St. Louis Eats and Drinks

Appreciation: A Buffet of Ann Lemons Pollack’s Writing

With the passing of Ann Lemons Pollack in April and preparations underway for the July 24 celebration of her life, we’ve been enjoying re-discovering some of her early writings. Tucked onto dusty bookshelves and archived in old wine boxes, we’ve found dozens of dog-eared hard copies and tear sheets of her old writings, largely lost in time and some predating the Internet era. 

These are musings on food and travel and life. Her old St. Louis Magazine column on food and cooking in the early 2000s was called “The Flavor of Lemons,” and that seems an apt description for these excerpts and anecdotes from various publications. We’ve highlighted a few amusing passages so we can share, ahem, a little Lemon zest with you.

It’s an appetizer, if you will, for celebrating Ann’s life at 12:30 p.m. Sunday, July 24 at The Grandel theater, 3610 Grandel Square, in St. Louis. Everyone is invited. In the meantime, cheers and enjoy! 

On the Great River Road north of Alton, Ill., from November 1973 in the Mill Creek Valley Intelligencer, Ann’s first published article: “The (Mississippi) River that comes so close to us here might as well be 30 miles away for all the attention most of us give it. Go and look at it - smell it, ride on it, taste what its communities eat. Throw a picnic lunch, a cooler, or nothing, if it’s really an impulse, in the back of the vehicle and head north.”

On eating strategies, from 1983 in New Orleans Menu: “The word serious probably ought not to be applied to the pleasures of the table. Unlike the kitchen – where art is being fashioned – a dining room should be marked by relaxation and indulgence. And with any luck, glee, too. ‘Serious’ in this connotation brings to my mind a slit-eyed evaluator descended from the Cromwellian Puritans, noting instead of enjoying the meal.”

On food and relationships, from 1986 in St. Louis Dining: “I somehow had an ongoing relationship with a fellow who had a large appetite for food but whose interest in it was strictly intellectual and, at that, rather lukewarm. One evening we were in an excellent and extremely elegant restaurant. Waiters bowed and scraped. A senator dined at the next table. The first courses, his fish soup and my salmon mousse, had been exciting. The entrees arrived. We were perhaps two bites into them, when one of those intermittent drops in the room noise occurred. Just as it did, he turned to me, and said in a voice that carried, ‘Why can’t you cook like this?’ The entire room, including the waiters, broke up. This from the man for whom I had prepared chicken Rochambeau and marquise au chocolat on his birthday. It was the beginning of the end of the relationship.”

On food and relationships, from a 1982 letter exchange with legendary food writer M.F.K. Fisher. The California food icon noted this in a neatly typed letter to Ann on onion-skin paper: “I myself cannot imagine wanting to spend my whole life, or even part of it, with someone who had absolutely no comprehension of reading or Mozart or a good ripe tomato.” Ann later wrote: “Sounds about right to me.”

On food and relationships – do you detect a theme? – from February 2000 in St. Louis Magazine: “After years of being single, I learned that early in a relationship – really early, like the first date – is when you hear a great deal of truth. For instance, if a guy says, ‘I’m not much on fancy food,’ this almost guarantees you won’t be visiting any Asian restaurants. It puts a big question mark over the possibility of dinners at French and contemporary American ones, even Italian.”

On eating peculiarities from February 2000 in St. Louis Magazine: “I once knew someone who wouldn’t eat whole animals, thus precluding shrimp, sardines and gingerbread men, among other things. (Once I yanked the leg off a soft-shell crab and popped it in my mouth. He turned absolutely pale and, briefly, I thought he might faint.)”

On food adjustments after marrying Joe Pollack, from February 2000 in St. Louis Magazine: “Anglo-Saxon that I am, my sandwich-making skills had to be sharply adapted for my delicatessen-going husband. I knew better than to use white bread or mayonnaise on a corned-beef sandwich, of course. But apparently I was far too skimpy on the meat.” Family note of amusement: We never saw Joe turn down food that Ann made.

On brunch at the old Schneithorst’s restaurant at Clayton and Lindbergh, from 1985 in St. Louis Dining: “ ‘What’s that?’ I asked a server. ‘Ah … seafood Lindbergh,’ said the young squire behind the line. He promptly got an elbow in the ribs. ‘Seafood Newburg,’ hissed the fellow next to him. By either name, the old Delmonico’s classic is a good idea at breakfast, the white sauce spiked with wine and generally well seasoned.”

On eating outdoors from June 2000 in St. Louis Magazine: “The French eat outside without a moment’s hesitation. It’s a tendency that I admire immensely. Living in the Central West End, I wait for the time of year when I can take my morning coffee, juice and newspaper out to the miniscule balcony, balance my feet on the rail (to the censorious stares of a neighbor just beyond the fence) and spend as much of the morning as I can outside.” Family note of amusement: Ann’s bare feet not only drew the ire of gentrified condo dwellers, her fondness for walking barefoot while living in the Dog Town neighborhood in 1969 prompted anonymous letters to be dropped into the family mailbox. Such behavior, the letters warned, could be subversive to the neighborhood children.

On visiting European Christmas markets, from November 2016 in Ladue News: “Call me a rebel, but I love leaving home at Christmastime and traveling to locales across the globe. Doing so constitutes a sociology lesson akin to a wedding – interesting to experience even if it’s not your own.”

On the pleasures of pot roast, from January 1999 in St. Louis Magazine: “Most of our recipes for that kind of food are heirlooms, the way my grandmother’s bed and her pressed glass are. Such traditional food is striking today, in this world of Chilean sea bass with shiitake mushrooms and a coulis of raspberries. What, as children, we greeted with ‘Oh, no! That again?’ is now something like a big, soft, wooly red sweater, simultaneously comfy and fashionable. Like the sweater, it seduces us into wanting it.”

On porch suppers, from August 1999 in St. Louis Magazine, discussing her childhood living in Desloge, the Southeastern Missouri town where she grew up: “My great-aunt had the best back porch I knew. I gravitated toward it on any visit when the weather was suitable. It, too, had awnings, and plenty of trees, so there was no sky, only green, the feel of being under water. The porch itself had a day bed and plenty of reading material, a magnetic combination for me. In addition there was a table where they often ate supper.”

On food resolutions from January 2, 1999, in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Food resolutions? Tell me one person who doesn’t have any, and I’ll send him to Crown Candy Kitchen.”

Terry Lemons, June 2022

This Week's Wine: November 25, 2009

 

Well, here we are again --Thanksgiving is upon us and we haven't bought wine yet. The good thing is that all wine stores are open and bulging at the seams with good values at good prices. Another good thing is that the Beaujolais Nouveau hype seems to be mostly behind us. All the stories were mainly arranged for television, which truly buys into hype in a big way, as long as there are pictures to accompany it. But tales of fast planes like the Concorde and speedboats and such, getting the bottles to the restaurants just before midnight, were so much malarkey. The wine has been around for several weeks being distributed to retailers and bars.

There's less of that these days, and wine shops are carrying less of it. Some local outlets have only one or two different winemakers.

Beaujolais Nouveau, by the way, is from the 2009 vintage, so it has no aging of any sort except a few weeks in the bottle. It is made in the Beaujolais region, which borders on Burgundy, and is made from Gamay grapes, or is supposed to be. It is light of body, easy to drink and will not improve with age. Drink it by New Year's Eve, or certainly by George Washington's birthday, or mine, which occurs earlier in the same month. It does go well with turkey, and it is inexpensive. But you probably can get a better wine for the same amount of money.

But for the sake of continuity, I did sample a few. A couple arrived on my doorstep a week before the magic day (the Thursday before Thanksgiving).

Georges Duboeuf makes a Beaujolais Nouveau and a Beaujolais Villages Nouveau, which is a little better and a dollar more expensive ($11 against $10). The Villages has good flavor and balance, pleasant flavor and is a worthy drink. Its cousin has a floral nose, a flavor of strawberry and a short finish.

Joseph Drouhin, a veteran winemaker like Duboeuf, offers a $10 Nouveau that is more reminiscent of cherries than strawberries. It shows medium body, not much finish and some tannins that are not very well balanced. Laboure-Roi, another long-time producer ($11) brings an aroma and a flavor of cherry jello and was sweet on the palate.

All right, so what would I recommend for the Thanksgiving table? My first recommendation is to visit your wine-seller, tell him (or her) how much you want to spent and ask for a French Gamay or a California (or Oregon) Pinot Noir that's on the lighter side. You'll end up with a wine that will be excellent with your meal, and a tab of less than $15.

Something more specific? Well, I tasted an excellent Robert Mondavi Pinot Noir recently, though it did cost $24, and for the white wine fancier, a Mondavi Fume Blanc ($18) that is superior with fowl. A pair of value wines from Bogle, each $11, included a 2007 Zinfandel and a 2006 Petite Sirah. Dry Creek Vineyard has a Sonoma County Heritage Zinfandel, at $18, that will be fine company on the dining room table.

-Joe

This Week's Wine October 21, 2009

 

There's a great deal of bargain-hunting in wine shops these days. Only bankers, brokers (stock, not ticket) and professional athletes can afford the really good stuff. The rest of us are scrambling. But thankfully, with some winemakers and wineries also feeling some financial pressure, there are good values on shelves and lists.

While I know there are other bargain opportunities out there, I've enjoyed some recent tastings, at a dinner with David Mirassou, scion of the Napa County-based winery that posts a legitimate claim to being the most venerable of the California winemaking families, and with some samples from Bogle, the long-time Sonoma County producer of tasty wines at the lower end of the price scale. And Dan Kravitz, the Brooklyn-born (in a neighborhood very close to mine) wine importer who lives in Maine and whose headquarters are in Virginia, was the host at a Wine & Cheese Place tasting that displayed 10 wines from France, Spain and Argentina at $16 or less.

Kravitz works with smaller properties in Europe and South America, and had some excellent examples. Foremost was a 2007 Boniface Apremont ($16), made from the Jacquere grape, a new experience for me. The white grapes grow only in Savoie, in the French Alps, and the light wine displayed a slight, lovely tingle on the tongue. There's an aroma of flowers, with a hint of mint, and the flavor has a bit of pepper and some lemon behind that. Producers recommend it with fish, but I see it equally promising as an aperitif. I can't recall tasting wine from Jacquere grapes, but I'd be happy to drink it again.

Another interesting offering was an '06 IA Garnacha, 100 percent Grenache from Spain ($10), with a nice smoothness and pleasing raspberry overtones. A similar wine from Kravitz' own estate in France called Domaine Cabireau Serge and Tony ($15) is a little richer than the Spanish version even if it is a year younger, and its name is less complex than the wine. Serge takes care of the vineyard and Tony is the winemaker. Among his Argentine wines, an '07 Sauvignon Blanc from Alfredo Roca ($8) had a charming mineral quality and a nice touch of citrus, and an '06 Cabernet Sauvignon ($11) with the proprietary name of Altura 1024, for the 1024-meter (about 3300 feet) altitude of the vineyards, was a deep, hearty red that called forth images of roast beef or T-bone steak.

French Cotes du Rhone blends of Syrah, Grenache, maybe some Cinsault, or Mouvedre, or Carignan, depending on the winemaker's prererence, show up in several of Kravitz' wines, like a French Terre de Mistral ($13) or a Spanish Cuvee des Galets ($13). They do not have a lot of finesse, but they're hearty and they make excellent companions to a simple meal of pizza, pasta or hamburgers.

Pierre and Henrietta Pellier emigrated from France in 1854, bringing cuttings of Pinot Noir and other grapes from their own vineyards and replanting them in California's Monterey and Santa Clara valleys. They made wine, and their daughter, also Henrietta, married Pierre Mirassou, a neighboring grape farmer. With 155 years of winemaking experience behind them, the Mirassous are among the California pioneers; about three years ago, Mirassou became part of the Gallo empire. David Mirassou, the sixth generation of the family, is a spokesman who, like many winemakers and their families, go on tour after the harvest, selling and talking and drinking their wine, which sells in the $12-13 range.

Mirassou talked about five of his wines over dinner recently, starting with a crisp, tasty 2008 Sauvignon Blanc that showed considerable acidity and tartness. An '07 Chardonnay, about half aged in American oak, the rest in stainless steel, was light but with a pleasing flavor, and using steel helped reduce the big, buttery flavor which many like and as many dislike, finding it overpowering.

Three reds were more successful. An '08 Pinot Noir was young but fruity, though it's hard to tell how longer it will improve. Best of the group, in my opinion, was an '06 Merlot with grapes mainly from Paso Robles and Lodi, and a little Zinfandel and Syrah for added complexity. Soft and rich, its flavor opening and becoming tastier with every sip. It's a splendid value. Almost as good was a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon , also with grapes sourced from Paso Robles and Lodi, where hot summers build the sugar content and bring bigger black currant flavors and more body to the wine.

Another six-generation wine family, the Bogles of Clarksburg, make some of the most drinkable inexpensive wines in California. Farmers since the mid-19th century, the Bogles are late arrivals in wine, starting in 1968 when Warren Bogle and his son, Chris, planted the first 20 acres of grapes.

Like me, the Bogles prefer red wine, and four 2009 releases from the 2007 vintage demonstrate their skills in offering well-made wine at $11 a bottle, except for the Merlot, which is just $9. Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah, from grapes grown in the Bogles' own Clarksburg neighborhood and in Lodi or along the Central Coast, are wines with elegance and backbone.

The Zin, from vines 40-80 years old, is rich and dark, mellow and round with hints of pepper and spicy chocolate in the finish. Ten months in American oak give it tannin and a touch of wood, but also indications that the wine will age nicely. Cabernet Sauvignon, with 14 months in American oak, is certainly drinkable now, and should improve for 5-7 years. A plum nose tickles the palate. Bogle has long made a specialty of Petite Sirah, first producing it in 1978, and using grapes from Lodi and its home territory of Clarksburg. Blackberries are noticeable in the aroma, and leather and oak in the flavor. It's a wine that shows individuality and the winemaker's skill. Merlot, lush and mellow, also is a winner.

-Joe

This Week's Wine, October 4, 2009

I'm now 21st-century-qualified in terms of wine writers. I took part in a webinar last week, didn't spill any wine, followed directions and instructions, tasted six wines, asked a question and received an answer. I didn't see the pictures that came as a visual aid, but later discovered that the problem was in the transmission and not my fault.

Webinar? That's a made-up 21st-century word combining "worldwide web" and "seminar," and though I'd heard about this particular apparition, I had managed to avoid participation until now.

Montes, the 21-year-old Chilean wine producer that has been expanding to other parts of the world, showed off wines from three different countries and three different grapes, which took it out of the ordinary wine-tasting experience. Aurelio Montes Sr. and Jr., the father-son team who are the winemakers, were visible as they tasted, talked and answered questions from those of us on the other side of the computer screen.

Grapes from the Colchagua Valley of central Chile offered a 2007 Montes Alpha Carmenere ($23) and a 2006 Montes Purple Angel ($65), based on the same grape. The former includes 10 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, the latter eight percent Petit Verdot. Carmenere is a red grape, very similar to a Merlot, and is the subject of many stories. One is that after it was planted in Chile, it was thought to be a Merlot, and treated as one, but more scientific tests proved that though it was similar, it was not identical. It is of French origin, though very little still grows in France, and it is a vitis vinifera, like the classic French wine grapes. "Lost grape" legends abound.

Both wines are rich and dark in color, with the Angel's hue a little deeper because of the Petit Verdot. The Alpha, harvested fairly late in the Chilean autumn (our spring in the Northern Hemisphere), comes from grapes that receive little water. It shows a little black pepper in the aroma, good spice on the palate, would benefit from another six months of bottle age before drinking, a tactic to allow the tannins to soften a little more. It would be an excellent wine with barbecue or grilled meats.

The Angel, a year older, is a more elegant wine, with splendid acid-alcohol balance. Both wines spend a year in French oak barrels, but the extra year of bottle age has softened the tannins to the point where the wine is closer to perfect maturity. Hearty notes of plums and red fruit roll through the mouth, and the finish is long, smooth and elegant. It's an outstanding wine, and probably will improve for another decade.

Montes expanded across the Andes Mountains into Argentina a half-dozen years ago, settling in the Mendoza area, home to most Argentine wineries. The area, with a Continental climate, is warmer than the Colchagua Valley in Chile, and fruit is grown at higher altitudes. Warm winds and plenty of sun combine for a long growing season, just right for the Malbec grapes that are the mainstay of Argentine wineries, though many other varieties are grown there, too.

The proprietary Argentine label, Kaiken (pronounced Ky-ken), is the Indian name for a Patagonian goose that flies across the Andes and lives in both Argentina and Chile. We tasted a pair of 2007 Malbecs, the Reserve ($14), a 90-10 blend with Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Ultra ($25), 100 percent Malbec.

The Malbec is a bit lighter and more delicate than the Carmenere, slightly lighter in color as well, with berry influences in the flavor. It would work very well with roast lamb, or with churrascaria, the South American barbecue that involves several different cuts of meat grilled on skewers.

Montes moved into the Napa Valley in 2006, sourcing Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah grapes from growers in Coombsville, at the San Pablo Bay end of the Carneros region, and from Yountville, farther north. Coombsville is a cooler area, with breezes from the bay and through the Petaluma gap to the west having a major effect. Yountville, on the Napa Valley floor, with its higher summer temperatures, creates more tannin in the grapes. Some grapes are from the Knight's Valley area of Sonoma County, bordering on Napa, and the wine was made at the Artesa Winery in Carneros.

Douglas Murray, a founding partner in Montes, explained the California adventure this way, "To create our own Napa wine has long been a cherished dream as the Napa Valley is the wine jewel of the New World's Northern Hemisphere." Napa is only the beginning for Montes, however. The winemakers also are working with Paso Robles growers, farther south, and will have StarAngel wines next year to go with NapaAngel, which is making its debut this year after three years of age, 18 months in French oak, 18 more in bottle.

The Napa wines are expensive, too. NapaAngel, 90 percent Cab, 10 percent Syrah, is priced at $55, and the Aurelio's Selection stamp brings the cost to $90.

They're very tasty, too, aged long enough to be extremely smooth and drinkable, though they will improve for a decade or more. The addition of Syrah makes the NapaAngel more approachable now, with a hint of tannin and a big, plummy nose. Aurelio's Selection has a dark cherry aroma and hints of the same fruit in the flavor. It's delicious, with a solid structure, excellenct acid-alcohol balance, considerable complexity and a long finish. Both are fine companions to beef, or to game.

And the Montes folks aren't finished with their expansion mode. Europe is next, with a first outpost planned for Spain or Portugal.

-Joe

This Week's Wine, September 6, 2009

The little ATV bucked and coughed, dug its tires into the grass, spun left, moved between rows of grapevines They were heavy with fruit turning from green to yellow and gold in the August sunshine. Hank Johnson braked, took a couple of sandwich-sized plastic bags from his pocket, handed one to me.

"We’re going to pick some of these Vignoles grapes," he said, "and check them for sugar content. When I pull over to your side, take a grape from the closest bunch-just reach, don’t inspect-and take them in a regular order. Front, back, top, bottom, right side, left side as we go from bunch to bunch. I’ll do the same on my side."

