June '09
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All of the wines Shipped with the June 2009 Clubs
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
What to say about this month’s shipment? I’d like to start out differently than usual, but then I’d have to say that the wines this month weren’t very good, and I’d be lying through my teeth! In fact, this month’s shipment is arguably the best yet.
This month brings wines from France, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Argentina for everyone. For the white and red folks, there is also a wine from Slovenia, for the red only folks, there is a killer Grenache from from Australia. Regardless of what you get, there’s lots of old vines, lots of low yields, and lots of very exciting and delicious wines.
Also, keep your eyes peeled on the website over the next couple of months, as we announce some great new events, and more than a couple of other fun things, including the opportunity to order additional wines from your shipment online.
That’s all for now!
Arriba, abajo, al centro, para adentro*
Jake
*a Spanish toast, literally translated: “it arrives, down, to the center, for the inside”
For details on this month’s shipment, click here
If you had ALL RED wine, click here
Posted in Off The Beaten Path - June '09, Off the Beaten Path All Red - June '09 | No Responses »
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
If you didn’t realize that Grenache is one of my favorite grapes, you will by the time you’re finished with this month’s shipment. You’ll either agree with me, or cancel your subscription by the time you’re done! I really didn’t mean to send you this much Grenache this month, but I accidentally put together a really cool comparison of VERY different styles of Grenache for you this week. This is the first of three, from wildly different places. The other two are the Argiolas Costera (Cannonau and Grenache are the same) and the Comerç Garnacha (Garnacha and Grenache are also the same).
Trevor Jones has been making wine in Autralia since 1977, and he makes the Trevor Jones wines at the Kellermeister Winery, where he has been involved in the winemaking since the 1980’s. His specialty is old vine Grenache and Shiraz from the Barossa Valley. This wine comes from 64 year old, head trained Grenache from the Silverfox Vineyard in Barossa Valley.
He calls this a light, easy drinking style of Grenache, yet the vines yield a miniscule two tons per acre, it is aged for 20 months in French & American Oak, and fermented in a submerged cap fermenter to increase extraction. Oh yeah, and it comes in at 14.5% alcohol . . . it’s definitely not Beaujolais, but compared to some of his Barossa compatriots, perhaps it’s a little more restrained!
Drink this with barbecue ribs, or better yet, pulled pork sandwiches. Try it with salmon that has a sweet glaze or sauce. Drink now – 2010.
Posted in Off the Beaten Path All Red - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Barossa Valley, Boots, Grenache, Kellermeister Wines, Silverfox Vineyard, Trevor Jones
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
You’ve got to have some respect for a winery who’s website opens with the statement: Our history began in 1918, when Francesco Argiolas started from scratch and planted the first vineyard with the assistance of some prisoners of war. That’s just not something we brag about here in the United States!
The real reason that I love Argiolas is, of course, is that the wines are great. Over the years, Antonio Argiolas, along with his sons Guiseppe and Franco have grown Argiolas to encompass five estates on the southern end of the Italian island of Sardegna, each with a specatacular vineyard, and some of its own facilities. In addition to purchasing great vineyards (and olive groves, because olive oil is an important part of 
the family’s business as well), they hired Giacomo Tachis, one of Italy’s greatest eonologists to work alongside their own winemaker Mariano Murro to ensure that they were getting the most out of the vineyards.
The Island of Sardinia has been populated for at least 150,000 years, and it’s recent history is one of war and conquest with various mainland neighbors, most recently the Romans, many of who’s languages and customs stuck, then the Spanish, who likely brought with them the Garnacha (Grenache) grape, which is transformed, in name only, to Cannonau in Sardinia. After the Spanish, the island was conquered by the Sicilians, who retained control until the Italian unification.
This wine is made from 92% Cannonau (Garnacha), with the balance made up of Carignano (Carignan) and Bovale Sardo. The wine is aged in large wooden tanks. Try it with hearty fish stews, grilled pork, and olives. Drink now – 2011.
Posted in Off the Beaten Path All Red - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Antonio Argiolas, Connonau, Garnacha, Giacomo Tachis, Grenache, Romans, Sardinia
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
Château de Aussières, located in Corbières, has been making wine since Roman times. Following the fall of the empire, it remained in the hands of the Catholic Church until the French revolution, and was afterwards purchased at auction by Count Daru, minister and administrator of the private estates of Napolean Bonaparte. The estate continued to grow until the general decline of the market for Languedoc wines in the 1950’s. In 1999 The Domaines des Barons de Lafite Rothschild (owner of the Bordeaux 1st Growth Château Lafite-Rothschild). Under Rothschild ownership, the vineyards and winery have been undergoing constant rehabilition and renovation, and the quality of the wines, with the best winemakers in the world available to consult, has gotten extremely good.
