Bin 389

Casa Marin Lo Abarca Pinot Noir 2005

Casa Marin Wine Review from David Johnson on Vimeo.

Owen Roe Abbot's Table 2008

Joshua & Brendan - Wine Tasting & Review (Abbot's Table) from David Johnson on Vimeo.

Renegade Wine Co. Horse Heaven Hills Red 2008

This was great find. Renegade Wine Co. is the second label for Slight of Hand Cellars in Walla Walla, WA. It is a blend of 39% Cabernet, 39% Cabernet Franc, 13% Grenache, 9% Syrah. Rumor has it that the blend is constructed from lots of juice purchased from famous vineyards in Walla Walla that routinely go in to bottles priced at 30.00. The quality of the wine bears that out. This is a fine bottle of wine for 10.00. It is very well structured, with lovely red fruit, minerality, and a finish you don't find on most wine at this price point. I thought the freshness of the Cabernet Franc was particularly lovely in this blend. All in all, it's a great value and from reports, it sells out quickly. Snatch it up if you find it, you won't be disappointed.    

Importers are your friend

When choosing a bottle of wine few people think to look at who the importer is. It's a big mistake. Wine importers act as screening agents, combing through the vast world of available wine to find jems to grace their portfolio...and thus your table. According to Mark Oldman, wine importers' effect on quality wine is enormous. "They have the ability to influence producers to make wine of the highest integrity and then export it with the utmost care. And producers listen...Appearing on the back label of imported wine bottles, an importer's name is one of the great clues to a good wine, though few casual drinkers even know to look for it. The name of a high quality importer acts like a seal of approval - a sign that a fastidious expert has secured the best possible wines under the best possible conditions." Here is a list of quality importers for you to take to your local wine shop.

Eric Solomon/European Cellars - Eric Solomon is a justly famous importer of wines from Italy, France, and Spain. As the owner of my local wine shop put it, "if it's from Eric Solomon, I buy it."

Grateful Palate/Dan Philips - Grateful Palate sources "distinctive wines of pleasure" from Australia. As well as gourmet bacon and coffee.

Jorge Ordonez/Fine Estates from Spain - Jorge Ordonez is to Spanish wine, what Warren Buffett is to investing. That is to say, iconic. He is especially known for his affordable selections. Watch an episode of WLTV featuring Jorge here.

Peter Weygandt/Weygandt-Metzler Importing - Peter Weygandt is another fabulous importer of European wines. Watch a double feature of WLTV with Peter here and here. 

Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant  - No list would be complete without the iconic importer of French wine, Kermit Lynch. Find the WLTV series with Kermit here, here and here. Kermit has also written a famous book about his journeys as a wine buyer available here. 

Thoughts on value

I love great wine, but I can't afford great wine.There are moments when I fantasize about being invited accidentally to a first growth Bordeaux tasting, but short of a miracle I realize that my chances of tasting such exalted juice are pretty close to nil. But, I was reminded yesterday that with a little savvy and patience, you can drink great wine on a budget. You are not condemned to drink Woodbridge and Barefoot forever. On Sunday we enjoyed the Sabbath at one of our dear friend's home. She treated us to a simple but magnificent dinner of lasagna made with lots of marscapone and fresh noodles, drown in rich red sauce and crisp Italian sausages. It was heaven. I supplied the wine. We drank three bottles, a Washington Cabernet from the Waluke Slope, a small production Syrah from California, and a dolcetto/nebbiolo blend from the Piedmonte in Italy. The combined value was around 80.00. I paid 25.00 (8.00 vs. 27.00 a bottle). That's lower than supermarket prices for mediocre wine. All three of them were distributor closeouts that I found at my local wine shop and at our Grocery Outlet. What's more, they were all fantastic wines. Deals like this don't grow on trees, but they are consistently to be found, especially in our economy. Read how a place like Grocery Outlet gets great deals here Bottom line, you don't have to drink bad wine just because you can't shell out 20-30.00 for a bottle. Beat the system. Think of wine shopping like you do yard sales. Keep your eyes pealed for the overlooked gem and then pounce.

