When All the Wines are Noble, Old, and Glorious (Except for the one that I Brought)

I went out to dinner with my buddy Levi the other night and it turned out that I brought a proverbial knife to a gunfight. It was a "soft" opening for a new Thai restaurant downtown in the old Cru space. Thai food for the western palate. I figured that I'd bring something tasty that would go with the food, we'd have a few glasses and enjoy our meal, nothing terribly fancy. It turned out to be one of those nights where everything you drink is noble, old, and glorious.

As we sat down I took out the wine I brought along, the 2008 Pierre Gonon St Joseph Blanc Les Oliviers, $32, Fruit of the Vines Imports. But that bottle waited in the corner of the table, as a magnum of 1996 Bollinger Grande Année appeared. So that's how it's going to be. I was surprised by how open and utterly drinkable the wine was, as you hear about how acidic and closed down the 1996's can be. Not this one - it was generous and just lovely, very much a wine of finesse. The finish was delicate and intense, with this kernel of floral fragrance that left a great impression. I don't know how long this bottle had been open - perhaps it was shut tight 6 hours prior to me drinking a glass, but in any case, certainly a compelling case for 1996 Bollinger.

Then Levi pulls out a 1996 Francis Cotat Sancerre La Grande Côte, Michael Skurnik Imports. Yes, Francis, not his son François (I think it's his son, anyway). This is a phenomenal wine, and one of the interesting things about it is that honestly, served blind, there would be no way to peg it as Sauvignon Blanc. We agreed that it smelled, tasted, and really felt like Chenin Blanc - an old Montlouis, Levi said. In any case, it is beautifully and energetically aromatic, perfectly balanced, rich with baked apples, and it expanded and changed quite a bit over the course of an hour. A great argument for cellaring high quality Sancerre.

If my night had ended there, I would have had plenty of wine to think about. But Levi works most nights and doesn't himself get to go out to dinner very often. So he couldn't stop himself from bringing along a bottle of old Riesling, the 1976 H. Josef Fries Noviander Honigberg Riesling Auslese, Savio Soares Selections. The first surprise about this wine - it was very fresh and vigorous. The wine is 34 years old. One of the very kind servers appeared with a wine by the same producer, but from the 1992 vintage, "just to compare," he said. That wine was also delicious, and it seemed like a newborn baby in the company of the golden rich 34 year old wine. In the 1976 there was a little petrol hint, but for me the overall sensation of the wine was this slow-creeping herbal honey over rocks. It drank dry, by the way, and I didn't know it was an Auslese until I looked more carefully at the label.

By the way, as I was putting my coat on to leave, the Gonon St Joseph had finally opened up and was a delicious blend of flowers, white fruit, and stones. If you happen to have any of this, seems like it's worth leaving it alone for a few years, at least.

That should be enough, and I should be winding up this post up, but Levi suggested as we were leaving that we go to Babbo, just to drink this wine he had been wanting to drink for 6 months, a wine that no one else sells. And so we did. It is a solera wine from Sardinia, the 1987 Attilio Contini Vernaccia di Oristano Riserva. This is the kind of wine that really makes you wonder about things. Why solera wine, in Sardinia? How does it taste at the same time like Manzanilla sherry and also like the orange bitters and spice of Chinato? Does 1987 refer to the youngest wine in this bottle? Will I ever feel as though I actually know anything about wine? Probably not.

I've never before tasted anything like this wine. I guess it's considered to be a dessert wine, but I cannot imagine drinking it with sweet food. Certain cheeses, maybe, like something hard and salty made of sheep's milk. I would love to drink it again as the focus of an evening, but apparently there really isn't any more of it to be had in these parts.

I often dream about moving with my wife and small kids out of New York to some smaller and more manageable place. This kind of evening, though, reminds me of how amazing it is to be here in that without expecting it, you can experience several different esoteric and beautiful things from all over the world, with friends, in one night.

