Jurancon: Great White Wines with a great history!

image from winery website
 www.chateau-jolys.com

Located in the southwest corner of France near the Spanish border and close to the Pyrenees Mountains is a French wine appellation with a storied history. Jurancon is home to some of France’s best tasting white wines and is also rich in wine history.  The first written references to organized viniculture in the area date back to 998 AD.

image from winery website
www.chamarre.com

While Jurancon became a French A.O.C. (Appellation d’Origine Controlee’) officially in 1936, it’s first government recognition as a designated wine growing and production region occurred in the 14^th century under the reign of the Princes of Bern and Navarre.  It was in this area of France that the French term “cru” (“growth place”) was first applied on wine labels to designate wines reflecting a specific terroir.  This easily makes Jurancon the oldest of the French wine appellations.  Adding to that history is the established legend that Jurancon wine was used for the baptism of the renowned French king Henri IV.

The three principal grapes utilized in the wines of Jurancon are Petit Manseng, Gros Manseng and sometimes Courbu. These grapes, in varying combinations, offer the fruit tastes of apricot, mango, pear, pineapple and quince, often laced with honey, particularly in the sweet versions.  While it was the silky elegance of the sweet dessert wine produced there that first brought international attention to Jurancon, the region also produces superb dry white wines.  In fact the drier style of Jurancon account today for about three-quarters of the regions wine production.  The Wine Guy’s first exposure was to the sweet style in a wine from Chamarre, a modern day consortium founded in 2005.  This group gave great exposure to the region before entering into receivership in early 2010.  Fortunately they were bailed out in the fall of last year by the noted designer and entrepreneur Alain Dominique Perrin.

Here are two recommendations from The Wine Guy if you want to experience the unique quality and palatability of this region’s wonderful white wines:

Dry:   Chateau Jolys Jurancon Sec

Sweet:   Chamarre Jurancon Tradition

Try a Jurancon soon.  As you savor the aroma and taste, reflect upon the storied history of this wonderful wine region in south-west France.  Enjoy!

Kudo's to Kabuki

My wife and some of her former co-workers occasionally get together for lunch at a Japanese restaurant called Kabuki located here in Arizona.  Having enjoyed the food at their Tempe Marketplace location, it was she who first suggested I try this establishment. Always up for an “eating-out-date” with the fetching Mrs. Wine Guy, I, of course, took her up on the suggestion.

Kabuki is a regional chain with locations in California, Nevada and Arizona.  It derives its name from a form of traveling Japanese theater that developed during the 17^th century Edo period (Edo was the name then of the Japanese capitol).  Kabuki was performed essentially for villagers and commoners as opposed to the ruling class.  Given the restaurant’s goal of providing quality food in a family-friendly and value-oriented atmosphere, I can understand and applaud the choice of name.

Kabuki Drink Menu

Worthy of applause, as well, is the manner in which they handled their selections of Sake and Shochu on their drink menu.  It is one of the better list presentations I’ve seen and goes a long way to ease the trepidation that I’m sure many feel when trying to order these beverages at a restaurant.

A quick recap of these two beverages for readers who may not be familiar with them:

 Sake is a double fermented rice beverage where the starch in the rice is fermented into sugar and the sugar is fermented into alcohol.  It is often referred to as “rice-wine” but it is not a wine despite the fact that sake, not unlike wine, can present many subtle nuances of flavor. Its alcohol content approximates that of wine and that may further contribute to the misnomer.   Shochu is a distilled beverage common to both Korea and Japan.  It is most often made from grain, including rice, buckwheat and barley. It can also be made with sweet potatoes and even chestnuts.  As a distilled beverage, it’s alcoholic content can run from 25 to 40%.  If Sake can be mis-characterized as the “wine” of Japan, then Shochu would be mis-characterized as the “scotch” of Japan. It is sometimes even aged in wood similar to Scotch.

The impressive part of the Kabuki listing is neither the length nor the depth of the listing.  Although a nice selection, there are just 18 Sake and only 2 Shochu available.   What IS impressive is the well written profile descriptions and pairing suggestions that even the most neophyte sake drinker can follow appreciate.  For the better-informed aficionado, the listing also appropriately includes the grade of the sake as well as its prefecture of origin. 

The final piece of information is applicable to all.  It is the Nihonshu-Do number assigned to each Sake.   The menu describes the Nihonshu-Do as a Sweet-Dry scale and although, that is the most practical application of that number, it is not entirely an accurate description of the number’s meaning.  The Nihonshu-Do number is derived from the hygrometer reading of the specific gravity of the beverage.  For those of you who remember high school physics, this compares the viscosity of the beverage to water with a 0 reading meaning the beverage’s density is on a par with pure water.

The practical side of the information, however, does highly relate to sweetness and dryness.  The negative numbers do tend to reflect increasing sweetness as they go higher.  The positive numbers tend to reflect increasing dryness as they go higher.  Some manufacturers have taken to placing these numbers on the bottles and refer to them as Sake-Meter-Value (SMV).  The SMV can serve you well in helping to determine if particular Sake will fit your palate.

More sophisticated Sake drinkers will also understand that acidity, alcohol content and even serving temperature will impact the sweet-dry perception of individual sake but the SMV is certainly a measurable standard reference that serves well as a good taste guideline.

 If you want to learn more about Sake and Shochu, I heartily recommend logging on to John Gauntner’s excellent educational website www.sake-world.com.  I also recommend subscribing to his newsletter. It’s an excellent and informative on-going resource.

Kudos to Kabuki for utilizing these numbers and for making a drink menu that makes it easier to enjoy great sake with your Japanese dinner.  The next time you’re dining oriental, take time to try Sake.