Johnson is the owner and sometime tasting-room host at Chaumette Vineyards, one of a half-dozen or so Ste. Genevieve area operations that recently joined the burgeoning number of Missouri grape-growers and wine-producers. The property, on the gently rolling hills of Ste. Genevieve County, includes vineyards, a large tasting room and a fine restaurant whose porch offers some lovely views-not dramatic like the Rockies, but green (thanks to our glorious summer), warm and attractive. Johnson also has some handsome houses for sale or rent. And since wineries have become family destinations, there’s a spa, too.

In the vineyard, Vignoles and other white grapes like Chardonnay and Chardonel, ripen first, followed by red grapes like Chambourcin and St. Vincent. Norton, which brings forth a rich red wine, is usually last, sometime in October.

We drove through about half of the vineyard’s rows, picking as we went. And we tasted a few, too. They were only slightly sweet, and the seeds, showed greenish centers on most, some turning to brown, which would indicate ripeness. To speed the ripening process, all growers remove some leaves from the vines, train others in a specific pattern, usually on wires. Johnson likes the Smart-Dyson ballerina style, which he thinks exposes the grapes to more sun, helping them ripen a little early. Some growers use the Geneva Double Curtain technique, which makes for a longer hang-time.

With Johnson’s sheep dog, Pooka, weaving back and forth in front of or behind or alongside the ATV, we drove back to the lab, where we squeezed the grapes in their little plastic bags to release the juice. Johnson dripped some on an optical machine, held it up to the light, watched a blue line creep up the scale. "Brix" is the term for the sugar content; in other words, if a winemaker tells you he picks at 25 brix, he is picking when the grapes’ juice is about 25 percent sugar.

The brix level was of concern, since the grapes were busy creating sugar rapidly while necessary acids lagged behind. A proper balance between alcohol and acid is crucial in the winemaking process.

Johnson, a retired insurance executive, and his wife Jackie, bought the property in 1990, planted grapes, opened Chaumette six years ago, with Norton, Vignoles, Chardonel, Chambourcin and Traminette grapes on the vines, along with some eastern European experimental varieties he’s researching as part of a state agriculture project, a search for a hardy vine that will produce wine grapes despite the vagaries of Missouri weather. And there are some vines here and there that any vineyard manager worth his salt will have in the ground as he searches for something special. That hunt has been in progress ever since man (and woman) learned to cultivate grapes.

The walls in the large, handsome tasting room show the Johnsons’ tastes, from grapes to fishing to grand opera, and also includes the Grapevine Grill, where chef Adam Lambay, formerly at the stove in some of St. Louis’ best restaurants, has taken over the kitchen and is doing lunch and dinner, with brunch on weekends, while Yvonne Lemire creates desserts and pastries. A more recent arrival is winemakers Mark Baehmann, who moved to Ste. Genevieve from Augusta, where he had been the winemaker at Mount Pleasant since 1992. We’ll discuss the Grapevine Grill fare at in the next week or two.

Wine samples, none from Baehmann until sometime next year, included several different Chardonels (the grape is a cross of Chardonnay and Seyval), a 2008 estate bottled Chardonel more in the Chardonnay style, with 10 months in oak bringing a slight buttery feeling, much like that found in Chardonnays from California. Another style, Dry Chardonel, is more like a Pinot Grigio, crisper, more acidic, with nice citrus notes.

Traminette, a cross between the classic Gewurztraminer and an obscure grape known as Johnes Seyve 23.416, certainly shows the heritage of the former, missing only the slight bubble the imports from Germany or France will carry.

A rose, made from Chambourcin grapes and called Spring Rose, displayed good floral aromas and tastes of cherry and raspberry, though I found it a little on the sweet side.

Three reds were excellent, with the ‘06 Chambourcin and ‘04 Norton both using 100 percent of the single grape variety. The Chambourcin, 15 months in Missouri oak, offers hints of leather and smoke in the aroma, dark plummy fruit on the palate. The Norton, with grapes sourced from Wayne Hurlbert’s vineyards in Washington, Mo., was rich and dark, with a long finish and dark hearty fruit from start to finish. Oak in this one, too, and on my dinner table, I’d decant the wines, or at least leave the bottles open open, for an hour or so before drinking. Putting Norton and Chambourcin together under the proprietary label Assemblage, and using grapes from different years created something better than the sum of its parts, with flavors from the Rhone Valley of France. Delicious.

-Joe

This Week's Wine, September 1, 2009

Want to win a medal for the wine you just made on your back porch?

Wait until next year and enter it in the annual Missouri wine contest-your odds are very much better than at your favorite race track. After all, the state of Missouri’s wine competition ended recently, with the grape and wine program handing out awards at its own little private picnic. Of 220 entrants, 160 won medals. In other words, 73 percent took home hardware to hang on a bottle. The breakdown was 42 gold, 54 silver and 64 bronze.

Counting medals is a little like herding cats. I counted 151 (and I don’t count very well) but then realized that a very fine wine like the Stone Hill 2007 Norton from the Cross J Vineyard had won three gold medals by itself, one along with eight others wines that earned gold in the Dry Red class, one for being the best Dry Red and one for being the Best in Show. So rather than going back and recounting, and risking compounding all my errors, we’ll just play it like it lays and take a mulligan later.

The competition has come a long way. I was a judge the first time the state had a wine competition, back in the mid-1970s, and three of us–the late Millard Cohen, a real wine expert and a grand person, the food editor of the Springfield News-Leader and I, then representing the Post-Dispatch-gathered in a building next to a cattle barn on the fair grounds in Sedalia. The aroma of cow was stronger than the aroma of wine, but we muddled through and picked some winners (not wieners, winners), though one of the state’s leading winemakers made a midnight raid on the judges’ quarters and erected barriers so we could not confer with one another.

Now there are 12 judges, representing almost the entire country, and they do not go within miles of the fair grounds. Of course, the Fair no longer runs the contest, or provides ribbons to the winners, or has any connection with the wine except to display some after the fact. You’d think that John Ashcroft, who wouldn’t serve wine at the governor’s mansion, was back in power. He’s now a big-time player as an influential lobbyist in Washington, and I wonder if he serves wine to those he is trying to lobby.

But the competition has fixed rules for medals. The best will win, but so will a lot of second-best offerings. If the judges are working on a 100-point scale, anything above 85 may be a gold. So nine dry red wines won gold medals, 15 won silver and 18 won bronze. That’s 42 medal winners in one category. Absurd.

In some respects, the competition proves the growth in numbers and quality of Missouri wineries. A total of 26 wineries earned ribbons, almost a third of the 91 wine-producers in the state. Stone Hill (Hermann), a perennial powerhouse, took home 28 ribbons, far more than anyone else. My guess is that it had more entries than anyone else, too. Others in double figures were Montelle (Augusta), 17; Augusta (Augusta), 16; Adam Puchta (Hermann), 14; and St. James (St. James), 11.

The rest of the medal-winners includes wineries that are both old and new, from familiar cities and towns and others you’d never expect: They included Blumenhof (Dutzow), 9; Hermannhof (Hermann), 6; Twin Oaks (Farmington),6; Les Bourgeois (Rocheport), 5; Mount Pleasant (Augusta), 5; Cave Vineyards (Ste. Genevieve), 4; Baltimore Bend (Waverly), 4; Native Stone (Jefferson City), 3; Stone Haus (Lee’s Summit), 3; Traver Home (Willow Springs), Durso Hills (Marquand), Chandler Hill (Defiance), Sugar Creek (Defiance), and Jowler’s Creek (Platte City), 2 each; Chaumette (Ste. Genevieve), Hemman (Brazeau), Cooper’s Oak (Higbee), Inland Sea (Kansas City), Meramec Vineyards (St. James), Peaceful Bend (Steelville) and Bommarito (New Haven), 1 each.

Why so many medals? The laws of Commerce, I guess, and I’m sure winemakers and owners want lots of medals to display. If it were my choice, I’d have more classes of competition, with gold, silver and bronze in each category. I’d match Vidal against Vidal, Norton against Norton, rather than lumping all dry reds together, regardless of grape of origin. The organizers did the same thing for semi-dry and sweet wines, both red and white. That’s not quite comparing apples and oranges, but it’s close. I’d also limit wineries to one entry in each class, which would allow a winemaker to enter his best and prevent Stone Hill from entering enough Nortons from various vintages and vineyards to win six gold medals.

And as long as I’m rearranging the state government, I’d then send the show on the road, with a couple of buses emblazoned with banners, taking winemakers and other vineyard representatives around the state for several days, to towns large and small, stopping here and there for tastings and barbecues, letting everyone know that there are 90 wineries in the state, hiring employees and paying taxes and helping the economy.

Tom Uhlenbrock of the Post-Dispatch recently used the front page of a Sunday section for three successive weeks to write about wineries, two weeks for Missouri and one for Illinois, and he could have used another week to write about the new wineries in the western part of the state.

Unfortunately, the wineries don’t seem to care a lot, either. I was at Mount Pleasant last weekend as the winery, one of the nation’s oldest, marked its 150^th anniversary. Its Brut Imperial sparkling wine, not only a gold medal winner but a best of class, is a splendid wine, with a wonderful crisp dryness and a nice bubble, but I saw no acknowledgment of its honors. The Governor’s Cup winner, a 2007 Stone Hill Norton from the Cross J Vineyard, also is a glorious wine, rich and flavorful, with smooth plummy flavors and well-deserving of its accolades.

And the winners are. . . .

GOVERNOR’S

CUP: Best of Best in Class, Stone Hill (Hermann) 2007 Cross J Vineyard Norton

BEST

OF CLASS:

Sparkling Wine, Mount Pleasant (Augusta) Brut Imperial

Dry White, Montelle (Augusta) 2008 Chardonel

Semi-Dry White, Montelle 2008 Dry Vignoles

Sweet White, Stone Hill 2008 Vignoles

Dry Red, Stone Hill 2007 Cross J Vineyard Norton

Semi-Dry Red, Augusta Winery (Augusta) Reserve Red

Sweet Red, Adam Puchta Winery (Hermann) Riefenstahler

Blush Wine, Twin Oaks (Farmington) Two Brothers

Late Harvest, Stone Hill 2008 Late Harvest Vignoles

Dessert Wine, Adam Puchta Signature Port

Fruit Wine, St. James Winery (St. James) Strawberry

Distilled Spirit, Montelle Peach Brandy

GOLD

MEDALS:

Sparkling Wine, Mount Pleasant Brut Imperial; Stone Hill Golden Spumante

Dry White, Montelle 08 Chardonel; Montelle 08 Seyval Blanc

Semi-Dry White, Montelle 08 Dry Vignoles; Stone Hill 08 Traminette, Stone Hill 07 Steinberg

Sweet White, Stone Hill 08 Vignoles; Golden Rhine; Stonehaus (Lee’s Summit) Traminette; Augusta 08 Vignoles; Blumenhof (Dutzow) 08 Femme Osage, 08 Vignoles, 08 Valvin Muscat; Les Bourgeois (Rocheport) 08 Vignoles-Traminette

Dry Red, Adam Puchta 05 Norton; Les Bourgeois 07 Premium Claret; Chaumette (Ste. Genevieve) 07 Chambourcin; Stone Hill 07 Chambourcin; Stone Hill 05 Cross J Norton; Stone Hill 07 Cross J Norton

Semi-Dry Red, Baltimore Bend (Waverly) Last Minute; Les Bourgeois 08 Fleur de Vin

Sweet Red, Montelle Stone House Red; Stone Hill Concord; Adam Puchta Riefenstahler

Blush, Augusta La Fleur Sauvage; Stone Hill Rose Montaigne; Twin Oaks Two Brothers

Late Harvest/Ice Wine, Stone Hill 08 Late Harvest Vignoles; Augusta 08 Ice Wine; Montelle 08 Vidal Ice Wine

Dessert

Wine, St. James 06 Chardonel Dessert Wine; Stone Hill 06 Port, Cream Sherry; Montelle 05 Cynthiana Port; Adam Puchta Signature Port

Fruit Wine, St. James Strawberry

Distilled Spirit, Montelle Peach Brandy

SILVER MEDALS:

Sparkling Wine, Stone Hill 05 Blanc de Blancs

Dry White, Traver Home (Willow Springs) Vignoles; Stone Hill 06 Reserve Chardonel, 07 Chardonel, 08 Chardonel; Augusta 07 Estate Bottled Vidal Blanc; Adam Puchta Vidal

Semi-Dry White, Augusta 08 Seyval Blanc; Hermannhof (Hermann) 07 Vidal Blanc; Montelle River Country White; Blumenhof (Dutzow) 08 Rayon D’Or, 08 Missouri Weinland; Les Bourgeois 08 LaBelle; Stone Hill 08 Steinberg White; Stonehaus Vignoles

Sweet White, Baltimore Bend Sweet Beginnings; St. James 08 Vintner’s Select Vignoles; Augusta River Valley White; Montelle Himmelswein.

Dry Red, Adam Puchta Vintner’s Reserve Norton; Stonehaus Chambourcin; Stone Hill Hermannsberger, 06 Chambourcin, 05 Estate Bottled Norton, 06 Estate Bottled Norton; Cave Vineyard (Ste. Genevieve) 07 Chambourcin, 07 Norton; St. James 08 Chambourcin; Blumenhof 07 Original Cyn; Stone Hill 06 Cross J Norton, 05 Estate Bottled Norton, 06 Estate Bottled Norton; Mount Pleasant Norton, Cabernet Sauvignon; Augusta 06 Estate Bottled Chambourcin, 06 Estate Bottled Norton

Semi-Dry Red, Montelle River Country Red; Stone Hill Steinberg Red

Sweet Red, St. James Country Red; Durso Hills (Marquand) Durso Red

Blush, Adam Puchta Rose; Montelle La Rosee; Cave Vineyards Grotta Rossa; Les Bourgeois Pink Fox; Stone Hill Spumante Blush, Pink Catawba

Dessert Wine, Native Stone (Jefferson City) Norton Port; Stone Hill 05 Port; Augusta 05 Vintage Port; St. James 05 Norton Dessert Wine

Fruit Wine, Augusta Blackberry, Raspberry; Montelle Strawberry; Hemman (Brazeau) Blueberry.

Distilled Spirit, Montelle Grappa Brandy

BRONZE MEDALS:

Dry White, Les Bourgeois 07 Solay; Inland Sea Wines (Kansas City) 08 Chardonnay;

St. James 06 Reserve Chardonel; Augusta 08 Traminette

Semi-Dry White, Hermannhof 08 Traminette, 07 Traminette; Jowler Creek (Platte City) Vignoles; Baltimore Bend Cirrus; Hermannhof 07 Traminette; Native Stone Lewis & Clark’s Sweet Discovery

Sweet White, Adam Puchta Vignoles (American), Vignoles (Missouri), Misty Valley, Adam’s Choice; Hermannhof 08 Vignoles; Peaceful Bend (Steelville) Whittenburg; Augusta 07 Vignoles; Cave Vineyard 08 Traminette; Montelle Stone House White; Twin Oaks Traminette; Blumenhof La Charrette

Dry Red, Twin Oaks Shady Oak, Chambourcin; Chandler Hill (Defiance) 06 Old Brick, 05 Norton Sauvage; Durso Hills 06 Norton; Adam Puchta Estate Bottled Norton, Hunter’s Red; Sugar Creek (Defiance) Chambourcin, Cynthiana; Traver Home Bear’s Den Red; Jowler Creek (Platte City) Chambourcin; Hermannhof 02 Norton; Stone Hill 03 Estate Bottled Norton; St. James 06 Reserve Norton; Augusta 05 Estate Bottled Chambourcin; Montelle 06 Cynthiana; Cooper’s Oak Winery (Higbee) 08 Chambourcin

Sweet Red, Baltimore Bend Arrowhead Red; Augusta River Valley Red; Twin Oaks Murphy’s Settlement; Hermannhof StagsWood Red; Native Stone Captain’s Red; Meramec Vineyards (St. James) New World Red; Blumenhof Devil’s Den Red

Blush, Blumenhof 08 Winegarden Rose; Stone Hill Dry Rose

Late Harvest, St. James 05 Late Harvest Chardonel

Dessert Wine, Bommarito Estate (New Haven) 04 Red Missouri Port; Twin Oaks Royal Ruby; Mount Pleasant Tawny Port, Vintage Port; Adam Puchta Anniversary Port

Fruit Wine, Adam Puchta Berry Black

Distilled Spirit, Montelle Pear Brandy

Judges:

Joyce Angelos, Kansas City; Glenn Bardgett, St. Louis; Jill Blume, Purdue, Ind.; Jean Burgess, Clermont, Fla.; Rene Chazottes, Los Angeles; John Damian, Watkins Glen, N.Y.; Bob Foster, San Diego; Doug Frost, Kansas City; Michelle Meyer, Basehor, Kan.; David Peterson, Romulus, N.Y.; Guy Stout, Houston; Chris West, Macon, Mo.

-Joe

This Week's Wine, August 25, 2009

The Wines of Texas Are Upon Us

In my sports writing days, I traveled to Texas a lot, covering college and professional football, which is the state religion of Texas. Basically, Texas was legally dry in those days, but people who could get into the Dallas Press Club could get a drink. So could members of countless other clubs, usually with a temporary membership fee of a dollar. Whiskey was extra, but many people carried brown bags with open bottles, paying several bucks for a glass of ice and a mixer.

Wine? What’s wine? Oh, that’s the stuff you drink in church. . . .

Try a Falstaff, or a Pearl, or a Dixie.

Times certainly change. A couple of weeks ago, I went to Dallas for a weekend of wine – Texas wine – and a lot of it was excellent. I’m part of a group of wine writers who think that California is not the be-all and end-all, though we believe a lot of excellent wine is made out there, and a couple of dozen of us were on hand, representing newspapers, magazines, television stations and blog sites from Virginia, Maryland, California, Georgia, Colorado and the District of Columbia, in addition to Texas and Missouri.

The Texas Department of Agriculture does fine work promoting the wine made in the state, helping grape-growers and wine-makers with expertise and other types of support, including a marketing department that is actively into the 21st century.

So I have a wine glass and a tote bag and a corkscrew that say Drink Texan Wine. Texas is fifth in the nation in wine production and its 190 wineries are a bit more than twice the Missouri numbers. The Spanish brought wine to Texas in the 17th century, and German settlers to the Hill Country revived the dormant industry in the mid-19th century, about 30 years after German immigrants brought grapes and wine to the Augusta and Hermann areas.

Both states took a beating from Prohibition, but Texas, hamstrung by a tangle of archaic liquor laws that make the cat’s cradle of Missouri laws look simple, took longer to re-establish its wine industry. It began to lurch forward in the 1970s, sped up nicely 20 years later.

Interestingly, both states owe a great debt to Thomas V. Munson, a leader in viticulture education and experimentation. A genius horticulturist, Munson taught a large group of Missouri winemakers, then moved to Texas and settled in Denison, where, almost single-handedly, he saved wine for humanity. He had found grape root stock in Missouri when he was here, took samples with him to Texas. He then exported the same stock to France, whose vines faced extermination by the phylloxera louse. With the classic vinifera grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Merlot and others) grafted onto Munson’s root stock, louse-resistant vines were produced, though eventually, about a century later, the phylloxera became able to feast on the Missouri stock, and another resistant stock was developed.

