By the Glass - Piedmont Edition

My friend David McDuff is hosting the 54th edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday, the monthly online tasting event created by my pal and New York Wine blogger extraordinaire, Lenn Thompson. I used to participate regularly in WBW - it was one of the reasons that I started blogging. I even hosted once, a little over a year ago. Recently I've kind of dropped the ball. But McDuff has selected Piedmont as his theme, a region that I know essentially nothing about. So of course I will join the fun this month.

Actually, I probably drank more Piedmont wine last month than I have previously in my entire life, thanks mostly to my friend Asher, who recently hosted a lovely Piedmont wine dinner. Most of the notes below are about wines I drank at Asher's house.

My impression of Piedmont is that it is involved in some sort of battle with itself, an identity crisis, if you will. There are traditionalists and modernists, and there doesn't seem to be a lot of overlap. And I don't mean only in the Nebbiolo land of Barbaresco and Barolo - I'm talking about humble Barberas too. Can they be simple and fresh, easy to enjoy with food, in the same vein as a good cru Beaujolais? Or will they be extracted and "serious," losing their innate character?

It seems to me, in my limited experience and knowledge, that the best values in red Piedmont wine come from Barbaresco, the queen to Barolo's king. Fantastic and ageworthy bottles can be had for $35 and under, in the case of the superb Produttori del Barbaresco, about $25. But maybe I just haven't had a truly beautiful mature Barolo yet, a bottle that costs about $50 in today's dollars and that just blows me away.

Here are notes on Piedmont wines from last month: two Babera's, two Barbarescos, and two Barolos. Thanks to the McDEE for hosting in such a classy fashion, and for selecting a challenging theme.

2005 Giacomo Conterno Barbera d'Alba, about $30. An excellent wine, the best example of Barbera that I've ever had. Reminded me of a great Beaujolais in the way there is energy, density of fruit, and mineral soil, and yet a fresh brightness, a light almost weightlessness in the mouth. So drinkable, and complex with soil and minerals. Fantastic. And I challenge you to name a meal that this wine would not compliment. Basically, an impossible task.

2006 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbera d'Alba Serra Boella, about $17. The only wine of the lot that I had at my house, all the other's were at Asher's dinner. Dense and dark on the nose and the acidity is a bit volatile. No tannic grip, not a lot of structure, and that makes this tough to drink, like an untamed beast. It falls off at the finish and feels a bit hot from the alcohol. I'm not excited, and half the bottle goes into the fridge. Day two - far better, although still doesn't hold a candle to Conterno's Barbera. Then again, this is half the price. Still dark and dense, but the fruit is more expressive and there is a pleasant herbal character now. The acid is still intense, and this is much better with cheese and cured meats than it is on its own. Also, much better at cellar temp than at room temperature. I wonder...is there carbonic maceration here, in part? So similar to Beaujolais in some ways.

1996 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco Sori Paitin, about $40. Clearly excellent quality, but not as compelling to me as the 2004. I don't know if it's the characteristics of the vintage or if the wine was made in a different style, but this was much darker and more intense than the 04. The fruit had a raisiny character that for me made the wine lack freshness, brightness. And the acidity was a bit flat too. Maybe it's in an awkward phase and needed more time in the decanter. This will definitely appeal right now to folks who like a richer and more concentrated style.

2004 Paitin di Pasquero-Elia Barbaresco Sori Paitin, about $36. Roses, earth, tar, some tea. Just a gorgeous nose. Flavors follow through on the palate and the finish has a nice herbal component. Fine grainy tannins provide ample structure, great acidity provides excellent balance, even at 14% alcohol. This wine has great energy and presence. It is absolutely clean and pure, and its aromas and flavors are perfectly defined. It's completely delicious today, although I would love to drink it in 10 years. Aside from a superb bottle of 1961 Vallana Spanna Podere Tre Torre di Traversagna I had in August, this is the most compelling bottle of Piedmont wine that I've had.

1997 Marcarini Barolo La Serra, about $50. This one quite literally jumped from the glass - really. Huge and powerful aromas of cherry fruit carried onto the palate and throughout the finish. I appreciated the big fruit character of this wine, but right now it's not showing a whole lot of complexity, and in the end, it didn't hold my interest. What happens to this wine in 10 years? Are there secondary characteristics hiding underneath all of that fruit, or is this a one-note wonder?

2000 Marziano Abbona Barolo Pressenda, about $45. Lots of wood on the nose and on the palate partially obscures the pretty fresh fruit, which has nice herbal undertones and an interesting medicinal edge. The tannins are drying on the finish. I wish they had taken a more balanced approach to the wood on this wine, as the underlying material seems rather lovely.

Back to Your Roots - WBW #48

47 editions of Wine Blogging Wednesday have come and gone. I speak of the monthly online community wine tasting and sharing event created by Lenn, the New York wine guy at Lenndevours.

Four years. That's ancient in the world of wine blogs. Just goes to show you - our community of bloggers and readers enjoys getting together every now and then, stepping off of our individual soapboxes and being but one of many voices.

Wine Blogging Wednesday is part of what inspired me to start a blog. I participated religiously for quite some time, but I've missed a bunch now. In some cases I just forgot, in others, I couldn't get excited by the theme. But this month I'm excited because Lenn, a gentleman who in my view is one of the OG's (that's Original Gangsta, for those of you who are not bangin') of wine blogging, is celebrating an anniversary. And he's asking us to join him, to go back to our wine drinking roots.

Here is the story of my very first wine epiphany:

The year is 1990. I was home from college for the summer, a four month break from school. I got a job at a strange restaurant on the upper east side of Manhattan called The Lion's Rock. Even then I could tell that the food was unimaginative at best - every night's special, no matter what it was, featured a caper buerre blanc sauce. But they were famous for having a real waterfall - a trickle of water that flowed over a real rock (the lion's rock?) in the back next to their garden seating. Food=bad, rock=business. Anyway, I was making at least $100 a night in tips, which was a fortune.

I have no idea whether or not the wine list was any good. No one there taught me about selling wine, never mind about drinking wine. There was one other interesting thing at this restaurant, aside from the waterfall and the rock. Behind the bar, hanging on the wall, there was an inverted bottle of wine with a contraption attached to the neck that allowed you to turn a spigot and pour an ounce at a time. The Lion's Rock offered a one-ounce taste of this wine for $15 (or something like that), a ridiculous sum of money. I thought it was a gimmick, like the waterfall. And it probably was.

But one night after work when we were all sitting at the bar sipping our complimentary post-shift drink, I asked the bartender about it. Tell me how any wine can be worth that kind of money for just a sip, I asked. Is it really that much better than some other wine?

The bartender, a nice guy named Michael, a guy in his mid-forties who was really a musician struggling to make it in New York, decided to teach me something. And it turned out to be one of those moments that is way more important than you can possibly imagine when it happens. He told me to close my eyes, and he poured me an ounce of whatever Bordeaux was in the inverted bottle. He also poured an ounce of the house red. He presented me with both glasses and I tasted them blind.

I took a sip of one, and then of the other. One of the wines tasted like what I understood wine to taste like. But the other one, well this was a different story. It had depth and character, and it held my interest. I wished that there were more than just one ounce in the glass. I wanted to keep drinking it, and that was the first time I felt that way about a wine.

I almost never drink Bordeaux now, but I will always remember that experience. For the rest of that summer I tried to taste everything on the wine list at The Lion's Rock. Whenever customers didn't finish their bottle, I would sneak a taste. I visited my local wine store and stared blankly at the bottles on the shelves, not knowing anything about what I was looking at. I caught the wine bug, and it was a one ounce pour at a now defunct restaurant called The Lion's Rock that got me started. A one ounce pour of a Bordeaux that will forever remain nameless to me.

Friuli Whites - WBW # 41

The first Wine Blogging Wednesday of 2008 is here and it's hosted by Jack and Joanne at Fork and Bottle, the great website that spreads information about food, wine, cooking with kids, restaurant reviews, gardening, and all things related to good and healthy living.

They chose Friuli Whites as the theme, and an interesting theme it is. I like it when WBW gets "esoteric" on us like this. Not esoteric at all, actually. Although the typical wine emporium might not offer a large selection of these wines outside of generic drippy Pinot Grigio, a good wine store probably keeps at least a few bottles in stock. And I think it's fair to say that wine geeks know about Friuli whites.

I am a wine geek who does not know about Friuli whites. I know they exist, and that Jack really likes 'em, and that a few of my favorite wine writers love Gravner or Radikon or Movia, but I have extremely limited experience with these wines. As in almost no experience. I'm talking about a few bottles of 1999 Clivi Tocai Friulano, and probably a few bottles of banal Pinot Grigio along the way. So this is an opportunity for me to get to know a little something about these wines, and that's exactly what I did. I couldn't decide on one wine, or even one grape, so I tasted a few wines and three grapes. A little mini-canvas of the region, if you will.