Casa Marin Lo Abarca Hills Vineyard Pinot Noir 2005

This was another of those crazy Grocery Outlet deals. The Casa Marin Lo Abarca Hills Vineyard Pinot Noir 2005 is a serious wine. It scored 92 points in the Wine Advocate (#171, Jun. 07) and sells for 30.00+. At the GO it was 16.00. When my father and I opened the bottle and poured our first glass, we were impressed by the vivid strawberry, cranberry, and smoky nose. There was a hint of funky tire rubber that blew off with a little air. The palate was really seductive - powerful and intense layers of red fruit (unusually strong for a Pinot) surrounded by smoke and bacon fat. It was so smooth and seamless. Over the next two hours it changed as we drank it and got even better. Wow, this was good. Unabashedly new world in its profile, but with integrity and seamless integration. It would go superbly with boeuf bourguignon or a tenderloin.

Dolcetto d' Alba

S and I had two wonderful wines this week from the Piedmonte region of Italy. They were both based on the grape varietal Dolcetto. The Piedmonte region is known for the big wines of Barolo and Barbaresco, which are as expensive as they are famous. Dolcetto may be less famous, but it is a wonderful grape and more affordable than it's bigger brothers. It's name means "little sweet one" and it ripens faster than nebbiolo or barbera, making a rich wine that is deeply violet colored and low in acidity. Joseph Bastianich and David Lynch describe it this way, "with aromas of violets and black fruits, and usually a tinge of licorice and even coffee on the palate, dolcetto might be best described as part of a vinous color scheme. Barabera and nebbiolo tend to produce more "red" red wines - flavors of fresh dried cherries, red raspberries, and then a variety of earthy, spicy, leathery notes. But the dolcetto grape is more a purple or black wine, as evidenced not only by its deep color (something nebbiolo in particular lacks) but its black-fruit flavors. It is the juiciest and fruitiest of the Piedmont reds; the more full bodied, barrel-aged versions taste like a spread of blackberry jam on toast. Depending on the level of extraction a producer goes in for his dolcetto - a function not only of viticulture but the length of time the wine spends on its skins during fermentation - the wine may be light, soft, and almost Beaujolais-like in character, of plumper, rounder, with silty-sweet tannins and a sappiness reminiscent of California merlot." 
The Bricco del Drago, made by Poderi Colla, is a DOC classified blend of 85% dolcetto and 15% nebbiolo. We discovered the 2003 at the Moscow Wine Co. for an incredible 8.00 (online from 25.00-40.00)! It was a beautiful wine - the rich red fruits of the dolcetto were balanced by the dusty dry tannins of the nebbiolo, giving the wine more structure and power than dolcetto alone. It was perfect with pasta and red sauce with sausage. The 2006 Bricco Bastia Dolcetto D' Alba (again from the Wine Co.) was also a lovely wine. Loaded with dark fruits (blackberries especially) and licorice, it was fresh and rich all at the same time. Perfectly balanced too, with very little tannin. It paired especially well with the figs, olives, bread and cheese we enjoyed for lunch. These are really great wines and superb values. If you are in Moscow, you should stop by the Wine Co. and get a bottle to have with your next antipasti craving, and if not, ask your local wine shop for a dolcetto they recommend. You won't be sorry. 

Cassiodorus on good food

"It is quite appropriate for monks to cultivate gardens, to plough fields, and to rejoice in the harvest of fruits. For it says in Psalm 127: 'You will eat hard-earned bread, you are blessed and it will be well for you'. If you are looking for authors on tis subject, Garfilius Martialis has written most beautifully on gardens and also carefully described fertilizers for vegetables and their properties. By reading from his comentary, everyone with the Lord's aid can be fed and kept healthy. I have left this book to you among others. Columella and Aemilianu among others are equally praiseworthy writers on the cultivation of fields, the raising of bees doves and fish....When these things are prepard for pilgrims and for the sick they become heavenly although they appear earthly. What a wonderful thing it is to refresh the weary either with sweet fruit or nourish them with baby dove eggs or to feed them with fish or soothe them with sweet honey. Since the Lord commanded us to give 'even cold water in His name' to the poor man, how much more pleasing will it be to give the sweetest food to all the needy in return for which you can receive on the day of judgment the resultant reward multiplied. One must not neglect whatever activities can profitably aid man." - Institutions of Divine and Secular Learning  