Munson, honored by the French government, which erected a statue to him in Montpellier, is considered the father of the Texas industry.

Texas is able to grow the classic viniferas in several parts of the state, and the development of drip irrigation made it possible to use acreage in the High Plains of west Texas and the Hill Country, in the central part of the state. They’re two of the eight federal Viticultural districts established in the state. That’s a few more than Missouri, but our state has Viticultural District No. 1, in Augusta. Napa is No. 2, but Lucian Dressel’s feat in acquiring that honor is all but ignored by Missouri for some reason.

Given the size of Texas, its various parts have the climate and soil – what the French call terroir – to grow all the classic vinifera grapes, the Bordeaux varieties mentioned above (though Chardonnay does not grow well in Texas), along with Malbec, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Syrah, Tempranillo and Zinfandel among the reds, plus the Pierce disease-resistant hybrid, LeNoir. The whites include a new hybrid, Blanc du Bois, developed at the University of Florida in the last 15 years, and a good selection for hot, swampy land around Galveston or southeast Texas, as well as Florida. Other white varietals planted across the state are Chenin Blanc, Gewurztraminer, various Muscats, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Viognier.

We tasted about two dozen wines, from all over the state and from dozens of grapes. Some were single-vineyard, estate-bottled wines, others were blends, often with proprietary names. Our task was to pick four winners, sweet white or rose, dry white or rose, sweet red and dry red, with winemakers selecting the category. Retail prices ranged from $12 to $40.

Those voted "best" were:

Dry Red: 2005 Tempranillo-Cabernet, Inwood Estates Vineyards, Dallas, $39.50: Dan and Rose Mary Gatlin use grapes from the High Plains, on the New Mexico border, and vinify in Dallas, but have made this blend of Tempranillo (65 percent) and Cabernet Sauvignon a glorious wine, almost black, with big fruit flavors, led by black currant, and a long, long finish with notes of chocolate. Perfect with beef on the grill.

Sweet Red: 2006 IV (Port-style Red), Sandstone Cellars, Mason, $40: Owners Scott Haupert and Manny Silerio, and winemaker Don Pullum, use only grapes from Mason County, southwest of Fort Worth, and simply name their wines in order. This delicious, rich, very Port-style wine is the fourth they have made (a fine dry red is simply called VI). With a year in barrel and a year in stainless, the Port has a wonderful richness, with chocolate and mint in the aroma, more mint and berries on the palate, coffee in the finish. A beautiful dessert wine.

Dry White: 2008 Pinot Blanc, Flat Creek Estate, Marble Falls, $34.95: Northwest of Austin, Rick and Madelyn Naber use Pinot Blanc grapes grown in the Hill Country appellation for this full-bodied delightfully crisp and well-balanced wine that shows a lovely touch of guava on the palate. A marvelous aperitif or excellent with broiled fish.

Sweet White: 2006 Madeira Blanc du Bois, Haak Vineyards and Winery, Santa Fe, $39.95: Owner-winemaker Ray Haak, who built the first winery in the Galveston area uses grapes from various parts of the state, and the Madeira was an overwhelming choice in its category, probably as close to unanimous as a group of wine writers can get. The wine is filled with aromas and flavors of peach and apricot, with a hint of honey on the palate. It’s glorious, the best wine I tasted among all the entries, though its powerful sweetness and high alcohol (18 percent) probably made it more memorable than if it were just another white wine.

However, I tasted a dry Blanc du Bois, also from Haak, and found it to be a pleasant table wine. Inwood also offered a 100percent Tempranillo that was delicious, a splendid companion to the 65-35 blend noted above.

A few other highlights included a beautiful rose from Cap Rock, just outside Lubbock in the High Plains, made of Ruby Cabernet and Sauvignon Blanc (95-5), would be a perfect match with Thai food and looks beautiful in a glass. Vino de Terra Alta, from Dallas winery Times Ten Cellars, uses grapes from the Davis Mountains appellation in the southwest part of the state is a complex blend of Tempranillo (37 percent), Syrah (33), Grenache (24), Cabernet Sauvignon (3) and Cabernet Franc (3). Last but not least, a powerful Sangria from LightCatcher winery of Fort Worth which starts with Merlot, adds peaches, brandy and apple juice for a wonderful flavor and a 16 percent alcohol.

The Texas wines I sampled were well-made, clean and flavorful, showing careful handling of the grapes. In their price range, and as table wines, they match wines made anywhere and are outstanding company for dinner.

-Joe

This Week's Wine, August 2, 2009

Because of an unfortunate scheduling conflict caused by the growing habits of grapes and the party-giving habits of winemakers, I missed the annual Stone Hill spring Norton festival a couple of months ago. That’s the time for an annual party when the winery holds a vertical tasting of the last 10 vintages of its premier wine, the estate-bottled Norton. The most recent to be released-usually on the day of the party-was the ‘06 a few months ago, and visitors also got to taste the 2007 and 2008, not yet bottled but aging happily in barrels.

 

Winemaker Dave Johnson has created some brilliant wines for Stone Hill, and while the Norton probably is not the best seller, it’s the flag atop the winery. Norton grapes, a native American that has been used for wine in the Midwest and along the East Coast for more than 160 years. Like many wine buffs, I think Norton produces the finest and most elegant of Missouri red wines.

 

Most Missouri wineries produce a Norton, and it’s usually the most expensive because it’s a wine that needs aging, so it’s at least three years from harvest to check-out counter as compared to whites that are drinkable a year or so after harvest. I think that most Nortons need another year or two before they start to peak. In other words, if I’m opening a Missouri Norton for dinner, I’d be looking for a 2004 or a 2003.

 

However, th e ‘06, from Stone Hill’s Kemperberg and Cross J vineyards, is a fine wine today and will improve over the next decade. With a color so dark red it’s almost black, its aroma is of plums and other dark fruit, often with a hint of leather, and its flavor shows blackberries. The comparison on the palate is with a hearty Syrah (or Shiraz, in the Australian nomenclature) and it’s a great companion to a steak or ribs coming off the grill, blackened just a touch at the edges. Excellent balance and a long finish.

 

After the fermentation process, the Nortons spend a year in barrels of French, Hungarian and American oak.

 

Looking to the future, the ‘07, to be released next year, is a wine with much promise. It has the deep earth tones and rich color that typifies Norton, and another year of age will soften some of its rough edges and lengthen the finish. The 2008 is a relative baby, hard and filled with sharp tannins, but many good things happen when a young wine matures.

 

While Stone Hill has the high ground in Hermann, Hermannhof has the riverfront in downtown, and Jim Dierberg has spent time and money in that area. In addition to the winery, which overlooks the Missouri River, Hermannhof has taken over the Festhalle, a few blocks west of the winery, as a bed-and-breakfast property and as the headquarters and registration area for a handful of old homes that have been turned into inns. The breakfast is served in the Festhalle, and registering guests receive a glass of one of Dierberg’s fine California Sauvignon Blancs from his Santa Barbara County vineyards and winery. The family also has opened a small brewery, Tin Ceiling, a block or so east of the winery. The various sleeping quarters are in old, well-restored buildings with elegant touches.

Interestingly, Dierberg-grown grapes are shipped from Santa Barbara to Hermann and made into a dry rose called Vin-Gris (gray in French, and a term often used for European rose wines), while California red grapes are made into a Barrel Select.

 

I tasted a few Hermannhof wines on a recent visit to Hermann, and was extremely pleased by the Seyval Blanc and Vidal Blanc, a couple of French hybrids that can be made into excellent white wines, with the former showing flavors like a Sauvignon Blanc, the latter lighter and more like a Pinot Grigio.

 

A first-rate 2004 Norton also was on the tasting table at Hermannhof, with all the Norton qualities but a little more delicate than the one from the top of the hill. I prefer the lusty quality of the Stone Hill version.

* * * *

CHOCOLATE WINE? READ ON: The Horton Vineyards, in the Gordonsville, VA, make a wide variety of wine, including a very good Norton which they call – of course – Horton’s Norton. Now the winery is making chocolate wine. It’s called XOCO, pronounced SHO-ko and made from a Portuguese grape called Touriga, along with what the winery describes as "chocolate essence."

-Joe

This Week's Wine, July 19, 2009

Remember the old movie musicals? Mickey and Judy and their pals, in the midst of a little friendly tap routine, would spontaneously decide: We’ll put on our own show. . . and we’ll invite all our friends. . . and we’ll do it in the barn. And suddenly, they were on their way to a Busby Berkeley-designed song-and-dance spectacular.

It was many years later, but a scenario can be written about Tim Murphy, Dale Goode and Dave Ready, sitting around over a glass of California wine. And they spontaneously decided: We’ll make our own wine. . . and invite all our friends. . . and we’ll build the winery where the barn is.

That was 1985, and as the Murphy-Goode Winery, still with a sense of humor in its approach, nears its silver anniversary in Sonoma County with a new management structure that puts the veteran Jess Jackson in command, a full line of outstanding wines and a great p.r. move in a public search that offers a dazzling internship, with the winner to be announced in the next few days. Murphy-Goode is looking for someone to move to Sonoma County for six months – at $10,000 per month – and perk up wine sales or good gossip about the winery on social networks.

The winery hosted a recent tasting in St. Louis, with some superior nibbles from the kitchen of Sasha’s on Shaw and a handful of first-rate wines, most of them in the $20-$30 range, a few closer to $50.

Dave Ready Jr., who grew up in Dad’s winery and is now the winemaker, was on hand to chat about his wines. . . .

  They’re fond of hearty reds at Murphy-Goode, which has a number of vineyards in Sonoma County’s Alexander Valley, and a pair of outstanding 2004 wines in the All-In Claret and the Terra a Lago Cabernet Sauvignon. The former, a Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (68 percent), Merlot (19.2) and Petit Verdot (12.8), draws its name from the French tradition of using everything in a given vineyard to blend a wine, and from the Las Vegas poker tradition of pushing all one’s chips into the middle of the table. It’s aged in new French and American oak for 18 months, resulting in a big, rich wine with overtones of mint in the aroma and blackberries on the palate. It’s a wonderful companion to rare roast beef or a thick sirloin. Since the BATF forbids a specific grape name on a label unless the grape makes up three-fourths of the blend, the Murphy-Goode group decided on the proprietary word, Claret, a term the English have used for centuries to describe Bordeaux wines.

Similar, but more concentrated and more expensive, is the Terra a Lago, 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon from Alexander Valley grapes. It’s ready for drinking today, but it will improve for 4-6 years in the bottle, as the tannins soften and the ancillary flavors expand. Ready described the wine as showing "aromas of sweet oak and vanilla that lead to rich flavors of blackberry, bay and thyme." Without the softening aspect of Merlot, this wine still shows hard edges and considerable oak, but it’s elegant as a companion to beef.

Ready also is very proud of his Zinfandels, led by his ‘06 Liar’s Dice (apparently a favorite winery game, along with poker), with a four-percent hit of Carignan ("it adds some structure to the wine," says Ready) to go along with Dry Creek and Alexander Valley Fruit, the former adding hints of black raspberry and black currants, the latter, some from 80-year-old vines, brings blackberry jam. The wine is nearly black in color, dark and flavorful in the mouth, long in the finish.

White wine fans will appreciate the lovely, silken mouth feel of Murphy-Goode’s 2008 Sauvignon Blanc, called "The Fume," a delightfully crisp, citrus-y wine that will be a fine accompaniment to oysters on the half-shell, especially those from Bodega Bay and other areas where the Pacific Ocean is Sonoma’s western border. Mostly fermented in stainless steel, which keeps the fruit forward and the lightness soaring, with a little in barrel for depth, it’s a wonderful companion to seafood and a fine aperitif for sipping at poolside.

-Joe

This Week's Wine, July 5, 2009

I was a young wine writer and David Stare was a young winemaker when we met over lunch at Zoe Houk’s first restaurant in Lafayette Square. Yes, it was a long time ago, but Stare, who established Dry Creek Vineyards in 1972, was talking of his dreams. He had bought land in the Dry Creek Valley area of Sonoma County and was enthusiastic about the potential of his vineyards, his grapes and, eventually, his wines. A civil engineer by training and trade, he was leaving that career behind to start a new one. His vineyard, founded in 1972, was the first new vineyard and winery in the Dry Creek Valley since Prohibition ended in 1933.

He’s an emeritus owner now, with his daughter, Kim Stare Wallace, and her husband, Don, in charge. Dry Creek has been a success, with additional vineyards purchased, lots of good wines made and sold, lots of medals and awards won.

Through the years, I’ve drunk a lot of Dry Creek wines, beginning with the Fume Blancs (dry Sauvignon Blanc) and Chenin Blancs with which he made his reputation. But in the last few weeks, I’ve tasted some amazing Zinfandels from the winery, and as a long-time fan of Zins, I was just blown away.

There are single-vineyard Zins from the Beeson Ranch and Somers Ranch, both from 2006 and both from Dry Creek Valley. Each is 100 per cent Zinfandel grapes and priced at about $34. There’s an ‘06 Old Vines Zin (84 percent Zinfandel, 16 percent Petite Sirah), with vines at least 80 years old, from Sonoma, at $28. My favorite, an amazing value at $18, is a 2007 Heritage Zin from Sonoma County, an 87-13 blend with Petite Sirah.

All are special. All are big, rich and luxurious. The Heritage is glorious, mingling fruit from the Russian River and Dry Creek Valleys. Almost black in color, it shows a rich, plummy aroma softening into chocolate and a flavor of blueberries mingling with a touch of oak. It’s a spectacular wine, and the blend of Petite Sirah adds to the dark richness. It’s surprisingly ready considering its youth, and it might be marked as a Mozart of wines

The "old vines" designation marks vines at least 80 years old, some from the Beeson Ranch, which dates to 1882. The wine has some of the same tendencies in the nose and on the palate as the Heritage because of the fine addition of Petite Sirah, with blueberries predominant.

Both Beeson and Somers Ranch wines show cardamom in the aroma, a warm touch of oak on the palate, hints of various kinds of berries here and there. Splendid.

* * * *

A PAIR OF PINOTS, ALL IN THE TERROIR: Winemakers take extra pains with Pinot Noir because they know that making the wine can be tricky. Besides, the best ones always are compared with the great French Burgundies, which come from the same grapes.

We’ve enjoyed a couple of California entries recently, an interesting tasting because although they’re a year apart in vintage, the grapes all come from the Carneros region of Napa and the wines have similarities in flavor, mouth feel and body. I guess it’s natural, given the terroir. Both wineries are in Napa County, though in the northern part, the opposite end from Carneros, which borders San Pablo Bay and includes acreage in both Napa and Sonoma Counties.

The 2007 from Truchard (about $35) and the 2006 from ZD (about $40) are both delicious, with dark cherry notes on the palate. The French always consider terroir the most important factor in wine, and perhaps they’re right. And wasn’t there a long-ago song about 40 million Frenchmen not being wrong?

* * * *

AND A FEW WHITES FOR THE SUMMER: On a warm summer day, chilled white wines serve a vital purpose, and we’ve tasted some delightful, relatively inexpensive Australian entries recently, along with a California offering that’s a little more expensive, but brings elegance to the table. It’s from Truchard, mentioned above, an ‘07 Carneros Chardonnay ($30) that shows excellent body and balance, a light, deft hand with oak for a lovely finish. A fine companion to a trout or a chunk of halibut fresh from the grill.

Wines from Australia offer many good values, and many good wines, too, and most Aussie winemakers don’t take themselves very seriously, always a pleasant trait. Old Bridge Cellars, which brings a number of wines across the Pacific, offers a quartet of inexpensive values, including a pair of contrasting Chardonnays, a lightly sparkling rose from Muscat grapes and a Verdelho, a white grape that has been the primary ingredient in many Portuguese wines.

The sparkler, a 2009 under the label of Innocent Bystander Moscato, is only 5.5 percent alcohol (similar to a beer). It seals with a crown cap, is a very light pink in color and has a charming light fizz, the style called "frizzante" by Italian winemakers. It’s a blend of Muscat Gordo (65) and Black Muscat, is refreshing and bright, and is $12 for a quarter of a liter (about 12 ounces). Goes down fast and easy.

An unoaked Chardonnay arrived with the Omrah label of Plantagenet wines, an ‘07 ($15) from Western Australia, fermented in steel tanks with a lot of time on the lees. Citrus and minerals in the aroma, more citrus and a fine level of acid on the palate. Fine for quaffing, or with raw shellfish. The 2008 lightly wooded Stump Jump ($11), named to honor a 19^th-century Australian plow that was designed to literally climb stumps that then did not have to cleared, an endeavor that took up a lot of time. The grapes are from the famed McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills of South Australia, and about a quarter of the fermenting wine spent some time in older French and American oak. Melon in the aroma, peach and citrus on the tongue, none of the butteriness that over-oaked American Chardonnays possess but a hint of firmness and some backbone that are pleasant.

And the Verdelho, a 2008 ($11) also with Stump Jump on the label, is crisp and light, closer to a Sauvignon Blanc than to the Chard, but still with some tannin in the flavor from the fact that half of the wine matured in oak casks for six months. There’s a floral aroma, with a hint of figs, and the palate shows good acidity, with mineral notes and some citrus. A nice change from the other whites we drink in the summer.

And before we leave Australia, we have a couple of 2007 entries, $12 apiece, from McWilliam’s, a Southeast Australia winery that’s part of the Gallo group. A Riesling was the perfect complement to spicy Asian meals, its hint of sweetness crossing perfectly with a fiery curry, and the Chardonnay showed a little oak for backbone and balance, but was mostly light and crisp.

Lots of good wine to enjoy with summer meals.

-Joe

This Week's Wine June 28, 2009

We’ve always been great fans of California’s Sonoma County, and not just because of its wines. We like the fact that it’s a little more relaxed than Napa, just across the mountains to the east. We are awed by Sonoma’s fertility and the great abundance of crops in addition to grapes. We enjoy fact that it extends to the Pacific Ocean on the west, and it is close to Bodega Bay, where succulent oysters grow.

It’s home to dozens of wineries, and on a recent visit to the area, we stopped at Clos du Bois, in the town of Geyserville, to taste some wine and visit with winemaker Erik Olsen, who is responsible for nearly two dozen different labels. Clos du Bois works on four levels – 10 Classic Varietals, all under $15; a half-dozen examples of the Reserve Series, all with area designations and all but one under $20; three Proprietary Series offerings, delicious and delicate and more expensive, of course; and eight regarded as limited releases, sold at the winery and including several that may some day move into one of the other categories.

Olsen, relaxing in the Sonoma sunshine on a glorious day, has been at Clos du Bois only a half-dozen years, but is a winemaker of great experience and a broad academic base that includes a B.S. in fermentation science from the University of California-Davis (a school that produces winemakers the way Notre Dame or USC produce football players), a master’s in food science from Cornell University, in the heart of the upstate New York wine country, and an M.B.A. from the University of Washington. He made wines at Robert Mondavi and Simi in California and Chateau Ste. Michelle in Washington before moving to Geyserville.

The winery was deeply involved in sustainable agriculture before Olsen arrived, but he has extended and deepened that culture in the four appellations – Russian River Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma Coast and Alexander Valley – that provide most of the grapes for Clos du Bois.