JD Headrick's Wines at Rouge Tomate

I was very fortunate to be invited to dinner by JD Headrick, the philosophical and articulate wine importer based in North Carolina. Headrick's portfolio is small, but well selected. But if you consider only his Loire producers, his portfolio is large - 20 producers. His wines are well distributed (it seems to me, anyway), and appear in many states, but they don't appear on retail shelves as often as you might think, based on the quality of the wines. Those who know Headrick's wines always seem to like them, and you'll see his bottles appearing on the lists at top restaurants on the east and west coasts.

Headrick has two producers in particular that are true favorites of mine, Damien Laureau in Savennières and Françoise Bedel in Champagne. He also has several excellent producers in wine geeky appellations in the Loire. This dinner was a great opportunity to taste new things by my favorite producers, and also to get acquainted with some of his producers who are new to me. Here are some notes on my favorites from that evening:

(2000) Françoise Bedel Champagne Dis, Vin Secret, about $60. Bedel is that excellent producer working in the far west of the Vallée de la Marne, closer to Paris than to Reims. The one who converted to biodynamic farming in 1982. Pinot Meunier does very well in this area and Bedel's wines are mostly Meunier. According to Peter Liem, this is one of two terroir-specific wines Bedel makes, both from limestone parcels. I love LOVE love the other wine, called Entre Ciel et Terre, and this was my first time drinking Dis, Vin Secret. It is 100% Meunier, mostly from the ripe and forward 2000 vintage, with about 10% reserve wines. It was a beautiful wine and a great value at the suggested price. Classy on the nose with the rich and slightly oxidative aromas that typify Bedel's wines, the wine hits that balance of lushness and focus on the palate, a combination that can be elusive with Meunier wines. The fruit is sweet and red, and underlined with a cooling stoniness. Very fragrant, it really lingers on the finish. Delicious in a visceral way, this wine also offers something to think about if you're one of those folks who looks down upon Meunier-based Champagnes. We drank this as an apertif, but I wish I had saved some for my excellent plate of scallop carpaccio with sturgeon caviar and butter-toasted poppy seeds.

By the way, Rouge Tomate is really good. I had previously dismissed it because the name reminded me of this rather dismal place in the Mitsuwa food court - Italian Tomato. Silly me.

2008 Michel Delhommeau Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Sur Lie Cuvée Harmonie, about $15. Delhommeau is a newer producer in Muscadet and his vines are on the black quartz called Gabbro, in the village of Monnière, right near Michel Brégeon's vineyards in Gorges. This wine was absolutely classic. Fragrant with lees-y citrus fruit and that anise seed hint that I also get in Brégeon's wines, well balanced and energetic, very mineral, and delicious with oysters. If this bottle is any indication, Delhommeau is a nice addition to the existing super-group of Muscadet producers, and if you're into Muscadet, you should find a bottle.

2008 Claude Riffault Sancerre Les Boucauds, about $28. This one took a little while to unfold and then was just lovely wine, and like the best wines from the area, much more about Sancerre than about Sauvignon Blanc. Very strong acidity and minerality anchors the fruit and the finish has a gentle creaminess to it. To me, this is not a wine for sipping before dinner. I drank it with the scallop dish and it was a very good match. It would probably be great with any kind of white fish in creamy sauce, or even lean pork dishes.

2007 Damien Laureau Savennières Les Genêts, about $28. What can I say, I love these wines. I have much more experience drinking the other cuvée, Bel Ouvrage, which is aged mostly in barrel. Les Genêts is aged mostly in tank, and the 2007 it is such a fine wine. Can I take a minute here and say that I LOVE 2007 in the Loire? This wine is floral and powdery on the nose, and continued to gain in complexity until we drank it all. Such vibrancy in the mouth, the wine really fills all cavities, and this is a lean wine we're talking about, it's not accomplishing this with excess, but rather with energy and grace. No question for me at this point, Laureau is my desert island Savennières.

There are other wines that I truly liked on that evening - two different Cour-Cheverny by Domaine des Huards, for example. The 2002 took a while to open up, very oxidative at first, but after about an hour it found a balanced and delicious place. The 2008 was all young craggly rocks, and you could drink it with oysters and then scrape the mud off a pig with whatever is left in the bottle. 2007 Claux Delorme Valençay, about $16, is a delicious blend of Malbec, Gamay, Cabernet Franc, and Pinot Noir. Lighter in body than the 2006, it continues to impress me as a full bodied wine that is fit for richer meaty dishes, and yet has a light enough mouth feel to be very good to drink on its own. If I owned a restaurant I would serve this by the glass so fast, your head would spin.

