Good Wine, Good Food, Good Friends...An Unbeatable Combination!

If you are a regular reader or if you also venture over to our travel blog, Juntos En El Camino De La Vida (www.togetherontheroadoflife.blogspot.com), you know that The Wine Guy has moved to Ecuador and that has presented challenges to enjoying good wine. Over the past few weeks, however, I've experienced three very nice wines and each came about because of a friend with whom each wine was shared. These three incidents served to remind me that any good wine is enhanced when it shared in the good company of a friend. Just as wine is truly meant to be paired with food, it is also the beverage that is meant to be shared with friends.

Here's the stories associated with those recent and enjoyable wine experiences:

Wine #1: Herencia de Prado 2001 Mencia Reserva

Friend Chuck Watson and his bride Nancy were traveling across Spain when he stopped and emailed me, "What kind of wine can I bring you back from Espana.". I wrote back that I would delight in almost anything he brought back but mentioned my fondness for red Bierzo, a distinct little region near where he was headed. I was first introduced to Bierzo by a fellow sommelier in Phoenix in 2009 (see the archives for that full story) and had sampled a couple of others since but was sure I would never find one on the shelves here in Ecuador. We had to wait for bottle shock to settle after Chuck and Nancy's return. But about two weeks after their return, we enjoyed it with some fine appetizers followed by an excellent meal. This wine was well aged, aromatic, smooth on the palate with a deep lingering finish. It was a delightful evening and Chuck, knowing my propensity for tasting a new wine over many hours wisely retained an amount for me to sample the next day. It was the best Bierzo I've had to date and it was made even more memorable by my friend's thoughfulness in bringing this treasure all the way back from Spain in his luggage.

Wine #2: Chateau Lynch-Bages 2000 Grand Cru Classe Pauillac:

Bea and Bob Wetmore became our friends because we share a love of wine. After sharing a meal with wine at their house, we invited them to one of our favorite wine bars for appetizers and wine. We ended up having dinner with the Yazells enjoying a nice Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon and the Wetmores enjoying a very nice Argentinean Malbec. Our evening's conversation centered a lot around wine, something I had gotten away from after retiring from being fully active in the trade. Just a few days later came Bob's email explaining he had found a nice Bordeaux in his storage that was left from the wine cellar inventory he had shipped down when he moved here. He wondered if we might like to stop by for a tasting. If you are at all familiar with Bordeauxs, you can guess how fast I responded. This Chateau has a history of classic vintages trailing back to the late 18th century and the particular vintage Bob was proposing to pour was rated 95 at bottling and had been re-reviewed and rated 96 last year in Wine Spectator and 97 earlier this year by Robert Parker. We spent a enjoyable time savoring over this blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot. It was a great tasting especially when paired with Bea's Bleu cheese pate and with friends who loved exploring the nuances of a good wine. It was a wonderful memorable evening, mostly made so by the company we kept.

Wine #3: Montes 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon/Carmenere Blend D.O. Valle de Colchagua:

Bob Barnett and his wife Toni are like us, fairly new arrivals, camping out in their new home with minimal fixtures and furnishings, adding some stuff but mostly waiting on the arrival of a container. We had tipped a couple of glasses of wine together at their apartment or at our house with some snacks mostly standing up because neither of us had enough spaces for 4 to sit! Anyhow, with empty houses in common, it was just a matter of time before our wives went shopping together to find stuff to put in some of that emptiness. I told Bob my new wine bar still had some empty slots so, of course, we decided to go wine shopping! While perusing the shelves my eyes came across the wine above. I had become quite familiar with Montes as I had handled the brand in my retail facility in Arizona. In fact I'm a fan of Montes Alpha Cabernet Sauvignon, a consistently good reserve cabernet. This blend, however, I had not seen nor tried. Among our purchases, Bob and I each got a bottle and headed back to his apartment determined not to waste time in examining its taste. Today only a few acres of Carmenere exist in France and less than a handful of estates utilize the grape in their Bordeaux although it remains one of the authorized varietals. This wine made you realize why Carmenere was once commonly utilized in France's flagship red blend and works so well today for this Chilean producer. It partnered wonderfully with the cabernet sauvignon. Our discovery of that fact led to a second excursion to buy out the remaining stock but we have since found it at two other locations so we hope to continue enjoying it for some time to come. Discovering a good new wine to enjoy was fun and made even more so by sharing the experience with my friend.