Kambai!

The Wine Guy Over A Barrel!

Most of my blogs are about wines, places to drink wine or wineries.  Today, a slight departure is in order as we discuss wine barrels. 

The function of large containers of wine in its early history was principally for storage and transportation.  There was little thought to the utilizing these containers to help age or enhance the flavor of the wine.  It didn’t take long, however, for the effects of containers to be noted on the taste of the wine it carried.  Early Greek earthenware amphorae were sealed with pine tar, which imparted a distinct flavor to the wine.  That flavoring is noted today in Greek Retsina made with a little pine resin added for flavoring.

It’s difficult to fully trace the usage of wooden barrels given wood’s tendency to decay and perish.  However some early historians have noted the usage of palm wood barrels for wine in early Mesopotamia. The first mentioned use of oak barrels was noted about 2,000 years ago and they became widely used during the Roman Empire.  Given the Roman tendency to compare and transport different grapes for their taste characteristics, it’s probable they also noted the tendency of oak barrels to impart flavors and enhance the flavor and ageing ability of wine and made oak barrels their large wine vessel of choice.

Oak works well for wine barrels because it’s a tightly grained wood.  When split along the grain it seals well in holding liquids.  There is some breathability in the wood and this allows a small portion of oxygen into the container as evaporation of some of the liquid to the outside  (In a standard size 56-gallon wine barrel, the wine may evaporate 3 to 10% of its volume for each year spent in the barrel).  This enables the natural tannins in the wine to soften.  Additionally, the wine interacts chemically with the wood in producing other tannins as well as flavor compounds.  Oak produces some of the most compatible flavors and odors for wine of any wood and that is the principal reason for its popularity and widespread usage.

French Oak, because of its extremely tight grain and characteristics is considered today’s most preferable wood to use for wine barrels, but that was not always so.  In fact, early French winemakers much preferred Russian oak.  The bulk of the French oak utilized today comes from five major forests. These were initially planted by Napoleon to insure an adequate supply of wood for shipbuilding for the French Navy.   Italian winemakers rely heavily on Slovenian oak.  

American and recently, Canadian White Oak, are also widely utilized in the world of wine.  This oak has a slightly looser grain and Americans had a tendency to saw the wood across the grain in the early stages of American winemaking.  That and a common failure to “season” or age the wood before use initially made American made wines aged in American oak almost overpowering in the wood influenced flavors.  Adaption of European cooperage methods and careful attention to the importance of either ageing or toasting the wood to achieve proper seasoning has improved the results from using American oak considerably.

An 80 to 100 year old oak tree will typically produce enough wood to create two standard sized barrels. The harvested oak for wine barrel making is typically seasoned at least two years before the barrels are made although charring or toasting the inside of the barrel wood can shorten that process.  After a wine barrel is utilized for five to seven years, it typical becomes “neutral” in its ability to impart flavoring to wine.  This is often why you see tasting notations that refer to the percentage of “new” or “old” oak utilized to age certain wines.  The wine maker is simply adjusting the impact of the wood flavors on his wine.

While it is the most common and most preferable wood for wine barrels, oak is not exclusively used.

Chestnut, pine, acacia and in South America, rauli wood can be found in some winery barrels.  Many of these woods, however, can impart much higher tannin levels, shaper and often off-flavors and odors to the wine.  It is not uncommon to find that these types of wood barrels are often lined with paraffin to reduce this impact.

Being one whose wine preferences trend toward the well-aged, bold, red wines, The Wine Guy fully appreciates the role of wine barrels in the winemaking process.  However, I can also enjoy the wonderfulness of an un-oaked Chardonnay or a Montepulciano that has never seen the inside of an oak barrel.  That’s the wonderful part about the world of wine, there’s a new world of flavor to explore in virtually every new glass you enjoy.

Enjoy a good glass of wine, soon!  Salute!

A Brief Look at Chenin Blanc

Enjoying a Vouvray at Petit Valentin in Santa Barbara

Chenin Blanc, when done well, is a delightful white wine that often doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.  This wine has the ability to be an excellent aperitif, a great summertime sipper and makes an excellent and adaptable food pairing wine, especially with lighter fare.

The history of this grape traces back to the Anjou region of France where its usage was noted as early as the Ninth Century.  It rose to its greatest prominence in nearby Vouvray where some of the best examples of this grape’s diversity are seen.  Chenin Blanc produces a sweet juice with high acidity that lends itself to making wines that range from great sparkling to botryrized dessert wines.  It migrated to South Africa in the mid 1600’s and today is the most widely planted varietal in that country.  In that country, it was commonly known then as “Steen” and that reference is still utilized in many of the wines bottled there today.

Though some consider it fairly neutral to the influence of terroir, different soil conditions do play a very great factor in highlighting its characteristics.  Clay based soil produce grapes with sweeter juice and will enhance the development of noble rot and wines more capable of ageing.  Sandy soils produce lighter wines that mature quickly.  Grapes grown in limestone soils produce wines with accented acidity and stony or rocky soils have enhanced minerality.  Full ripening and controlled yields are generally necessary to get the best expression of flavors from this grape and, as a consequence, the utilization of high volume yields and under ripe grapes can produce some very marginal wines.  Hence the production of good wines from Chenin Blanc has as greater dependency on proper viniculture than many other white varietals.  