Every one of these are wines that I would eagerly buy for myself, or order off of a restaurant wine list. Okay, maybe not the Sancerre, but that's about me and my issues with pricing in Sancerre, not about this particular wine. I'm telling you, people - JD Headrick has good wines. If you like good wine, you should keep your eyes peeled.

Levi Dalton Roasts a Pig

Well, the chef at Alto did, anyway. Levi just organized the whole thing. And lucky for me, he invited me.

Levi, enjoying a thoughtful moment, or perhaps reaching down to tie his shoe.

Levi is a top shelf wine guy, truly Grand Cru. He is an extremely bright guy with a vast wealth of wine knowledge, and he's relaxed and easy going about it. Sharing a glass with him is a great way to learn about wine, as he is so good as describing in such an accessible manner what he likes and doesn't like about a wine. Plus, he has a razor sharp wit and is simply fun to be around. If this guy invited me to a three hour tasting of Boone's Farm wines, I would go.

Photo courtesy of Levi D.

So I was excited for Levi's pig roast the other night. The event was hosted by Alto restaurant and was in part a showcase for the Piedmontese wines of Silvia Altare. Many NYC sommeliers and other wine people showed up, some from as far away as Philly. Many wines were shared. I was incredibly lucky to spot, and then basically attach myself to this guy:

SF Joe: the little white lights are the constant smart thoughts buzzing out of his head.

SF Joe, as he's known on the wine bulletin boards, is a brilliant and dedicated aficionado of the Loire Valley wines (among others). He was hanging out with a guy named Kirk, another NYC wine guy with a legendary cellar and a generous soul. So my night began with a glass of Kirk's 2002 Nicolas Joly Savennières Clos de la Coulée de Serrant. Nicolas Joly is a controversial figure, as probably the greatest living champion of the biodynamic movement in wine grape farming. And this is a controversial wine. Very expensive, and yet subject to what is apparently is a particularly high degree of bottle variation. Also, there are many who feel that this wine is plagued by problems with oxidation. I have no opinions on these matters, as I've had the wine too few times to understand it. But I will say that this bottle we had was very, very good. Attractive, balanced, absolutely pure, just lovely wine. Made me want to drink it again, although I don't know if I'm ready to plunk down my own $85 yet. I have enough problems with bottle variation already.

Then SF Joe broke out two absolute gems from the fantastic 1989 vintage in the Loire, wines that are pretty rare to come across today. First it was the 1989 Domaine de la Pépière Muscadet Clos des Briords, a direct refutation of the crazy talk coming from some guy on the left coast about how there's no reason to age Muscadet. This wine was a beautiful thing. No fireworks, nothing fancy, just pure, mellow, perfectly poised, deeply aromatic, and utterly delicious. If it were a house, it would be one of those weathered red-cedar shingle houses on the New England coast.

Then it was the 1989 François Cotat Sancerre Les Monts Damnés. This wine always has a certain richness to it, but at over 20 years old and from a ripe year like '89, this one was infused with honey. It was full and lush but very nicely structured, and like the Muscadet, strikingly pure. I enjoyed how the wine changed from front to back, how the initial taste was so honeyed and floral, and then the finish was more delicate and stony. I decided that it would be with this wine that I needed to indulge in the roast pig.

This photo is terrible, not enough light, but it gives a sense of what was going on with the pig. The chef completely de-boned it and then stuffed it with itself - loin, leg, sausage, and so on. Which by the way, is exactly how I would like to die. Seasoned with rosemary, sea salt, and who knows what else, the pig was ridiculously good. Large portions were served and everyone would say things like "my goodness, there's no way I'm going to be able to eat all that," before slipping into a pig-devouring silence that lingered a little while after the plate was clean.