Samichlaus: A beer for the winter cold

If you haven't had a Samichlaus yet, you need to. It is the perfect company for a cold winter's night by the fire. From the bottle: "Samichlaus is brewed only once a year on December 6, and is aged for 10 months before bottling. It is one of the rarest specialities in the world. Samichlaus may be aged in the bottle for many years to come, as older vintages become more complex. Brilliant deep amber, complex dry toasted malt nose and huge intensely sweet palate." Deeply warming too (14% Alc). 

Blaise on wine

Blaise's description of Tsillan Cellars Bellissima Rossa 2006: "Hard, dry dirt, dark cherries, waxweed, and dried sour candy canes." I missed the candy canes.

Bordeaux meets Washington State

The other night S made us a killer meal of French dip sandwiches with a simple salad of mixed greens, Stilton cheese, olive oil and Basalmic vinegar. It was ridiculously good and it called for wine with a backbone. So we opened two Bordeaux blends from Washington state: Tsillan Cellars Bellissima Rossa 2006 and Alexandria Nicole Quarry Butte Red 2008. Both were very well made and quite enjoyable.  We decanted both for over an hour. The Quarry Butte was still showing signs of youth with a nose of licorice, minerals, dark cherries and a bit of toasty oak. Plenty of tannic grip on the palate with a burst of cherry juice and tobacco on the finish. It was really nice and a steal at 11.00 (Costco). The Bellissima Rossa presented and exotic nose of almond toffee; I immediately thought of steamed butternut squash with butter and brown sugar. The palate was a lovely mixture of mint, tobacco, smoke, oak and cherry juice. Though the Belissima Rossa was the better wine (Tsillian Cellars won a number of gold metals with this wine), I was impressed by how similar the two were in broad outline (the Washington terroir was unmistakable). Neither of these wines were pushovers; though the fat of the french dip mellowed their tannins noticeably . I was again impressed by the solid QPR coming out of Washington state. At 11.00 the Quarry Butte competes favorably with wines three times the price.

Liquid food

"I was brought up with wine. My parents would give me a little bit of wine with water during our dinner, and I grew up looking at wine as liquid food. As a result, when I went to college and watched my classmates overindulging in beer, scotch, etc., I was surprised." - Robert Mondavi 

Beware of supermarket wine "sales"

I'm still upset about this. Today, I stopped by a local supermarket to check out their "one day, 20% off" wine sale. Now, I know this store and I generally keep track of their stock and prices and I was disappointed to discover that along with the 20% discount, a shocking number of the wines had seen price increases from previous week of around...20%. To the observant eye there were very few wines that turned out to be really good deals, most were no lower than you could find on any other day of the year. But the allure of a discount is a powerful thing, as I discovered later that evening when I stopped by the store again to pick up something for dinner. To my even greater shock, the wine aisle was full...full of people taking advantage of the "sale"; buying wine by the case. Buyer beware. There are loads of good deals out there (I have been particularly impressed by uncorkdeals.com), but supermarket wine isles can often be misleading because the "retail" price (which you almost never pay) is artificially high, often higher than you would pay at the winery. So, let's say you have your favorite wine X and the price on the shelf says that it's price is "normally" 15 bucks. But this week the supermarket is running an advertised special that marks wine X down to 12.99. Now, on top of that they have a one day 20% off sale. That brings the price of wine X down to 10.39. Wow! That's a great deal, right? It is unless you happen know that discount stores routinely sell wine X for 8.99. Compared to 15 dollars, 10 seems like a nice savings, but the deception is that no one in their right mind pays 15.00 for wine X. Don't be fooled by great savings on artificially high prices. The blessing and curse of supermarket wine pricing is that it is constantly changing. Which means that sometimes you can find a really super deal and at other times you can get taken to the cleaners. And a lot of folks today got the feeling of a great deal without really getting one. This explains why, at times, supermarkets can afford to sell wine below their cost. They make up for it later. Do your homework on your favorite wines and watch for a good price, not a good sale.   