My overall reaction: intrigued. I did not fall in love with any of the wines I tasted, but I was fascinated by them. Each was an interesting wine with real character, and in each the flavors were quite clean and pure. There was something that they each shared, and I have to assume it is terroir specific: there was a distinct apple and cider spice thing happening on the nose of each of the wines, and to some degree in the flavor profile too. Not necessarily as the dominant aroma or flavor, but it was there in each wine. Not the green apple thing that I get in some wines I am more familiar with, but a red apple, cobbler/dessert kind of thing.

The quality is evident, alcohol levels were reasonable at either 13% or 13.5%, and the prices on the wines I tasted certainly will not break the bank. I also respect the trend towards natural wine making in the region. That said, I found myself wondering what to eat with the wines. Semolina bread with golden raisins and fennel seeds, and a selection of cheeses? Roast pork loin? Fresh fruit and almonds? I really couldn't settle on anything. The flavor profile of these wines is so new to me, and to be honest, I'm not sure if it is a flavor profile that I like as much as that of Loire or Burgundy whites. I probably need a guided tasting of Friuli whites.

Here are the wines I tasted and some notes:

2001 i Clivi Galea Corno di Rosazzo, $14 at Chambers Street Wines.
i Clivi makes natural wine using organic methods and naturally occurring yeast, and the aromas and flavors are not surprisingly very pure and fresh.This is predominantly Tocai Friulano (about 80%) and the rest Verduzzo. Right out of the bottle the nose is ridiculous - just amazing. I get fennel seeds, honey, mushy red apples, cinnamon or other cider spices, and minerals. On day two the honeyed roundness was more dominant on the nose but swirling brought out the spices, fresh spring water, and something herbal - tarragon? The palate is apple cobbler with honey and herbs and it's very tasty, but I found myself wishing that there were more acidity to cut through the fat. There is a pleasant lingering cider spice finish. This is compelling wine. By the way, this price is a big discount. The 1999 cost about $25. A sales guy at Chambers Street told me that this is a closeout on the vintage, explaining the deep discount.

2005 Movia Pinot Grigio, $27 at Slope Cellars.
My first Movia (the name of a future film?). With vineyards on both sides of the Italian/Slovenian border, this estate farms biodynamically and doesn't filter the wines. Eric Asimov wrote about Movia here, and the comments on his post are informative too. I went to Italian Wine Merchants, the famous temple of Italian wine here in New York City, hoping to find something by Movia. They had at least five wines to choose from but I actually left empty-handed, not yet knowing how I wanted to structure my Friuli tasting. I decided that I wanted to try their Sauvignon Blanc, but never made it back to Manhattan, and Slope Cellars had the Pinot Grigio.

The color is lovely, a golden yellow with a peach or salmon hue. There are a few floaties in there, a clear (pardon the pun) sign of the lack of filtration. The nose is almost impossibly fleshy, so peachy and clean, it feels like I'm eating the aromas. BrooklynLady said "it smells like walking near a freshwater stream in the woods." There are cider spices and an herbal character in the background. Pure and juicy on the palate with orchard fruits, cider spices, and tarragon. On day one it felt a bit thin on the midpalate, but on day two the wine had put on some weight and gained complexity and balance, and there was a lingering herbal and cider spice finish to go with the memory of peaches after swallowing. This is also compelling wine.

2006 Sirch Ribolla Gialla, $16 at Chamber Street Wines.
Light yellow color with a nose of lemon, apple, and spicy vanilla. On day two the nose was much more interesting, with clean lemon grass and balsa wood aromas. This wine was bright and fresh on the palate, more lively and young than the other wines, also more simple. Easy to enjoy, with flavors of citrus, herbs, hints of cider spice, and bright acidity. Tasty, but not memorable.

Thanks to Jack and Joanne for hosting, and to Lenn for starting this whole Wine Blogging Wednesday thing.

WBW #40 - Petite Sirah

Sonadora is our host this month at WannabeWino, and she has selected Petite Sirah as the theme. This is a grape that I know almost nothing about. I've had wines made from Petite Sirah about four or five times, all quite a few years ago, and in my mind I lump them in with Zinfandel. Big, dark and spicy, structured, high alcohol, intense wines that are more common out on the west coast.

This is what I like about participating in Wine Blogging Wednesday, the online community tasting that Lenn organized over three years ago now. I am compelled to venture outside of my comfort zone, to buy wine I would never otherwise buy, and to taste this wine. I won't lie to you, friends, without WBW #40 as the impetus, it's a pretty safe bet that no Petite Sirah was going to cross my threshold anytime soon. Not cause I have something against it - I do not. I just tend to drink a lighter style of red wine.

Anyway...so how does a guy find a good bottle of a wine that he knows nothing about? In this case I asked Amy, the reliable wine buyer and manager at Prospect Wine Shop to select something for me. We've tasted enough together and talked about wine enough so that she has a a good idea about what I like. I did not specify a price or any other constraint. "Can you hook me up with a good Petite Sirah?" I simply said.

Amy picked out the 2006 Fleur North Coast Petite Sirah for $15. Although it is less expensive that some others she carries, including wines by David Bruce, she explained that this one is less oaky and actually tastes more like Petite Sirah. And the label says the alocohol level is 13.8%. I was worried about 15% or higher. Nice!

The wine was deep and dark, alright, and it had simple and clear blackberry and pepper aromas. Very juicy on the palate with lots of dark fruit and a slightly grippy and astringent finish, especially on the tip of the tongue. Leaves a nice dark fruit, maybe slightly tobacco-y flavor in the mouth. Certainly quite pleasant, and it went pretty well with the green split pea soup with smoked ham that we made for dinner.

So would I buy this again? No. There are just too many ways for me to spend $15 and emerge with wine that is more exciting to me. But I recognize that this is good wine, and if I find myself at a restaurant that offers nothing better, I would enjoy a glass with hearty food and be none the worse off for it. Overall, I think Jancis Robinson's description of Petite Sirah in the Oxford Companion Third Edition applies perfectly to this particular wine: "...dark, well balanced, sturdily tannic red wine of agreeable if not highly distinctive flavour." Thanks for the description, and for the "u" Jancis.

So that's it - another edition of WBW come and gone. Thanks Sonadora for hosting, and for picking an interesting theme.

Silver Burgundy Roudup - WBW #39

There are lots of things that I like about this edition of Wine Blogging Wednesday. There were many new participants - some newer bloggers, and also some established bloggers jumped into the WBW fray for the first time this month. I enjoyed reading your reactions to the wines of the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais, particularly from the folks who were first trying these wines, and having a good time doing so.

Not everyone loved wine they tasted, but on the whole the experience was clearly a positive one. Many delicious wines were identified, most of them under $25. Some are surprisingly inexpensive. Before getting into the specifics, here are a few things that jump out at me when looking at our notes as a whole:

• 9 out of the 14 reds tasted were from the 2005 vintage, a ripe and glorious year. But maybe the tannins in these wines have not yet begun to resolve, and the wines do not yet show balance. Some folks found their 05 red to be a bit young.
  

• Vieille Vignes (old vines) seems to have a big impact in the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais. By this I mean that the wines designated as Vieille Vignes tended to truly be a step up from their "regular" counterparts, and were almost universally well reviewed. This is probably true in most wine regions, but maybe not…a topic for a future WBW?

• 1er Cru wines were no more successful according to our tasters than village or regional wines. As I keep hearing (and learning for myself) about Burgundy - it's all about the producer. Vintage matters, so does the level of wine, but it all comes down to the producer. A good producer makes good wine...period. Grand Cru wine from a poor producer might not be as good as a regional Bourgogne made by a great producer.

So now to a summary, and then the bloggers and the wines.

WBW #39 - Wines of the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais

Participants: 36
Wines reviewed: 52
Mâconnais wines: 33
Côte Chalonnaise wines: 18
Côte d'Or wines (whoops, a la Dr. Vino): 1
Whites: 38 (30 from the Mâconnais)
Reds: 14 (12 were from the Côte Chalonnaise)
Most Common Vintage: 25 wines from 2005
Youngest Wine: 2007
Oldest Wine: 1996
Level of wines: 6 1er Cru wines; 32 Village wines; 14 Regional wines
Most Common Village: 7 wines from Mercurey
Most Common Mâcon Village: 4 wines from Viré-Clessé
Number of Mâcon villages represented: 11
Total Number of villages in the Mâcon with the right to appellation: 43
Most Common Producer: André Bonhommie, Comte Lafon, and Jean Manciat
Most Common Pricing: 31 wines were between $16-25
Least Expensive Wine: $3.99 (no lie, pal)
Most Expensive Wine: ask Dr. Weingolb
Tasting wine: Priceless
Number of Bloggers who Tasted Wine While Actually in the Mâconnais: 1
Number of You Wishing That I Just Get on with the Round Up: get over it

And in no particular order other than whites first...