I loved the way the old Sancerre worked with the pig. I know, it was supposed to be about Silvia Altare's wines, and those were very good too (my favorite was a delicious white Langhe wine made from Pinot Noir). But there was something about the way the floral honey and the rosemary in the Sancerre mingled with the piggy-ness of the pig...

And then, just when I thought it was safe to hang up my glass and head home, Kirk rooted around underneath one of the tables and emerged with a bottle of 1998 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia. This is one of those iconic wines that I have very few chances to drink, and it's not easy for me to describe how good it is because I have little context for the wine. But it is one of those wines that just knocks you out immediately, the nose is so gorgeously deep with roses and herbs and tar, impossibly detailed, delicate, and energetic.

What an evening - thanks again for your generosity Levi, Kirk, and SF Joe.

Drinking Didier Dagueneau's Wines for the First Time

Thanks to the generosity of a friend, I had the opportunity recently to drink two incredible wines made by the late Didier Dagueneau. I had never had a Dagueneau wine, and after just these two bottles, I understand what it is I missed.

You probably know that Didier Dagueneau died in September of 2008 when the plane he was piloting crashed. Although his children have taken over the estate, it is fair to say that unless I find and purchase back vintages, I have missed Didier Dagueneau's wines. By the way, one could say that in drinking the 2007's, I didn't really drink his wines. He made the wines, but he wasn't there for elevage and bottling..

I was pretty much blown away by the two wines I drank - I've never had finer Sauvignon Blanc from anywhere. And it's silly to say it that way because these wines, and from what I've read, Dagueneau's wines in general, are not about Sauvignon, but more about the specific plots where they are grown.

I have little context to offer you here. I cannot compare these to other vintages of Dagueneau, and I've had only a few Pouilly-Fumé wines, so this isn't about why these wines are so much better than the others. If you're interested in a bit of context, here is a decent place to start.

I want to share what it was to drink these two bottles because of their astonishing radiance and beauty. I was surprised at how great these were because of all of the hype surrounding this producer. Think of seeing the Mona Lisa in person - you know how beautiful it's supposed to be, but you've never seen it and it becomes more of an icon than a reality. And then you see it, and it surprises you with the power of its actual beauty. So I hear - I've never seen the Mona Lisa.

And by the way, I had no agenda whatsoever. I wasn't hoping to like Dagueneau's wines because the man is a deceased icon. In fact, it took me the course of an evening with them to understand how incredible they were, to the extent that one can understand a wine after drinking two bottles.


2007 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly Fumé Pur Sang, $90, Louis/Dressner Selections. the thing that killed me about this wine was how perfectly and completely clear it was. Unadorned, spare, elegant, graceful, this wine simply rests on the tongue and in the nostrils. It is an intense and weightless ray of stony citrus fruit with a quiet buzz of energy that lingers past the finish. A lovely wine on the surface, but this is one of those wines that rewards every iota of concentration that you give. It was growing still as I finished it.

2007 Didier Dagueneau Pouilly-Fumé Silex, $100, Louis/Dressner Selections. Clearly the same author, but a different kind of storytelling. This wine, for me, was defined by its unmistakable flintiness, that slightly smoky stony...flinty sense on the nose. Bigger in body than the Pur Sang, and whereas the Pur Sang was about its seamless balance, this wine showed off its complex and intense flavors of flint-infused ripe fruit and mineral water, but still delivered in a package that is all silky refinement, all class.

I loved both wines - they were beautiful in a way that makes you rethink what you know about Sauvignon Blanc from the Loire. And I cannot say that I preferred one over the other because they are so different. I might prefer Pur Sang as an apertif, and I might prefer Silex with seafood. I might prefer Pur Sang with fresh goat cheese and Silex with harder aged goat cheese. And this is '07 I'm talking about. I only wish I could have tasted these wines in the past. Those old bottles are, sadly, out of my price range now.

Corked Wine Update: I Can Do It!

Finally, I did it! We were drinking a wine that I thought might be corked, I happened to have another bottle, we opened it to compare, and yes - it was corked. Please feel free to send congratulatory notes and medals/trophies.