A blend of traditional and non-traditional varieties, Cabernet 40%, Grenache 30%, Syrah 20%, Merlot 10%, the wine is 
aged 10% in new barrique, and 90% in vats, for eight months, then blended and bottles. Because of the Cabernet and Merlot, this can’t be a Corbières wine, and must be labeled as Vin de Pays.
The wine is medium-bodied, with a pleasant underpinning of tannins and acidity, that make the fruit seem more prominent against the spicy, smoky background. It’s easy to tell that there is really experienced winemaking and grape growing at play here. Try this with roast lamb, beets and celery root, or hamburgers. Though it can’t take anything really spicy, this wine can stand up to a mild dose of spice. Drink now – 2011
Posted in Off the Beaten Path All Red - June '09 | 1 Response »
Tags: Cabernet Sauvignon, Corbieres, Grenache, Lafite-Rothschild, Merlot, Napolean, Syrah
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
Aleš Kristancic, the iconic maker of the exceptional, and somewhat strange, wines his family’s estate, Movia, in Brda, Slovenia, was asked by his U.S. importer, Domaine Select, to make an “entry level” white that would be an easy introduction to Slovenian 
wine for their customers. The wine would be under their Quattro Mani label, but made from Movia grapes and at the Movia winery. The results are this delightful, and altogether satisfying light, aromatic white.
Movia has been producing wines since 1700, and the Kristancic family purchased it around 1820. The vineyards lie along thin, and very desirable strip of vineyard land that seperates Collio in Italy from Slovenia. It has been tradition here, one that is upheld in EU law, that many of the vineyards may choose whether to call themselves Italian or Slovenian based on where the wine was made, rather than what side of the very unclear border the vineyards lie in. In addition to the great history of farming and winemaking, the Kristancic family was an early adopter of Biodynamic viticulture and winemaking principles, and is one of the longest-standing completely biodynamic producers in the world.
The grape chosen for this wine was Tocai (the spelling on the label is a phonetic one), the most commonly planted variety in Collio, and one that is capable of producing subtle wines of very high quality if it is cared for properly, and handled gently. It shouldn’t be confused with Tokaj (a type of wine) from Hungary, or Tokay (an old French name for Pinot Gris that is no longer legal). Grapes for this wine come entirely from Movia’s Exto Gredic vineyard, and the wine is fermented in large vats, then bottled immediately to preserve its delicacy. After bottling, it was aged for six months before release to let the flavors integrate and settle. 3,000 cases were made.
This is a wine that sings with light food, think sole, steamed vegetables, maybe even tempura, or as a great aperitif. Drink Now – Dec 2009.
Posted in Off The Beaten Path - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Aleš Kristancic, Biodynamic, Brda, Collio, Movia, Slovenia, Tocai
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
Domaine de Triennes, though relatively new, has serious pedigree. In the 1980’s to of Burgundy’s greats, Jacques Seysses, founder of Domaine Dujac and Aubert de Villaine, Co-owner of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, along with their mutual friend Michel Marcoux, decided that the Var, in Provence, had enormous potential, and as it was prohibitively expensive to purchase new vineyard in Burgundy at the time, set out looking for a property.
In 1989, they found one. They didn’t purchase it because it was producing good wine (in fact, the wines were horrible), or because it had well-planted vineyards, or even a nice winery. The property was on a hillside, 400 meters above the valley floor where most vineyards in the area were planted in overly fertile soil, and had thin, clay-limestone soil that reminded them in places of a Burgundian vineyard, and in places of St. Emilion. The vineyard had a perfect southern aspect, and because of it’s altitude and proximity to the small mountain ranges of Mts Aurelian and St. Baumes, it had a giant diurnal (day to night) temperature shift of as much as 50 degrees in the height of the summer that would allow them to prolong the growing season, and produce grapes of greater richness and complexity. Jacques explains their move thussly:
“I started thinking of buying a vineyard outside of Burgundy when vineyard prices soared in the mid-eighties, making it almost impossible to operate with a return on one’s investment. I was interested in going to an area where the benchmark had yet to be set, and where I could experiment with other grape varietals.”