Bert of the Wine Terroirs blog visits Guy Blanchard in Mercy, Mâconnais and tastes through a wide lineup of whites, including the very young 2007s. In this post you can see photos of the cellar, the producer petting his cat, the producer looking like Vincent Price, and most importantly, an amazing photo where you can literally see the difference between organically and non-organically farmed vineyards. This is Bert's first time participating in WBW, but he is a prolific blogger. Hopefully he will be back for more.

Lyle Fass of Rockss and Fruit also participates for the first time, writing about a Tres Vieille Vignes 2005 Mâcon Bussieres by Eric Texier. These are 100 year old vines (!!!) and at under $25 a bottle, Lyle says the wine is glorious, using the highly descriptive and evocative notes that he always manages to bring to the table.

David of McDuff's Food and Wine Trail reaches into his cellar for a couple of 2002's by one of his favorite producers, André Bonhomme. He tastes a Viré-Clessé and a Vieille Vignes Viré-Clessé and finds them both to be excellent, but the VV wine is deeper, bearing some resemblance to a Meursault. Want to really learn something about Viré-Clessé, a great producer in the Mâconnais, or about wine in general - check this out.

Eddie of Oeno Not Another Wine Blog, another first time participant, also tasted a wine by André Bonhomme, a 2004 Viré-Clessé. Eddie says he is still learning to trust his nose and palate, and he’s not ashamed to say that he had trouble identifying the aromas and flavors. But he liked the wine, which is a good thing. I’m sure we’ll see more of him.

Katherine at Purple Liquid also tasted a wine from Viré-Clessé, this one made by a larger négociant house. She enjoyed the 2005 Maison Chanson Viré-Clessé, and offers up a nice recipe for poached fish to go with it.

Andrea, the Wine Scamp, tasted a couple of whites and gave them both rave reviews. We're talking about an 05 Michel Cheveau Mâcon-Solutré-Pouilly (on which some jerk scooped her) and an 06 Chateau de la Greffiere Mâcon La Roche Vineuse Vieille Vignes. At $14 somewhere in the middle of Texas, this old vines wine might be the best value of the event. Okay, so it didn't pair well with her Brie and hazelnuts, but it sounds like excellent wine. It inspired the Scamp to share some great notes and ideas about cool weather and white wine - check it out.

Jeff at Indiscriminate Ideas writes about all sorts of stuff, from philosophy to food, and now, to wine. This is his first time participating in WBW and he appreciates our collective gentle touch. He found what sounds like one heck of a bottle, the 2005 Domaine Alain Normand Mâcon La Roche-Vineuse, and at $17 he says it's "worth every penny."

Joe at Joe's Wine and and Erika at StrumErika both tasted the same Bourgogne wine by A & P Villaine. Villaine is the wine maker at a little Domaine called Romanee Conti, maybe you've heard of it. This is a case where a good producer can make regional wine that rivals or exceeds "higher level" wine by other producers. Joe really liked the wine, a 2005. Erika wasn't so sure about the 2003 she drank. It was a hot hot hot year with low low low acidity...

Three people tasted wines made by the venerable Comte Lafon, a Domaine based in Meursault in the Côte d’Or. Lafon’s Montrachet and Meursault sell for LOTS of money, and are some of the more sought after wines in Burgundy. So when Lafon bought land in the Mâconnais, people rightly took it as a sign of the potential quality of the terroir.

John, the Corkdork, tasted a 2003 Comte Lafon Mâcon Milly Lamartine, and he highly recommends it, and also trying Lafon's Mâconnais wines in general. Edward, the Wino Sapien tasted the same wine from the 2004 vintage, and thought it was excellent. He had to shell out quite a few Australian dollars for the bottle, but it sounds like he got a good value.

Mike from Wicker Parker, another first time participant, also tasted the 2004. It got its third excellent review. Mike didn’t stop there though, the first wine was way too good. He also tasted two reds, both by François Raquillet, both from Mercurey: a 2004 1er Cru and a 2005 Vieille Vignes. He says the 05 VV was opened too early, but he calls it a definite rebuy that should be great down the line. And his notes on the 04 1er Cru speak for themselves - take a look.

Sonadora at Wannabe Wino tasted the 2005 Jean Manciat Mâcon-Charnay. This was her first foray into the wines of the Mâconnais and she really liked it! "A definite rebuy," she says. And this is a $16 bottle. I like her taste – Manciat is awesome.

Doug from The Inquiring Vine tasted the same Manciat wine, but his sinuses were acting up, so he leaves it to Sonadora to talk about how good it is. He tasted the 2004 Mâcon-Chaintré for good measure and liked it, but almost mistook it for a Soave.

Brooklynguy (me – your host) also tasted a Manciat wine, the 2005 Mâcon-Charnay Vieille Vignes. It is a great wine, so distinctive and satisfying, with so much development yet to come. And it cost me all of $20. I like the "regular" version of this wine very much, but the VV is a whole different ballgame.

Lenn had some trouble finding a wine, so his patient wife Nena grabbed a bottle for him, a 2004 Mâcon regional white for under $15 made by, in what is surely the second best producer name of this event, La Mere Boitier (the drinking mother?). Lenn found the wine to be interesting aromatically, but overall thought it was nothing special. Nena liked it though so Lenn is now the proud owner of 2 cases.

Dr. Vino also tasted a regional wine, an Aligoté, the other white grape of Burgundy. Whoops – this wine turns out to be made from vines near Meursault. Just goes to show you that French wine labels can be tough to decipher – even the most experienced among us can end up in Meursault when looking for the Côte Chalonnaise. No matter, Tyler enjoyed the wine. And for good measure, he tasted a 1er Cru Mercurey that he liked also.

Jack and Joanne at the esteemed food and wine website Fork and Bottle also tasted a regional white, and it seems as though they found a real winner. At about $18, the Domaine Guillemeot-Michel Quintaine “is a no-brainer at a restaurant,” and “a definite rebuy.” As always, their tasting notes give you a great sense of what to expect from the wine. And for good measure, Jack and Joanne also tasted a red from Vincent Dureuil-Janthial, a rising star in the Côte Chalonnaise. The 2005 Rully 1er Cru Vieille Vignes was full of promise, but was not yet ready to fully strut its stuff.

Speaking of Rully, Daniel at Red Wine With Fish tasted one too. He recommends the 2005 Domaine de la Folie Rully, and successfully paired it with pork chops and braised apples, but thinks it might need more bottle age.

Dave, the WineBaer tasted the 2005 Domaine Jaeger Defaix Rully and was intrigued, but ultimately the wine did not show very well. He also tasted a red wine, one from what must be the newest appellation in France, the Côte de Coucherais. Situated just to the northwest of the Côte Chalonnaise, these wines are all Pinot all the time. But sadly, the 2005 Les Champs de l'Abbaye Couchois was not all that impressive either, and since the WineBaer spent about 50 smacks on these wines, he feels a bit shortchanged. I hear that. Hopefully he will find a Silver Burgundy wine that he likes, maybe even at less money.

Farley at Behind the Vines found a wine from a reputable producer for $3.99. That’s right folks, $3.99. The fact that she bought it from a recently fired sommelier in the back alley behind the restaurant is irrelevant. The wine, a 2001 Faiveley Montagny, was probably past its prime. So she tasted a 2005 red from Givry made by Michel Sarrazin, and she liked that one much more. By the way, Farley has two more bottles of the Faiveley, and they’re yours for the bargain basement price of $2.99. Meet her behind the restaurant…

Dr. Debs at Good Wine Under $20 helped Farley find her Givry, and she found a nice little wine for herself too, the 2004 Domaine Larochette-Manciat Mâcon-Vinzelles, at under $20 of course. She liked her wine a lot, and was fascinated by the lack of fruit. Minerals, yes. Nuts, yes. Live electrical wire after a storm, yes.

Andrew at RougeAndBlanc tasted two wines - a 2005 Domaine Thomas St Véran and a red Givry, the 2003 Chofflet-Valdenaire. He found them both to be quite nice, if not terrible complex. He also offers the recipe for one of the dishes he paired with the wines, Steamed Chicken with Tiger Lily and fungus. Worth a peek, no?

Bill at the Wine for Newbies Podcast also tasted a St Véran, the 2004 Domaine de la Croix Senaillet. He rather enjoyed it, and at about $15 says it has excellent QPR.

Tim of Cheap Wine Ratings rummaged through his cellar and found two wines for this event. He thought the 2005 Caves de Lugny Mâcon-Lugny Les Charmes was fine at $13, but not a rebuy. He would rebuy the Domaine Michel Goubard & Fils Mont Avril Bourgogne at $17 though. He thought this one was fantastic - mushrooms, cigars, cherries - it's in there!

Mariëlla from Wijnkronieken, a Dutch Blog, was somehow the only person to sample a Pouilly-Fuissé, what I thought was a more popular area of the Mâconnais. She enjoys the2004 Domaine de la Collonge, and notes how different it is from a California wine she tasted. Kathleen at Wine and Stories from the Vineyard tasted a Latour Macon-Lugny Les Genievres and found that same contrast.