"It all starts in the vineyard," he said, looking toward the bright green vines that stretched for what seemed like miles. And sustainability also starts in the vineyard, with a program that recycles 90 percent of solid waste, including grape-processing waste, which is composted and mixed into the soil that feeds the vines. Vineyards are irrigated with a drip method, and waste water from the winery is recycled and rerouted to the vineyard, where cover crops encourage the growth of "good" insects, whose meals and recreation come from catching and devouring "bad" insects.

Winemakers are about as trendy as teachers or physicians, so Clos du Bois is not the only winery to ride the sustainability track. Good farm practices may not necessarily produce great wines, but they don’t hurt the process, and sampling nine of Olsen’s wines was a treat. All are easy to recommend, but four were true standouts, three of which will improve with a few years more of bottle age.

The exception is a 2007 Rose, a beautiful, bright, light-hearted wine for summer. Olsen’s blend is slightly different from many winemakers; he uses 70 percent Syrah and 30 percent Merlot, which adds considerable color and makes the Clos du Bois rose a little darker than most. At the same time, the Merlot adds a lot of flavor, so the wine is brisk and easy to drink on a picnic, but with more flavor than many of its counterparts. And at about $12, it’s a real bargain.

Olsen’s ‘06 Alexander Valley Merlot (about $20) is another winner, with some Cabernet Sauvignon adding a little structure but with the Merlot’s fruit extremely forward, its richness underlined by black cherry and spice. A similar ‘06 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel (about $16.50) is a remarkable wine (Olsen likes to blend a little Petite Sirah into his Zins), showing blueberry in aroma and flavor, and a backbone that makes it a delight with pulled pork or ribs from the barbecue. So is his 2005 Marlstone Cab, an Alexander Valley Meritage, aon the expensive side at about $50, as are all Meritage wines. This rich, delicious offering, with plum and dark cherry overtones, is primarily Cabernet Sauvignon (89 percent), blended with Malbec (5), Cabernet Franc (3) and Merlot (3). Once again, there is softness from the Merlot, and a fine structure throughout.

Clos du Bois also turns out a delicious Riesling from the Santa Lucia Highlands ($12); a splendid Carignane ($22) from the Alexander Valley, a little hard but with some delicate edges that are fascinating; a fine, barrel-fermented Chardonnay called Calcaire, from the Russian River Valley, always a source of good Chardonnay grapes ($25); a bright Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast ($25); and a well-aged Tempranillo, from a Spanish grape that produces a hearty red from the Alexander Valley, softened by the addition of some Cabernet Sauvignon for softness ($18). A treat from Erik Olsen and Clos du Bois.

* * * *

ON THE LOCAL WINE SCENE: Mark Baehmann, winemaker at Mount Pleasant Vineyards (Augusta) since 1992, has moved to the Chaumette Vineyards and Winery in Ste. Genevieve. Baehmann, who made wines for Chaumette’s 2000 vintage, when the Ste. Genevieve winery was　just beginning, is bottling the 2008 wines now and will be more deeply　involved as he turns to other projects.

A Rose By Any Other Blend (Would Not Be A Rose)

Every now and then, bureaucrats wise up and realize they’ve made a mistake. On rare occasions, like now, they retract what they’ve done and allow things to proceed as they always have, properly and in an orderly manner.

The European Agriculture Commission did that the other day, stepping back from a proposal that would have permitted winemakers to make rose by merely mixing red and white wines. Red + White = Rose. Right?

Wrong.

For hundreds of years, European winemakers (primarily French) made rose wine from red grapes, picking and pressing in a traditional manner, but then removing the grape skins after a shorter-than-usual time. Since practically all grape juice is clear, regardless of the color of the skin, allowing skin contact with juice colors the juice (and the wine). More contact, deeper color and vice versa.

Some years ago, during the popularity of "blush wines," some American winemakers, not bothered by centuries of tradition, mixed red wine and white wine to create the noxious stuff. Seeing easy profits ahead, some European winemakers decided to play copycat, and the European Union backed the change. But traditional winemakers, mostly in France, protested vigorously that this routine would be a shame and a disgrace, in addition to harming the quality of rose wines.

Mariann Fischer Boel, the European agriculture commissioner, heard the protest and abandoned the proposed changes. "It’s become clear over recent weeks," she said, "that a majority in our wine sector believe that ending the ban on blending could undermine the image of traditional rose. "

Voila! And just in time for the rose season!

* * * *

BARGAINS FROM ITALY: A couple of small Italian producers displayed their wares at a recent tasting under the auspices of A. Bommarito Wines, with Giampaolo Motta showing off a brilliant Tuscan blend from La Massa in a Bordeaux style, and Giovanni Pasquero Elia providing some excellent Piemontese wines from the family’s Paitin estate near Neive. The property has cellars dating to 1480 and has been in the family since 1796, with its first bottle of Barbaresco sold a century ago, in 1909. The estate’s red clay is just right for Barbera grapes, said Elia, with the white clay adding a distinctive note to the Nebbiolo.

Most of the wines will be under $30 retail.

The prime La Massa offering, a 2007, is a blend of Sangiovese (70 percent), Merlot (20) and Cabernet Sauvignon (10), having spent 13 months in French oak. Still on the youthful side, and able to spend another decade in a cellar, it’s dark and deep and rich with plummy overtones and displays a long finish on the palate.

A 2004 Sori Paitin Barbaresco was delicious, very spicy on the tongue with ripe, sweet tannins and black cherry and red berries on the palate. Beautifully balanced, the wine can age 20-25 years without a problem and will be perfect with veal or lamb, or with cheese from the Piedmont region.

Almost as good and about half the price is a 2006 Langhe, blending 30 percent each of Sangiovese, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignn with 10 percent Petit Verdot. Dark red almost to the point of blackness, it shows off complex fruit with a touch of vanilla. Delicious.

Barbera d’Alba from ‘06 was fresh and fruity, with a big body and a black cherry note rather strong, and a Nebbiolo d’Alba Ca-Veja, also from ‘06 was lighter and fresher, a perfect accompaniment to pasta.

* * * *

CALIFORNIA WINNERS:

Zinfandel is always a favorite at our house, and we’ve tasted a trio of excellent 2006 wines from California producers recently. In no particular order, we noted a Truchard from Carneros ($25) that displayed considereable freshness and brightness; it’s young, but has a future. Rosenblum, one of California’s largest Zin producers, has a winner from the Maggie’s Reserve of Sonoma County ($45), is a huge wine with blackberry and cherry overtones. Both are perfect with steak. The always dependable Dry Creek Vineyard of Sonoma County brings one from its Somers Vineyard ($34), with berry in the aroma and rich plum in the flavor. All are tasty now, and will improve for 3-5 years in the cellar

-Joe

This Week's Wine May 31, 2009

Jon Emmerich, leading us on a recent walk through some lush, bright green Napa Valley vineyards, stopped abruptly, pointed. A rabbit looked back at us, stared for a few seconds, turned and loped off. It was about four times the size of those who hang out in Clayton back yards, and it showed off large floppy ears and long legs as it moved. Hassenpfeffer on the hoof, as it were.

A couple of strides later, he stopped again, looked down, bent down and picked up a small rock, wiped it on the sleeve of his shirt. It was black, and it glittered in the afternoon sun. "Obsidian," he said. "It’s all over these vineyards. Shows their volcanic origin."

Emmerich is the winemaker at Silverado Vineyards, has been for almost 20 years while making elegant, excellent wines from properties in Carneros, Napa and the Stag’s Leap AVA District. The latter, also home to some of Napa’s top producers like Robert Sinskey and Stag’s Leap, flanks the Silverado Trail, which runs parallel to famed Highway 29 through the Napa Valley. Ron and Diane Miller, who own Silverado, started buying vineyards in the 1970s. Like so many others in the wine business, their first thought was to become a grower, or just an investor, but with time and an increase in interest and in value, they became winemakers, too.

Diane Miller also has a Missouri connection. Her father, Walt Disney, cartoonist and producer of legendary films, was born and reared in Marceline. Ron’s St. Louis connection is even more tenuous. He was a football player at USC, where he and Diane met, and he played one season for the old Los Angeles Rams.

Emmerich, who earned an enology degree from Cal-Davis and worked at several wineries before taking over at Silverado, led a brief tour through several vineyards, starting with the Miller Ranch, across the road in the Yountville District, with the Napa River flowing nearby. It’s planted mainly in Sauvignon Blanc, and tiny buds, eventually to be grapes, were much in evidence. (Photo below.) The soil is rich and loamy, holding moisture well. "We pick these grapes at a lower sugar level," Emmerich explained, "so as to insure the wine has good acidity while showing off its great citrus flavors."

Silverado also has two Carneros vineyards, one in Napa (Carneros) the other in Sonoma (Vineburg), both planted primarily in Chardonnay. The Mt. George vineyard, south of the winery, recently was replanted in Merlot grapes, while the 100-acre Stags Leap vineyard, in the heart of the Stag’s Leap District, is principally planted in Cabernet Sauvignon, and the Soda Creek vineyard, on a rocky hillside, is home to Sangiovese. As Emmerich, like so many makers of fine wine, was quick to point out, the winemaker has to do what the fruit tells him (or her) to do, so techniques vary from vintage to vintage. Malolactic fermentation, used in Chardonnay to reduce acicity, is only occasionally on his agenda, and he likes to pick early because he prefers that elegance be a major characteristic.

The finesse and elegance showed when we began to taste, sitting just off a patio in a shaded are of the winery, a lovely mission-style building on a knoll overlooking the Silverado Trail and facing west to the Mayacamas Mountains that separatre Napa from Sonoma. No overpowering alcohol or fruit bombs, just wines that brought out the flavor of the grape at the peak of ripeness. The top reds, still a little on the youthful side, will grow more into perfect balance, with any sharp edge softened and rounded. In order, we went this way:

2008 Miller Ranch Sauvignon Blanc ($20): Though a little (7 percent) Semillon is blended in, the wine shows what Emmerich talked of, lots of citrus and a hint of melon, crispness and a wine that shrieks, "summer!" and "picnic!"

2006 Vineburg Chardonnay ($30): Solely Chardonnay grapes from the Sonoma side of Carneros, a bright offering midway between an austere white Burgundy and a buttery California creation. My own preference is for the former, but the Silverado would work well with many foods.

2006 Soda Creek Sangiovese ($28): Blended with 6 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, this is an excellent companion to pasta with a spicy meat sauce. Rich and hearty, with a berry aroma and superior flavor.

2005 Cabernet Sauvignon ($46): A Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (87 per cent), Merlot (8), Petit Verdot (3) and Cabernet Franc (2), the wine comes from several Silverado vineyards, primarily from Stags Leap but also from Mt. George, which is being phased out of that grape. A little tannin shows through, so put some down for 5-7 years, when it should be close to its peak, though it will improve for another decade after that. Big flavor of plum and other dark fruits, hints of leather and tobacco in the aroma. A delicious wine, a splendid example of fine Napa grapes vinified under a talented hand.

2005 SOLO Cabernet Sauvignon ($85): A high-priced wine, but a worthy one and an outstanding example of 100 percent Cab in the bottle. Still a touch hard, but deep in color and flavor, smooth and gracious on the tongue, with blackberry, vanilla, stone fruit overtones. Delicious. Special.

* * * *

A NEW LOOK AT SEMILLON: I’ve not been a fan of Semillon, always thinking that the wine fell short of excellence, no matter who made it. When it was blended into Sauvignon Blanc, for example, it tended to make the final result flabby.

But I liked Emmerich’s Sauvignon Blanc, which has a little Semillon, and I recently tasted some Semillons from Brokenwood, an Australian winery, that I thought were terrific. A 2008 Semillon from Hunter Valley ($20) was clean and crisp, light in alcohol (10 percent) and extremely easy to drink, with bright citrus overtones and a pleasing finish. A 2005, from the Brycefield and Belford vineyards ($32), in another part of the valley, showed the extra age, with a wine that was more mellow and beautifully balanced, but still with brightness and nice citrus and melon. Neither wine has ever seen oak, or malolactic fermentation. Like so many Australian whites, it’s a screw-cap wine, which may be an improvement at a picnic.

Brokenwood’s ‘08 Cricket Pitch White ($21) is a blend of Sauvignon Blanc (62 percent) and Semillon (38), and a very small amount was fermented in wood, giving it a hint of complexity and a little more alcohol (12.5 percent). Good citrus and grassiness and, like its Hunter Valley siblings, a brilliant accompaniment to spicy Asian meals or oysters on the shell.

The name comes fro the fact that the site originally was planned as a cricket pitch, but that was before the growers got involved.

-Joe

This Week's Wine May 10, 2009

Proprietary labels aren’t new in the wine business. Remember Blue Nun? Or Hearty Burgundy? What was on those labels had no relationship to what was in the bottle. For centuries, most wines were named after the winemaker or the grape or its ancestral home. But sometime in the last decade, wknemakers and their marketing departments began stretching, and sometimes it’s fun, especially when the word plays are clever.

I’ve touched on this topic before, but a pair of recent samples brought a little intrigue, as well as some wine, into what we call the tasting room, a occasional change from the dining room. The wines cost about $12 at retail. Monogamy, subtitled "Truly. Madly. Deeply," is a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon from the North Coast, an area that includes Sonoma and Mendocino counties. It has a toouch of Merlot and it’s good, if not great. Easy drinking, and a good companion to burgers or pasta, Monogamy is a wine that probably will bring more conversation before tasting than after.

A better conversation piece, and a more enjoyable wine for our sampling, was labeled Pro-Mis-Q-Ous, and the label includes the tease that the wine is, "[Referring to many partners.] The act of blending multiple, mutually attractive grape varieties in an assortment of unorthodox combinations. Implies a wanton disregard for convention. May result in an intense sensory experience. Practice safe sipping." The Rhone-style blend is non-vintage, contains 45 percent Zinfandel, 35 percent Merlot, 15 percent Cabernet Sauvignon and 5 percent Syrah. We found it extremely tasty, with the spice of the Zin and the softness of the Merlot working well together to offer flavor and depth. The Cab brings plummy richness and the Syrah a note of darkness, hard to explain, but that’s the effect it has on me.

Canopy Management, the company that makes the wine and notes, "Times are serious. Wine, not so much," also makes a pair of whites under the Pro-Mis-Q-Ous label, one a blend of Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Gewurztraminer, the other a Pinot Grigio.

These labels offer information that makes the wine a conversation piece before the cork is drawn and after the bottle is empty. They make wine-drinking fun, and that’s exactly what it should be.

* * * *

When it comes to value, year in and year out, it’s difficult to beat Bogle, a 40-year-old, family-owned winery in Clarksburg, Calif., near Sacramento in Yolo County, northeast of San Francisco. The family makes a goodly number of wines, from grapes on their property, or from grapes purchased from other vineyards around the state. Most are barely in two figures, a lot at $11 or $12, and the ones I’ve been drinking through the years are excellent companions to food and fine representations of the grapes.

The Bogle family makes wines from its own vineyards (those are the most expensive); many, however, are designated "California," which means the grapes are from other areas. Some are labeled with a specific county, meaning that the grapes are grown there.

Four recent tastings, three at $11 and a 2006 Pinot Noir for only two bucks more, all showed real style, with lots of fruit and rich, deep balance. All are made to be drunk rather young, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Once purchased, most wines only age the few hours between the shop and the dinner table.

The Pinot Noir, from the Russian River Valley, home to excellent grapes, spends 12 months in American and French oak, and displayed the classic berry qualities of the wine, with a hint of violent in the nose, and good oak on the palate. Cabernet Sauvignon is from grapes grown in Lodi, where the temperatures help them ripen early, Clarksburg and Sonoma. The wine, with faint aromas of violets, is aged for 16 months in American oak, developing good balance and a hint of tobacco on the tongue. Petit Sirah, from Clarksburg and Lodi, is a wine so deeply red it is almost black, and is extremely rich, with a long, extremely smooth finish. It will go very well with lamb. Old vine Zinfandel, from vines 40-80 years old in Lodi, Amador and Fiddletown, ages for 10 months in American oak and has excellent balance, berry tones on the palate and an affinity for spicy foods.

* * * *

A few wines from Bulgaria arrived for a recent tasting and were sampled, but proved not particularly well-adapted to the Missouri palate. They are only $8, so if you want to show your friends (whom you may not have afterward) or taste them yourself, it’s not a big deal. Once again, there’s some word play, this time the Latin "Veni, vidi, vici," from Caesar’s "I came, I saw, I conquered," but a fourth word, "Vini," joins the group.

Chateau Boyar makes a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Merlot, both from 2006, but both rather harsh and short on finish. Not for the faint of heart or refined of tongue.

-Joe

This Week's Wine, May 3, 2009

Spring is a very good time to taste wine. Heck, any time is a very good time to taste wine, but since it’s spring, that’s the best time right now. Feelings may change as summer looms into view, but we can take the chance.

And some recent comments, with no particular order to the listings, though ZD Wines, which happens to be first, is a long-time favorite and one of the most stylish of California wineries. Founded in 1969 by the Zepponi and de Leuze families, the winery was the first to use "Carneros" as a designation for its grapes, 12 years before the area, which includes land in both Napa and Sonoma counties, received the designation as an appellation. ZD has been making Pinot Noir from the region every year since 1969.

The 2007 is a lovely wine, showing the delicacy for which the Pinot Grape is famous, though it will improve with another year in the bottle. It offers notes of cherry and red plum, with a long, fruity, gentle finish and retails in the $40 range.

Winemaker Chris Pisani also made an ‘07 Chardonnay that benefits from a long, cool growing season, and its California designation shows fruit from both Napa and Sonoma in Carneros, and also Monterey and Santa Barbara counties. Pisani uses American oak and his wines do not go through malolactic fermentation, keeping the fruit flavors forward. It retails for about $35.

Deep Purple – A Lodi-based winery with surprisingly tasty Zinfandel and a psychedelic label, the 2007 is the first I’ve seen to be recommended to accompany lamburgers. It’s a splendid pasta wine, in the $10 range, with a most attractive label. Very tasty version of a favorite grape.

Vini – The word following "Veni, vidi, vici," Julius Caesar’s famous phrase meaning "I saw, I came, I conquered," is Vini, at least in the minds of Bulgarian winemakers from Boyar Estates, who have put it on a label for Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon of the 2006 vintage, described in the Roman numerals, MMVI , to continue the Latin theme on a wine from the Thracian Valley. It’s a fairly decent Merlot, at a handy price point of around $10, though the wine feels heavy and thick on the palate and it lacks finesse. Two other ‘06 imports from Bulgaria, whites from from Targovishte, are Sauvignon Blanc and Traminer at $8 and $10, respectively. Both fell far short of excellence.

Sebeka – An excellent value at $10 is a red blend from South Africa, with 58 percent Shiraz and 42 percent Pinotage, a South African grape similar to the Cabernet family (Cabernet Sauvignon or Cabernet Franc). The 2007 shows lots of fruit, tending to the blackberry, and is a fine wine with beef.