The results have been phenomenal, and so far, phenomenally priced. This wine, from 100% Viognier, from a 13.5 ha plot that is a combination of 35 year old vines and 5-6 year old vines that yields a shockingly low 20-25 hl/ha, never sees oak, and has an explosive aromatic quality that is surprisingly not overwhelming. Though the wine is rich, it maintains a delicacy through mineral character and acidity that is really exceptional, and makes it a truly memorable wine. About 450 cases are made.
The wine is named after the Roman festival Triennes, held every three years, to honor Bacchus. Though the name also represents the three partners.
Try it with seared scallops, buttermilk fried chicken, and semi-soft cheeses. Drink now – 2011.
Posted in Off The Beaten Path - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Aubert de Villaine, Jacques Seysses, Michel Marcaux, Provence, Triennes, Var, Viognier
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
Sicily has always been a challenge for all but the hardest core lovers of Italian wines. Wine production on the island is prolific, but it often seems that wine is produced merely for the sake of producing wine, rather than for the sake of making anything that anyone would want to drink. There are of course a few exceptions, wines that point to the possibility of making really delicious wines in 
Sicily, and one has to think that there is some reason, besides that the locals like to drink, that Sicily has thousands of years of winemaking history.
Though Cottanera isn’t a winery that I was familiar with before a month or so ago, this is obviously one of those exceptions. The wines, particularly this one, are delicious. Their advantage, besides what appears to be enormous investment in the winery, is a superior vineyard, located on volcanic soils of the slopes of Mt. Etna, approximately 730m above sea level. The volcanic soils are rich in mineral salts, which encourage acidity and minerality in the grapes, while the altitude tempers the intense heat of Sicily by providing for very cool nights, again capturing acidity, and intensity of fruit.
Francesco Cambria, who bought the property and started Cottanera in the 1960’s, has passed the directorship to his sons, Guglielmo and Enzo, who’s children, Mariangela, Francesco and Emanuele also take an active role in the operations. The winemaker is Lorenzo Landi.
This wine is made from 100% Insolia, a grape thought to be native to Sicily, and found almost nowhere else (it occasionally shows up in Tuscany as Ansonica). I have to admit that I don’t have enough experience to say whether this wine is typical of the grape, but for the sake of good drinking, I hope it is: it is rich, but with exceptionally fine acidity, loads of lime, stonefruit, flowers, and minerally delights. I expect that beyond the high temperatures of the Island, some of the richness of this wine comes from the 6 months the wine spent on it lees in temperature controlled stainless steel tanks.
Try it with Salmon, or duck, or a pork roast. Or just with hard, salty, pungent cheese like Sicilian Canestrato. Drink now – 2010.
Posted in Off The Beaten Path - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Enzo Cambria, Guglielmo Cambria, Insolia, Lornzo Landi, Mt. Etna, Sicily, Volcanic Soil
Sunday, June 21st, 2009
The Cariñena vineyards have been around for a long time. The Romans established the town of Carae in 500 BC in an area where the locals had been making and enjoying a drink of wine mixed with mead since the 3rd century BC. Vineyards flourished under the monasteries protection in medieval times. In the 16th 
century they occupied 50% of Zaragoza province. The wines were famed and a wine fountain was set up for visit of Philip II. Growing controls also began early, in 1694, when growers were forbidden to plant new vineyards.
The modern history of the area began in 1932, when the area, southwest of Zaragosa, and southeast of what would become the Ribera del Duero DO, became the province of Aragon’s first, and one of Spain’s first DO’s (Denomenación de Origen). The soil is made up of reddish brown limestone subsoil over calcium carbonate and slate, providing necessary water retention in the arid climate, and acidity for the grapes (limestone is basic, and forces the vines to react with acidic grapes). The temperature is extreme, ranging from 100° F to 46°, often exacerbated by high winds in the winter, and the landscape is beautiful in an empty, High Plains Drifter, sort of way. The majority of the wine is red or rosé made from Garnacha, with a little bit of the region’s namesake Cariñena thrown in for structure.
Modern winemaking techniques are the rule here, with temperature controlled fermentation, and occasionally even partial carbonic maceration, helping to retain the intense fruit character of the grapes. This is one of many places in Spain that is just full of old-vine Garnacha, and because of this, full of potential. The vines for this wine are a minimum of 40 years old, and that, combined with the harsh environment, makes for a wine with tons of character.