Garry from Tales of a Sommelier tasted our oldest wine, a 1996 JM Boillot Givry. He enjoys it and calls it a good deal off the winelist at £33 (2.5 million US dollars), although he notes that it is old, and one in three bottles is lost.

New participant DJR-S at Sangre y Pajas en Flor: Vinomadic? Because. (yeah, I'd like him to explain the name also) in Puerto Rico tasted three old wines and finds some beauty, reluctant beauty maybe, but beauty nonetheless in all three. DJR-S is a poet who loves wine. Check out this description of one of the wines: "The white Mercurey has blossomed into an amazing tightrope act of earth & oxidative notes, giving it a caramelized orange rind & apple throughline that matches a light, lingering citrus blossom nose-- with some mushroom underpinning that balances the midpalate at a near-impossible point between astringent & unctuous.

Tim at Winecast tasted the 2003 Faiveley Mercurey, and says it's a very good value at about $20. He thinks it could go a few more years in the bottle and continue to improve. Check out his notes and his podcast.

Marcus at Doktor Weingolb really went all out - he spent some serious clams on his wine, the 2004 Domaine Francois Lumpp Givry 1er Cru Crausot. And the sad part is, he was really disappointed. He gives the wine only two Lumpps. But his post is as engaging as ever.

Jeff at The Good Grape was the victim of wine-salesperson-rage and was forced to grab a random bottle and flee his local shop. His wine, the 2005 Matthiew di Brully Mercurey “La Perriere” was not at all to his liking, but he will try again another day.

Diane at Wine Lover's Journal, another first time participant, tasted a 2005 Chateau de la Tour de L'Ange, a red from the Mâconnais, and enjoyed it with mild cheese.

Dale at Drinks Are On Me, another first time participant, says the Gerard et Laurent Parize Grand Vin de Bourgogne Givry 1er Cru is a killer wine, and highly recommends it at about $25.

Serge the Concierge was not able to actually taste a wine for WBW, but he describes a producer he admires - Maison Jaques Depagneux.

And last but not least, Wilf from Wilf's Wine Press uses the occasion of WBW to remember the horrors of war (no, I'm not kidding).

Sorry for the delay in posting the roundup, and thanks again for having me as your host.

2005 Jean Manciat Mâcon-Charnay Vieilles Vignes

Wine Blogging Wednesday is upon us again, installment # 39, and the theme is Silver Burgundy, or the wines of the Côte Chalonnaise or the Mâconnais. I am proud to be your host this month - I have been an avid reader of WBW roundups and posts since long before I had a blog. In fact, and it was a WBW write up from June of 2006 that kind of flipped the switch in my brain and helped me decide to start a blog myself.

Lenn started this WBW craze over three years ago, in one of his many creative episodes of foresight and community spirit, and thanks to him for passing the host baton to me this month.

So now the wine...and what a wine it is folks! I have to start by telling you that this wine can be purchased, albeit probably not for much longer, and at few select wine shops, for about $20. This is a brilliant white wine, a Chardonnay that could go toe to toe with some from the far more famous and expensive Côte d'Or, the home of the Montrachets and of Meursault. Not to diminish those superstar wine regions by any means - they have earned their reputations because there are utterly incredible wines made there, Chardonnay that when at its best or near-best is probably unequaled by any other in the world.

But Burgundy is notoriously tough for us as consumers, as there are huge variations in quality, and it is often quite easy to spend $50 on a bottle of wine and feel very disappointed upon tasting. That's why I've become a big fan of the Mâconnais for white wines (not to disrespect the Côte Chalonnaise, but I just haven't tasted as many). I've found great wines for as little as $13 from the Mâconnais. Not great for a $13 bottle, but great wine. So I do my research and try to go to tastings and cellar a few carefully chosen whites from the Côte d'Or each year, but for the daily pleasure of drinking good white Burgundy, it is Silver Burgundy for me.

I first tasted the 2005 Jean Manciat Mâcon-Charnay Vieilles Vignes back in March and I loved it - so rich and lean and complex. Fermented in about 20-30% new oak barrels, this wine has the structure to improve with some age. In fact, it probably should be left alone for the next four or five years so that the secondary aromas and flavors can come out of their shell. But I couldn't help myself - no self-control sometimes.

BrooklynLady and I made a dinner with this wine in mind, blackfish roasted in parchment paper with tarragon, and a smooth and earthy rutabaga pureé. The wine was deep yellow-gold, sort of old looking. Had me worried - was this oxidized and prematurely gray? No, just deep and rich in color. And the nose...WOW. Intense roast nuts, wet rocky minerals, some tropical fruit that I assume comes from the oak, and something herbal, deep down in there. Very pure nose, well defined aromas, very inviting. This wine was just delicious, although not entirely ready to drink, but delicious. Clean citrus and hints of apricot or peach on the palate, very tense against the minerals and acids, and mouth aromas of flowers and quinine that persist for quite a while after swallowing. A great pairing with the rich Blackfish and the rutabage. I am so excited to open another one of these in a few years, assuming I can grow some patience.

I will post a round-up as soon as possible - looking forward to reading about your SIlver Burgundy experiences.

WBW #39 is Tomorrow, People!

Looking forward to reading, gathering, and rounding up your posts on the wines of the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais. Please email me at Brooklynguy earthlink net with the link to your post and for your blog. If you're not a blogger, please just email me and I'll include your writing. Looking forward to it.

We will have some new participants this month, and some surprise guests. Scheduled to appear are, in no particular order, actor Dustin Hoffman, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, highly acclaimed author Alice Munro, NASCAR superstar Jeff Gordon, United States Presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich, magician and thrilling escape artist David Blaine, and noted socialite Paris Hilton. Guest appearances are scheduled but unconfirmed. Brooklynguy is not responsible for changes or last minute cancellations.

More Pre-WBW Appetizers

A couple more lovely whites from the Mâconnais to get your wheels spinning for Silver Burgundy, the next installment, # 39, of Wine Blogging Wednesday, hosted this month right here in Brooklynguy-ville.

How about this at under $15 - the 2006 Le Bourcier Mâcon Cuvée Elena, a focused and pure wine with fresh and clean fruit, nice citrus notes, and great minerality. The 2005 version of this wine did great in the NY Times tasting panel's July Mâconnais tasting - the 06 is not as juicy and rich, but it is equally appealing for its vibrancy and tension, and its clean fruit. An amazing value too at this price - a $15 Beauty if I've ever seen one. This wine is not super widely available, which is odd because it's a Polaner wine. I bet you can find it, and if you like white Burgundy but for about $15 instead of $50, try this one. If you live in Brooklyn, I get mine at Prospect Wine Shop.

For a few bucks more, but still under $20, you should be able to get a bottle of 2006 Domaine Michel Cheveau Mâcon-Solutré Pouilly. This is sick wine, honestly, just sick. A Rosenthal selection, and Rosenthal consistently picks great stuff in my opinion. This wine poured out a heady floral ripe aroma before I even got it out of the glass, and once in the glass, just gorgeous. You'll think I'm exaggerating but I'm not - this wine could compete nose-wise with many a young Puligny that I know. It's that intense, with lemon oils and rocky minerals and ripe stone fruit somewhere in there. An amazing nose, and the palate is great too, with great balance and richness, and a bit of saline minerality. There is a crystalline tension here, and good acidity - this stuff is energetic, and it goes great with food. We had it with potato leek soup and everything harmonized perfectly. Again, I got mine at Prospect Wine Shop, but check for it near you. You could always contact Rosenthal if you had too.

Looking forward to your Silver Burgundy choices.

Silver Burgundy Dinner - WBW 39 Preview

Wine Blogging Wednesday is now only a week away now. Many people (I hope) will be tasting the affordable and interesting wines of the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais, and will share their thoughts in blog posts and emails, and I will gather and post them here. As a little preview, I want to share a bit about three interesting Silver Burgundy wines that we sampled with dinner the other night.

Thévenet is a pretty famous name in the Mâconnais. Thévenets have been growing grapes and making wine for four generations, and sometimes coming into conflict with the local governing body while doing so. One story I heard is that when the two villages Viré and Clessé in the north of the Mâconnais were granted joint appellation status, this new appellation Viré-Clessé included among its rules that wines can have extremely little residual sugar. There are all sorts of seemingly arbitrary rules for wine in France, so this is just another one right?

But it is not arbitrary at all, as it turns out. Apparently this rule prevents Jean-Claude Thévenet, at Domaine de la Bongran, from using Viré-Clessé appellation status for his magnificent sweet wines, a sought-after and highly regarded wine. Instead they are called Mâcon-Clessé Cuvee Botrytis du 04 Octobre, for example, if that was the date the grapes were picked. Did they make this rule only to exclude this wine, and if so, why? Who knows the politics of the area. But clearly the name Thévenet is an important and provocative one in the Mâconnais.