Why would I celebrate such a thing, you ask? Very recently I told you that I'm not so good at picking out corked wine. I've probably drunk many of them in the past few years without realizing that they were corked, thinking instead that I just didn't like the wine. People wrote interesting and encouraging comments, and I decided that the next time I am uncertain, I would be bold and simply open another bottle for comparison. Such a shame that this occurred with what should have been a spectacular wine, and not cheap either at $42 when I bought it in March of 2007.

This weekend the fish people at our farmer's market had bonito for the first time this summer. Bonito is wonderful in sushi where is is usually lightly cured in vinegar, as is other mackerel sushi. Like other mackerel, it is also wonderful when broiled, maybe with a simple soy/mirin/sesame glaze. The cooked flesh tastes and feels something like a cross between tuna and Spanish mackerel.

We broiled our lovely bonito, plunged a few ear of corn into boiling water, and lightly dressed our heirloom tomatoes and salad greens. BrooklynLady requested a Sancerre with this dinner and it happens that we had only one in the cellar, the 2005 Domaine Pascal Cotat Sancerre Les Monts Damnés, $42, imported by Michael Skurnik Wines. Widely thought of as one of the top producers in Sancerre, Pascal Cotat (his cousin François is also a top producer) harvests later than most growers and he makes rich and concentrated wines that can age for the long term. And that was my plan - drink one of these young, enjoy the wonderfully ripe 2005 fruit, and hold one for about 10 years. Alas, it was not to be.

We opened the bottle while the fish broiled and even after about 10 minutes, the wine had no fruit on the nose whatsoever. Smelling blind there would have been no way to tell that this was Sauvignon Blanc. By the time our food was on plates and ready to go, my glass smelled like something heavy, but not fruit. Something musty. "Could this be corked," I asked the wife. She wasn't sure, and was more interested in her fish anyway. I swirled vigorously and kept sniffing. Still something unpleasant, no fruit.

I opened the second bottle figuring that if I was right, I would return the corked bottle to the merchant. Sure, no more 2005 is available, but the 2006 is on the shelves. And if I was wrong and it wasn't corked, well so be it. A $42 lesson in smelling wine. And it would save me from cellaring a bottle of wine that I didn't like.

It was absolutely clear as soon as I opened the second bottle that the first was terribly corked. The second bottle immediately showed classic Sauvignon Blanc grassy notes, and with an hour open it developed into something really beautiful and complex. An elegant and light but also intense nose of citrus and spices, very pure and clean, very mineral. Rich and broad in the mouth, this wine really spread out and stained the palate. It was so well balanced, it didn't have any of the heaviness that you might expect from such a rich wine. It perfectly cut through the oily bonito and was absolutely delicious, a joy to drink. By the last glass the nose was just shimmering and the wine reminded me, oddly, of a Riesling.

I wish I still had another bottle. But it was an important lesson for my nose and palate, and it was equally important that I had the cohones to crack open the second bottle. I feel so much more confident about picking out TCA now.

I Learned that I Know Nothing About Wine

The more I learn about wine, the more I realize that I don't know.

This was also true when I played a lot of chess, when I was getting into economics courses in grad school, basically anytime I've undertaken anything of any import. Even within the wine regions I know, I don't really know anything. I guess it requires some degree of experience and knowledge to understand how much there is that I don't know. For example, it's impossible to understand the vastness of chess until you study the game for a while. Same is true with wine, I would say. Exciting and frustrating at the same time, isn't it?

The other night I was lucky enough to go to Keith Levenberg's Wine-fest and BBQ, and I had one of those "I am clueless" experiences with wine. I tasted so many wines that are new to me. There were about 20 people present, most knew each other already, and everyone came with at least two bottles. I had never met any of these folks. They know each other from the E-Bob message boards, NYC wine dinners, and other wine-geek events. Very nice people in general, and lots of interesting wine. And Keith grilled up some delicious food too - lamb meatballs, several kinds of steak, watermelon and feta salad, and minty wheat bulgur salad.