Try this wine with white fish (roasted or grilled), grilled chicken, or charcuterie. Drink now – 2010.
Posted in Off The Beaten Path - June '09, Off the Beaten Path All Red - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Arragon, Cariñena, Garnacha, Grenache, Zaragosa
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
The sommelier community is really excited about Portuguese wines right now, and it’s wines like this one that provide the justification for their excitement. This is a super rich wine, with tons of wild fruit and a beguiling structure, just enough tannin to make you stand up and take notice, but not so much as to get in the way of a reasonable meal, or of drinking a lot of the wine.
Quinta de Chocapalha is an historic estate located in Estremadura, northeast of Lisbon. Situated in the surroundings of Aldeia Galega the property belonged to Constantino O’Neil since the beginning of the 19th century. Later he endowed it to Diogo Duff, a distinguished Scottish noble held in high estimation by the King D. João VI who distinguished him with the insignia “Torre e Espada” (Tower & Sword). The current owners, Alice and Paulo Tavarez da Silva purchased the property from Diogo Duff’s descendents in 1980.
Sandra Tavarez da Silva, their daughter, who is best known as the winemaker for the exceptional new wave wines of Cristiano Van Zeller who famously gave up his stake in Quinta de Noval to make wine at Quinta do Vale Dona Maria and Quinta do Vale do Mina.
This wine is a blend of 30% Touriga Nacional, 40% Tinta Roriz, 25% Castelão and 5% Alicante Bouschet. The wines are fermented in lagares (shallow rectangular cement vats designed to allow wines to be trod by foot) and trod with a robot foot (this device was invented by the Symington family to save labor in port production while getting the same intense extraction without breaking seeds that foot-trodding creates). The wine was aged for 16 months in second and third fill French oak. 3800 cases were produced.
This is a hearty wine, designed for big meaty dishes, like grilled flank steak, or rabbit with garlic & olives. It’s also great with bacalhau (salted, dried cod). Drink it now – 2014.
Posted in Off The Beaten Path - June '09, Off the Beaten Path All Red - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Alicante Bouschet, Castelao, Chocapalha, Diogo Duff Cristiano van Zeller, Estremadura, Quinta do Vale Dona Maria, Sandra Tavares da Silva, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
Some wines are special because they are made with obsessive care and attention to detail. Other wines are just darned-tasty. Though Budini Malbec is definitely a well-made wine, I have to put it in the darned-tasty category. This is proof once again that Argentina leads the world in the production of delicious wines at reasonable prices.
Budini is named after the wild Pampas cat of Argentina (Leopardus pajeros budini), a beautifully striped, nocturnal predatory cat that lives off of Guinea pigs, ground birds and chickens. Besides making a pretty label, I can’t come up with a good reason for this, except that marketing experts say that wines with animals on the labels sell 15% more than wines without.
The wine comes from the high-altitude (average of 3630 ft) vineyards of the Agrela and Consulta sub-regions of Mendoza in Argentina. The vines are acceptably old, with an average age of 25 years. And the winery makes an moderate 10,000 cases of this Malbec. (for comparison purposes, Beringer made 11,000,000 cases of white Zinfandel in a single vintage once). The wine spends 9 months in a combination of French & American oak barrels before being released on the market.
But it’s not the numbers that makes this wine taste good: it simply tastes good, awfully good, and sometimes that is all there is to it. It’s super fruity, a little oaky, and has enough structure not to be boring, yet there aren’t enough tannins or acidity to get in the way of slurping down a bunch of it. Try it with just about anything off the grill, or as an aperitif, or a night-cap, or for lunch, or breakfast. Drink now – 2010.
Posted in Off The Beaten Path - June '09, Off the Beaten Path All Red - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Agrela, Budini, La Consulta, Malbec, Mendoza
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
I hope you’re ready to drink some great bubbles. This month we have three delicious treats for you. A Blanc de Blancs from a great grower-producer in les Mesnil-sur-Oger, a stunning Rosé from a recently rejuvenated Champagne house located in Vertus, and a delightful, Italian red sparkling dessert treat. Drink them in good health, as they are some of my favorites.
Also, keep your eyes peeled on the website over the next couple of months, as we announce some great new events, and more than a couple of other fun things, including the opportunity to order additional wines from your shipment online.
That’s all for now!