Jean-Claude is the third generation vigneron and his impressive stable of Chardonnay wines includes St Veran, a Mâcon-Pierreclos, and several other village wines, some under the name Domaine de la Bongran. Thévenet makes a sparkling wine too, a Blanc de Blancs (a sparkling wine made entirely of white grapes, usually Chardonnay).

We enjoyed the NV Jean-Claude Thévenet Blanc de Blancs, ($20 at Astor Wines) as an aperitif, and then with a salad that included fresh sorrel, radiccio, golden beets, and fresh goat cheese. Good thing too about the sorrel, as its intense lemony flavor was a good foil for the wine. When we first opened the wine, BrooklynLady was the one to break the silence - "it smells like a ripe barnyard," she said. And this was an understatement. This wine was all about the poop smell. And it never really blew off. It was tamed a bit with 15 minutes of air, joined by strong sea air and focused lemon aromas, that carried over onto the intensely, almost painfully mineral palate.

I will be honest here - I did not like this wine during our dinner, or afterwards when I snuck in another taste. But the leftover third of a bottle the next day...BEAUTIFUL. So weird when that happens, but this wine just needed lots of exposure to oxygen I suppose. Maybe it was aged in a completely reductive environment (hence the poop smell). Turns out that I've thought a lot about this wine since finishing it, and I think I must have it again.

We had another Mâconnais white with our main course, seared sea scallops with kale custard and watermelon radishes. This was the 2004 Domaine de Roally Viré-Clessé, ($20 at Chambers Street Wines) made by Jean-Claude's son Gautier. This wine was a stunner from beginning to end. The color was deep golden yellow, like a sweet wine. I decanted it about four hours before serving following David Lillie's (co-owner of Chambers Street Wines) advice. David says that the wine ferments for a year, and this provides great complexity. It was fat and rich, full of floral perfume when I first opened it. Very exciting! But it's personality completely changed when we had it with dinner several hours later. Still rich and mouth coating, but now so dry and mineral that it almost hurt. There are floral notes on the nose, a bit of lemon peel, but this is wet rocks and quinine, and this is the dominant flavor on the palate too. Very focused and angular, with lemony and quinine mouth aromas after swallowing. This was really good with the scallops and kale custard. BrooklynLady's favorite of the evening.

We popped and poured a mature Pinot Noir with our cheese course, the 1998 Hugues et Yves de Suremain Mercurey 1er Cru La Bondue, ($19, Chambers Street Wines). 1998 was a year that produced a lighter style of wines in Burgundy. It is always a treat to taste a mature Burgundy, and this was certainly no exception. To my taste, it perfectly complimented our cheeses, expecially the pungeant (read: stinky) Pont L'Eveque. The color was light rose red with no signs of rustiness. At first the nose was a bit sea-weedy, with something like rotting garbage. This toned down with a few minutes of air and the nose grew to include enticing cooked cherries and orange pith with hints of prune, mint, and toffee. Ah, the complexity of a mature Burgundy! And for under $20 - is this some sort of a joke?!? The palate was light but quite intense, echoing the nose. Broad and mouth coating, and the tannins do not seem to have fully resolved yet - this could even go a bit longer. Why bother though - it's drinking beautifully now and it's wise and gracious in its old age.

Think of this: I paid less than $60 before taxes (and before case discount) for these wines, three interesting and high quality wines of character and substance, each offering lots of pleasure. And this is Burgundy folks, where one bottle can easily cost $60. But this is Silver Burgundy, and hence the savings. I hope this whets your appetite, and that you will get it in gear and participate in WBW #39.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #39 in Two Weeks

A friendly reminder from your local Brooklynguy - WBW #39, Silver Burgundy, is now just two weeks away. I hope you're experiencing something new, getting back to some old favorites, and generally enjoying yourself with this theme - these are food friendly, high QPR, interesting wines. So taste up folks, and send me an email with your links in two weeks!

WBW # 39 Announced - Silver Burgundy

What do you think of when you hear "Burgundy?"

I think of endlessly beguiling and beautiful Pinot Noir, and also of Chardonnay - crystalline, tense, and rich. I think of Chambolle-Musigny, Vosne-Romaneé, Gevrey-Chambertin, and the storied villages of the Côte de Nuits, and also of Puligny, Meursault, Volnay, and the other superstars of the Côte de Beaune.

Then I come back to planet Earth, where I cannot often afford to indulge in the wines of the Côte d'Or, the Gold Coast. There are a few in my cellar, and I agonize over opening them because they are so special and so dear in price. For many of us, these are not everyday wines.

What if you want beautiful Burgundian wine, but you're not in the mood to agonize? What if you're spending about $12-25 per bottle? Is this even possible?

That was just a rhetorical question, as the answer is most emphatically YES. There is great Burgundy wine to be had at those prices, and a great place to start is outside of the Gold Coast, a bit further south in what I like to think of as Silver Burgundy. The Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais are two regions where excellent wines and reasonable, sometimes downright cheap prices can be found. And this is the theme for Wine Blogging Wednesday #39 - taste a bottle(s) of Silver Burgundy, wine from either the Côte Chalonnaise or the Mâconnais.

Some of you are wondering "well why did Brooklynguy exclude Chablis and Beaujolais from his Silver Burgundy thing?" Here's why: Chablis is unique, and probably deserves its own WBW event. Whereas whites from the Côte Chalonnaise or the Mâconnais tend to be similar in style to the Côte d'Or, Chablis is really doing its own thing with Chardonnay. And Beaujolais...well Beaujolais definitely deserves its own WBW, and it's been getting some blogging attention lately already. If Chablis and Beaujolais are open game then there's just too much to choose from. This way, we're going to develop an extensive set of tasting notes and experiences with a specific set of interesting and affordable wines. So I'm sticking with the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais. Don't worry, you're gonna love it. And if you don't, talk to Lenn - he's the one who allowed me to host.

Okay, so here's some info about the Côte Chalonnaise and the Mâconnais. The grapes are the same as they are in the Côte d'Or - overwhelmingly but not always Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. And as in the Côte d'Or, there are several levels of wine based on the status of the vineyard, from basic Bourgogne (grapes from anywhere in the region), to village level (grapes from vineyards that are entitled to "village status" in that village), to 1er Cru (grapes from 1er Cru status vineyards that supposedly make wines that are consistently superior to their village and regional comrades). There are no vineyards with Grand Cru status in either the Côte Chalonnaise or the Mâconnais, and there are no vineyards with 1er Cru status in the Mâconnais.

Many people feel that the Côte Chalonnaise is better for red wines, and the Mâconnais is better for whites. That is only a general rule though, and there are certainly exceptions.

In the Côte Chalonnaise "entry level," or regional wines carry the name Bourgogne or sometimes Bourgogne Côte Chalonnaise on the label. Regional wines in the Mâconnais are called Bourgogne, but can also be called Mâcon, Mâcon-Villages, or Mâcon-Supérieur. These wines should be quite inexpensive and depending on the producer and to a lesser degree the vintage, can be of surprisingly high quality.

There are five village appellations in the Côte Chalonnaise - Bouzeron, Rully, Mercurey, Givry, and Montagny, and village level wines will carry one of those names on the label. Bouzeron, created in 1979 and the youngest of the appellations, is only for Aligoté. This is the grape traditionally used to make a Kir, the delicious aperitif in which a little bit of cassis liquor is put in a wine glass and then filled with Aligoté. But some of the whites of Bouzeron are far too good to "waste" on a Kir. Montagny is the other all-white-wine appellation of the Côte Chalonnaise, and its Chardonnay can be every bit as complex and exciting as those from its more famous northern neighbors in the Gold Coast.

Rully is just south of Bouzeron and produces reds and whites made of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Mercurey is probably the rock star of the Côte Chalonnaise. Its reds are indeed powerful and complex, and if you're not careful they might trash your hotel room. There are also excellent reds to be found in Gevrey. These three appellations, Rully, Mercurey, and Givry have 1er Cru status vineyards.

Village level wines In the Mâconnais are usually called Mâcon-something or other - the something or other is the name of the specific village. Like Mâcon-Charnay or Mâcon-Lugny. A few village wines are called Pouilly-something or other, like Pouilly-Fuissé. There are also village wines from St. Veran and Viré-Clessé, in the far north of the region. As you may have guessed, there are way more than five village appellations in the Mâconnais. In fact, there are 43 villages with their own appellation. There are great white wines hiding in these villages that might set you back, maybe $15.

Here are two more places to read more about the Côte Chalonnaise or the Mâconnais:

Eric Asimov's tasting panel recently tasted a load of 2005 Mâconnais whites.

The Wine Doctor, as usual, offers a great guide to the region, and some suggestions on producers to look for. He sadly calls his guide "Chablis and the Lesser Regions," but that's all relative - lesser than the Grand Crus of Musigny, yes. But excellent wines nonetheless.

Okay, so you have more than four weeks from today - go out and taste some wine(s) from either the Côte Chalonnaise or the Mâconnais, write up your post, and then email me at the address in my profile on or not much later than Wednesday November 14th with the link to your blog and to your post. Not a blogger but want to play WBW #39 anyway? Well email me your notes and I will post them too. Big shot wine writer, but want to get in your two cents? Well c'mon in - the water's warm and no one will think any less of you - quite the contrary.

