mother's favorite wine was and is Green Hungarian and since very few wineries now produce it (with good reason) I'm impressing my mom with a Riesling because if she's drinking wine, she's less likely to lecture!

Friday, April 29, 2011

I would toast the Royal couple today with a glass of English wine but I've had English wine and I guarantee Charles and Kate weren't drinking local.  No doubt it was French as the Queen's cellar is full of it.  I'm toasting them with a glass of Château Lanessan 2005 Delbos-Bouteiller, AOC Haut-Médoc (Bordeaux) which is full of cassis, herbs, sour cherry and fairly soft tannins (at least for a Cabernet Sauvignon based wine.)  But, as this is only a toast and it is Friday, I think I shall follow the example of my cousin Jennifer who resides in New Zealand and watched the wedding ceremony with Gin & Tonic in hand remarking to me on FB that it was all rather very British...now if I can just remember where I put the limes...

Tasting wine all day long sometimes is hard.  I'm not complaining but, occasionally, it makes me sleepy even if I've done the proper amount of spitting.  I'm already a two-a-day-latte drinker so more caffeine is not the answer.  My incentive?  Leave the wines I'm most excited about to the end, even if they're not the biggest or even the reddest (as in they might be white :) but, sometimes, (for instance -- yesterday) it required effort to taste through all the fruity, high-alcoholic wines and I longed to taste my incentive wine...SAVIGNY-LÈS-BEAUNE 1er Cru "Aux Guettes 2007 Domaine A. Machard de Gramond.  True to experience...Not Big, Not Bold BUT Beautiful!  And, earthy.  And, refined.  And, elegant.   There are perfect occasions for the big and bold but after a hard day's work, give me the "pretty" and the "easy."

The United States Post Office has issued my dog, a 6 pound 5 oz. HaviPoo  which is a cross between a Havanese and a Toy Poodle ( "cross" is a word in the wine industry that we use for two different varietals of the same species, i.e., vitis vinifera. getting together and producing another grape varietal -- for instance:  Cabernet Franc "hitching" with Sauvignon Blanc and producing Cabernet Sauvignon - so maybe for a dog breed "mix" would be a better word choice) a RED CARD!  How many dogs do you know that have been given red cards?  At least one...MINE!  He now has to sit in the penalty box (his crate) from approximately 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM while the mail lady delivers the mail on our very rural road.  So in honor of my obviously not-so-sweet dog, Skittles, I am not drinking wine today but rather a Manhattan...um..,Manhattans!

It’s no secret to those who know me that Beaujolais Nouveau (BN) is not my favorite wine.  And, I'm mentioning this now, in April, even though BN is released the third Thursday of November -- because why?  Because, I am falling in love with Cru Beaujolais wines such as 2009 Domaine Des Michelons.  The difference?  BIG!!!
BN wines are the first wines released after harvest and are meant to be fruity and easy to drink.  Instead of the normal crushed berry fermentation, BN's go through Carbonic Maceration (whole berry fermentation) which is anaerobic.  Basically, the grapes ferment inside themselves and then burst.  The result is a light, low tannin, fruity wine which often has a nose and palate profile of hard candy, raspberries and bananas.  And, I don't find that profile very appealing.  
The highest quality of wine in Beaujolais, the Cru Beaujolais  wines, however, have become really charming.  Many are made by crushed berry fermentation or a blend of both fermentation processes.  The one I'm enjoying at the moment is 2009 Domaine Des Michelons from AC Moulin-A-Vent.  It received high ratings in one of the main wine rags and I have to admit that I agree...

My Life In Wine

Quick blurb that has little to do with wine except that I needed a glass after the fact...I'm in New York City for a book signing with my 16-year-old daughter in tow, my youngest is at home with Dad, 3,000 miles away.  One would think that with that kind of distance between them, they wouldn't be able to fight...but so not true!  They were FVFB...fighting via FaceBook!!!  Really girls????

Back to wine...want to educate your palate on the difference between a high acid-low tannin red wine vs. a high extraction really tannic one?    As you're tasting, notice the difference in the acid and the tannin levels of each and contemplate how such would affect the taste of food ...amazing that two wines could both be so beautiful, inexpensive and completely different!

High-acid/low tannin: Michele Chiarlo Barbera d'Asti Superiore Le Orme 2007 - very pretty with ripe red fruits, fresh acidity and soft tannins

HIgh tannins:  Domaine du Moulié 2006, AC Madiran - produced from the Tannat grape varietal -- inky and rustic with black fruits and spice.  Try today and then again tomorrow for a bit smoother taste.

After my event Friday night, I took the WineFUNdamentals staff out for a drink at Hawks, a local restaurant.  I'd been told last week by a bartender at the L Wine Bar that Rye Whiskey was really coming back into "drinking" style, so when I saw "Old Fashion" as a featured drink ( my grandmother's favorite cocktail,) I just had to try it.  Not bad!  Think I'll stick to Manhattans though...

RE: the wines at the event...um umm good!  Favorite whites were Heidi Barrett's

2009 La Sirena Moscato Azul and 2008 Chappellet Chardonnay and favorite reds were a Pinot Noir -- Domaine Serene 2008 Yamhill Cuvée , an incredible Red Burgundy -- Nuits-Saint-Georges Premier Cru Les Damodes 2003 and the always lovely Shafer Merlot, the 2008 vintage. Decided at the last minute to go with the Shafer Merlot rather than a Cabernet Sauvignon as from experience, if there is a Cab in the room, people kind of stick to it and don't always try the other red options...and our "other reds" were so amazingly good!

As today is Sunday, we will be having homemade Pizza -- I have a MacMurray Pinot Noir open (yes, of the Fred MacMurray family) BUT...I'm thinking Pizza or no...it's time for some bubbles!  Just not Sunday with out bubbles!