Chenin Blanc can be found in many wine growing regions but it is France and South Africa where it is most commonly utilized as a principal varietal in wines.  It was highly popular in California in the 1980’s when it’s plantings there exceeded those in France but it usage has since slipped in favor of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  British Columbia and the American Northwest produces some appreciable Chenin Blanc but in very limited quantity.  Australia’s usage of the varietal is principally in white blends and the single varietal wines from there tend to be very, very fruity.  Mexico also grows a fair amount of the grape but it is utilized mostly in cheaper, mass-produced white blends.

The best sources tend to be the French and South African producers and a few lingering good producers from California.  Here are a few recommendations from The Wine Guy if you’re considering exploration of Chenin Blanc:

B&G Vouvray Gold Label:

This is an affordable entry into to trying the Loire Valley style of Chenin Blanc.  The French style places an emphasis on a floral nose with delivery of a mixture of white fruit and citrus flavors.  This wine has nice, light hints of melon, peach and pear.

Sebeka Chenin Blanc Steen:

This South African wine has a distinct minerality some pineapple citrus notes and a wonderfully crisp light acidity.  It’s a great pairing with shrimp stir-fry!

Man Vintners Chenin Blanc Steen:

A small portion (15%) is fermented in small oak and the remainder is allowed to develop on the lees which adds some subtle differences to this wine.  It has a nice blend of citrus and melon fruit flavors and the light use of oak adds an interesting hint of butterscotch.

Dry Creek Vineyards Clarksburg Chenin Blanc:

Delta grown grapes from this Sonoma County producer offers a nice delicate orange blossom nose accented with mostly citrus fruit, particularly lemon.  This has been California’s most awarded Chenin Blanc over the years, having earned over 30 gold medals.  It was The Wine Guy’s first Chenin Blanc to make a highly favorable impression.  I found it to be a great pairing with baked whitefish.

The dry styles of Chenin Blanc make great pairings with a variety of appetizers, seafood and salads.  A sparkling Cremant d’Loire is a great alternative to Champagne.  Demi-sec and sweeter versions are great sippers and aperitifs.  All lend themselves well to enjoyment in hotter climates.  Go ahead and explore and try a Chenin Blanc soon!

A visit to The Wine Guy's Favorite Mexican Uncle!

Regular readers are aware of The Wine Guy’s fondness for visiting Mexico, the colonial cities of central Mexico in particular. I have often written about the popularity of Italian food and the influence of Italian wine varietals and the Italian style of wine making in Mexico (indeed, through Latin America, as well).  It may come as a surprise, therefore, that my most frequently visited wine and dine restaurant in central Mexico is NOT Italian.

The restaurant is called Tio Lucas (Uncle Luke’s in English) and it’s located just a couple blocks off the main Jardin in San Miguel Allende in central Mexico.  Each and every time I’ve visited this charming World Heritage city in the central highlands, Mrs. Wine Guy and I have dined at least once in this restaurant.  It’s not the most elegant restaurant in town, neither is it the most affordable but we’ve always have a memorable experience there.  

It is among the better places to have good beef in a land where tasty beef often will just mean tasty strips of arrachera, a good tasting cut of beef in its own right. However, it’s usually more well done than our mid-western palates prefer and better suited for a hearty lunch with soup and nopales.  Once in a while we long for thick, juicy, tender beef, done no more than medium-rare accompanied by a good full-bodied red wine.  The fare at Tio Lucas has always fulfilled that need for us.  The service, for some might be a tad slow, but is always adequate and very attentive to our needs.  None of our visits has been without a visit to the table by the owner to check on our enjoyment of the meal.  Incidentally his name isn’t Lucas, it’s Max (see photo).  I haven’t figured out who Lucas is yet. I will have to ask on a future visit!

At our favorite Mexican uncle: Restaurante Tio Lucas with the owner Max

Some of the wine selection

Our favorite meals have included a soup starter (most are excellent including a nice French onion), a rich, creamy, calorie-laded Roquefort salad who dressing is made at the table from freshly cut cheese.  Our beef dish is usually a round and full, almost rare chateaubriand for two carved at the table.  There’s a fairly nice wine selection, all affordably priced.   Good Chilean reds heavily dominate the list.  Wines from Chile are the most popular in Mexico and a mainstay on restaurant wine lists partially because of the long standing trade agreements between Chile and Mexico that make Chilean wines among the most affordably price imports.   Concha y Toro is Mexico’s most popular Chilean brand but having that readily (and affordably) available stateside means our choice at Tio Lucas is typically a Baron Philippe de Rothschild. 

The Rothschild Chilean estate was begun by Philippe’s daughter, Philippine in the late 1900’s to produce a premium red wine AlmaViva in partnership with Concha y Toro (much in the manner her father had partnered with Robert Mondavi on Opus One in California years earlier.  By the early 2000’s, this estate had begun to also produce some brands of its own.  The reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and Reserve Carmenere under the Baron Philippe de Rothschild label are excellent and both available at Tio Lucas at about $30 per bottle.

Mr. & Mrs. Wine Guy @ Tio Lucas

If you’re in to Mexican crafts and pottery, you’ll see some great pieces utilized in the restaurant’s décor.  Some of the Michoacán pottery above the alcove mantle is exquisite!  Also, if you dine later in the week or on the weekend, prepare to enjoy some good jazz, as live music always abounds after 9:00pm.

As I said, by local standards, Tio Lucas is not the most affordable restaurant but you can dine very well, wine included, for under $40 per setting including propina (tip).  That affordability, proximity to the activity of the historico centro, and the memories of former evenings there has made Tio Lucas The Wine Guy’s favorite Mexican uncle!  If you ever get to San Miguel Allende, check it out for yourself.   Salud!