Arriba, abajo, al centro, para adentro*
Jake
To see what bubbles are coming your way, click here
Posted in Champagne and Sparkling Wine Society - June '09 | No Responses »
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
There was such an overwhelmingly positive response to the FRV100 sweet sparkling Beaujolais, that I thought I would share another of my absolute favorite sweeter style red sparkling wines with you. The added bonus is that I finally get to recommend wine from the Champagne & Sparkling Wine society with desserts!
Brachetto d’Acqui DOCG wines from Piedmont have always been one of my favorite sommelier insider wines. Brachetto is a strange grape from the Piedmont, that may or may not be the same as the French grape Braquet which is found in the wines of Bellet, near Nice in the Languedoc. In Piedmont, the Brachetto grape makes still, sparkling, dry and sweet wines in all combinations, most of which are light red in color (but deeper than a rosé, a color that used to be referred to as claret until the British adopted this term to mean Bordeaux, presumably because the color was so light in the early days of production). Brachetto d’Acqui DOCG wines, of which this is one, are always red, frizzante (semi-sparkling), sweet, and aromatic. (Click here to see a hilarious – I thought – ad for Brachetto).
The wines are made by macerating the grapes on the skins long enough to extract a deep rosy ruby color, then allowing them to ferment only partially. Stopping the fermentation at just less than enough alcohol to call this wine, 5.5% in this case, leaves the wines softly sweet, and ready to provide for a short second fermentation in a pressurized tank that will create the bubbles (this is called the cuve close, or Charmat, or tank method, as opposed to the Méthode Champenoise, or traditional method by which Champagne, and most quality dry sparkling wines are made). The wine is then filtered (to prevent refermentation of the sugar) and bottled under pressure.
Marenco is a relatively small producer, with 65 ha of Muscat and Brachetto vines located near Strevi in Piedmont, at an altitude of 750 – 1050 ft. Marenco is a family firm, with Patricio Marenco making the wines, and the total production of this wine is about 3500 cases.
This is a wine where the aromas and flavors of fresh, wild strawberries compete with those of candied roses, and are complimented by mild hints of pepper and herbs. Try it with any dessert involving berries, or bittersweet chocolate. But it’s not a super sweet wine, so nothing too sweet. This is also wonderful with blue cheese in a way that is hard to fully explain, as it makes both the cheese and the wine wilder. Drink NOW, this wine is meant to be fresh.
Posted in Champagne and Sparkling Wine Society - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Brachetto d'Acqui, Marenco
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
This has long been one of my favorite non-vintage rosé Champagnes, I always prefer it to the better known, and much more expensive Billecart-Salmon Rosé. But I have to admit, that it has been one of those wines that I have always taken for granted, and not learned a lot about. Thank goodness for this club, otherwise I might not have had the chance to do a bit of research.
Duval-Leroy, located in the premier cru village The Extraordinary Wine Club › Add New Post — WordPressof Vertus, was founded in 1849 with merger of two Champagne growers (whose names I haven’t readily discovered, though I have one obvious thought), and is still family owned and operated. Unusual amongst producers of their size, they own over 200 ha of vineyards throughout the Côte de Blancs, including holdings in all of the Côte de Blancs Grand Crus. The house had been a second tier producer for a long time, until Carol Duval-Leroy took over upon the death of her husband in 1991. She re-focused the brand on quality, and away from creating buyer labels (Marque d’Acheteur or MA). Many of the innovative line-up of wines that Duval-Leroy makes now were additions made during her time as president. She also has the assistance of a brilliant winemaker Hervé Jestin.
They have made great investments in equipment and staff in order to become a cutting edge producer. One of the most interesting is that they have created 5 pressing centers throughout Champagne, so that their grapes can be pressed immediately after they are picked, then trucked by refrigerated tanker to the winery.
This wine is made from 100% Pinot Noir. Unlike the majority of other rosé Champagnes, this wine is made pink by the Saignée method, which means that the juice is bled (saigner means “to bleed” in French) off of the skins after it has had just enough contact to extract some color. Champagne is the only region in France where the tradition is to make rosé from a mixture of red wine with white, in fact, it is the only place where this is legal in the EU. Though some claim that the Saignée method produces inherently better rosé Champagnes, I believe it’s more a stylistic than qualitative difference. Saignée rosés are generally fruitier and fresher tasting, whereas the traditional rosés see to me to often be richer and more Champagne-like. Witness the excellent Krug Rosé (traditional method) vs the Excellent Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame Rosé (Saignée).