Veramonte – A good Chilean producer with its 2005 Primus, a blend of Merlot (51 percent), Cabernet Sauvignon (32) and Carmenere (17), the latter a grape reported in Chilean legend to have originated in Bordeaux where it once was used in the great wines of the region. This particular wine, however, is big and rich, a superior value in the $20 range, with spicy notes and a backbone that indicates it will age well for several years.

Rosemount – A well-regarded Australian winery, Rosemount offers good value in the $10 range, with wines that show nice finesse, good fruit and a charming finish. The Pinot Grigio, aged in stainless steel to keep it light and flavorful, has good acidity and is a pleasant, straw-colored aperitif wine for sipping in the late afternoon while watching the sunset. The Shiraz is, of course, heavier and with a feeling of spice and rich dark fruit, to enjoy with dinner.

-Joe

This Week's Wine, April 26, 2009

People who write about wine are among the most fortunate of writers, and I’m quite grateful that the late Joseph Pulitzer sent word one day more than 35 years ago. "Since you’re spending my money on food and wine, and you write about the food, you might as well start writing about the wine, too," was the gist of his instruction, and he didn’t have to repeat it.

The first thing that I discovered is how nice wine people are – grape growers, winemakers, cellar rats, chemists, owners of wineries, distributors, salesmen and women, sommeliers or servers or bartenders who pour the wine. Of course, drinkers are good people, too, and people who love wine, or collect wine, are mostly generous and happy to show off and share the gems of their cellars.

Several times a year, distributors have tastings of their wines. Winemakers or others from the winery often show up to pour samples and to talk about them. Potential buyers -- shop owners or restaurateurs or good customers -- are invited to the tasting, and I’m sometimes on the list, which always makes for a fine afternoon or evening.

My most recent big tasting involved A. Bommarito Wines, a second, if related career for Anthony (Tony) Bommarito, who made a successful move from Tony’s restaurant, where he and his brother Vince built a classic. Bommarito displayed wine from more than 30 producers, most from California but with some Missouri, Illinois and Oregon makers, along with imports from Spain, France, Australia and Italy.

I was intrigued, for example, by the offerings of the Clear Creek Distillery of Portland, Ore., which makes dozens of different distilled spirits, grappas, liqueurs, eau de vie and brandy from a wide variety of fruits and wines. Grappa, for example, is distilled from the must -- seeds, stems and last drops of juice -- remaining after the grapes are crushed and most of the liquid has gone off to become Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Nebbiolo and Gewurztraminer. I admit I’ve never been a fan of grappa, from the days when I first tasted it on a hilltop in Italy. It tastes too strong, too alcoholic for me, though I like the fruit aroma, and a small hit on a chilly night does wonders for the circulation. I much prefer the eau-de-vie, a clear liqueur made from pears or apples, where the fruit comes through more strongly, with a better balance between alcohol and fruit.

Clear Creek also grows pears and apples in bottles, then adds the eau-de-vie (literally "water of life"). The trick is to start with the fruit at a very early stage of growth, when it and the branch it lives on will fit inside the bottle. The bottle, with the infant fruit already inside, then is tied to the tree to hold it during the growth process. The branch is cut, liqueur added and – voila, a pear and pear liqueur, in a bottle.

Liqueurs, extremely fruity and sweet, fine for after-dinner drinking, are made from loganberries, raspberries, pears, cherries and currants, the latter called cassis. These were delicious, as was the eau-de-vie. I guess I’ll just have to practice some more on the grappa.

Missouri and Illinois brought some delicious bottles to the party. My favorite was a 2004 Norton from Adam Puchta Winery (Hermann), properly aged, approaching its peak with delicious flavor, superior balance and a long, smooth finish. Winemaker Tim Puchta also had a 2000 Norton Port on hand, a beautiful after-dinner drink with a fine Stilton, Roquefort or Blue cheese. I’m always pleased to see Puchta’s wines in such good shape. His winery is the oldest, single-family owned winery in the state, but more important, his father, Randy, worked alongside me at the soda fountain in the student union at Mizzou in 1947 and 1948. He was pre-law, I was pre-journalism. He went on to be a successful attorney and judge; I went into journalism, a very different profession.

Other Missouri wines that stood out were a 2004 Norton and 2006 Chardonel from Bethlehem Valley (Marthasville), ‘05 Norton and Chambourcin from Augusta (Augusta), ‘05 Norton, ‘07 Vignole and Vidal Blanc from Stone Hill (Hermann). On the Illinois side, Lucian Dressel’s Mary Michelle Winery (Carrollton) demonstrated a few fine examples, like the ‘06 Mad Squirrel, a Chardonel made solely in stainless steel, giving it a crisp, delightful lightness, and an ‘07 Norton, surprisingly drinkable from a grape that usually demands more aging.

Even tasting for most of an afternoon, it was impossible for me to drink and assess as many wines as Bommarito and his suppliers offered, but these struck me as

excellent examples for a table or a cellar.

Dierberg (Santa Barbara, Calif.) – Jim and Mary Dierberg have Missouri roots and experience at Hermannhof in Augusta, but their California wines are brilliant, thanks to the skill of winemaker Nick de Luca and items like terroir and climate that will always make California wines better than those from Missouri. Dierberg wines come from Santa Maria and Santa Rita Hills in the Central Coast appellation (near Santa Barbara), with delightful versions of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah. A second label, Three Saints, offers Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Pinot Noir, plus a Pinot Noir rose.

Star Lane Vineyard, at the eastern end of the Santa Ynez Valley, is another Dierberg property that gave its name to a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Merlot and a Sauvignon Blanc, plus Astral Cabernet, a top-of-the-line wine in pedigree and price. The ‘05 Star Lane Cab, which includes 15 percent Cabernet Franc and 5 percent Petit Verdotl, is a rich, deep, long-lasting wine that stands out among all wines from the classic grape.

Joullian (Carmel Valley, Calif.) – Carmel Valley ‘06 Zinfandel, a delightful, full-bodied Zin to accompany barbecue or even Thai food, this appears to be a field blend (all the grapes that grow in the vineyard) of 85 percent Zinfandel and the remainder a mix of Petite Sirah (6), Cabernet Sauvignon (4) and such as Aleatico, Alicante Bouchet, Carignane, Grenache, Viognier and Muscat Hamburg which go to make up the remaining 5 percent. The wine is in oak for 16 months before bottling.

MacRostie (Sonoma, Calif.) – Using grapes from the Carneros region, which covers both Napa and Sonoma Counties, Steve MacRostie displayed a marvelous ‘06 Pinot Noir from Wildcat Mountain and a rich, deep, complex ‘05 Merlot.

Rombauer Vineyards (St. Helena, Calif.) -- Another winery with a St. Louis connection, owner Koerner Rombauer is a great-nephew to Irma, who wrote the classic "Joy of Cooking" while living in St. Louis. His children, Koerner III and Sheana, also are involved in the winery. Winemaker Gregory Graham turns out excellent versions of the California standards, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Zinfandel and Chardonnay.

Pellegrini Family Vineyards (Santa Rosa, Calif.) – Bob Pellegrini is a veteran Sonoma County winemaker, using the family name, Olivet Lane and Cloverdale Ranch labels. My favorite at the tasting was a delicious, unoaked, Russian River Valley Chardonnay under the Pellegrini label. The’06 version highlighted the acidity and green apple notes. A fine wine with oysters. The ‘06 Zinfandel, from the Eight Cousins Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, was complex and rich, with a mouth-filling feel and good finish.

Gerard Bertrand (France) – A busy producer on the Mediterranean coast, Bertrand makes wine in all price ranges, from vineyards that stretch from Limoux on the west to Nimes on the east, including Minervois, the Cotes du Languedoc, Montpellier and St. Chinian, among others. His prices range from $12 for simple varietals like Merlot and Syrah to $75 for three Icon wines, estate bottled as La Forge (Carignan and Syrah), Le Viala (adding Grenache to the previous two) and l’Hospitalitas (Mourvedre, Syrah and Grenache). Bertrand’s wines have a hint of French elegance to go with the earthy qualities of the grapes from the far south of France.

Tenuta Vitanza (Italy) – Rosalba Vitanza and her husband, Guido Andretta, make some delicious wine from a hillside estate in the southern Tuscan town of Montalcino, where Sangiovese grapes are the main crop. They create several different Chiantis and Brunellos, plus a super Tuscan with the proprietary name of Quadrimendo. I sampled several Chiantis and a Brunello and all were highly polished, deeply flavored wines that simply glowed with the power of Sangiovese grapes.

As usual with this type of tasting, it was a long afternoon, but a very pleasant advance look at some of the wines that will be on St. Louis wine lists this year.

-Joe

This Week's Wine March 22, 2009

What’s the difference between Champagne and Cremant?

About 200 kilometers, and thousands of years of French bureaucracy and law.

In France, Champagne refers solely to the sparkling wine made in the Champagne region. The very word conjures up more images about wine, and life, than any other word that deals with alcoholic beverages. French law, bolstered by the Treaty of Versailles, defines the district, its geography and its products.

We were in Burgundy a decade or so ago, at a region-wide tasting, and a few winemakers were showing off a sparkling wine labeled Cremant, made in Burgundy, Alsace and a few other areas. I was not impressed at the time, finding the bubbly too sweet for my palate. Now, the wine is improving – to me, anyway -- and the term is gaining wider access, being used in the Languedoc and some other districts in the south of France. And some of it is being shipped to the U. S., and even to St. Louis, where Glazer is the distributor.

It is vinified and aged just like Champagne, using the same grapes and maybe a few others. Classic Champagne uses Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Cremant may have a touch of Gamay, or of another grape or two that grow in the region. And that’s another difference between Champagne and Cremant. The latter is not limited to the three classic grapes, giving the winemaker a chance to play with flavor or texture.

I sampled three Cremants recently from Simonnet-Febvre, a producer in Chablis, the Chardonnay capital of France and home of some of the greatest of white Burgundies. Simonnet-Febvre, one of those younger French wineries (only around since 1840), makes a Brut, or dry sparkler that is 60 percent Chardonnay and 40 percent Pinot Noir, a Brunt Pinot Noir that is 100 percent of the named grape, as is a Brut Rose.

All three were extremely dry (another Champagne peculiarity is that Brut means dry while Extra Dry means semi-sweet) and all were bursting with fruit. The Cremant Rose was exceptional, with a wonderful cherry essence and a small, tight bubble that exploded in the mouth. Despite the fruit, it was delightfully dry, but stood up nicely to a spicy dinner of shrimp curry. The other two were delicious, bone dry and on the austere side, but with fine grape flavor and the delicious fizz that makes sparkling wines so special.

Cremant. Give it a try, and if the local wine merchant does not carry it, call the distributor.

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MEDALS FOR MISSOURI WINEMAKERS: St. James Winery took home four gold medals and Stone Hill Winery earned another as the two Missouri wineries took home a total of 30 medals at the recent Grand Harvest wine competition in Santa Rosa, Calif. The contest is sponsored by Vineyard & Winery Management magazine/

Ten of the medals were in the Missouri wine category, with gold for Stone Hill’s 2008 Traminette and St. James’ 2005 Norton Dessert Wine. St. James also earned four silver and five bronze, while Stone Hill took home two silver and three bronze.

In the "American wine" category, a label which permits the winery to use grapes grown in other states, St. James earned gold medals for its sweet Blackberry, Strawberry and Concord wines while also collecting six silver and three bronze medals.

Estate-bottled wines from Hermann provided another pair of medals for Stone Hill, silver for the 2005 Norton and bronze for the 2005 Norton from the Cross J vineyard.

The contest, now 19 years old, attracts entrants from throughout the wine world, and the wines are judged by regional classification, a far more level playing field.

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RECENT TASTINGS: The Chalk Hill appellation of Sonoma County, just east of Healdsburg, is home to some of California’s outstanding wines and wineries. We recently tasted some fine red wines from Chateau Felice, where winemaker Tami Collins creates Bordeaux-style blends and smooth, flavorful single-grape wines like an estate-bottled Cabernet Franc that is a real treat. The 2004 vintage, with an aroma and flavor of black cherries, also shows sweet notes of tobacco and benefits from outstanding balance. When there’s need of a change from the more traditional Cabernet Sauvignon, this is a treat.

The proprietary labels includes 2005 London Cab, blending Cabernet Sauvignon (58 percent), Merlot (34) and Cabernet Franc (8); and 2002 American Celebration, with Cabernet Sauvignon (70), Merlot (20) and Cabernet Franc (10). The latter, taking advantage of lovely aging quality, is, of course, richer and deeper, with red plums and eucalyptus on the palate. Interestingly, they are at opposite ends of the winery’s price range, with the younger wine about $20 and the older about $40. The other Chateau Felice wines are between those limits.

In addition, Collins makes two different Chardonnays, one labeled Acier and created solely in stainless steel, without malolactic fermentation. The estate-bottled version, more in the California tradition, is more buttery, with malolactic fermentation and some time in oak. And fortunately, I caught a typographical error in the press release which noted that the wine had an aroma of leeches, when I’m certain someone meant lychees

-Joe

This Week's Wine March 8, 2009

I’ve handled a lot of poker chips in my time, sometimes raking them in, most of the time throwing them into the pot, but I’ve never seen one on a wine bottle, serving as the label.

It was a black chip, not to be removed, and it marked High Roller, a 2006 California Napa Valley Cab that is the premier wine of JAQK Cellars, a young, San Francisco-based winemaker and marketer. And marketer is a good word since half the ownership quartet, Katie Jain and Joel Templin, came out of the marketing and design world. The descriptive information, labels and proprietary names all show imagination, talent and the fact that they do not take themselves seriously.

As their mission statement notes, "We are a new wine company. We’re also a new type of wine company. In addition to being dedicated to making great wine, we’re also passionate about something else: play. For us, play includes the excitement of testing our luck–and tempting fate–at games of chance."

JAQK, which buys grapes around California and does the vinification and bottling in San Francisco, as eight wines, five red and three white, ranging in price from $70 for the High Roller to $23 for the 2007 Charmed, a California Sauvignon Blanc. The others are Her Majesty, ‘07 California Chardonnay ($27); Bone Dance, ‘07 California Merlot ($29); 22 Black, ‘06 California Cabernet ($31); Pearl Handle, ‘07 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay ($42); Black Clover, ‘06 Napa Merlot ($48); and Soldiers of Fortune, ‘06 Napa Shiraz ($50). High Roller and Black Clover have simple black labels, the others are more fanciful in their label design.

Obviously, grapes from specific counties are more expensive, and presumably better, than those with the California designation, meaning they can come from anywhere in the state, in any proportion of the blend.

Given the usual 2-to-2½ times markup for restaurant wine lists, these can be on the high side. I sampled five of them and found all to be extremely worthy, well-made wines with good structure and a lengthy finish. The High Roller answered to its high price with berry notes on the palate and a hint of tobacco in the aroma. Well-balanced and with splendid flavor, it’s an excellent wine. My favorite was the Soldiers of Fortune Shiraz, a brilliant wine, extremely dark and rich, with big flavor notes. The two Merlots, Black Clover (from Napa) and Bone Dance (California) were good, but the former showed more depth and richness. The Pearl Handle Chardonnay was pleasant, but I have tasted only a handful of Chards that have provided a fabulous experience.

Design is a high point. JAQK offers a pair of four-pack gift sets, four different soldiers on a set of Soldiers of Fortune, each representing a suit in a deck of cards. Similarly, the Pearl Handle has a set of aces in ornate, attractive designs.

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Given difficult economic times, price is a driving factor in wine sales these days, and the best thing about it is that wineries are working diligently to make better wines, and therefore better values, at the lower end of the scale. Makers of sparkling area wines have had mechanical help to make less-expensive bubbly, and prosecco and spumante sales have responded in the last few years, with Italian offerings scoring well on the sales front in both the retail and restaurant areas.

Spumante, which means "foamy" in Italian, is the term that covers all Italian, or Italian-style, sparkling wines. Prosecco comes from the Venice area of the country. All Prosecco is Spumante, but not vice versa. It’s like the French situation where Brandy is the generic term for the liqueur, but Cognac is from a specific area.

Gallo, whose wines cover the world and the price spectrum, is in the spumante field with Ballatore, a California producer. Made primarily from the Malvasia Bianca grape, the fresh and fruity bubbly is a fine value at less than $10, and comes in both traditional white and a wonderful Rosso, or red, in the same price range. Both are about eight percent alcohol, about two-thirds of most table wines, and both have a tinge of sweetness. I was extremely impressed with the red, finding all sorts of strawberry and cherry flavors. The red has a sugar proportion of eight grams per 100 milliliters, slightly above the 7.6 grams ratio of the white.

I found them outstanding aperitifs, just for quaffing, and the white also was a fine companion to spicy Asian dishes.

Across the Atlantic, Mionetto makes the traditional Italian Prosecco, from the Venice region, and uses the also-traditional crown cap for the bottle labeled "Il," emphasizing that this is "the" classic Prosecco. Again, it is lower in alcohol, and slightly less sweet on my palate. Good fruit in both the Il and the brut, which is even a bit drier. A little sweeter is the Sergio Extra Dry, named for winemaker Sergio Mionetto, also possessing pleasing fruit flavors and a good bubble. The Il is about $12, the others between $17 and $20,

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Tom Meadowcroft makes wine in Sonoma County, one of our favorite places in the whole wide world; he talks about making wine in the spirit of giving, of sharing, and his Magito label (muh-GEE-toe), pays tribute to the Magi, well-known givers and sharers through history. Remember "The Gift of the Magi," the O. Henry short story in which a man and his wife each sold a most precious possession to buy a gift for the other? It exemplifies the spirit of sharing, as the Magi of legend brought gifts to Bethlehem.

From a winery in Sebastopol, Calif., Meadowcroft produces $16 bargain wines of superb flavor and complexity, blending different grapes from different vineyards along the way. For example, his ‘05 Panorama Zinfandel, delicious and mouth-filling, includes six different grape varieties from eight vineyards in four northern California counties. He starts with 75 percent Zinfandel from Amador, Solano and Napa counties, then factors in Cabernet Sauvignon (8 percent, Sonoma), Sangiovese (6, Napa), Syrah (5, Napa), Merlot (4, Sonoma) and Petite Sirah (2, Napa). The result is an extremely complex wine with berries and plums on the tongue.

His 2006 North Coast Sauvignon Blanc, a bright, citrus-touched offering, offers a wine far more complex than the usual versions, which use Sauvignon Blanc grapes and rarely add others. But Meadowcroft, making his wine far more complex, uses 75 percent of the key grape, sourced from Mendocino, Napa and Lake Counties, then adds Verdelho, a Spanish grape (10 percent, Lodi County); Sauvignon Musque (8, Sonoma) and Viognier (7, Sonoma).

The result is outstanding, with an aroma of citrus and flowers, and flavors of melon, peach and citrus, with a touch of mineral that creates backbone. Delicious.

The 2006 Highlands Cabernet blend, with a Sonoma County designation, involves three classic grapes, all from the county. He starts with 60 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, then adds Cabernet Franc and Merlot in equal amounts. As a result, he can call the wine a Cabernet blend but not Cabernet Sauvignon; he would need 75 percent to name it after a single grape.

The wine is big, with the flavor of extremely ripe fruit, featuring blackberry. There’s a little tannin, but its presence is an addition, not a subtraction.