Carmenere: Chile's Signature Wine

Average American consumers have shown a definite increase in their willingness to explore new wines and broaden their taste experiences over the past few years.  While Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot, and White Zinfandel remain the mainstays of U.S. wine consumption, this trend has fueled measurable spikes in recent years in two other varietals.  These are Pinot Noir (due in some part to the movie “Sideways”) and Malbec (from Argentina in particular).  Argentinean Malbecs were the “hot” new wines to try in 2009 and 2010 and most retail establishments increased both their regular shelf inventory as well as their promotional offerings of these wines. Another varietal that has been slowly rising in popularity for the past few years that has a potential to become the next big South American wine for average consumers to explore is Carmenere.  Today, The Wine Guy would like to cover the basics about this almost uniquely Chilean wine.

Carmenere is believed to have originated in France where it was once commonly utilized as one of the blending grapes in Bordeaux.  Producers there prized Carmenere for its rich depth of color, however it was not ideally suited to the climate.  Carmenere requires more than average sun and heat to ripen, is susceptible to cloture (poor setting of fruit) and can often yield a very herbal and vegetative wine.  Following the phyloxera epidemic of the late 1800’s and a subsequent hard freeze, many producers abandoned the varietal and as a consequence, it is almost absent from French soil. The usage of Grand Vidure (what the varietal was better known as in the Bordeaux region) is still permitted today under the governing laws of Bordeaux but less than six chateaus still produce a few acres of the grape and blend it into their wine.

The 1800’s were also a time when many Europeans turned to South America for their opportunity to start their own wineries.  Most took rootstock with them and that marks the beginnings of Carmenere in Chile.  The bright Andes sun in the high valleys was much more suitable to cultivation than the damp often-chilly climes of semi-coastal Bordeaux and the vines came to be the dominant varietal in Chile.  However, the plant and the grapes were outwardly highly similar in appearance to Merlot (a mainstay grape in Bordeaux) and many of the Chilean winemakers assumed that was the grape and wine they were producing.  Many of the original vineyards planted by European immigrants were planted with a side by side mixture of both Merlot and Carmenere vines. Consequently, when Chilean wines first began to be imported, their greatest amount of offerings to U.S. consumers were labeled Merlot, a popular varietal for the U.S.  Not being the “Merlot” our palates were accustomed to and also suffering from some inconsistencies in the quality of production, these Chilean imports achieved neither great financial nor critical success.  It’s no small wonder that great Carmeneres from Chile had to wait until winemakers discovered that they weren’t able to produce a great Merlot because they simply weren't using Merlot grapes!  It wasn’t until the 1990’s that the true identity of what had become one of South America’s major volume red wines was discovered.  Since then, there’s been a gradual yet steady improvement in the wine and in the marketing efforts associated with its distribution. An enterprising importer even teamed up with one of the older immigrant wine estates (Vina Undurraga) and began offering some Carmenere wines with the tongue in cheek label of Oops (as in “Oops, my bad!”).

When fully ripened and produced well, Carmenere offers dark plum fruit flavors with light floral notes on the nose.  There’s very little astringency and the tannins are usually round and smooth, much as the merlot it was once mistaken for.  Good Carmeneres usually offer some light hints of spice, either mild black pepper or a taste similar to red chili peppers that have been slow roasted to appoint where they hint of sweetness.  If the wine is produced from under-ripened grapes, however, the spice and floral notes often disappear and the fruitiness can be overpowered by a very veggie taste that is akin to bad tasting green bell peppers. In short, when it’s good, Carmenere is very, very good but when it’s not, it can be awful!

The good news is that there are a number of well made Carmeneres reaching the U.S. and like many other good red wines coming out of South American, they can be quite affordable.  Here are some good, very affordable Carmeneres that The Wine Guy has had the pleasure of enjoying recently:

Santa Alicia Carmenere Reserva:

 The 2008 vintage was rated 89 points and the 2009 came in at 90 points.  This winery was the Chilean Winery of the Year two years ago and consistently makes good wines, often retailing in the U.S. for under $10!

Casillero del Diablo Carmenere Reserva from Concha y Toro:

These wines have been consistently rated in the upper 80’s for nearly a decade and generally retail under $15.  Concha y Toro is one of Chile’s major wine producers and exporters and if you travel to Latin America, you will find this brand is the top seller in most of the countries you’ll visit.

Baron Philippe de Rothschild Carmenere Reserva:

From the Rothschild vineyards and winery in Chile that was founded by Baroness Philippa de Rothschild (Phillipe’s daughter) in the early 2000’s.  This Carmenere is particularly smooth and noted for its judicious usage of oak ageing which can sometimes be unkind to Carmenere wine when not properly applied.  In the U.S. it generally retails under $20 but is also highly popular in fine Mexican restaurants where it costs about the same as retail here.

One tip to readers who know The Wine Guy’s love and penchant for decanting his red wines:  Carmenere is a red wine that doesn’t require lengthy decanting.  Keep your airing brief on this red,

It’s glass ready with pouring and a little sloshing (how I love using that kind of technical wine term!) in your carafe.

Go ahead and do some exploration.  Enjoy a Carmenere, Chile’s signature red wine.

2011 Wine Predictions

      A recent email newsletter from the International Wine Guild contained some welcome news.  According to Nielsen surveys of off premise wine sales in the U.S. for the fourth quarter of 2010, Italy has regained the top spot as the number one country for U.S. wine imports.  Italy had occupied that spot for over 20 years but was edged out in 2004 by the tsunami of very affordable Australia imports.