WBW #38 - Portuguese Table Wine

This month's installment of Wine Blogging Wednesday is hosted by Gabriella and Ryan at Catavino, and the theme is Portuguese table wines. As you probably know by now, Lenn at Lenndevours began this tradition over three years ago now, and it continues to pick up steam.

One of the reasons that I love WBW is that it sometimes forces me out of my comfort zone. With the exception of a super cheap bubbly called Espiral Vinho Verde, I have never to my knowledge tasted Portuguese wine. The irony is, I am going to what will surely be an incredible event focusing on Portuguese wine in two weeks. But that is in the future, and this is now. So knowing essentially nothing about Portuguese wine, how should I choose a bottle for WBW? I thought it might make sense to try something that resembles wines I know, for the sake of comparison.

I love dry whites that are made to sip with local seafood, and so do lots of folks in Portugal, particularly in the northwest, apparently. The Vinho Verde (Green Wine) region is known for the Alvarinho grape, aka Albarino in Spain. The wines are known to be light, low in alcohol, brightly acidic, and sometimes with a bit of petillance, or fizz. That fizz is the carbon dioxide that's retained in the wine after malolactic fermentation. These wines are meant to drink young and to compliment the region's fresh and tasty seafood dishes.

BrooklynLady and I enjoyed some scallops for dinner the other night with a simple white wine, lemon, and butter sauce. Some broccoli rabe, an ear of late summer corn on the cob - not Portuguese fare, but seafood nonetheless. So with great curiosity (okay, BrooklynLady's had lots of Portuguese wine - I was the curious one), we opened our Alvarinho and toasted WBW 38.

2006 Antonio Esteves Ferreira Alvarinho Soalheiro, $17 (Chambers Street Wines).
I'm not gonna sugar-coat this, people. No matter how much we wanted to like this, it was just no good. And it wasn't corked or heat damaged or anything else. It's just a style of wine that is never going to get any traction in our house. The problem is, the wine I drank is not at all typical of Vinho Verde, and I learned that after drinking the wine, while wondering how on earth it could be so different from what we expected.

The wine had an attractive straw color with a nose of green apple, grapefruit, and vanilla cream. But the palate was flabby, totally unfocused, with an almost viscous texture. A little sweet, with almost no acidity at all, just a fat white jelly roll of a wine. And the wine did not taste or feel clean to me - I'm betting that there is all sorts of manipulation going on with this particular wine. Either that or the wine-making equipment wasn't clean, which is more common than you'd think. I re-corked it and figured we'd taste it again in a day or so to see if anything developed. Nope - same same same.

So what the heck is going on here?!? I read the entry on Vinho Verde in Jancis Robinson's Oxford Companion to Wine, and I picked up a really important clue from the following passage.

The Vinho Verde DOC officially divides into six subregions, distinguished by climatic differences and the white grape varieties grown there. The area around the town of Monção on the Spanish Border produces one of the best but least typical Vinho Verdes from the Alvarinho grape. Alcohol levels of up to 13% set these apart, and thanks to a combination of consumer demand and low yields, they are relatively expensive.

Well, my bottle is 12.5% alcohol and is indeed from the subregion of Monção. So I'm going to take a few guesses at what specifically is happening with my wine, and I'm hoping that the fine folks at Catavino, or anyone else, can raise me up from the depths of ignorance, tell me right from wrong.

The wine was totally and completely still - not a teeny bit of petillance. Did they skip the malolactic fermentation? Maybe, but it sure seemed smooth and buttery, the whole point of malo. I bet instead that they did malolactic but did not retain the CO2, maybe in some way attempting to separate the wine from the "average" Alvarinho, make it somehow more "international," or something.

The vanilla creaminess on the nose - that smacks of wood to me. Did they oak this wine? I'm gonna guess that the wine sees some small portion of new or used, but not neutral oak. Maybe 10%?

In any case, it is clear to me now that this wine is not representative of Portuguese Alvarinho. We wanted a bright and acidic dry white that worked well with seafood. We got a thick and creamy white that I think might be intended as an aperitif, or to compete with a California Chardonnay. So we're not done - we're coming back for more Alvarinho, but for now we're avoiding the Monção subregion.

Thanks to Gabrielle and Ryan for hosting, for creating such an informative site on wines from the Iberian Peninsula, and for urging me to get out of my comfort zone.

WBW 37 - Indigenous Grape Varieties

And with this installment of Wine Blogging Wednesday, we enter the fourth year of monthly community wine blogging, a tradition Lenn thoughtfully brought to the wine blogging world. This month Dr. Vino is our host, and he has asked us to taste an indigenous grape variety, something less common perhaps.

I love French wine, but the good doctor ruled out what he called "the big six grapes" from France, namely Riesling, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir. That rules out a lot of wine. Aha, but one of my absolute favorites grapes (behind only my beloved Pinot Noir) is not on that list.

Chenin Blanc is, in my opinion, the superstar white grape of the Loire Valley. Yes, Sancerre and Pouilly Fume produce highly regarded Sauvignon Blanc. But it's the Chenin Blanc wines that are so shattering to me. Amazing dry and off-dry wines from famous ouvray and Savennieres, and upstart appellations such as Montlouis sur Loire, Anjou, Jasnieres, and Coteaux du Loir. Sweet wines equal to any in the world from Quarts de Chaume and Bonnezeaux. And almost always a good value, too.

So in honor of WBW 37 I tasted wine made from France's Chenin Blanc. Three from Savennieres, each a dry wine made entirely of Chenin Blanc, each of them made by one of my favorite producers, Domaine du Closel. Closel produces three cuvees each year (that make it to the US): La Jalousie (a mineral driven wine that tends to be approachable at a young age), Les Caillardieres (usually off-dry, also hits its stride while young), and Clos du Papillon, the majestic wine from the butterfly shaped vineyard. Wines from Clos du Papillon can be enjoyed while young - they are always complex and tense, with unusual and thrilling flavors, but they are most impressive with age. In most vintages, Closel's Clos du Papillon improves with upwards of 10-15 years in the cellar, and in better vintages the wine can age like a vampire - it just will not die.

I tasted two new releases and one mature wine, but probably too mature, as we shall soon see.

2005 Domaine du Closel Savennieres La Jalousie, $20 (Chambers Street Wines).
Aromas of yellow apples and flowers, quinine (like in tonic water), and honey, with definite minerality. Yes, this is not your typical white wine nose - this is dry Chenin Blanc from Savennieres baby, and you should check it out! The palate is pure fresh rainwater, with a light texture, somewhat tense mouth feel. There are stone fruit flavors and also more quinine and minerals, and the finish is a bit spicy. This improved in the glass, so it might benefit from a year or so of aging, but that certainly is not imperative - this is beautiful right now. You could pair this wine with hearty fish dishes, like blackfish roasted in parchment paper with tarragon and market cherry tomatoes. Or lighter, simpler chicken dishes - maybe whole roast chicken with lemon, let's say. I personally think that if it's your first time with Savennieres, it's more fun to sip this on its own, as you get the full Savennieres effect, unfettered by the distraction of food. See what it's about, then have it with dinner another time. Whatever, do what you want. Who am I to tell you how to drink your wine?

2005 Domaine du Closel Savennieres Clos du Papillon, $33 (Chambers Street Wines).
Pumping it up about five notches. Darker gold in color, shimmering. Waxy nose, with lanolin (like in baby diaper gel) and roasted nuts. An amazing nose, and this is just a baby! When the flowers come, I can't even imagine how interesting this wine is going to smell. Melon and citrus fruit flits in and out. Weighty on the palate, but in a good way, firm and dense. There are apricots, quinine, and lanolin flavors, and hints of citrus, but it's really too young to tell what's going on with this wine - it needs more time. So pure and clean though, and so interesting already. Thankfully I have several bottles that will sleep for an extended period.

Pairing food with a Clos du Papillon is easy in that it is almost impossible to overwhelm the wine. This particular wine is the only one I have come across that I would serve with steak - it's got that kind of power. It might overwhelm lighter shellfish dishes, but other than that - chicken, pork...just give it a shot.

1995 Domaine du Closel Savennieres La Jalousie, $29 (Astor Place Wines).
What? A 12 year old Jalousie? Isn't that meant for young drinking? And from a middling vintage at that? Age the 2005 Jalousie if you want as an experiment, but why the 1995? Because they can - that's my only guess. All that notwithstanding, I had high hopes for this wine because great producers make great wine, even in middling vintages. And Chenin Blanc tends to age well, so let's see.

Nope, this was just too old, the color of honey, with a sherry-like smell. BrooklynLady couldn't go near it, and she'll drink Closel wines instead of orange juice in the morning, if you let her. Not corked or otherwise flawed, just over the hill and essentially undrinkable. And Astor should have tasted it and come to the same conclusion before choosing to sell it. After much argument, they gave me a store credit, I am happy to say.