Meadowcroft admits to borrowing a page from Italian and French winemakers, who usually use almost every grape on their vines in their wines. As a vineyard manager for many years, he talks about strolling among the vines, sniffing and tasting, trying to get a feel for the grapes.

"It involves a lot of walking," he said, but the results are very special.

It’s a small winery, with a small, Columbia, Mo.-based distributor, Golden Barrel, but the wines should be available at Lucas and the Wine and Cheese Place.

-Joe

This Week's Wine February 15, 2009

What’s a pair of innocent wine-and-food writers to do?

We recently journeyed to Wines of Wildwood, a shop we like even if it is in an area only a couple of miles from where we once thought dragons stuck their heads up over the edge of the earth and scouted for dinner. We were there to sip wine and taste chili, and to discuss which wine went with which chili, or vice versa. We also were to vote on our favorite chili. And after doing all that – we discovered we were in the midst of a major conundrum, and a two-headed conundrum at that.

First, the dish that won the chili competition – even though we voted for it, too – was not what we call chili. It was tasty, and spicy, but it was based on chicken, lacked tomato. If we had to put a name on it, burgoo might have been more accurate. Still, it was imaginative and to our taste. Second, if we had decided to go to Indigo Joe’s, a few blocks away in the same plaza, where the dish was designed and prepared, we’d have learned that the chili from the competition and the chili from the menu were not the same.

A rather non-plussed management type from the restaurant admitted that the dish in the competition had been created after closing hours the previous evening when the kitchen staff (and maybe the servers, and perhaps some late-staying customers) realized it was time to create an entry. Some mixing, some matching, some corn, several different types of beans, chicken breasts, a fine hand with herbs and spices, and voila, chili.

Wine was different. It came from A. Bommarito, one of our favorite distributors, with red, white and rose offerings to taste alongside the chili. The wines, all from 2007 and all between $10 and $14 (more than twice that on a restaurant list), were excellent values, to accompany chili or anything else. As far as the chili was concerned, we thought the whites, and especially the rose, offered the best matches. Our favorite was an Italian rose from Friuli, imported by Joseph Bastianich, the New York restaurateur and partner of Mario Batali. The delicious, fruit-forward, quaffing wine, certainly dry enough for us, but with a hint of grapey fruitiness to balance the heat of the chile peppers, has been a favorite in our house for several years, or since Ann discovered it, almost by accident, at Batali’s Greenwich Village restaurant Babbo in New York. It has a lovely pink color, and can double as a winning drink -- or tasty gift -- for Valentine’s Day.

A Selbach ‘07 Riesling, from Alsace, had a bright, mineral finish, and a little sweetness to cut the spice. A good companion to the chili. Toad Hollow Chardonnay, a tribute to the late Todd Williams, brother of Robin and a splendid winemaker, was dry and will be a pleasure to some, but was not quite to our taste. By the way, the Toad Hollow label will not disappear; Todd’s widow will continue the winery. Toad of the label is a boyhood nickname given by his brother, obviously a comedian his entire life.

The reds, all very tasty, with the flavor and body we enjoy at our house, included a rather austere Sonoma County Pinot Noir from Castle Rock, a delicious, fruity Malbec from Tillia Vineyards in Argentina’s Mendoza Valley and a charming blend from Stickleback, a rich, hearty Australian offering that was primarily Cabernet Sauvignon (52 percent), bolstered with Shiraz (Syrah) (33), Grenache (10) and Dolcetto (5). But they just don’t work for us with the spice of the chilis, or the burgoo.

The chili competitors, all from the Wildwood area, were: B. Donovan's Steakhouse Grill,  Big Bear Grill, Brickhouse Pub & Grill,  Indigo Joe's, Rise & Dine Restaurant, and Simply Sue's Cafe. 

-Joe  

This Week's Wine January 18, 2009

  Italian-American winemakers and grape growers, using the skills they learned in the old country, were pioneers in the California wine industry. The families, and the wines, go back through the 20th Century. Martini, Mondavi, Sebastiani, Parducci, Foppiano, Gallo and others were names to conjure with. In the early 1960s, when the Napa Valley was just beginning to awaken from the fallow decades caused by Prohibition, the Depression and World War II, I remember driving a quiet country road, Highway 29, from Napa to St. Helena. On the east side of the highway, a big, red barn marked the Louis M. Martini winery. Wine that was both good and inexpensive was available to taste and to buy, usually at about $2 a bottle.

Some three decades later, as a novice wine writer still making the transition from a life in sports, fleeing from the Super Bowl and its concomitant week-long overdose of pro sports and hype, I landed in San Francisco on a Monday morning, drove north again. The Napa Valley was chilly and foggy, with rain dripping from low-hanging clouds. Once again, I stopped at the big red barn, walked into an empty tasting room, was greeted by an elderly man who was drying wine glasses, evidence of a busy Sunday.

We chatted, he offered a glass of recently bottled Cabernet Sauvignon. I introduced myself. "Louis Martini," he replied, though it was easy to guess who he was. We chatted, toured the winery, drove to St. Helena for lunch. It was a most pleasant day, conversation lubricated by superior wines of several vintages and vineyards, all different, all delicious.

Last week, almost three decades since that visit, I was talking with Mike Martini, son of Louis P., grandson of Louis M., who built the big red barn and founded the winery in 1933, secure in the knowledge that Prohibition was over. Louis P. became the winemaker in 1954, Michael in 1977. Three men. Three generations. Seventy-five years.

We talked about the old days, the $2 wine. He laughed, reminisced, "I remember the conversations and the discussions about going to $2.50, and then Heitz took the giant step and shocked everybody when he went to $3.50."

The Martini family always has specialized in bold red wines from Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. They make some delicious Zinfandel, too, from vines that date to the early days of the winery, and they dabble in Chardonnay to give wine drinkers who swing that way a chance to taste some wine while they wait for the real drinkers in their party. But Cabernet Sauvignon is the Martini wine of choice, and I had recently tasted some from Northern California’s two major wine counties, Napa and Sonoma. Napa lies to the east. But winemakers are experimental people, and they like to dabble in the dirt, trying this grape or that cross in a search for the ultimate. Martini admitted that they experiment with some of the Italian grapes like Barbera and Sangiovese.

The 2005 Napa Valley Cab is a year older, a little more expensive ($25-$18) at the retail level. There’s a lot of vanilla in the aroma, at least when the bottle is first opened, and dark berry flavors are immediate on the palate. The wine has a lot of backbone, a strong structure and splendid acid-alcohol balance, with a long, smooth finish. The wine is 94 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 4 percent petit sirah and small splashes of Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petite Verdot to bring it to the winemaker’s taste. I often wonder how much less than a single percent of a given grape can add, but if the winemaker says it’s necessary, and if the result is excellent, who am I to quibble?

The Sonoma County offering is brighter and fresher, with a lot of blackberry, a lesser amount of blueberry on the palate, which still shows evidence of tannin. That’s part of its youth, more balance will come with another year or two of age, and it will be rounder and darker than its counterpart. The wine is 90 percent Cab, with 4 percent each of Malbec and Cabernet Franc, 1 percent each of Merlot and Tannat. Again, a strong, smooth finish.

Martini also likes the blackberry in the Sonoma-grown grapes, noting that the area has warmer nights than Napa, bringing additional softness to the wine. The ‘06 crop produced a great deal of lush, black fruit. Its juice was in contact with the skins for seven days, after the crush, bringing a darker color and more tannin, and it then spent a year in small oak barrels, adding the soft qualities Martini likes and which identify the family wines.

The Napa crop was picked at 18 brix (a measurement of the sugar content of the juice when the grape is picked), and Martini pointed out the cherry qualities in the wine.

Martini has been in the wine business since he was a small boy, working in the vineyards, and like so many California winemakers, he’s an alum of the University of California at Davis, where he earned a degree in fermentation science. After graduation, he toured the Burgundy and Bordeaux wine areas in France, often in the company of the legendary California wine genius, Andre Tchelistcheff. Cabernet Sauvignon is the primary red grape in Bordeaux.

Looking ahead, Martini sees the 2008 vintage as "vibrant."

"We had a frost problem, and then a heat problem," he explained, "and we lost much of the crop. What remained, however, was superb. It’s almost as if Mother Nature thinned the vines herself."

-Joe

This Week's Wine December 29, 2008

This week brings the conclusion of what is generally considered the Champagne season – from Christmas to New Year’s – and sale prices make it a good time to stock up. But there’s really no need to limit one’s consumption of what many consider the world’s finest alcoholic drink to such a brief period of time. Originally from France, the bright, crisp, bubbly beverage now is made all over the world, but I think that French Champagne is the best, with the French-based American producers of sparkling wine running a close second.

There are so many Champagne-style beverages out there that it is impossible to check all of them, but we did a bargain-search tasting last week, and had considerable success with sparklers under $20 a bottle.

As a reminder, by French law, the word Champage may be used only on beverages made in the Champagne district of Eastern France. Anything else made in France must be called "sparkling wine," like a 2005 Vouvray we sampled. In other countries, winemakers are free to use any words they like, and they do.

There was no advance planning on the sparkling wines we tried, but we found ourselves with California bubblies from three French-based houses. One was very good, the other two were excellent, and the Domaine du Margalleau Vouvray, from the Loire Valley of France, was different (made from different grapes) but still flavorful, with strong fruit on the palate, though the bubble vanished rather quickly. All were labeled Brut. We prefer the dry sparklers, and by French law, they are ranked from dry to sweet, by residual sugar content. in order: Extra Brut (0-0.6% sugar); Brut (less than 1.5%); Extra Dry, (1.2-2.7%); Sec (1.7-3.5%); Demi-Sec (3.3-5%); Deux (over 5%). By some peculiarity, Brut is drier than Extra Dry.

 

The others, all non-vintage, were Piper-Sonoma, from the Sonoma County winery owned by the Piper-Heidsieck folks from France, and Roederer Estates and Scharffenberger , from Mendocino County, one of our favorite California areas for visiting, dining, looking and relaxing. The former, in its US. location since the 1980s, owns the latter, a Mendocino standout since 1981. Both are under the umbrella of Maisons Marquis & Domaines, a marketing and distribution firm owned by Roederer of France, maker of Cristal and other fine Champagnes.

Both Roederer and Scharffenberger are in the little town of Philo, on California Highway 128, that goes from U.S. 101 in Cloverdale, Sonoma County, north-west through Mendocino County to the Pacific Ocean. Roederer is on the north side of the highway, Scharffenberger on the south. Both make crisp, delicious, dry sparkling wines, with the bubbles exploding in the glass for a long, delightful release that tickles the nose. It’s also a lovely ride, past vines and through eucalyptus groves, with sheep and goats in the fields and good snacks available in Boonville.

They are blends of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, in the classic Champagne style, with the former ranging from 60 to 65 percent. Roederer is bright, extremely refreshing, with excellent balance and a feeling of toastiness on the palate. Scharffenberger has a longer finish, more fruit forward. They’re terrific, a half-step ahead of the Piper Sonoma; there’s something about those Mendocino wines that make them a perfect toast to what we all hope will be a prosperous, happy, healthy New Year.

-Joe

This Week's Wine December 14, 2008

Gaia Gaja grew up in the small hillside town of Barbaresco, in the Piedmont region of Italy, and like a lot of young people in small towns everywhere, she didn’t like it very much.

"There was nothing to do," she said, echoing the almost-universal complaint.

And then, going into the family wine business and traveling throughout the world, selling and tasting and speaking about Gaja wines, she decided that the small town had its advantages.

"I run there whenever I have the chance," she said with a smile, hoisting a glass of red wine upward to check its color against bright daylight. "It’s so quiet and peaceful."

Having tasted the bright lights and big cities, and still doing some traveling, Gaia spends much of her time at the headquarters winery and vineyards of Gaja, where her family’s company has been growing grapes and making wine for 150 years, an anniversary it will be able to celebrate when the calendar rolls over in just a few weeks. Her father, Angelo, brought the operation into the main stream in the 1960s, expanding into Tuscany and increasing the Piedmont holdings to 250 acres, planting Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay grapes. He and his long-time winemaker, Guido Rivella, also worked with Nebbiolo grapes to improve their quality, and blended them with Italian standbys like Sangiovese and Barbera. Some Italian wines are named for their home region, like Barbaresco and Barolo; others are named by grape variety, still others receive proprietary names, like a family or a vineyard or even a tribute to a negotiation.

That shows in "Camarcanda," from "Ca’Marcanda," the Piemontese idiom for "house of endless negotiations," applied by Angelo Gaja to mark the process of acquiring the vineyard.

One of the advantages of being a wine writer is the opportunity to meet several generations of the people who grow up and into the business. More than 30 years ago, I met Angelo Gaja, father to the yet-unborn Gaia (she’s 28), when he visited St. Louis on a sales trip. Like so many winemakers, he began as a farmer and, and there’s a friendly, warm, approachable attitude that they share. In my many years as a reporter, wine people are the easiest to talk with; the presence of good wine may be a contributing factor.

Anyway, Gaia and I sampled a dozen of her family’s products during a day that included lunch, a seminar she led for local wine buyers and sellers and dinner at Portabella, where chef Thom Zoog prepared a meal to show off four of them.

She talked a great deal about differences between Italian wines, where Nebbiolo and Sangiovese are the predominant grapes, and American reds that use Cabernet Sauvignon as the mainstay.

The final word, however, came not from Gaia but from her father. "He says that Cab is John Wayne, but Nebbiolo is Marcello Mastroianni."

Nine of the Gaja wines were from Tuscany and three from Piedmont; which also contributed a grappa, a fiery liqueur distilled from the pomace of the grapes (the remains after pressing for juice that becomes wine) to wrap the meal with biscotti and chocolate truffles. Tuscany encompasses Florence and Montalcino, and south of Piedmont, where Turin and Barbaresco are located and which borders on Switzerland and France to the north and northwest. All were very good, most were excellent, a couple were exceptional. We’ll start with the trio from Piedmont, all from vineyards in and around Barbaresco, but only one with the geographical name.

2005 Barbaresco: 100 percent Nebbiolo. Superior wine, though still a little young, with noticeable   tannin. Fruit aromas, heavy on plum, smooth on the palate, long finish with full body and good backbone.

2005 Sori San Lorenzo: 95 percent Nebbiolo, 5 percent Barbera. An austere wine, needs another year or two of bottle age but will open nicely and become a wine of superb flavor and good body. Rich and tasty now, it can be cellared for another 10 years before it peaks, but will be worth the wait.

2005 Costa Russi: 95 percent Nebbiolo, 5 percent Barbera: A wine with an elegant, deep, penetrating aroma of stone fruits. All are from neighboring vineyards, and the relationship show, with this showing readiness sooner and with a fine, silky feel on the palate.

And on to Tuscany, beginning in Montalcino. . . .

2006 Rossj-Bass Chardonnay: Chardonnay, with "a touch" of Sauvignon Blanc: The only white wine of the day, a European-style Chardonnay (think white Burgundy) that is lean and crisp, with citrus hints and a smooth, light body. The blend with just a little Sauvignon Blanc keeps the wine perfectly dry; superb with oysters on the shell.

2000 and 2004 Pieve Santa Restituta Rennina: 100 percent Sangiovese: A document from 715 A.D. indicates a church of that name in the immediate area of the vineyard, therefore recognized by Angelo Gaja when he bought the property. A true Brunello di Montalcino, and therefore expensive, with a hint of spice in the aroma and a soft, refined flavor, with blueberry in the background. The two wines showed their heritage, but the older one is quite ready for drinking today and is a delicious accompaniment to almost any meal. Rich, but not oppressive flavors, with a finish that lingers nicely.

2000 and 2004 Pieve Sugarille: 100 percent Sangiovese: A grape-producing property since at least 1547, another Brunello di Montalcino, from a vineyard whose grapes show more tannin that the previous wine. Again, age makes a difference, and the ‘00 is more mature and balanced. However, the younger wine is delicious, and while it might be considered heresy in some circles, I found it a splendid dinner wine right now.

Last but not least, wrapping up the wines with three glorious offerings under the Ca’Marcanda label, even though they are rather young blends from the Tuscan town of Castagneto. . . .

2005 Magari: 50 percent Merlot, 25 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 25 percent Cabernet Franc: Rich and supple, with the soft, winning texture that great Merlot grapes develop, this is an outstanding wines, just like the others with the Ca’Marcanda label. Lots of fruit, plums in the aroma and a smooth finish. Delicious.

2006 Promis: 55 percent Merlot, 35 percent Syrah, 10 percent Sangiovese. An elegant blend, with the Sangiovese adding a touch of solidity, even hardness, to the softer Merlot. Red fruit from the Syrah, an elegant aroma shows the best of all three grapes and the finish is a delight on the palate.

2005 Camarcanda: 50 percent Merlot, 40 percent Cabernet Savignon, 10 percent Cabernet Franc: Dense, still hard but with a brilliant future, this was the showcase wine of the evening, rich and hearty and a perfect companion to a flavorful, deep osso buco. The wine is rich enough to cut through the short ribs, with the Cabernet adding complexity to its companions in the bottle, as differentiated from the Magari, which has more Cabernet Franc. Many layers of aroma and flavor, with plum notes on the palate and a surprisinglylong finish considering the rather young red wine. A beautiful wine.

The grappa, under the Gaia & Rey label, which honors Angelo’s daughter and his grandmother, Clotilde Rey, is made from Chardonnay seeds, skins and other debris, then distilled. Other Gaja grappas are made from Nebbiolo and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes. The one we tasted has a lovely aroma, but like most grappas, has a harsh quality and is just not my favorite after-dinner drink.

-Joe

This Week's Wine, November 23, 2008

Bubbly is beautiful almost any time, but it’s special for Thanksgiving, when people gather at the festive table. A variety of palates sit around it, a variety of food is displayed on top, and sparkling wine not only adds gaiety, but also will work with almost any taste preference or type of cooking.

France, and the legendary Dom Perignon, made Champagne synonymous with sparkling wine. While many winemakers from around the world use the term casually, French law insists that only wines from the Champagne district can do so. In fact, sparklers from other regions of France are labeled sparkling wine.

Americans use a mixture of terms, depending on individual preference, but Italians often call their sparkling wines Prosecco, which is the most popular grape in the country’s bubblies that can range from extremely dry to rather sweet, to satisfy anyone at any meal. Turned into a Mimosa by about a 50-50 mix with orange juice, it provides a festive touch to brunch, and it’s a favorite at our house. Either Prosecco or a drier sparkler will work. In summer, dropping a ripe strawberry into the glass makes it more festive.

We recently tasted some offerings from Mionetto, which has been making Prosecco and other wines in Valdobiaddene, Italy, just north of Venice, for more than120 years. Sergio Mionetto, the current winemaker and oenolgist, makes the bubbly in several styles, at several prices. He’s the youngest of seven brothers and grandson of the company founder, Francesco, born inn Valdobiaddene and a life-long resident. The best bargain, at $10, is called IL, or "the", with the letters in a large yellow swirl on the bottle, and it’s a delight, with good bubble, if slightly on the larger side, and a pleasing, crisp dryness. It’s also only 10.5 percent alcohol, a little lower than most sparkling wines, and it’s wholly from the Prosecco grape.