      Regular readers know well that The Wine Guy has a definite preference for Italian wines and for wines of other countries that utilize Italian varietals and follow the Italian style.  While there are plenty of wines that I cherish and enjoy and sing the praises of from down under. It’s good to see my favorite source of wine return to his spot of dominance in the U.S. consumer’s preference for imported wines. 

     There were few surprises in the 4^th quarter data:  Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot remain the top three U.S. varietals purchased, followed by Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and White Zinfandel.   The greatest growth rate in the purchase of U.S. grown varietals were Riesling, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese and Sauvignon Blanc.

  The top five most popular import countries accounted for over 84% of the wine imported into the U.S. in the 4^th quarter of 2010.  They were Italy, Australia, Chile, France and Argentina.   New Zealand was a close 6^th on the list at almost 5% of imports while all other remaining import counties combined accounted for about 11% of import sales.

   Using the sales figures rankings as an outline, here are a few speculative predictions from The Wine Guy for 2011:

The top domestic varietals:

Chardonnay:

   Still number one but look for broadening diversity in the available styles of Chardonnays on your wine market’s shelves/racks.   Improvements in unoaked chardonnays are occurring with a trend their increasing popularity and you will see an increase in the number of oaked/unoaked blends being offered as well. 

Cabernet Sauvignon:

   Napa is the traditional bastion of quality Cabernet Sauvignon with some challenging by neighboring Sonoma (particularly the Alexander Valley).  However, there appears to be an explosion of great cabernets from other locales in California and from the northwest.  Look for some exception cabs and red blends from the relatively new appellation of Horse Heaven Hills as well as other great growing areas in Washington and Oregon.

Merlot:

  Still a strong number three in popularity, this varietal is getting over the verbal bruising given it in the movie “Sideways”.   (I still love the irony in Miles’s most prized wine, which he drank by himself toward the end of the movie, being a merlot-dominated Bordeaux!)  It’s also growing in the variety of expression being given it from US and South American wine makers.  The northwest US and Chile are some great areas to explore.

Pinot Grigio/Pinot Gris:

   If you love traditionally crisp Pinot Grigio, you can’t beat the better Italian producers, but the round mellow fruit tones of the recent Pinot Gris from the better Oregon producers display how subtlety great tasting good quality white wine can be.

Pinot Noir:

   Some European producers have acquired wineries in the US and are now producing some wines that combine the best characteristics of the US and European styles of Pinot Noir.  With improvement, as well, with the more affordable imported Pinot Noirs from South American and New Zealand, look for continued growth in this varietal.

White Zinfandel:

   Look for the American consumer to ever so slowly begin transitioning to drier rose.  It will take a long, long time but eventually you might even see a drier style of White Zinfandel come on the market.  In the meantime look for and import and do a comparison of your own.

The top import countries:

Italy:   

   Chianti and Pinot Grigio have long been the mainstays of Italian imports but look for their share of the Italian import pie to slip (in volume but not quality) as consumers discover there is a great plethora of Italian wines they can enjoy.  Look for growth in popularity of wines from the Italian regions of Albruzzo, Pulgia and Sicily in 2012.  As usual, reds will dominate the Italian imports but some US producers may begin to tickle the consumer’s interest on some new (to them) Italian white varietals.

Australia:

   Continuing popularity of Shiraz is a given but look for Australia to begin increasing efforts to export some of its better reds and whites.  Some cabs will begin to make their mark and a few more American consumers will discover the good things Australians can do with Grenache on its own as well as in red blends. Total volume will slip but be partially offset by slightly higher cost.  The trend will be to the better quality yet still affordable wines from down under.

Chile and Argentina:

    South American has made inroads the past few years simply by offering bang for the buck…nicely and highly rated wines at affordable prices.  Look for continuing interest in Malbec.  Also Carmenere will continue ascendency as the next South varietal to be “discovered” by Americans.  Argentina’s Torrontes will make some slow inroads as a white varietal.  While it is potentially a great wine for the U.S. market, I don’t think its time is quite here.

France:

    Look for a comeback in French Champagne and some exploration of French Whites.  The diversity in domestic Chardonnays may lead to US consumers returning to a previous love of French whites.

As with the South American Torrontes, French Viognier and Vouvray both have the potential to storm the white wine market in the U.S. although it’s not likely to happen yet.    Bordeaux remains soft as an import mostly due to cost but look for some moderate exploratory growth in the red blends.   Southern French rose remains a bubble waiting to burst. 

New Zealand:

    This country’s long dominant reputation in Sauvignon Blanc will likely continue.  However, if the diversity in Chardonnay leads to an exploration of taste alternatives by the U.S. white wine drinker, that could impact the volume of their exports in this area.  Look for some potential growth and discovery of New Zealand Pinot Noirs, although that will be highly dependent upon the ability to get a good volume of that product to the U.S. market profitably at a competitive price.    

Potential Surprises:

1.     Cabernet Franc has never quite made the grade in the U.S. but with some good ones are coming out of the Mid-Atlantic state, it’s a long shot waiting to happen.   Also, the north Georgia winemakers are turning to varietals such as Touriga in their blends and may eventually shed their reputation as being producers of redneck reds.

2.     Greek wines continue to improve in quality and reputation.  Aegean whites as well as mainland Nemea have great potential but the inertia of poor exposure and economic stagnation may be impossible to overcome.
      

S    Spain and Portugal remain just under the radar in imports.  The Douro valley in Portugal (home of the oldest wine production appellation in the world) has more than just great Port to offer but lacks the powerful marketing of the great wine families of Spain.  They may fare better in recapturing the interest of the American consumer in some red alternatives but will certainly grow their share of the sparkling market as the quality and reputation of Cava continues.