I didn't even try to take any notes, so I cannot share the specifics of some of the wines. There was everything from Grand Cru Burgundy to Barolo to Sancerre rosé. Although no Bordeaux, if I am not mistaken. I drank my first Raveneau Chablis, my first Produttori del Barbaresco, and my first Musar. There was a Savennières, a Santaney, a Blagny, and all sorts of other good stuff. And drinking these wines, listening to others talk about them, thinking about them myself...I realized how little I really understand about wine, how limited are my experiences. There was a moment of hopelessness, but then acceptance, and then happiness thinking about all of the learning still to come. Okay, well maybe the happiness was in part due to the distinct lack of any sort of spit bucket.

Here are some of the wines that stood out for me:

1992 Edmunds St John Syrah Grand Heritage. Incredibly delicious wine. So pure, so layered, so satisfying. Out of all these amazing wines, who would guess that one of the most memorable would come from...California?

1991 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Eisele Vineyard. Smooth as silk, plush, just delicious. Another excellent California wine. Who knew. Do they still make 'em like this?

1999 Chateau Musar. What an amazing wine! Incredibly acidic, but in a good way. Spicy, fruity, vibrant and alive. The light and translucent color completely belies the wine's intensity. This is the one that I must buy for my own cellar.

2000 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Montée de Tonnerre. Raveneau...I get it now. Crystalline mineral deliciousness, and with such great depth and focus. I want more, but these wines are over $100 a bottle now. M. Levenberg says that there is great Grand Cru Chablis for under $40, so I might stick with whatever that is instead.

2004 Produttori del Barbaresco. Didn't realize that there are about 10 possible wines this could be - sorry, didn't get the specifics. Whatever it was, it was so juicy and delicious, with very nice acidity. And supposedly ages very well too.

2001 Baumard Savennières Clos de Papillon. This is excellent wine, very mineral, some tropical notes to the nose. Well balanced and just delicious. I wound up taking what was left of the bottle home, and it was even better the next day.

2002 Domaine du Closel Savennières Clos de Papillon. Delicious, especially after an hour open. But it clearly will not improve for the next 20 years, something that it is supposed to do. Several tastes commented on the change in style at Closel. Be that as it may, the wine is, utterly beautiful right now. Full of honeyed minerals, nice mellow acids, something herbal running underneath. I should pull the few bottles I have out of the cellar and drink them over the next year or two.

1992 Joh. Jos. Christoffel Erben Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese **. Pure and lovely with nice orchard fruit flavors, a clean finish that lingers with a bit of spice. I thought it was just great, but my favorite part was watching the experienced Riesling folk in the crowd drink it with this ho-hum reaction. "Good, not great" they said.

The Burgundies were not so impressive, on the whole. For example, there was a 1992 Roty Charmes-Chambertin Très Vielle Vignes, and it just didn't move me. A 1995 Blagny was fine but not distinctive. The only one that seemed promising to me was a 1999 Geantet-Pansiot Chambolle Musigny 1er Cru, but even that did not have the same captivating factor as some of the other reds. Maybe mature Burgundy doesn't show as well when surrounded by bigger, more obvious wines.

You might be wondering what I brought to this event. I waffled on this. Champagne was my immediate thought, but in the end I went with wine that I assumed would be unique at the tasting, and that might even be new to a few people. 2005 Puzelat Touraine La Tesnière, a lovely smoky and funky white made of Menu Pineau, and the 2004 Puzelat Touraine La Tesnière, a red made of Pineau D'Aunis. I love these wines, but let me tell you - they definitely got a mixed reception from this crowd. Some looked at the label, asked about the grape, talked about buying bottles. Others said "I hate Pineau D'Aunis. It leaves my mouth before it gets halfway down my throat." To each their own, right?