Il also arrives with a crown cap, which makes a corkscrew unnecessary; according to the winery’s press materials, the crown cap has been used on Prosecco is retail stores and at the winery for many years.

More traditional corks are used in two other Proseccos from Mionetto, the Sergio Extra Dry ($19) and the Prosecco Brut ($13). The former blends 70 percent Prosecco di Valdobbiadene (from the area where the winery is located) with a blend of Chardonnay, Verdiso, Bianchetta and Perara grapes from the Veneto region. It’s a little -- but not much -- sweeter, not so much as to offend a dry wine afficionado, but enough to please one who prefers drinks a bit sweeter. It also would be a fine pair to oysters on the shell. Prosecco Brut blends five percent Chardonnay with 95 percent Prosecco for a sparkler that is bone dry but with pleasing flavor and nice, tight bubble in the glass. Good grape flavors with a touch of apple, a delight with any appetizer.

Mionetto wines are available at many St. Louis locations, including the Lukas Superstore, Costco and Cost Plus.

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We tasted a few other Proseccos recently, in similar price range, and can give good marks to Enrico, vinified in the French style and extremely dry, with a bit of apple in the flavor, and to a pair from Il Follo, a Piagar Extra Dry and a Rose Brut, the latter made with five percent Cabernet Sauvignon grapes added to the Prosecco. The red grapes bring a bit of color and a touch of red fruit. Il Follo also is from the Veneto region, the Valdobiadene-Conegliano area.

* * * *

A lot closer to home, Missouri winemakers also produce sparkling wines, with Dave Johnson at Stone Hill, in Hermann. creating a superior bubbly made from Catawba grapes and an even better one from Vidal grapes. Using only white grapes to make a sparkling wine brings the designation "Blanc de Blancs" to the label. The Vidal brut, made in the traditional Methode Champenoise, or aging and gaining bubble in the bottle, is crisp on the tongue, with a hint of citrus for acid and a tiny, long-lasting bubble. It’s delicious, and under $20 a bottle. In the same price range is the Brut Rose from Crown Valley in Ste. Genevieve. A little sweeter and a lovely mid-pink, it shows considerable strawberry on the tongue and is a beautiful mixer in a Mimosa.

-Joe

This Week's Wines November 9, 2008

Think outside the box, they tell us, and there are good things about the advice, although it is not the be-all and end-all response to all problems.

After all, if Dracula had not thought inside the box how to get outside the box, think how many writers and actors would never have had the chance to star or scream.

And here comes Black Box wines. Their slogan is Drink inside the box. It makes sense if you’re selling wine in almost-square packages, and those seeking quite good bargain wine in a package that will not spill between wine store and tailgate party site will be happy here.

Black Box is part of the Constellation Brands empire, and has its own gimmick. The company buys grapes from various parts of the world, makes the wine and packs it into a plastic bag inside a cardboard box that holds about three liters, or four ordinary 750 bottles. That makes an under-$10 package an excellent buy. The whites include an acceptable California Chardonnay from Monterey County and a Pinot Grigio from the Veneto (Venice) region of Italy. Both are 2007 vintage, light and fruity, and since the box fits comfortably into a refrigerator, they are easy to chill. The red, a Cabernet Sauvignon, is a 2007 from the Central Coast appellation, south of Monterey on the way to Santa Barbara.

The box bears instructions for opening and flipping a spigot into place -- an easy task -- so that the wine can be dispensed, and a test one evening with eight people at a table for a trivia competition, there was neither spillage nor leakage, two admirable qualities. And, as a last fillip of marketing, there also are instructions of removing the plastic bag from the box and placing them in two different containers for recycling.

Black Box wines are available at most supermarkets and retail outlets.

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The search for a gimmick is a constant in the rather-crowded mid-level American wine market. Now we have Cru Vin Dogs, a Santa Rosa, Calif.-based wine operation that contributes at least 10 percent of all sales to charitable organizations that involve dogs, groups like the Alie Foundation, which provides bloodhounds to law enforcement groups, the Morris Animal Foundation’s Cure Canine Cancer campaign and Canine Companions for Independence.

Winemaker Tony Wasowicz finds small lots of grapes or of wine and releases them in limited quantities. Most are under $30, but some, like a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from Dry Creek Valley and others from the Best-in-Show series, with a production of only 97 cases, can go as high as $75.

The wines are named for breeds and for specific dogs, with portraits of the dogs on the labels. For example, an ‘05 Chardonnay from Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley, is named for a bloodhound pup who had not been named, but it’s a French-style Chardonnay ($16), acidic and bright, and thankfully lacking the over-toasted oak flavor that so many American Chardonnays tend to pick up. An adult bloodhound named Yogi, the weight of the world shown in his weary eyes, adorns a Cabernet-Syrah in a 75-25 blend ($26), respectively, with the former from Napa and the latter from Sonoma. There are Bordeaux qualities in the finished wine, and it’s a delicious complement to a roast or a steak.

Two other as-yet unnamed puppies, a chocolate Labrador Retriever and a blonde Golden Retriever, adorn labels of a 2006 Sauvignon Blanc that is an Australian import and a 2006 Chardonnay from Sonoma County, respectively. The Sauvignon ($14.50) shows its Australian heritage, brisk, very tart, quite acidic and with a charming finish; it’s a good value. The Chardonnay ($16) is similar to the ‘05, but a year younger and can use more age to smooth out some flavor flaws.

* * * *

And a few recent tastings:

On to another animal. The Duckhorn label is a mark of fine wine, and the 2005 Paraduxx, with a pair of redhead ducks on the label (Paraduxx, Pair of Ducks, a word play. Get it?), is a delicious blend of Napa Valley grapes, with Zinfandel (60 percent), Cabernet Sauvignon (32), Merlot (6) and Cabernet Franc (2). Lots of fruit up front, superb balance and flavor, a lengthy finish that leaves a fine taste in the mouth. A good value at $48.

J. Lohr, a Monterey pioneer, is another winemaker with consistent excellence. A pair of ‘06 Chardonnays, labeled Arroyo Vista for the vineyard, October Night for the harvest, are fine, tasty examples of the classic grape at a moderate $26. The acid-alcohol balance is just right in both, the only difference between the two a hint of mango in the latter. Carol’s Vineyard is home to a charming ‘07 Sauvignon Blanc ($24), again a well-balanced wine with good citric components and a pleasing tartness.

–Joe

This Week's Wine: October 7, 2008

  Once known as an area of small farms and a history influenced by lead mines in the area, Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois counties, about 60 miles south of St. Louis, are growing rapidly as grape-and-wine country, challenging Missouri’s more venerable wine sites like Augusta and Hermann as places to visit on a weekend.

With the exception of the Sainte Genevieve Winery, which is several generations old, the wineries in the two counties are of recent vintage, which means they are tourist-friendly, replete with modern conveniences. With modern technology close by, they were able to start miles ahead of their older neighbors, who fought the non-California image, studied agriculture and wine-making while holding down other jobs and battled to give Missouri wine a certain cachet, helped by Lucian Dressel’s wisdom in earning the first Federal wine appellation for Augusta. Everyone else followed. Napa became No. 2.

So if there was a road beginning at the first plantings and trudging to the point of making drinkable, valued wine, Crown Valley and the other Lead Belt wineries started about three-quarters of the way home.

Joe Scott, the Crown Valley founder and owner, planted his first Chardonel grapes in1998, opened the    winery in 2003 and has expanded the operation to three wineries in eastern Missouri, more than 600 acres of grapevines and a huge facility near Ste. Genevieve. Crown Valley claims to have the largest Norton vineyard in the U.S. The Crown Valley vineyards also are planted in Chambourcin, Chardonel, Traminette, Vignoles, Viognier and others. Some vinifera grapes are grown in Missouri, others are brought from California, with labels that specify "American wine." The Champagne facility, with production in both Champenoise and Charmat methods, is in nearby Farmington, and Port is made and aged on property in the Tievoli Hills, near Clarksville, north of St. Louis on the banks of the Mississippi. The wine is made from Norton grapes, blended with some Californian-grown Syrah.

Winemaker Daniel Alcorso, born in Australia, reared in Tasmania and experienced in the wine industry in those countries, plus New Zealand, California and Virginia, has been at the winery for a handful of harvests, but says he enjoys the pressure of handling a variety of grapes and blends.

His 2005 Meritage, a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (30 percent), Petit Verdot (32), Cabernet Franc (25), Merlot (10) and Malbec (5), is made of grapes from Napa and Sonoma Counties, spends 18 months in French and American oak, is a solid Bordeaux blend, though it would benefit from another year or two in the bottle. The aroma is of berry, the flavor of cassis and red fruits, the finish is long and smooth, and while there is tannin, it is generally soft, providing a long, agreeable finish.

A 2004 Norton, from locally grown grapes, spends two years in oak and has the distinctive Norton aroma of cedar and tobacco. It’s an excellent example of Missouri’s best red wine and, in this writer’s opinion, is the finest American red grape. Again, it could use a year or two additional age, softening the tannins and bringing out its warmth.

Sweet Redbird is a blend of Chambourcin (68 percent) and Norton (32) from the winery’s vineyards is a good wine to carry less-experienced drinkers from white to red, from sweet to dry. At 8 percent sugar, it’s only slightly sweet, and the berry flavors are impressive. The absence of oak makes the ‘07 easier to quaff, and the $9 price tag makes it easy on the pocketbook, too.

The Crown Valley whites include a locally grown Vignoles and Chardonel, the latter bottled under the Casper White label. The Vignoles is made for some sweetness that go with tropical fruit and melon flavors, and an aroma of orange blossoms. California-grown Chenin Blanc from Lodi, Calif., and Riesling from Lake County have crisp, clean flavor.

We're happy to participate in Regional Wine Week, a project of www.drinklocalwine.com, which is masterminded by our pal Dave McIntyre, the wine writer for Washingtonian magazine, whose wine blog is here. Check it out.

–Joe

This Week's Wine 28, 2008

There’s a certain pretentiousness involved in setting up what is called a "national Norton wine festival" and attracting only 12 wineries, all from the state of Missouri. Of course, modesty has been in short supply in the Missouri wine establishment ever since the politicians and marketers took control, pushing the winemakers and grape-growers aside and creating things like a Missouri State Grape to accompany a Missouri State Amphibian and a Missouri State Bird, a barely visible and much-smaller-than-life-size addition to your new license plate.

Actually, it’s about grape-sized.

Of course, maybe the politicians and marketers are right, since the wine industry has burgeoned in recent years. According to the state wine and grape board, there now are at least 74 wineries in Missouri, with revenue over $30 million annually. There are also some 200 commercial growers (some may be winemakers, too) producing 2800 tons of grapes with revenue of $2.3 million. Wineries are a huge tourist attraction, and much wine is sold over the counter after a tour or a tasting.

Remember: Wine always tastes better at the winery.

I’ve been writing about – and praising – Norton wines for more than 30 years, and always have insisted that it’s the best red wine made in Missouri, from the best of all native American red grapes. Found among a group of wild grapes in Virginia in the 1820s by Dr. Daniel Norborne Norton, it was carried west by settlers and has been in Missouri since the 1840s.

Missouri vineyards also produce a grape called Cynthiana, but my best knowledge is that they are the same. For a long time, almost as a marketing gimmick, wineries south of the Missouri River used the term Norton, those north of the river called it Cynthiana. They’re pretty much interchangeable, whatever they’re called.

The unique quality of the Norton is that it is from the variety vitis aestivalis; the classic European grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel and others are from the variety vitis vinifera.The result is a rich, hearty, full-bodied wine with excellent structure and a long, deep finish with tastes of plum and other red fruits. Good Nortons are similar to the wines of the Rhone Valley in France, wines made from Grenache or Petite Sirah. The shortcoming is that Nortons need to be aged; too many are drunk too young and show a strong overtone of tannin. They need barrel aging, too, but a couple of years in oak increases the tannin, along with the flavor. And, if the winery stores the wine the necessary 5-7 years before it’s truly ready to drink, the cost goes up. Barrels and space and time are expensive. Be patient. Instead of buying a bottle of Norton, taking it home and opening it with dinner, buy it and put it in the back of a closet or somewhere else where it will not be overheated nor subject to temperature fluctuations. Leave it for a while. Then uncork it and enjoy it with beef stew or steak or lamb chops.

The featured Nortons at the Missouri Historical Society were quite good. Long-established wineries like St. James (St. James), Mount Pleasant (Augusta), Hermannhof (Hermann) and Stone Hill (Hermann), new producers like Chandler Hill (Defiance), Seven Springs (Linn Creek), Twin Oaks (Farmington) and Cave (Ste. Genevieve), and those somewhere in the middle, including Adam Puchta (Hermann), Crown Valley (Ste. Genevieve), Les Bourgeois (Rocheport) and Chaumette (Ste. Genevieve) were in attendance, and the young Nortons, some blended with Cabernet Franc or even Cabernet Sauvignon, were generally quite good. As noted before, most needed additional bottle age, but even the young wines displayed good structure and the fact that newer winemakers know their stuff.

I’ve always been a fan of the Stone Hill Nortons. Dave Johnson is a superior winemaker, and his older Nortons, like the 2001, were delicious, with black currant overtones and superb structure. Brothers Andrew and Brian Hutson of Twin Oaks displayed a 2006 Shady Oak, a blend of Norton and Chambourcin, that had nice spice and pleasing fruit. Their Norton, of the same year, needs time but has the basics in place and will mature nicely. Crown Valley had a 2002 and a 2004, both with elegance, and Cave displayed a full-bodied 2005 that had won a gold medal at the State Fair.

The 2002 from Hermannhof, aged 20 months in French oak, was excellent, as was the St. James offering. In other words, while most of the Missouri Nortons have their individual characteristics, they’re also more Norton-like, and that’s a good thing.

And speaking of Nortons, we drove through part of the Virginia wine country while visiting in the D.C. area a few months ago, and we stopped at the Horton Cellars property in Gordonsville, home of Horton’s Norton, and lots of other wines, too, in a lovely property not far from Charlottesville. That town, home of the University of Virginia and of Thomas Jefferson, is worth a special visit. We tasted a number of the Horton wines, including Vidal Blanc and late harvest Vidal Blanc, plus a sparkling Viognier, Niagara, Syrah, Malbec, Nebbiolo, Cabernet Franc and a Port made from pears. All well-made and tasty. And we bought a couple of bottles of the 2004 Horton Norton, from grapes grown in Orange County, Va.

It takes us a while to get moving, but we finally tasted the Horton Norton from and a 2005 Missouri Norton from Stone Hill’s Cross J Vineyard, in the hills just west of Hermann and overlooking the Missouri River. Both were splendid, dark ruby in color, with cassis and blackberry in the aroma. They were just about fully ready to drink, and they were elegant, delicious examples, with a sturdy structure, lots of fruit on the palate and a long, gentle finish.

–Joe

This Week's Wine, September 2, 2008

Montelle Winery, on the hills to the east of Augusta, won the Governor’s Cup as the best Missouri wine of 2008, duplicating the winery’s triumph of 2007, and it’s a tribute to Clayton Byers, a founder, to Bob and Judy Slifer, long-time owners, and to Tony Kooyumjian, current owner and winemaker, for being good stewards of the vineyards over nearly a half-century, Byers, a successful St. Louis public relations practitioner, dreamed of retiring to be a country winemaker, and when Lucian Dressel got Mount Pleasant up and rolling, Byers became a neighbor and competitor at Montelle.

Kooyumjian, who has won four Governor’s Cups in the last five years, has owned the Augusta Winery (twice a winner) for many years, and expanded to include Montelle a few years ago.

Kooyumjian’s winner was his 2007 Dry Vignoles, which also won best of class among dry white wines. The 10 best-of-class winners then competed for the cup.

"The grape has been good to me," he said. "The first Governor’s Cup that I won, back in 1991, also was a Dry Vignoles." Kooyumjian won other gold medals for his ‘07 Chambourcin, ‘06 Chardonel, River Country red and white, and his peach brandy.

Oddly, in a new medal category this year, for "Best Missouri Varietal," the ‘07 Vignoles from Stone Hill, in a sweet white wine category, was rated above the Vignoles from Montelle.

Best of Class winners were: Sparkling, Stone Hill Golden Spumante; Dry White, Montelle 2007 Vignoles; Semi-dry White, Augusta Winery Seyval Blanc; Sweet White, Stone Hill 2007 Vignoles; Dry Red, Blumenhof 2006 Cynthiana; Semi-Dry Red, Montelle River Country Red; Sweet Red, Augusta River Valley Red; Late Harvest-Ice Wine, Augusta 2007 Icewine; Dessert/Fortified, Stone Hill 2005 Port; Distilled Product, Montelle Peach Brandy.

Medal inflation, similar to grade inflation in schools and colleges, continues to lessen the value of a medal, and I think the standards are too low. Of 228 entries, 61 percent, or 139, won medals, not counting the 10 Best of Class winners and the seven Best Varietal medals, or ribbons, or whatever they get. If you like to count medals, and have felt depressed since the Olympic counting competition ended, Stone Hill won the most, with 31 (9 gold, 12 silver, 10 bronze). Augusta and its sister winery, Montelle, each took home 18 (4 gold, 7 silver, 7 bronze for Augusta), (6 gold, 6 silver, 6 bronze for Montelle). St. James and Mount Pleasant each won a pair of gold medals, and Blumenhof, Les Bourgeois and Sugar Creek earned one apiece.

Medal winners were: Adam Puchta Winery (Hermann), 4S, 8B; Augusta Winery (Augusta), 4G, 7S, 7B; Baltimore Bend Vineyard (Waverly), 3S, 2B; Blumenhof Vineyards and Winery (Dutzow), 1G, 1S, 1B; Cave Vineyard (Ste. Genevieve), 1S, 2B; Chaumette Vineyards (Ste. Genevieve), 1S, 2B; Cooper’s Oak Winery (Higbee), 1B; Durso Hills Winery (Marquand), 1S, 1B; Jowler Creek Winery (Platte City), 1B; Les Bourgeois Vineyards (Rocheport), 1G, 5S, 4B; Meramec Vineyards (St. James), 2B; Montelle Winery (6G, 6S, 6B); Mount Pleasant Winery (2G, 3B); Native Stone Winery (Jefferson City), 1S; Peaceful Bend Vineyard (Steelville), 2S, 2B; River Ridge Winery (Commerce), 1S, 3B; St. James Winery (St. James), 2G; 7B; Stone Hill Winery (Hermann), 9G, 12S, 10B; Stonehaus Farms Winery (Lee’s Summit), 1S; Sugar Creek Winery (Defiance), 1G, 1S; Tower Rock Winery (Altenberg), 1B; Traver Home Winery (Willow Springs), 1B; Westphalia Vineyards (Westphalia), 2B.

Judges were Joyce Angelos, Kansas City; Glenn Bardgett, St. Louis; Jill Blume, Purdue, Ind.; Jeanne Burgess, Clermont, Fla.; Bob Foster, San Diego; Doug Frost, Kansas City; Michelle Meyer, Basehor, Kan., Bob Mueller, New Haven, Mo.; Ray Pompilio, Ithaca, N.Y.; Chris Stamp, Watkins Glen, N.Y. and Patricia Wamhoff, St. Louis.