Anyway, try this with cheese (all sorts, except maybe strong blue), roast chicken, lentils (trust me here), and even salads containing fruit (but not sweet “fruit salads”). Drink now-2010 (freshness is the key here).
Posted in Champagne and Sparkling Wine Society - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Billecart-Salmon, Carol Duval-Leroy, Champagne, Pinot Noir, Rosé de Saignée, Vertus
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
Les Mesnil-sur-Oger is the most revered of the Grand Cru Vineyards in Champagne. In the mind of many, it occupies a place among the great Grand Crus of the Côte de Beaune as a producer of the greatest that Chardonnay can offer. Two of the greatest, and most expensive, Champagnes made hale from Les Mesnil-sur-Oger are Krug Clos de Mesnil and Salon, where the deep chalk subsoil is well drained, and has a high active lime content which promotes acidity in the grapes.
Founded in 1889 by Pierre Moncuit along with his wife Odile Moncuit-Delos, the Domaine has always been based around Chardonnay from Les Mesnil-sur-Oger. Nicole and Yves Moncuit have run the family domaine since 1977, and own between 
15 and 25 hectares of vines (the sources don’t agree), with an average age of 30 years of age, and some that are as old as 90 years, in Les Mesnil-sur-Oger as well as a small vineyard in the Côte de Sezanne which goes into a separate cuvée called Hugues de Coulmet Blanc de Blancs. Nicole handles the vineyard management and winemaking, while Yves manages the commercial side of the business.
This was one of the first grower-producer, or RM (referring the abbreviation for “recoltant-manipulant” that forms the first two letters of the control number that lies in small print on the side of each bottle of Champagne), Champagnes that I ever tried: they were much less common in the United States even ten years ago. Believing that this was a fair representation of the quality of all RM Champagnes, I immediately declared that the days of the large Champagne houses were over. This was, of course an overlarge generalization, gleaned from a non-representative example (Perhaps I should have been a politician). In truth, Moncuit is one of the best Champagne Houses around, whether they grow their own grapes or not. And the wines represent a phenomenal value, because they don’t have the billion dollar marketing budget that the likes of Veuve-Clicquot pass on to their customers.
Nicole also has one particularly peculiar winemaking habit, that rubs a few reviewers the wrong way: even though most of the wines are labeled as such, she doesn’t make any truly non-vintage wines, they are almost invariably from a single vintage. She does this because it allows her to release some of the wines earlier (the minimum time on tirage for non-vintage Champagne is 15 months, as opposed to 36 months for vintage wines). This means that her non-vintage cuvees show more variation than some, because she doesn’t blend in reserve wines. That said, it’s not that much variation, and with wines this good, who cares! This wine is made up of 100% Chardonnay from Les Mesnil-sur-Oger from the 2002 vintage.
The palate offers a masterful combination of chalky acidity, and rich citrus, tree and tropical fruits, with underlying biscuit, toasty and buttery aromas and flavors. A really, really profound, and pretty powerful Champagne. Try this with just about anything, but it’s especially good with a piece of Halibut or Champagne that just came off the grill, or with anything that contains wild mushrooms. If you’re serving cheese with this, try something that is very ripe, and has plenty of salt, whether it is hard or soft. Drink now – 2015.
Posted in Champagne and Sparkling Wine Society - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Chardonnay, Les Mesnil sur Oger, Moncuit, Nicole Moncuit, Odile Moncuit-Delos, RM, Yves Moncuit
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
Welcome to your June wine club shipment! I hope you’re ready for some great wine. We begin the journey in the seat of all things delicious and winey: France. Wine number one is a beautiful Châteauneuf-du-Pape from an old producer that just got REALLY good. Consider it the first installment in a two-part Grenache comparison that is impressive for the the difference and deliciousness of the wines. The second installment is from only a few miles away in Priorat, Spain, made by a group of outlaw winemakers (everything tastes better when you’re breakin’ the law!)
We finish up in Italy. For the white drinkers out there, we head to Piedmont, for a Chardonnay that renews my faith in the grape, for the red drinkers, to Tuscany for the first vintage of the top wine of joint project between a First Growth Bordeaux Château and an excellent Chianti Producer.
Also, keep your eyes peeled on the website over the next couple of months, as we announce some great new events, and more than a couple of other fun things, including the opportunity to order additional wines from your shipment online.