By the Glass - Unusual Wines Edition

This past month I made a point of opening a few bottles that we don't normally drink. And you know what - we really liked them. Here's the problem - I can only open one bottle of wine a night (usually), and I'm actually trying to scale that back to 5 nights each week. I read somewhere that there should be two nights every week when your body does not have to process any alcohol. Anyway, I feel torn between opening wine from regions I know and love, and opening bottles from places I don't usually go. Mostly I stay with what I know. Here are a few notes on wines we don't usually drink:

2006 Thomas-Labaille Sancerre Cuvée Buster Les Monts Damnés, $32, Louis/Dressner Selections. Sancerre might as well be in another wine region, for all of the attention it gets in our Loire Valley-lovin' house. Pouilly Fumé too. They're both as far away and as different from Savennières, for example, as Champagne is from Beaune. Les Monts Damnés is probably the finest terroir in Sancerre, with well exposed incredibly steep slopes that must be harvested by hand. Cuvée Buster is a title created by the Dressners to indicate a particularly fine cuvée by a certain producer in a certain year. Read the amusing story of the creation of Cuvée Buster here. This wine is incredibly delicate, yet focused and intense, with clean citrus fruit, floral, and mineral aromas and flavors. It has excellent acidity and great length, leaving a lovely perfume in the mouth. So well balanced, so great with food, such a beautiful wine. It will probably age well, but why bother? It's so good right now.

2004 Audrey & Christian Binner Riesling Katzenthal, $18, Jenny & Francois Selections. This is simply excellent wine. Full of orchard fruit and bitter honey, and intensely mineral, this wine calls out for food (hot dogs with kraut and mustard?). Apples, peach pits, herbs, and bitter honey on the nose, very clean and pure. The palate is aglow with minerals, but there is good balance with acids and ripe fruit too. There is a slightly oily texture, which is very pleasant. We enjoyed this wine with grilled fresh ham steak and spring onions. Why don't I drink more wine from the Alsace? Or more Riesling? Because I'm a complete ignoramus on both counts, that's why.

2005 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese **, $27 (375 ml). Two Rieslings in one month - that might be a record for me. This one came at the end of a great meal, and it was very nice, although not as moving as the Binner Riesling. Silly comparison though, as this is a much sweeter wine. Is it correct to call this a dessert wine? And whassup with the two asterisks after the name of the wine? Who can understand what's really going on with German wine? Not me. The nose was surprising with cinnamon, dried golden raisins, peaches, and pure spring water. Viscous on the palate, but still feels light, even though this is sweet wine. Maybe you're supposed to have this with dessert, but we had it as dessert, and really enjoyed it.

N.V. Gaspar Florido Manzanilla de Sanlúcar de Barrameda Manzanilla Pleamar, $12 (375 ml), VOS Selections. You read it too - Eric Asimov recently wrote a compelling article about Sherry, and his tasting panel sampled 25 of them. That same Wednesday I grabbed this bottle, and that very evening, after several hours in the refrigerator, we drank it with hors d'oeuvre of fresh fava bean purée on toast. BrooklynLady didn't like it. "I've tried Sherry, I don't like it," she proclaimed. Too bad for her. I loved it. What a pairing - the fresh greenness of the beans, a bit of garlic, mint, fruity olive oil, sea salt...and this interesting wine. I loved its oxidized personality, the way the power of the flavors contrasted with the lightness of mouth feel. Savory, food friendly, and quite refreshing. Makes me want more Sherry, especially since I can try them for less than $15 a bottle. May I take this opportunity to ask this: does Sherry store well in the fridge, or should it be consumed shortly after opening?

Sauvignon Blanc - a Mini Blind Tasting

Good friends NorthCarolinaGuy and Gal were in town for a few days and what better reason to have a wine tasting? The tasting gang hasn't been together for a while now - April was the last time we really did our thing. I tried to do a Beaujolais tasting over the summer but lots of people actually came and the tasting became eating and drinking a load of Beaujolais instead. That's a fun thing to do on a summer evening though, so no complaints.

Why Sauvignon Blanc this time around? Because there are many great wines to be had in the $12-30 range, from many wine regions, and also because I think Sauvignon Blanc can be a great late summer and fall food wine. Tangy, citrusy, sort of grassy, minerally, light, lip smackingness that goes well with most fish and chicken dishes, and late summer vegetable dishes too, like a squash and roasted tomato tart, for example.