There you have it....three simple stories of three wonderful wine experiences. Good wine, good food, good friends, is a truly unbeatable combination that makes you grateful for the blessings of life. I hope you get the opportunity to feel that kind of gratitude soon!

Sainte!

Georgia On My Mind

Forgive The Wine Guy for skipping Roger’s Grapevine last week but I took some time to celebrate another milestone (my birthday) with a visit to my son. As I’ve mentioned before, he resides in the Castleberry Hill neighborhood of Atlanta. In what has become almost a ritual, our arrival there was followed with an excursion to two Castleberry Hill mainstays: The Wine Shoe and the Elliot Street Pub & Deli (see blog” The Wine Shoe…because it fits” from 8/26/09).

After exchanging greetings with Wine Shoe proprietor Shannon Wiley and the ever-present Baron, I selected a Domino de Taras Baltos Mencia to enjoy later in the evening. Since first having a Bierzo on the recommendation of Brent Karlich from Postino’s in Phoenix, Az. (see Bierzo, A Great Little Wine from Spain 12/30/09), The Wine Guy has become a great fan of this northwestern Spanish D.O. This dark ruby red beauty lived up to my expectations and it made a wonderful wine to celebrate completion of another year. It was only after my return that I discovered the Baltos has regularly earned very favorable ratings scoring 90 pts in consecutive vintages from Wine Spectator, International Wine Cellar and Wine Advocate and also landing a spot on the WS annual top 100 list. Nora & Shannon Wiley’s knack for always having great selections to choose from is one of the reasons I always try to visit The Wine Shoe when I’m in Atlanta.

The subsequent visit to Elliott street resulted in another of my favorite things: satisfying a growing hunger by pairing a well brewed La Fin du Monde (yes, The Wine Guy also enjoys an occasional good beer!) with the wondrous roasted turkey and bleu cheese sandwich the guys at Elliot Street call “The Dirty Bird”. Good food, good wine, good times with family and getting to wear green (yes, The Wine Guy was born on St. Patrick’s Day!)…it was a good birthday, indeed.
One of my presents was a subsequent excursion hosted by my son to visit wineries in Lumpkin County, North Georgia on Saturday. (see photo of The Wine Guy birthday celebrants at one of the vineyards).

Georgia has an interesting wine history. It’s founder, James Oglethorpe, wanted to build the economy of his colony on the production of fine silk and fine wines. Toward that end, he initiated the planting of many Mulberry trees as well as European wine grapes. Alas, silkworms did not take either to the variety of the selected trees nor the Georgia climate. The imported vines did not fair well either, succumbing to plant disease and insect pests. Georgia’s agricultural mainstays had to be shifted to rice and indigo. They later became cotton, fruit and peanuts. Wine production also managed to redevelop later, but was based largely on the native muscadine grape. In the 1800’s new agriculture techniques, including the utilization of grafting, cloning and hybrids overcame the difficulties Oglethorpe had in growing European varietals in Georgia. In 1890 a large number of Hungarian refugees established multiple vineyards near Bremen and by 1900, Georgia ranked 6th in U.S. wine production. The highly restrictive Georgia Prohibition Act of 1907, however, virtually wiped out all wine production in the state for more than half a century.

The modern Georgia wine industry restarted itself in the 1970’s and 80’s. However, it was almost entirely based on fruit wines and the muscadine grape. Other varietals only gained some commercial inroads after the establishment of the Chateau Elan Resort and Winery in Hazelton in the 1980’s. Today, Georgia remains number one in the production of muscadine wines but there are now over 5-dozen vineyards and wineries producing a broader variety of wines. The Three Sisters Vineyards became Lumpkin County’s first in 1996 and since then a plethora of vineyards and wineries have continued to open in the region. The north Georgia mountain area is becoming renown for wine tourism and will be a wine producing area to watch in the coming decade.