Why I love WLTV...

Wine as freedom and grace

"Wine represents and encourages this elevated life beyond necessity and calculating rationality. Its very existence depends on surplus; one does not ferment the grapes or grain needed for survival. At a meal, too, it is a sign of freedom and grace, and also their cause. Offered to guests it betokens easy generosity, demonstrating that one clearly has more than the necessities for oneself. Indeed - to reconnect this discussion of the human food more explicitly to the humanizing custom of hospitality - drinking wine with someone goes beyond breaking bread. For wine permits and encourages us to let down our guard, to be at ease and in intimate communion with one another; the offer of wine expresses trust in and desire for such intimacy. For only with certain kinds of people, those who already are or we hope will become our friends, do we let wine dissolve our prudent caution. If basic hospitality, as was said, is an assertion against the dog-eat-dog character of the world, sharing a bottle of wine lifts us to the next step: the assertion of the friend-loves-friend possibility of the world, of human intimacy founded on more than common neediness." The Hungry Soul - Leon Kass

Wine tasting...

From a friend...

A meal as a rite

"A meal is still a rite - the last 'natural sacrament' of family and friendship, of life that is more than 'eating' and 'drinking.' To eat is still something more than to maintain bodily functions. People may not understand what that 'something more' is, but they nonetheless desire to celebrate it...they are still hungry and thirsty for sacramental life." For the Life of the World - Alexander Schmemann

"Try before you buy" may change the way you buy wine

Recently, uncorkdeals.com rolled out a new "try before you buy" program. Like many discount wine sites, uncorkdeals offers great discounts and free shipping on 6 or more bottles. But if you are like me, I'm reticent to commit to 6+ bottles without having tasted the wine even if it is a great deal. Now that problem is solved. Uncorkdeals will send you a half case or a full case and let you try the wine before deciding if you want to keep it. If you don't enjoy it, they will send you return shipping and you can send them back the remaining bottles. Free shipping both directions and you only pay for the bottle you tasted. Now that is a great deal and great customer service.

Kiona Cabernet/Merlot 2004

This is was great find. Every once in a while the great ten dollar wine hunt turns up a gem. The folks at Kiona say that in crafting their Cabernet/Merlot they "wanted to make this the best Tuesday-night wine in Washington: easy to drink, goes well with everything, won’t break the bank, and not boring." Well, S and I agree that they've done that in spades. This wine is anything but boring. The first thing you notice when you pour it into your glass is its color: it's got a beautiful copper tinge to it, showing that its got some age. There is definitely spicy notes of oak on the nose mixed with red fruit. And here's the amazing thing: this wine ages in oak for 36 months! At first I was worried that this was going to be too oaky, like the 2003 that I had tried previously. But on the palate the 2004 is much more restrained, the oak is there but it is balanced by lovely tart cherries and tobacco. Given a little air time, the wine becomes even more integrated. It is far more complex than most wines in 10.00 price range. My wife was really seduced by this wine, especially its tartness/dryness (almost like a barolo) . The tannins were nicely integrated and the fruit comes across with an attractive restraint giving it the feeling of refinement rather than power. It was even more enjoyable with savory food which highlighted the flavors of red stone fruit. The blend is interesting too: 72% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Cabernet Franc, 5% Merlot, 2% Syrah, 1% Sangiovese. If you are looking for a wine with complexity, food friendliness, and maturity built in, and all for under 10 bones, then seek this out (folks in our neck of the woods can find this for 8.00 at Winco). We loved it and will definitely buy more.  You can find the Kiona page (complete with a video from the One-eyed wine guy) here.