Everyone brought one bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, we bagged 'em, tagged 'em, and tasted 'em. Each taster noted their top three favorites, in order, and we added up the scores to pick a winner (first place vote=3 pts; second place vote=2 pts; third place vote=1 pt). After that we spent the evening drinking the wines with a variety of goat cheeses, a classic pairing. And if this evening proved anything to me, it is that Sauvignon Blanc goes GREAT with goat cheese, the creamy young ones, the chalky older ones with an ash coating, and the really old hard ones too.

A couple of general thoughts: the Loire wines kind of blew the others away. Not only to my tastes, either - they were the top scoring wines. Granted, we only tasted 6 wines, but I thought that they were just better than the rest. Could be our small sample, but this reiterated for me that France continues to make some of the finest under $15 wine in the world. There was no New Zealand wine in this tasting, which is a shame. And no Long Island wine either. Another time...

The 2006 Domaine du Salvard Cheverny, ($14 at Prospect Wine Shop and readily available at other stores) received 5 out of 7 first place votes! This is the same wine that I went nuts for almost a month ago. It really is that good, and at about $14, it's a steal. Happily for consumers, there are many producers making great wine in Touraine, Cheverny and other parts of the Loire, many of the wines at this price. This one, like all Cheverny, is actually a blend, with about 10% Chardonnay in the mix. People liked the balance of this wine, the clean aromas and flavors. NorthCarolinaGuy said it smelled like dandelions.

Strangely, I was not one of the 5 people who picked it as their favorite. I preferred the wine that took second place, the 2005 Lucien Crochet Sancerre La Croix du Roi (about $23, available everywhere). I was the only one who put it in first place, but 2 people picked it second, and 2 more as their third favorite. I thought this wine was excellent, with inviting and warm citrus oil aromas, some grass and herbs, and wet slate minerality. It really drew me in, and the palate was so nicely textured, medium bodied and well balanced. A nice choice from NorthCarolinaGuy and Gal.

A wine from Graves in Bordeaux took third place, getting the final first place vote from Mike (a true Bordeaux-phile) along with 2 second place votes. Like the Cheverny, Bordeaux blanc wines tend to be blended, in this case with Semillon. Many whites in Bordeaux are oaked, but I am not sure whether or not this is. I would bet that it does see some oak. The 2006 Château Graville-Lacoste Blanc ($12 at Wine Library in New Jersey, about $15 everywhere else) had a lovely nose of flowers and citrus, with good acidity and balance on the palate. It lacked the focus and definition that I found in the Loire wines, but it was very good, and I think a good value.

Next comes a Deetrane special, a wine he bought somewhere on the gray market, that even had we loved, we would never be able to find for purchase. From northern Italy in the Fruili region, the 2003 Vie de Romans Fruili Vieris Sauvignon (price unknown, unavailable) was just strange. 2 people liked it enough to put it in second place, and 2 more people put it in third place, so it definitely appeals to some palates. Not mine though. Here are my notes from the tasting: "What an intense tropical nose, like pineapple candy. Overwhelming, and not natural, in my book. The palate features pineapple, red ruby grapefruit, and other fantastically candied flavors. Interesting, in the way pop rocks are interesting - you're happy you tried them, but you don't really want more than a taste." But remember, some folks liked this wine, so don't write off Fruili Sauvignon Blanc just cause I thought it sucked.

The two wines pulling up the rear, so to speak, were both from California. The 2006 Honig Sauvignon Blanc ($12-15, available everywhere) had a positively green tint to it, and although it is unoaked, it had a distinctive creaminess to go with the grass and lemons. But it was not very focused, and there was not enough acidity to balance the wine. It got a second place vote and a third place vote.

The 2006 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Sauvignon Blanc Rancho Chimiles (about $27, unsure about availability) did not show well in the blind tasting, getting only 1 third place vote. Maybe it needs more time in the bottle? I found it to be a bit dull. Cat pee nose and a creamy palate but with a bitter quinine type of edge to the finish. Guarantee you that had we not done this blind, this wine would have scored much better.

Okay, that's the word on our tasting. I learned that I need to explore the inexpensive Sauvignons of the Loire, and also that I may be missing something by not drinking Sancerre more often.