* * * *

NEWS AND NOTES: The Norton Festival comes up Saturday and Sunday at the Missouri History Museum, with samples of Missouri’s finest red wine poured by a number of wineries from around the state. Though some winemakers still call the grape – and the wine -- Cynthiana, it has been ascertained through various scientific experiments that the grapes are one and the same.

Patty Held has left Stone Hill Winery, where she was a part of the management family practically her entire life. Her parents, Jim and Betty, with assistance from their sons, Jon and Thomas, and from Patty, built Stone Hill from an abandoned mushroom cellar to the state’s largest winery. Experienced in all forms of wine-making and a regular judge at wine competitions around the country, she plans to remain in the industry as a consultant. She is scheduled to be at the Norton celebration.

–Joe

This Week's Wine August 23, 2008

One of the reasons that there are so many wineries is that so many different people like to drink wine, and grow grapes, and make wine. Each is certain that his or her way is the best way, sometimes the only way, to do it.

People who go to California, or Missouri, or anyplace else with ambitions of becoming grape growers or winemakers often find themselves involved in the entire process, just the way actors often become directors because they don’t want another person ruining what they think is their great performance. Same in wine. Many years ago, John Shafer came through St. Louis and we visited. He was on his way to California to begin a retirement career as a grower of grapes. I asked if he was interested in making wine. "Not on your life!" he said vehemently. We all know what happened. He grew wonderful grapes, soon expanded into winemaking with superior wines, now has some of Napa County’s best.

A few weeks ago, someone of opposite opinions came through town as Jodie Boulet-Daughters, general manager of Consilience and Tre Anelli wines of Santa Barbara County, was host at a small tasting of Pinot Noirs and other wines under the Consilience label, which also offers some Rhone Valley styles. She and her husband, and Brett Escalera, their winemaker and partner, produce wines that are made from grapes someone else grows.

"We have good relationships with growers," she said, "and we like being able to pick and choose among Santa Barbara County grapes, which we think are outstanding. Brett is a veteran, and he knows what grows in the area.:"

Escalera, by the way, used to be a winemaker at Fess Parker, whose estate also is in Santa Barbara County, with some of the Consilience grapes coming from vineyards adjacent to the Parker vineyards. According to Boulet-Daughters, the label name means "unity of knowledge."

Like many Santa Barbara winemakers, including Jim Dierberg, Consilience specializes in Pinot Noir, though there also was a superior Syrah and an excellent Petite Sirah in the tasting, plus a couple of first-rate Pinot Noirs.

She brought a couple of whites, too, with a 2006 Viognier ($22.50) a delight when served well-chilled on a warm afternoon. It’s a blend of 95 percent Viognier from five different Santa Barbara vineyards, plus touches of Grenache Blanc and Pinot Grigio (each 2) and Verdehlo, a Spanish grape. The result was delicious, a fine balance between acid and alcohol, and lovely soft citrus in the flavor. An ‘06 Roussanne (also $22.50) was less impressive. Another complex blend of Roussanne (90), Grenache Blanc (5) and Viognier (5), it seemed short in the finish and with excessive flabbiness on the palate.

The reds, however, all were winners. The two Pinot Noirs, from ‘05 and ‘06, represented vastly different vineyards, yet showed some of the same fruit-forward, bright, fresh cherry tendencies of modern Pinots. I preferred the younger wine, but would be happy with either alongside a grilled salmon or pork roast.

While the wines shared some of the secondary vineyards, the ‘05 primarily came from River Bench (91 percent) while 96 percent of the ‘06 was from the Bien Nacido vineyard. Minimal amounts of grapes from Bien Nacido and Solomon Hills were in the ‘05; Solomon Hills and River Bench contributed to the 2006. The ‘06 is priced at about $35, a five-spot increase from the previous year.

My favorite of the tasting was the 2004 Syrah, blending Syrah (93), Petite Sirah (5) and Grenache (2) all from the Rodney Shull vineyard. Perhaps the extra time in oak (20 months, 60 percent French, 40 percent American) made an appreciable difference, but the wine was a sheer delight with a wonderful richness, a touch of tannin in the finish, high in alcohol (15.9 percent) but without the burn which often joins wine in that alcohol range. This wine is complete, and will improve for another half-dozen years, at which time it will be close to spectacular. An excellent value at $25.

The Petite Sirah, from 2005, is from three different vineyards (Rodney Shull, 85; Wolff, 14; La Presa, 1) and was in oak (88 percent French, 12 percent American) for 20 months. Excellent berry aroma, long on the palate and a superior finish. Another fine value at $23.

Consilience wines are a newcomer to the St. Louis market, and production is limited, but they’re worth seeking out.

–Joe

This Week's Wine July 20, 2008

Even in the midst of summer, I prefer red wine with main courses. The big, full-bodied Cabs, Shiraz, Zinfandel and most Pinot Noirs, are excellent companions to meat dishes that come sizzling off the grill; the ones with bigger body are a fine complement to barbecue. Some of the lighter wines are surprisingly delicious with a grilled halibut or swordfish. At our house, Pinot Noir is the favorite when a chunk of salmon, skin crisping properly, is on the backyard cooker.

And don’t forget to chill the red wine a little. Between 30 and 60 minutes in the refrigerator will improve its flavor and eliminate the mustiness that clings to some wines when they get too warm. The old rule about "room temperature" for reds should be put aside when temperatures soar. Besides, it depends on what room we’re talking about. A kitchen or pantry closet, for example, is too warm. A basement may have proper coolness, as long as the wine and the water heater are not next to one another.

When it comes to big red wines, I recently found a winner when Kelly McElearney came to town with an elegant bottle of 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from Ehlers Estate in St. Helena. As the daughter of Dan and Margaret Duckhorn, she’s been involved with dirt, vines and grapes all her life, and she’s the general manager at Ehlers, owned by the Leduc Foundation. The foundation, now 12 years old, funds research in treatment of cardiovascular disease, and all proceeds from the sale of Ehlers wines go in that direction.

A non-profit winery? Well, there are worse ideas, and it salves the moment of pocketbook panic at the wine’s price of $95.

The Ehlers Cab is big and rich. The color is extremely dark, with an aroma of stone fruit and currants; the first taste also shows the fruit and superior balance. The finish is long and lovely. Winemaker Rudy Zuidema selects fruit from various blocks in the vineyard, and the wine spends 20 months in French oak, two-thirds of it new. It’s a perfect wine for a well-charred but medium rare steak or roast.

As a Zinfandel fan, I’ve always had a soft spot for the wines of Rosenblum, an Oakland-based winery that buys grapes from throughout northern California and produces many individual-vineyard Zins.

I recently sampled a pair of 2005s from Rosenblum, one from the Harris Kratka vineyard in Alexander Valley, one from the Snows Lake vineyard in Lake County (east of Napa County). Each is $35, and while they’re both Zinfandels, with the classic brambly aroma, they’re very different. The Kratka wine is a field blend, predominantly Zinfandel, but it also includes other grapes from the same vineyard, Carignane and Petit Sirah in this case. It’s a little lighter in body when compared to the Lake County wine, a dominatrix in any wine affair.

At the lower end of the price spectrum, there are some superior bargains in red wines to go with hamburgers from the grill or pasta from the kitchen. . . .

Veramonte, from Chile, offers a 2006 Pinot Noir (about $15) that has a light berry aroma and notes of cherry on the palate. It’s pleasant, with the brightness of Pinot Noir quite prominent, and has a smooth finish.

Delicato Family Vineyards, making Italian-influenced wine under a variety of labels, is one of the Napa pioneers, and many of the wines are superior bargains, well-made and with good flavor at low prices. For example, the Joe Blow ‘05 California Red is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Petit Sirah, Syrah and Merlot, and at $8, makes for good drinking while the burgers grill and while they’re being eaten. This also is a splendid wine to go with a spicy pizza, maybe with garlic and anchovies, or double pepperoni.

Bogle Winery, in Clarksburg, is another long-time maker of wines that are excellent values. They’re extremely straightforward, fairly simple and with good flavor. An ‘04

Phantom, one of their more expensive wines at $17, is a delicious blend of Petit Sirah (54 percent), Zinfandel (43 percent) and Mourvedre (3 percent). A blueberry overtone sets it apart, and it’s a fine accompaniment to grilled meat. Other worthy wines from Bogle are an ‘05 Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley ($13), an ‘05 Petit Sirah ($11) and an ‘05 Merlot ($9) that is a rich, supple wine with mouth-filling flavor.

High in the ranks of California’s finest winemakers, year in and year out, is Craig Williams at Joseph Phelps, and while the wines are extremely expensive, they’re worth it for the experience and, more important, for their excellence. Many of the value wines in this column are good, and certainly good companions for dinner, but the 2004 Joseph Phelps Insignia, even at $200, is a wine of a different caliber. The blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (72 percent), Merlot (14), PetiteVerdot (12) and Malbec (2), from estate-owned vineyards in St. Stag’s Leap, Yountville, Rutherford and Oakville is a remarkable wine, slightly spicy, with blackberry and blueberry notes and a finish that is smooth as velvet. This is a wine that can be drunk now, but in 6-8 years it will be a classic.

Joseph Phelps wines can be sampled for less, too. The 2005 Napa Valley Syrah ($45) is less than half the price, but a superb bottle; all the grapes are from the valley, and the wine spent 20 months in French oak, almost evenly divided between new and year-old barrels. The aroma is peppery, and the spice carries over into the flavor of plums and blackberries and the typical smooth finish of Williams’ wines. They epitomize elegance.

–Joe

This Week's Wine, July 6, 2008

Summer’s here!

Chill the wine!

As St. Louis sinks into the summer doldrums, with fierce heat, bright sun and high humidity adding to our discomfort, relief is as close as the nearest refrigerator or cooler, because there should be some white or rose wine resting there, offering more chill than an oak tree’s shade. There are times when I feel almost awash in temptation because we are enjoying a plethora of tasty, refreshing, cooling wine this year – and a lot of it is extremely inexpensive.

Keeping cool and enjoying a bargain brings total pleasure to several facets of one’s mental processes. There’s even a benefit to writing about it, or even thinking about it, because I’m sure I just felt a hint of breeze come through the window of the room where I hunch over the computer.

New on the American wine scene this year is a 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from Round Pond Estate, in the Napa Valley community of Rutherford, where the soil is magnificent and the wines match. The MacDonnell family has been tending vineyards here for more than a generation, and brothers Miles and Ryan are the second generation. Like many growers, the MacDonnells grew into winemakers the way actors grow into being directors; their pride and ego are such that they want to do their own work and not take the advice or the buying power of others.

The MacDonnells have Cabernet Sauvignon and Nebbiolo in their portfolio; a couple of months ago they released their first Sauvignon Blanc, a 2007 vintage that is priced at about $26 a bottle, slightly above the price of most Sauvignons, but worth it. The wine is beautifully balanced, with a soft, mellow note that restrains the citrus flavors from the dominant position they often take. Round Pond is a round wine, with no rough edges, a smooth finish and a fine accompaniment to fish, or to chilled roast chicken, as I sampled it over dinner. No wood aging, no malolactic fermentation made for a bright, delicious wine.

That’s just one of the many summer quaffing wines that are around and about as the summer salad season begins. That’s a season which provides an opposite to the barbecue days when beer is usually the preferred beverage. Some big red wines will work, but the spice of the sauce, or its overuse of tomato, bothers most of them.

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Gallo, the Modesto giant, is leaning on the quality button with some of its lower-priced wines. But a looser attitude seems in place, and to make sure there are no mistakes in spotting it, the label shows a large footprint and the name Barefoot. Both bubbly and still wines are made by Jennifer Wall, the winemaker since 1995, and she knows exactly what she is doing.

I recently tasted three of her five sparkling wines, and I admit that I had to overcome considerable prejudice. I have a built-in resistance to sparkling wines made by the "charmat" method, which introduces artificial additives to a tank to create the bubble and the wine in a hurry, not in the natural style where the magic occurs in the bottle.

Her sparklers are non-vintage, cost $11, and shocked me at how tasty they were, even the – you should pardon the expression in my writing – White Zinfandel. It actually showed the presence of Zinfandel grapes, and while it was too sweet to be a regular drink, it was fine for a summer wedding or similar occasion calling for a toast. The Pinot Grigio and Chardonnay offerings were even better, properly dry, with a good bubble and pleasant flavor. I think I preferred the green apple notes on the former, and it was a little drier, but both were astonishing surprises.

Wall’s still wines, also non-vintage, are $7, and include a bone-dry Pinot Grigio that is blended with some Chenin Blanc, Muscat and a French hybrid called Symphony, and a sweet Moscato, primarily Muscat with a little Malvasia Bianca and Symphony. The Pinot Grigio, with a hint of bubble or "spritz," shows off peaches and apples and is a fine seafood or salad accompaniment. Moscato would be a winner with spicy Thai or Indonesian cuisine, or with fresh fruit for dessert. All five were startlingly good.

Meanwhile, a Gallo import from Starborough of New Zealand, a few bucks more expensive at $13, is a terrific Sauvignon Blanc from the country’s Marlborough area, home of a long line of splendid wines, all with exciting freshness, good citric notes and an overall impression of crispness, smoth lightness and wonderful flavor. This is one of the better ones.

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One of my favorite wine competitions (and this is a plea to be included as a judge some year) is a project of Taylor Shellfish Farms, from Shelton, WA. West Coast whites are tasted with Kumamoto oysters. In a preliminary round in Seattle, five judges consumed 1200 oysters while narrowing some 200 entrants to a semi-final round of 44. Eventually, a dozen wines were honored in the 14th annual Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition.

The winners represented California (7), Oregon (3) and Washington (2), and the winning wines included Sauvignon Blanc (9), Pinot Gris (2) and Pinot Blanc (1).

In alphabetical order, the winners were Amity Vineyards (OR) ‘06 Pinot Blanc; Chateau Ste. Michelle (WA) ‘06 Columbia Valley Sauvignon Blanc; Clayhouse Vineyard (CA) ‘06 Sauvignon Blanc; Clos du Bois Vineyard (CA) ‘06 Sauvignon Blanc; Covey Run Winery (WA) ‘06 Fume Blanc; Dry Creek Vineyard (CA) ‘06 Sonoma County Fume Blanc; Girard Winery (CA) 06 Sauvignon Blanc; Kathryn Kennedy Winery (CA) ‘07 Sauvignon Blanc; Robledo Family Winery (CA) ‘06 Sauvignon Blanc; Simi (CA) ‘06 Sauvignon Blanc; Van Duzer Vineyards (OR) ‘07 Pinot Gris; Willamette Valley Vineards (OR) ‘07 Pinot Gris.

By the way, Pinot Gris is the French name, Pinot Grigio the Italian name for the same grape. Also, wine labeled Fume Blanc is made from the Sauvignon Blanc grape, just labeled with a different name.

-Joe

This Week's Wine June 8, 2008

I know that you can't tell a book by its cover, nor the quality and flavor of a wine by its label, but every now and then, things happen to make one a little unsure of those old proverbs.

Blame Francis Ford Coppola. Like so many rich people who moved to northern California for the climate, the laid-back atmosphere and other rich people to socialize with, only to suffer the fatal bite of the wine bug, Coppola bought property in the Napa Valley. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, his neighbor down the road was Robert Mondavi, and when grapevines and movie film engaged one another like the spider and the fly in the former's parlor, another wine producer was born.

Coppola, one of the finest directors in movie history, originally bought 1560 acres of the Napa Valley Inglenook estate in 1975; it dates to the mid-19th century, when it was established by California wine pioneer Gustave Niebaum. Coppola established the Niebaum-Coppola brand, then bought the rest of the estate 20 years later and established the Rubicon label. Caesar's commentaries, which I have not read since my high school days, began, "Omnius Galium en tres partes divisa est," which means that all of Gaul is divided into three parts. It added, as Caesar departed from Rome, "and then Caesar crossed the Rubicon and entered into the land of the Gauls." The symbolism of crossing the Rubicon has remained.

All the Rubicon Estate wines come from 236 acres in Rutherford, Napa County.

His Director's Cut wines, and other labels with his name, plus related businesses, are based in Geyserville, in Sonoma County, as part of Francis Ford Coppola Presents, LLC. Through the years, Souverain had featured glorious views, a splendid restaurant (I remember a meal to match the view when I visited in the late 1970s) and unexceptional wine. The winery is open to visitors while major renovations are under way; it is scheduled to reopen next year as a destination winery, with lodgings and a revived restaurant.

Coppola and winemaker Corey Beck are producing Sonoma wines under the Director's Cut label. Regional sales manager Jay Koeller recently poured four very good – and under $25 – Director's Cut wines at a dinner where Rich Lo Russo's staff prepared some excellent matching dishes.

Oh, before I so rudely interrupted myself, I was talking about labels, wasn't I?

The labels wrap around the bottle as if they were strips of film, and in a sense they are. They are copies of Zoetrope strips from Coppola's private collection, made for Zoetrope devices more than a century ago, in the beginning days of motion pictures. The strips were inserted into a cylinder with slits, and the cylinder was spun. Through the holes, it looked as if the figures on the strip were moving, and looking at the Coppola label, one can see a girl jumping rope on one, for example. Others have different action.

Film buffs also will remember that the first cooperative venture between Coppola and George Lucas was called Zoetrope Studios.

And one other thing: Because of the labels, and problems with affixing them, the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, which usually are distributed in Burgundy-style bottles, whose sides slope inward, are packaged in Bordeaux-style bottles, whose sides go straight up and down. No problem for the consumer, but wine-shop owners will be disgruntled.

In addition to the Director’s Cut series, Koeller also poured a sparkling aperitif called Sofia ($16), designed for the wedding of Coppola’s daughter in 1999. The 2007 Blanc de Blanc, in the French tradition, is made solely from white grapes, a blend of Pinot Blanc and Muscat in this particular vintage. There’s a pleasing dryness and long flavor from the former, a hint of sweetness from the latter but not so much as to interfere. It was delicious. The wine comes from the Napa Valley Rubicon estate.

An ‘06 Russian River (Sonoma County) Chardonnay ($17) was pleasant, but not special. Satisfactory flavor, nice dryness and finish, only a little of the California-style "buttery" flavor that bothers me. Many like that flavor more than I do, however.

Three Sonoma County reds were delicious, led by an ‘06 Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley ($17), a splendid wine with a bargain price tag. It’s rich and brambly, with tobacco overtones in the aroma and a deep, oaky feel on the palate. It will be helped by a year or two of aging, which will turn it into one terrific wine.

The 2005 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($21), with some grapes from the glorious Jordan vineyards, is excellent. Black currants and plums dominate the aroma and flavor, and it has a long, delightful finish. Another year in the bottle will improve it.

As background, Koeller brought along a DVD of Coppola’s brilliant "The Conversation," a 1974 release that earned him Oscars. Made two years after "The Godfather," it has a marvelous tone and feel, the San Francisco fog creeping between the frames of film as it ran, a silent backdrop to the dinner. As a professional eavesdropper, Gene Hackman is terrific, and to see then-young actors like the late John Cazale, Teri Garr, Harrison Ford, Frederic Forrest and an uncredited Robert Duvall is a real pleasure. Taut, tense and terrific.

-Joe