So that's it - another installment of Wine Blogging Wednesday. I am excited to read the round-up on Dr. Vino's site when it appears. Until next time...

WBW #36 - Naked Chardonnay

Happy 3rd anniversary Wine Blogging Wednesday! And congrats Lenn - you started something truly extraordinary here. People from all over the country and all over the world look forward each month to participating in and reading about Wine Blogging Wednesday. And why not participate? You don't even have to be a blogger. All recent hosts have invited non-bloggers to join in, sending reviews and experiences with whatever the theme wine is that month.

An online community of bloggers sharing experiences with certain wines each month, and inviting all interested parties to join, to be bloggers if only for that once a month. We all taste something, we all learn something, we all read each others' work. A simple idea, but very elegant and effective. Lots of people who might not otherwise be interested take the wine plunge because of WBW. I started a blog myself because of a Wine Blogging Wednesday post I read on Fork and Bottle, actually.

So again Lenn - happy anniversary to WBW and thank you for bringing this pleasure to us each month. Many more...

So this month's theme is Naked Chardonnay, or un-oaked Chardonnay. Why specify un-oaked? Because Lenn is some sort of freak? No, friends, not the case at all (with regard to wine, anyway).

From the late '80s through the late '90s (all dates are approximate, and cannot be confirmed) Chardonnay was generic swill that the masses got when ordering white wine. No reason to ask who made the wine or where it was from. "Just give me a Chardonnay. And you know what, make it a spritzer." How did it get that way? A load of producers in California were fattening and candying it up, allowing it to see plenty of new oak and encouraging malolactic fermentation to convert the sharper malic acids into smoother lactic acids. The end result often was described as rich and buttery. People went nuts for it.

I guess people here weren't ready to drink Chardonnay in its unadulterated form, with its steely minerals and strong acidity. That wasn't the thing people were looking for when they asked for a Chardonnay. Gone was the vibrant acidity and the slender frame, the mineral character. It was all about buttered popcorn, caramel, toffee, and other aromas and flavors that have little to do with the grape juice and more to do with the application of oak, malolactic fermentation, and who knows what other manipulations.

There are still folks who swear by huge buttery Chards, but it's not what most of us are drinking. And the folks ordering a glass after work at their power-drink sessions or at dinner with friends, well last I checked it was a generic Pinot Grigio they were asking for, but I'm not up on the latest trends.

Slowly but surely, lots of people begin to remember and seek out Chardonnay - true Chardonnay, wines that express that grape's character. Steel fermented is a great way to experience Chardonnay - nothing in the way of the juice. That said, there are plenty of examples of great and true Chardonnay that do, in fact, see new oak. Judicious application of oak is a sign of great skill in a wine maker. Heck, they've been making incredible Chardonnay in Puligny, Chassagne, and Meursault for over 100 years and they're definitely using new oak.

So why naked or un-oaked Chardonnay? I guess it's a way of rejecting the buttered popcorn style of the Gordon Gecko era. A way of saying "don't forget about Chardonnay because it is wonderful and it's sitting right under your nose at every price point and you should try it again."

I tasted two un-oaked Chardonnays for the 3rd Anniversary of WBW, both from Burgundy, but not from the Cote d'Or. A 2005 Chablis and a 2005 from the Maconnais. Both of these are regions that can provide good value in an otherwise very expensive wine locale. You probably saw Eric Asimov's recent article describing a tasting of 2005 wines from the Maconnais. At least one of the wines described in that piece, the 2005 Jean Manciat Macon-Charnay wine is both un-oaked and absolutely delicious, and at about $17 at Chambers Street, it's a great value. But back to my wines...

For some reason I decided that we would taste them blind. It's the 3rd anniversary of WBW - why not celebrate? Brooklynlady and I enjoyed a delightful dinner on the deck last weekend - grilled Spanish mackerel sprinkled with sea salt, fresh farmer's market bi-color corn on the cob, and a green salad. We bagged the two wines and got to it.

2005 Litaud Macon-Vergisson Domaine des Vieille Pierres, $14 (Chambers Street Wines). Blind I thought this was the Chablis, as it was leaner and more mineral than the other wine. It had distinct citrus and fennel aromas and flavors early on. Interesting, but we both agreed that the other wine was better at that point. It was obvious to me, though, that this wind needed time to unravel. A taste near the end of the meal didn't show much change. I pump sealed the wine and left it in the fridge over night. Then my pal Nick came over for lunch the next day and WOW - the wine had really blossomed. Rounder with a fuller texture and mouth feel, and well balanced with fleshy stone fruit - peaches maybe - hanging on a gently mineral and acid frame. Delicious and crisp, excellent with our lunch of pasta with fresh tomatoes and pesto.

2005 Domaine Boudin Chablis, $19 (Chambers Street Wines).
This wine was fuller bodied to begin with, with aromas of citrus and stone fruit. The palate was rich with sweet fruit and there was a slight pleasant smokiness on the finish. I read in the recent Burghound newsletter that Chablis in 2005 in many cases is more about Chardonnay than about the terroir that is Chablis. I take that to mean less about seashell minerality and lean citrus, and more about ripe fleshy fruit. Well, it certainly fooled me, as I was certain that this was not the Chablis.

We preferred this wine with our rich and oily Spanish Mackerel and sweet corn, and we drank more of it than of the Macon. I should have pump sealed the last third of the bottle, but I never got to it and instead just corked it and put it in the fridge. The next day at lunch with Nick (a guy who couldn't care any less about wine), I poured him tastes of both so he could choose what he wanted with his pasta and he unhesitatingly picked the Macon. I was surprised - the Chablis seemed more accessible. But I hadn't sealed it and it didn't hold up well. The fruit had faded and the texture was kind of thin. But the Macon had come into its own, and was perfect with lunch.

Thank you again for WBW Lenn and also to everyone else who participates by posting and reading. Looking forward to many more.

WBW # 35 Roundup is Posted

Check out the Round up at My Wine Education. Lots of interesting stuff to read about inexpensive Spanish wine. Real stuff - not everyone loved their wine. You can get a sense of what's good and what's not so good out of Spain at the $10 price point.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #35 - Spanish Wine Under $10

Wine Blogging Wednesday is here again, and this month’s theme is Spanish Wines Under $10. Our host is Michelle, aka Wine-girl, at My Wine Education. WBW was created three years ago now by New York’s own (by way of Pittsburgh, anyway) Lenn of Lenndevours.

We are charged with tasting a bottle of Spanish wine, red, white, or bubbly, that also costs $10 or less. I am not a Spanish wine buff, and I don’t know all that much outside of Rioja. I thought it would be nice to try a Bierzo, made from the Mencia grape, the older uncle of my beloved Cabernet Franc. But Bierzos, like your old uncle, can be rustic and brooding wines that prefer to be indoors by the fire - better suited for another time of year.

Then I remembered a light and inexpensive Priorat that I have enjoyed in the past, but the new vintage costs about $15 – too much. Under $10, huh? I will admit that I rarely buy wine at that price point. I usually don’t like $10 red wine – all too often it’s like a bull in a china shop. So I decided not to pick a random red wine, and instead to go with a white - there are several inexpensive whites coming out of Spain that are supposed to be quite good. And I had the perfect excuse to try an inexpensive bottle of white wine...

BrooklynLady and I took BrooklynBabygirl to a Sunday afternoon picnic last weekend. BrooklynLady made two kinds of sandwiches: tuna fish (the good canned kind, in olive oil) with marinated artichoke hearts and lemon juice, and fresh mozzarella with basil. For anyone interested, A & S Porkstore on 5th Avenue between Carroll and Garfield in park slope makes incredible fresh mozz, basically every few hours. Creamy, salty, YUM. What wine would go well with these sandwiches? Something light with zippy acidity, I was thinking, more briny than exotic fruity. Left to my own devices, I might have brought along a Muscadet.

But no Muscadet allowed. This is WBW and the theme is Spanish wine under $10, so I decided to go with an Albariño from the Rias Baixas region. Albariño is the name of the grape, and these wines are marketed as the fresh seafood wine of Spain. Should go well with a nice tuna sandwich, right? The fresh mozzarella, who knows, but who really cares, it’s a picnic. Any wine should be good wine when you enjoy it in the park with friends and children running around.

I tried Chambers Street Wines, my usual haunt, but there was nothing close enough to the $10 limit. Portugese wines, yes, but no Spanish whites at about $10. So I went to Astor Wine and Spirits, a huge store, and they had a couple of bottles to choose from. I settled on a $12 bottle instead of the Borsao, or the other bottles that had labels sporting happy fish, little beach scenes, or other marketing crap that kind of turns me off. Me cynical? Absolutely. I picked a Martin Codax wine with a simple white label and a clear bottle, and I could see the attractive light color of the wine.