Our Saturday excursion occurred during a Wine Tour weekend event and I heartily recommend taking advantage of the multiple winery tour passes available if you elect to visit the area during such events. They typically offer select tastings of 2-3 wines plus food at multiple wineries and are a great way to get an overall view of what the region has to offer. As we have visited the area before and were only stopping at two select wineries, we opted to do the standard wine tasting. This offered the opportunity to approach the wines I wanted to sample that weren’t on the tour selections. Here’s a recap of The Wine Guy’s favorites from our visit:

Frogtown Cellars:
This family-run winery has a great venue and is located directly adjacent to aforementioned Three Sisters Vineyards. Local native Nettie assisted us in a tasting that covered most of Frogtown’s whites and reds. The whites were fair but tended to be slightly off balance showing a tendency to be either acidic or hot. Their first impressive effort came with a saignee style rose’ blend.

Frogtown Vineaux Rose’:
This is a light, dry, crisp rose’ blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Sangiovese that has nice well-balanced fruit overtones.

Frogtown Touché:
This is one of this winery's best reds. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Tannat. It has aromatic notes of both red and black fruit with some spicy hints and just a light note of moist tobacco on the nose. There is a nice lingering finish you won’t find in a lot of the fruitier Georgia wines.

Frogtown Shotgun – First Reload:
I’m not sure (wished I had asked) but suspect the First Reload designation comes from the fact that Cabernet Franc and Touriga Nacional of one vintage are blended into a Tannat of a different vintage. In any case, it produces a soft, yet full-flavored wine that expresses great aromas and good dark fruit flavors.

Blackstock Vineyards Winery: (see photo with Justin, Blackstock’s tasting steward)
Just down the road from Frogtown is a winery that is one of The Wine Guy’s favorites in Georgia. (see earlier blog: “A Winery Treat in North Georgia” 7/109) Due to the wine tour activities in another part of the building I didn’t get to visit with winemaker David Harris but enjoyed the service offered by Justin who first got “bit” by the wine bug working in tasting rooms in Florida. Among the best tastes of the day were:

Blackstock Viognier:
Viognier is not uncommon in North Georgia but this is the first I found worthy of remembrance. A bright golden yellow appearance is followed by light floral hints, then good stone fruit and a solid finish.

Blackstone Rocking Chair Rose’:
This is a nice and solid rose’ of Mourvedre. It seems that many rose’s fair well in this region.

Blackstock /Sangiovese Rose’:
Both Frogtown and Blackstock make a Sangiovese and A Sangiovese Rose’. As a long time lover of Italian wines, I just can’t get excited about the type of Sangiovese I find in Georgia but am thusly surprised at the light flavorful goodness of the Sangiovese Rose’s there. Something about the terrior (could it be the Georgia clay??) that seems to make the regular Sangiovese musty on the palate is somehow complimentary to the rose.

Blackstock ACE Family Reserve:
Named for the first initials of the three Harris children, this full-flavored, age-able red wine remains one of Blackstock’s flagship brands.

Blackstock Touriga Dulce:

Touriga Nacional is the Touriga varietal here and if I’m not mistaken David was the first to grow it in Georgia. He does the sweeter version but Frogtown also utilizes the grape in their drier Shotgun blend. It seems to do well in this region.

Georgia wineries wrote the book on fruity Muscadine wines and most of their other varietals tend to follow a more fruit forward style but a good deal of diversity is being shown (and appreciated) in other wines. I like that the growers and winemakers here are turning to such varietals as Touriga and Tannat in order to find grapes that offer a signature taste and style to dry Georgia wines. I hope you have a chance to enjoy them and the opportunity to visit what surely is to become a developing wine region.