That’s all for now!
Arriba, abajo, al centro, para adentro*
Jake
*a Spanish toast, literally translated: “it arrives, down, to the center, for the inside”
For The Next Big Thing, click here to see the wine descriptions
For The Next Big Thing All Red, click here to see the wine descriptions
Posted in The Next Big Thing - June '09, The Next Big Thing All Red - June '09 | No Responses »
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
This is the second* vintage of the first wine of this relatively new joint venture between The Domaines des Barons des Lafite-Rothschild of the eponymous Pauillac 1st Growth and Castellare, an ancient estate in Chianti Classico. The winemaking team is impressive, Christian Le Sommer of Château Lafite-Rothschild and Allesandro Cellai of Castellare, as is the stunning vineyard that they put together by cobbling together 5 estates in the center of Maremma, in the formerly humber DOC of Monteregio di Massa Marittima. Though the vines are just 6 years old, this wine was made by taking a brutal selection of only the ripest bunches. Rocca di Frassinello website.
The area in interesting because it is geologically nearly identical to Chianti Classico and Scansano, two of Tuscany’s great winemaking regions, yet the temperatures are four to six degress warmer, allowing for riper grapes, for making fuller bodies wines, and even for planting warmer climate varieties and being able to expect full ripeness from them. There is also a maritime breeze, which cools the vines in the hottest months, that is funneled across the vineyards by the valley that results from an ancient Roman road.
The winemaking and technology that were available to such a pedigreed team are without compare, and the results show in this exceptionally clean, exceptionally rich wine. A blend of 60% Sangioveto (a local clone of Sangiovese with smaller berries), 20% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 20% Merlot, was vinified in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks, then transferred to French Oak barriques, 80% of which were new. The wine was bottled 14 months after harvest. This is an especially interesting wine from the point of view of collectors, it is definitely a more polished offering than the 2004, and as the second wine from what is destined to be a great estate, it offers the chance to get in on the ground floor of what is going to be a stellar run.
This is a big, tannic wine, with a haunting aroma that eoncompasses fruit, spice, earth, oak and a whole world of indescrible delights, but it still dances delicately across the palate, and delivers an unbelievably enjoyable glass of wine. Try it with a fire-grilled steak (seasoned with just balsamic, garlic, salt and pepper), or other suitably meaty fare. Drink now – 2020.
*This post has been updated. I discovered that though I was assured we could get the 2004, we were in fact not able to, and had to switch to the 2005. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, 2005 is a much better wine (it’s breath-taking in fact), but it’s also not the first, and I was excited about that possibility. I think you won in the end, and I think that quality should trump all, but the romantic side of me is a little hurt!
Posted in The Next Big Thing All Red - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Allesandro Cellai, Cabernet Sauvignon, Castellare, Christian le Sommer, Lafite-Rothschild, Merlot, Sangiovese, Sangioveto
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
That Poderi Aldo Conterno is one of the greatest producers of Barolo is undisputed, and his Granbussia Reserva is at the top of many Barolo Lovers’ lists of all time favorite wines: but how many of us have tried the Chardonnay, made from the tiny amount of Chardonnay in Montforte d’Alba vineyards amongst the Nebbiolo vines in Barolo? I have rarely seen this very limited (300 case) bottling, but tried it, by some cosmic coincidence, twice last month. Both times it blew my mind.
Since the 19th Century, five generations of the Conterno family has been making wine in Barolo. In the 1950’s, Aldo Conterno moved to California to enter into the wine business with the help of an uncle living there, but returned after five years, to help is brother Giovanni run the family winemaking operation. Aldo’s experience in California let him to begin his own venture, Poderi Aldo Conterno in 1969, and he is now succeeded by the next generation in the operation of the farm and winery (Franco, Giacomo and Stefano).
The Chardonnay from the area has a stunning natural acidity, and because of this, it stands up well to a very intense winemaking regime. After sorting in the vineyard, fermentation is begun in temperature-controlled stainless steel, but as soon as it begins, the wines are transferred to new French oak barriques, where it remains during a cool, slow fermentation. After fermentation, the wines are racked and returned to new oak for twelve months. The wine then rests in the bottle for one year before release.