4.    
      California producers will continue their expansion of Italian varietals but will continue to suffer comparison with the dominant Italian imports.  What success they have could potentially be mitigated by the side effect of stirring interest in some good established Italian alternatives available from Latin America.

5.     
      The major growth for American consumers has previously been in red wine selections.   Mid 2011 may see that trend switch to other styles as more American wine sippers step out of the box.  Beneficiaries will be whites and rose from South America, France Italy, and South Africa.

This overview is just one wine buff’s speculation.  The trades, as well as many other bloggers, will be doing their own predictions this time of year.  It might be worthwhile to read many of these and use them as a chart to decide now what wines you would like to explore in the coming year. 

Enjoy!
                                                               

     

Penfolds Joins The Fight Against Aids!

During The Wine Guy’s tenure in retailing, customers perusing the Australian wine selections have often asked:  “How do you like that bottle of Penfolds?”   Over time, my stock answer became: “In my opinion, I don’t believe Penfolds knows how to make a bad bottle of wine!”   This southwestern Australian brand is almost singular in being the recipient of that kind of personal endorsement.  While there are many, many producers who often make good or great individual wines, few wineries consistently produce as many good wines over their entire product line as well as this Australian house. Over my wine tasting years, Penfolds has been consistent in its ability to offer a good value in a glass of wine, regardless of price range.   The only less than favorable experience I’ve had in a Penfolds wine came from a bottle that I’m sure was improperly stored.

Founded by English immigrants Christopher and Mary Penfold in Adelaide in 1844, Penfolds first became renown for their fortified wines, especially tawny port. By 1896 with heir and son-in-law Thomas Hyland now in full charge of the company, Penfolds & Co. accounted for fully 1/3^rd of Australia’s total wine production.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s the development of Grange began the company’s ascension into the ranks of the world’s most reputable producers of wine and by 1995, acclaimed wine critic Robert Parker wrote that Grange was “a leading candidate for the richest, most concentrated, dry red wine on planet earth.” Over the past two decades Penfolds has achieved recognition, penetration and popularity in nearly every major wine consuming market in the world.

The Wine Guy can count the opportunity to enjoy a five-year vertical tasting of Grange as one of his top ten wine tasting experiences ever.  However, it’s not just the luxury wines such as Grange or the higher end brands such as St. Henri that have attributed to this ascendency. It’s also their consistently good presentation of quality wines under $25.00 such as the Koonunga Hill and Thomas Hyland tier of wines.  Often retailing under $12, Penfolds Koonunga Hills Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon blend has been one of The Wine Guy’s “go-to” value wines for a number of years.

Just after the first of the New Year, Penfolds announced that two of its tiers:  Koonunga Hills and Thomas Hyland were becoming the first wine products ever to become affiliated with Product Red.  The brands that partner with the Product Red program contribute a portion of their proceeds to fight and combat Aids in Africa.  Roughly 67% of the AID suffers in the world are on this continent and over 3,500 of them die each day.   Penfolds is committing to making a contribution of 15% of its proceeds from the sale of Koonunga Hills and Thomas Hyland brand wines towards the fight against this disease.

Good wine...good cause…good reasons to go out and buy some wine that comes with a red screw cap.  Remember, these folks don’t know how to make a bad wine!

Wine Tastings Can Be Fun & Informative!

(The Wine Guy, aka The Wine Santa, at a pre-holiday tasting conducted by a wine wholesaler)

In one of my earliest blogs on Roger’s Grapevine, I extolled the benefits of attending wine tastings. (See “Taste More-Learn More” in the blog archives:  7/19/09)   That blog dealt mainly with tastings conducted at winery tasting rooms.    Another source is the many tastings conducted by wholesale distributors.  

Many of these are for the benefit of the trade.  Wholesalers will invite both their on-premise (restaurants, bars, etc) and off-premise (retail shops and stores) clientele to trade shows and special client specific tastings to review their portfolio of offerings as well as sample new selections.  Regular readers will note that a number of my blogs have been taken from these events as they have given me an opportunity to explore, sample and learn about wines and wine producers.  Sharing that information is part and parcel of what this blog is about.

Good wholesale distributors and their better representative staff will also support wine tastings for the benefit of their client’s customers. These are great opportunities for the consumer to try and sample new wines before purchasing.  While the client's staff may conduct the tastings with sample support from the wholesaler, many are conducted by the wholesaler’s representative.  These are your best opportunity to learn about the wines being sampled.  The representative is usually quite familiar with the wine itself and with the producer’s history and can provide a wealth of information along with the sample tasting of the product.  There may be a slight “tasting fee” as there often is at winery tasting rooms.  However, this fee is often waived with a purchase of the wines being tasted.  In many cases, the tasting is complimentary.

The photos attached are of Michelle, an experienced wholesale representative in the Arizona market for Republic National Distributing Company.   Michelle focuses on retail chain accounts for her wholesaler.  She works with these accounts in assessing their inventory levels, processing orders to maintain adequate stock, providing background information and sampling opportunities for her clients.  She also regularly invests time in conducting sample tastings for her client’s customers. Back in day when The Wine Guy  (prior to my retirement)was responsible for managing the beverage department of one of Michelle’s client’s she was one of the best trade representatives I had and I make it a point to attend her tasting events when I have the opportunity.

Check with your regular suppliers of wine, be they retail or on-premise sources and discover if they regularly offer wine tasting opportunities.  Taking advantage of these events is a terrific way to advance your knowledge of wine and to explore your taste preferences.   All of us have preferences in wine but venturing from them to try something new can be enjoyable.  Most of us will also find that these preferences can change and vary over time.  