After drinking this wine I learned that, incredibly, it IS possible to think your wine sort of stinks, even at a lovely picnic. Several people, after one small glass, opted for beer instead. I tried hard to like it, but it was tough, really tough. Now I've enjoyed Albariño in the past, so I am not at all slamming the wine in general or the Rias Baixas region. Just this bottle because honestly, this wine was just no good.

2006 Martin Codax Albariño Rias Biaxas, $12 (Astor Wines and Spirits).

Pale straw color with tonic water quinine and wet rocks on the nose. Those smells are echoed on the palate, and nothing more. There is acidity, and the wine is light and sort of lively, but there is no balance at all. Only minerals and brine, no fruit to speak of, nothing to hold your interest. Even with bites of tuna sandwich at a nice picnic, this is not altogether pleasant.

I'm curious to read to roundup, and I hope that someone else sampled one of these popular wines - I want to taste another Albariño soon because I know that the Codax cannot be representative of the wines. Yes, I will have to try another.

Thanks to Michelle for choosing this interesting theme and for hosting.

WBW 34 - Washington State Cabernet

Hard to believe it's already Wine Blogging Wednesday time again. Created by Lenn almost three years ago now, WBW is a chance to try wine with a blogging community from around the world, to share experiences, to learn something new. This month our host is Catie at Through the Walla Walla Grape Vine, a blog devoted to Walla Walla Valley, Washington wines.

West coast wines are daunting to me, I must say. I just don’t enjoy the big and dense high alcohol wines that I tend to encounter from the California. California wines tend to be expensive, and quality tends to suffer at each price point in comparison with their counterparts from the old world. There are certainly exceptions – I’m not bashing west coast wine as a rule, even though it might sound that way. I am saying that in my limited experience, and with my limited wine budget, I have not yet found a reason to prioritize California wine.

But California is not the only state on the west coast making wine.

I learned several years ago that I enjoy Pinot Noir from Oregon, and that there are a few producers who make great wines at fair prices, prices that rival what I would spend for a bottle of Burgundy of similar quality (if not similar style). If there are Oregon wines that I love, might there be Washington wines that I love, at reasonable prices? I asked myself this question two years ago and I admit I’ve been pretty slow about getting answers. Probably because Cabernet based wines and Syrahs are not my passion. Also because the wines that sounded interesting to me tend to be in the mid to upper $30 range, and I usually don’t spend that kind of dough unless I already know and like the producer.

I did order a few bottles of Washington wine online though, just to take a shot. I relied on descriptions from the online store, word of mouth, and what I read in magazines. I narrowed it down to a few producers: Betz, Andrew Will, and Mark Ryan. Mark Ryan’s wines were the cheaper of the bunch, priced in the mid $30’s, and they had interesting names like Dead Horse and Long Haul. These are Bordeaux blend wines with most of the grapes coming from what is supposedly one of Washington’s best vineyard sites – Ciel de Cheval, or Horse Heaven Vineyard. If not WBW, then what better excuse to crack open a bottle?

Problem: the Mark Ryan bottle I have, while a Bordeaux blend, is not primarily Cabernet Sauvignon, as Catie requested. I hope she’ll let me slide with my blend of 48% Merlot, 42% Cabernet Franc, and then Cabernet Sauvignon and petit Verdot making up the balance.

2003 Mark Ryan Long Haul, $33 (Avalon Wines).
Dark purple and inky. Roasted aromas dominate, along with the heat of alcohol – this is 14.7%. With vigorous swirling I can smell some dark fruit, but it is fleeting. The nose even two hours later is nondescript with strong alcohol heat. The palate is also blurry. I’m trying to be forgiving here because I understand how difficult 2003 – very hot. But good wine makers make good wine in tough vintages. This wine is a fruit bomb, and the fruit is not impressive. At least come with sweet ripe juicy fruit if you’re gonna be a fruit bomb. This is roasted fruit that gives way too quickly to alcohol and Maybe Mark Ryan wasn’t trying to make a fruit bomb, but if this was supposed to be old world style wine with complex nuances, it is even more of a failure. After two hours open I could sense some cassis and some roasted black fruit, but the flavors were still out of focus and the wine is completely unsatisfying. And at $33, I feel a little ripped off, I must say. And I stored the wine properly, and all that. I just didn’t like it.

I’m not done with Washington, not at all, but I could sure use some suggestions about what to taste in order to keep going. That’s why I’m glad it’s WBW. Can’t wait to read the roundup.

WBW #33 - Mid-Priced Midi Wines

Here we are again folks, Wine Blogging Wednesday is upon us once more. Lenn's idea is now almost three years old! This month we must thank the noble Doktor Weingolb for hosting. He has gone above and beyond the call of duty in providing lots of information regarding his chosen theme: wines from the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France that are priced between $15-30. Mid-priced Midi wines, if you will. And I certainly will!

The Languedoc-Roussillon, also known as the Midi, is a huge area west of Provence, south of the Rhone Valley, just northeast of the Spanish Pyrenees, all of it draped around the Mediterranean Sea. This is hot weather France where hardy grapes thrive, like Grenache and Mourvedre, Cinsault and Carignan, and of course, Syrah.

There are many appellations in the Midi. Some folks feel that the area is really too large to be one wine region, that the western part, the Roussillon, is distinct from the Languedoc. And within the Languedoc, for example, that the Coteaux du Languedoc appellation is too large and should be divided up. I do not have the knowledge or experience to add anything to that debate, but I will say that I have felt intimidated when I think about delving into the wines of the Midi. Is St Chinian different from Fitou? From Minervois or Corbieres? And if so, how are they different, aside from being in different places? Do they permit varying percentages of Syrah, for example, or it is an elevation and wind thing? Where would I start?!? I usually give up and walk back to the Loire section.

But Marcus' theme got me thinking...if I am trying to lower my average $ per bottle average, at the same time refusing to sacrifice quality, and while accepting the fact that I am an unabashed lover of French wine, I might need to get to know the Midi a bit more.

For WBW #33 I combined this sense of experimentation with another idea that appeals to me in wine and wine making - natural wines. I noticed that several Midi wines were poured at Dressner's Real Wine Attack tasting a while back, a 2004 Mas de Chimeres Coteaux du Languedoc among them. I liked the wine at the tasting, so why not follow up at home where I can experience it over the course of a few hours with dinner?

Unfined and unfiltered, aged in wooden barrels, in the 2004 vintage the wine is about equal parts Grenache and Syrah, with some Cinsault and Mourvedre for good measure. A southern country wine, a lusty blend, that seemed to call for lusty food. How about the hormone-free, organically fed and raised, free roaming, registered democrat lamb shoulder chops I grabbed at the Farmer's Market? Roasted with herbs, some spring vegetables on the side, sounds like a pairing.

BrooklynLady and I decided on asparagus, as they are perfectly in season and just beautiful right now. Also some pink potatoes roasted with a little garlic. For the lamb, we used the mortar and pestle to grind some aromatic fresh mint into a paste, added a little salt and some good olive oil. Shoulder chops can be a little tough if you just sear and eat, like a loin or rib chop. I like to sear them in a hot pan, and then finish them in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. They are just a bit pink, but a more tender than they are when left rare.

This spring meal worked really well with the wine, both in flavor and in feeling. Holding greasy lamb chops with your hands, garlic on your fingers, picking up an asparagus spear, leaving mint paste fingerprints on your glass...works with this slightly rustic and definitely lusty wine. Here are some notes:

2004 Mas de Chimeres Coteaux du Languedoc, $17.
Incredible vibrant ruby red color, almost electric under the light, yet completely translucent. Warm and inviting aromas of raspberries and dusty earth. I found concentrated and juicy red fruit on the palate, BrooklynLady found intense bloody meat also. Interesting, but a little disjointed. After about 45 minutes when we sat down to dinner the wine was more balanced and complex, the fruit more relaxed, some herbal qualities present, and an interesting finish of what to me was, and get your alliteration meters ready for this one: chocolate covered cherry cordial candies. Very sappy, lots of kirsch. The tannic feel of this wine was very different from that in the Loire reds and Burgundies I am used to. These tannins were exquisitely fine grained, which made the wine feel expansive and lush in the mouth.

I was very much impressed by this wine and would definitely buy it again. A wine of this quality at this price without question has a place in my drinking rotation. My only issue is that it clocks in at 14.5% alcohol, which is about 20% higher than what I'm used to. Hard to have a glass while cooking, and then another and a bit more with dinner at that alcohol level. I mean c'mon folks, I have to be able to change and feed the baby daughter later on, and to do so with nimble, loving, and sure hands. I know that many Rhone reds are high in alcohol too, there must be something about these grape varieties in this climate that leads to higher alcohol wines...not a criticism, just a point of interest. But it might lead me to look elsewhere when deciding what to open for sipping on the deck. This bottle of lushness needs food and at least two other people around, or things can quickly get out of hand. So are there high quality and mid-priced Midi wines out there at lower alcohol levels?

Many thanks to Marcus for being such a gracious and kind host, and for making it so much easier to get a little Midi experience. I'm coning back for more.