This is big wine, but with amazing acidity, and loads of non-fruit/oak notes that bring waves of nuance and complexity. Traditional Chardonnay pairings, like lobster, scallops and anything with truffles or wild mushrooms will do well here, but just for fun, try it with grilled steak that has nothing but garlic, herbs and a little salt on it. In truth, salt is definitely the friend of this wine, so this is a good one to use with most foods that you finish with fancy salts. Drink 2010 – 2015 or maybe longer.
Posted in The Next Big Thing - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Bussiador, Chardonnay, Conterno, Italy, Piedmont, Piemonte
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
Vinos Sin-Ley means “wines without laws” and represents a joint venture between a group of young Spanish winemakers who wanted to recognize that there was amazing innovation going on in the Spanish wine industry in terms of viticulture, winemaking technique and creative expansion and exploration of traditional wine areas that wasn’t necessarily recognized by the rigorous, and for these vigneron at least, slow-moving Spanish wine laws.
Originally created by Emili Esteve, who makes this wine, and Manuel Martinez in 1999, the Vinos Sin-Ley winemakers, now number more than eight. They meet twice per year to discuss new projects that are of mutual interest, then return to their respective wineries, where they create small lots of wine for Vinos Sin-Ley, using their own equipment and in their own style.
This wine, made by Emili Esteve , who makes wines for a number of top properties in Catalunya, including the famed Francesca Vicent Robert is made from very old (a 
good portion are 100+ years old) Garnacha from Priorato. It is aged for twelve months in French Oak, and only 500 cases were made. 300 of those were sold in Europe, leaving 200 for the U.S.
This wine represents just about everything that I love about Priorato, great old Garnacha vines, coupled with state of the art winemaking, and lots of love. The result is, again, dark purple, with lots of flowers, spice and earth to match up with the focused blackberry and cherry fruit. This provides a great comparison with the Charbonnière, also from this shipment, birthed less than 200 miles away, and made with a majority of the same grape, also from old vines, yet the wines are amazingly different from one another, and both amazing to drink. Try this with pork (especially Mangalista or Berkshire) chops, anything containing bacon, or dishes containing porcini (cepes, king bolete) mushrooms. Drink now – 2018 +
Posted in The Next Big Thing - June '09, The Next Big Thing All Red - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Emili Esteve, Garnacha, Manuel Martinez, Priorat
Saturday, June 20th, 2009
This is one of those wines that wasn’t really on my radar until a trade tasting last month. I love Châteaneuf-du-Pape, but am the first to admit that the difference between the merely good producers (most of them) and the best producers is enormous. If this 2004 is any indication, Michel Maret has made the leap from the sea of good Châteauneufs to the rarified ether of the top few. His website, in classic French understatement, hints at the transformation: “Michel took over the family estate. As a passionate winemaker, he brings to Domaine de la Charbonnière, its rebirth.”
The estate was purchased in 1912 by Eugène Maret (Michel’s grandfather) as a gift to his wife, who was the daughter of a winemaker from Châteauneuf. Fernand Maret (Michel’s Father) inherited part of the estate, and expanded it, bringing it to it’s current size of 17 ½ ha of vineyards in the Brusquíeres Plateu, la Crau, Mourre des Perdrix, and immediately surrounding the winery. (Click here for a great map of the vineyards of Châteauneuf-du-Pape). Fernand also added 4 ha of land on Haute Garrigues in Vacqueyras. The wines are fermented in stainless steel, big oak casks (foudre) and barriques, depending on the grape and the vintage, and are aged in a combination of large and small oak, most of which are older.
This wine is about 70% Grenache and 30% Mourvèdre, with the Grenache vines ranging in age between 80 and 100 years old, and the Mourvedre a minimum of 45 years old. Grenache comes from a combination of La Crau and the vineyards surrounding the winery, and Mourvèdre comes from the vineyards surrounding the winery. A relatively standard winemaking regime of 100% destemmed/crushed grapes, punch-downs every two days and pumping over every day, followed by malo-lactic in 10% new oak barrique, with the rest in large oak vats yields an amazingly elegant wine.
Super-precise red fruit, spice, garrigue, violet, leather layer the palate without ever being overwhelming. This is a full-bodied wine that acts like delicate flower . . . yum! Try it with really good spring lamb (not too gamy), roast poultry, hard cheese, and fatty white fish of all sorts. Drink now – 2020.
Posted in The Next Big Thing - June '09, The Next Big Thing All Red - June '09 | No Responses »
Tags: Brusquìeres, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Domaine Charbonnière, Grenache, Le Crau, Michel Maret, Mourvedre