Exploring what wine has to offer is always worthwhile and with the help of professionals such as Michelle, it can be fun and informative, as well.

Try something new from the world of wine soon!

A Special New Year's Toast

We’ve entered a new year!  While most of you spent the recent New Year’s weekend ringing in the new decade and saying goodbye to the old, the fetching Mrs. Wine Guy and I took the occasion to celebrate four decades of married life together. 

We often refer to our annual celebration as “contract renewal”.   Thank goodness the negotiations weren’t all that tough.  I thought it appropriate to include some excerpts from our weekend celebration in tribute to the one who served as my inspiration to pursue an interest in wine.

Being residents of Arizona, we “escaped” the usual New Years crowds with a trip to Tucson.

Our adventure began with a stagecoach ride at the “Old Tucson” movie studios.

                           

                            There were some stops at an old west tavern (note the wine barrel!)

We visited a rustic watering hole (now you understand why I call her the “fetching” Mrs. Wine Guy!)

A glass of wine at the saloon and dance hall led to a photo op with Miss Kitty and the girls…. 

Thank goodness I behaved myself, otherwise I might have been left behind later at the marshal’s office.

We over-nighted at the Hacienda del Sol Resort Ranch, which offered a great sunset view from our patio.

Our celebration dinner was a five-course meal with special wine pairings for each course at the resort’s Grill restaurant.  This chef and the sommelier did an excellent job in planning and it’s one of the reasons this facility is regularly recognized with Awards of Excellence from Wine Spectator.

A little extra touch for dessert was well appreciated as was the reserve Spanish Cava with which we toasted the occasion.

We began our forty-first year together with a breakfast trail ride in the desert.  A tad brisk but what fun!

                                                As the anniversary card I gave her said,

               “On the road of life, it’s not where you go but who you’re with that makes the difference.”

Here's a Wine Guy toast to the one I’ve been fortunate enough to explore the road of life with for forty plus years..  Like a superbly fine wine, age has improved the quality and enjoyment of the experience!

A Good Time to Explore Cabernet Sauvignon

Despite being retired, The Wine Guy continues to work part-time in wine retail.  Doing so keeps me connected with the wine consuming public and with the trade as well.  The better distributors who supply the retail trade will regularly host wine tastings for key wine selling personnel to acquaint them with products.  Recently, I had the opportunity to taste and sample a broad selection of wines being featured for the holiday season by one of my employer’s better suppliers:  Republic National Distributing Company.   (Event photo at left is The Wine Guy with Terry Faunce, Accounts Manager for RNDC/Arizona)

While enjoying a couple of very good cabernet sauvignons at that tasting, I was struck by how seldom I’ve blogged about this great grape on Roger’s grapevine.  Cabernet Sauvignon is of course, one of most ubiquitous varietals in the wine world.  While Merlot has recently surpassed it in total worldwide plantings and while Syrah is grown in a greater number of wine producing areas, Cabernet Sauvignon remains the king of red grape varietals.     It is the most utilized singular red varietal and finds favor in a great number of the world’s most recognized and popular red blends.

Cabernet Sauvignon’s thick skin makes it adaptable to a number of growing conditions, provides ample and bold tannins that are conducive to good aging and flavor development.  On the vine, it is somewhat resistant to rot and frost.  It buds and ripens somewhat later than its frequent blending partners, Merlot and Cabernet Franc.  It gives rise to a great variety of fruit flavors that can vary with the terroir in which it is grown and also change in expression with the degree of ripening employed by the vintner.  It responds well to wood aging, primarily with oak, but also responds favorably to the chestnut and redwood aging that is practiced with it by some Portuguese and Italian producers.  Fruit flavors from a good cabernet sauvignon cover a wide range from cranberry to raspberry, from blueberry to dark cherry to black current.  The wine from this grape can evoke herbal elements that range from green pepper to mint and eucalyptus and even tobacco.  In varying cabernets you find hints of coffee, cedar, leather, vanilla mocha, and much, much more.  No wonder it has become a favorite of winemakers and wine sippers alike.   It is a versatile and flexible varietal that can be the source for great wines to fit almost any type of wine preference.

Here are few recent Wine Guy samplings that are recommended as cabernet sauvignons that you might want to sample:

Alder Ridge Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet Sauvignon:  

From one of the newer AVA’s in the U.S. northeast (established 2005) that is rapidly developing a reputation for great reds.  This is a rich expressive wine with notes of black cherry and cedar and a lingering finish.  The winemaker added small amounts of Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Cabernet Franc to create a lot of nuances that you will thoroughly enjoy if you properly decant this wine.

Rutherford Ranch Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon:

This organic producer is located along Napa’s famed Silverado trail, the home of some fabulous California Cabernets.  Initial notes of boysenberry and cranberry meld and blend into a toasty smooth caramel finish.  This is the wine in our glasses in the featured photo at the left.

Chateau St. Michele Indian Wells Cabernet Sauvignon:

Another great northeastern treasure, this comes from the Columbia Valley’s Wahale Slope area.  It benefits from some complimentary blending which includes Syrah, Malbec and Merlot. Look for some great dark fruit flavors with hints of vanilla and a caressing finish.

Santa Ema Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon Maipo Valley Cabernet Sauvignon:

This is a consistently good Chilean wine.  It offers blueberry, coffee and mocha.  It was described by a California wine merchant as having the smoothness of Barry White performing in a sequin suit and that smoothness makes it a favorite of the fetching Mrs. Wine Guy.