Bierzo, A Great Little Wine from Spain

When it comes to great bold taste and value pricing, wines from Spain have always been a source for wine aficionados. Grenacha and Tempranillo have dominated the choices for red wine drinkers, albarino for white wine fans and cava for lovers of sparkling wines. Rias Baixas and Rioja and the Douro Valley D.O.’s dominate in most American wine drinkers selections.

There are some other great Spanish D.O.s worth seeking out. Etim and Priorat and Monsant all produce some great wines. For uniqueness and value, there’s also a tiny little D.O. called Bierzo tucked away in the northeastern corner of Castille & Leon. Formerly a part of Galicia, this wine district is the honored home of the indigenous Iberian Peninsula grape, Mencia. Mencia (called Jaen in Portugal) originally was used to produce some very light, pale and fragrant red wines. Producers are now utilizing very old vines (in the 50-80 year range) to bottle some bigger wines capable of body, structure and good ageing characteristics. Mencia’s origins are still somewhat of an unsolved mystery. It was once erroneously thought to be a clone of Cabernet Franc and that confusion may have arisen because a strain of Cabernet Franc introduced to Galicia in the 1800’s was, for a short time, called Mencia.

The Wine Guy had a recent opportunity to enjoy a great representation of Mencia when he gathered with family and friends for a pre-holiday celebration at Postino’s Wine Bar on Central Avenue in Phoenix (see attached photo). Their wine merchant, Brent Karlich, makes an effort to offer some great standards as well as some good interesting wines to explore on his periodically changing wine list at both Postino locations in Phoenix. A great selection of soups, appetizer plates and salads, frequent opportunities for price discounts on wine and good table service also combine to make Postino’s a go-to place for enjoying wine and food.

Our selected wine, a 2007 Bodegas Martin Codax Cuatro Pasos Bierzo, was asterisked as one of Brent’s recommended wines and came highly recommended by our waiter as well. Cuatro Pasos is virtually all Mencia. Some vintages of this wine will occasionally be balanced with a little Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouchet). It yielded about 14% alcohol (at the upper end of the required 11 to 14% for this D.O.) and was aged for 3 months on four different kinds of French and American oak. The Wine Guy found it full of great fruit aromas. There was definite cherry on the nose but that transitioned more to blueberry, raspberry and plum on the palate. Subtle notes of coffee and moist leather were present throughout with very moderate oakiness. The fleshy tannins yielded a lingering chewiness on the finish. It was a thoroughly enjoyable wine and paired well with the Bruschetta assortment and the meat and cheese assortment plate ordered by my favorite foodie, Mrs. Wine Guy.

The background of this wine is almost as interesting as its taste. Cuatro Pasos translates from Spanish as four steps (as in footsteps). It’s label has four bear paw prints, a reference to a legend of four bear footprints once found in an 80 year old vineyard utilized as one of the four vineyards from which grapes were sourced for this Mencia cuvee. “Four Steps” also refers obliquely to the four steps in making good wine: selection of land, care of the vines, suitable climate, and carefulness in vintification. As mentioned before, the wine utilizes four different types of oak in the ageing process. The wine also utilizes grapes from four different Bierzo region vineyards. Their soil content offers low lime and high concentrations of quartz and slate providing great acid and mineral balance to this wine. The winery itself, Bodegas Martin Codox, was founded in the 1980’s by four winemakers and was named for a thirteen century Galician Troubadour whose seven musical poems are the only surviving middle age classical pieces from this region of Spain. Cuatro Paso (Four Steps) is a great name selection and it’s a great value selection in a versatile, affordable Spanish red wine. Try it for yourself!


Note to Grapevine Readers:

If you’re exploring Spanish wines, you may want to enjoy some of my earlier published blogs on this topic. They include:
“Tempranillo, The Little Early One” published on 8/17/09
“Torres: Spain’s First Family of Wine” published on 10/22/09
“A Visit to Freixenet Sala Vie” published on 12/16/09

Look for them in the blog archives or use the title to search.

For more information on either of the Postino’s locations, visit www.postinoswinecafe.com.