There are always great Cabernets to explore.   And recently, there has been a higher frequency of finding great cabs that rank in the high 80’s to low 90’s for under $25 (all the wines cited above fell in that category recently).   Thanks Terry, for helping to remind me that good cabernets are worth seeking out!  I hope each of you readers takes the opportunity to enjoy a cabernet sauvignon soon.

The Wine Guy samples a 40-year old Vintage Port!

Behind nearly every bottle of wine, there is a story. It may include the story of the producer, the wine-maker or even how and why that particular wine came to be made.  Sometimes the saga of a select bottle becomes a great story unto itself and such is the case of the bottle of 1970 J.W. Burmester Vintage Oporto you see pictured at the left.  When sharing a particular wine with special guests or friends, there’s often nearly as much enjoyment in sharing the story behind the wine as there is in the tasting of the wine itself.  Allow me to share the special story of this bottle with you and you’ll discover how The Wine Guy came to enjoy a 40-year old bottle of port from the third oldest wine appellation in the world.

A charming and gracious co-worker named Donna came to me one day and announced that in preparation for a visit from family from New Zealand, she had discovered this unopened bottle of wine amongst her “stash” of tucked away family treasures.  She wanted to know a little bit about the wine and whether or not, it would still be good to serve.

First the wine itself: 

In 1730 German immigrants Henry Burmester and John Nash founded Burmester & Nash in   London to import popular port wine from Portugal.  By 1750, their success led to a move to become producers in Via Nova de Gaia on the south shore of the Douro River near its mouth and in close proximity to the city of Porto, which gave its name to the third oldest wine appellation in the world.  This was also the site of the ancient Roman Empire city of Cale.  By the 18^th century another Burmester immigrated to Portugal from Germany to assume the presidency of the company which was renamed J.W. Burmester in 1880. Throughout the rest of the century, the company earned numerous accolades for its port products including recognition at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893.  Toward the end of the millennia, the firm was acquired by a banking/investment consortium and continues operation today as part of the Sogivinus Group.

Vintage Port is declared in select years and many Portuguese producers only declare vintages a few times a decade.  It is required that the vintage must be aged at least 2 ½ years in barrels and it often takes a decade or more of aging in bottles to achieve what is considered proper drinking age.  Foot treading in traditional stone vessels called lagares produces typical Portuguese Vintage Port.  Fermentation is halted by fortifying with distilled grape spirits called aguardente, which adds alcohol while retaining some residual sugar content thus giving port its sweet, yet full body taste.  Much of the complex character of vintage ports comes from the slow decomposition of grape solids during the years of bottle ageing. As a result, settling, careful decanting and even filtering needs to take place in order to enjoy the wine.  In the case of our bottle in question, we’re talking 37 years from its bottling date of 1973.

The story behind this particular bottle:

My friend, Donna is a New Zealand native, lived in Australia and now resides in Arizona.  She believes the wine in question was given to her in Australia in the early to mid 70’s to commemorate the birth of one of her children.  Not knowing the conditions under which the bottle was transported or stored, I advised her the wine would either be superbly aged or terribly broken down.  In other words, she either had a very, very good port or a very, very bad one.  Opening and sampling would be the ultimate way to discover which she had.  In either case, sharing with visiting family from down under sounded like the perfect opportunity for just such a discovery.  She was kind enough to invite my attendance at the planned opening of the bottle. Unfortunately my schedule didn’t permit me to seize that opportunity.  Donna, however, did save a portion and presented it to me the next day as a thank-you for my efforts in researching her wine (As I told you, she IS a charming and gracious lady in the truest sense!)

The ever-fetching Mrs. Wine Guy and I lit a fire that very evening and proceeded to decant, filter and savor the remainder of Donna’s family treasure.   While just slightly past its prime, it was, indeed, a superb, complex and rich wine with all the wonderful aromas and flavors you would expect to find in a good, well-aged vintage port!  It made for a most enjoyable evening by the fire. I hope Donna and her family enjoyed the taste and the saga of this particular bottle of wine as much as The Wine Guy did.  It created a great wine memory and we will be forever grateful for her thoughtfulness in sharing.  I hope, as well, that you, as a reader, enjoyed the story of this particular bottle of wine.

As I said at the outset of this tale, nearly every bottle of wine has a story behind it. In selecting your next bottle to share with family or friends, ask your merchant to share that story so you can share it with your company.  Remember, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a rare or unique wine to create a memory you’ll cherish for a long time.  Sharing a good story over a glass of good wine with good company will always increase your enjoyment of wine

Have a great experience of your own soon…. enjoy some wine!

The Wine Guy is Back!

    My apologies for such a long absence.   I should have posted an advisory but I never thought my absence from this site would extend so long.  In preparation for our upcoming retirements, the ever charming Mrs. Wine Guy and I decided to list our home of the past decade for sale. It showed well and sold much faster than we had anticipated.  Finding storage for our decades of accumulation of personal property, as well as relocating to a downsized residence was complicated by the approach of the holidays.  Needless to say, time flies by when you're having fun!

    Topping off everything else was the discovery that the DSL lines at our new domestic digs had reached capacity and a delay was incurred in getting re hooked to the internet.  (Attempting to do a wine blog utilizing free wifi at Dunkin Donuts turned out to be impractical as well as totally uninspiring, despite the great coffee and donuts!)

    In any case, I'm back on line and hopefully haven't lost too many of you.  I hope to be back on schedule and have some stories to share including the saga of how a 40- year old vintage port made its way to my table during the hectic transition.

  Look for the beginnings of these postings in a few days and please help me spread the word that regular postings on The Grapevine will commence shortly.

Thank you for your patience and readership.

Slainte!