Back from TasteCamp East

We just got home from the first TasteCamp East organized by Lenn Thompson and this is the first chance I've had all weekend to post something. Actually, I'm totally wiped from a marathon tasting Saturday of over one hundred wines and five separate wineries (and several more represented) so, this is going to be brief. I just want to put up a few pics and impressions from the weekend.

Before this weekend we'd tried less than five Long Island wines. I was impressed by the overall level of quality of the wines tried this weekend but more so, I was impressed by how attuned the wine makers seem to be with the land. The weekend's featured wineries may not represent the whole of Long Island winemaking but, the philosophy was echoed often enough to indicate an obvious trend in Long Island toward sustainable and bio-dynamic farming practices. Anyone can make wine in a test-tube but it takes a certain commitment and zeal to make it in the vineyard.

Macari and Shinn seem to be well on their way to organic certification. The area has it's difficulties which has made it a particular challenge to move away from chemical pesticides and fungicides. The practices at Shinn and Macari are even informing Cornell's organic viticulture experiment which nearly "failed" but has ultimately achieved some success thanks to Barbara Shinn's coaxing. They are changing the vineyard management paradigm over there.

There was such a number of tremendous wines (plenty so-so wine too) that I don't even know where to start. My tasting notes fizzled after Roanoke where they had the foresight to seat us at a table (note-taking surface) and bring the wine to us (kudos Roanoke). I will say that as an outsider, I think the biggest challenge for Long Island wines is their price to quality ratio. Yes, they are making some kick-ass wines but a lot of them are priced beyond their peers in other regions. Most (emphasis on the most) are staying true to the region and not trying to mimic another style, so perhaps with time the QPR will improve.

Having said that, I think Shinn will be able to fetch a tidy sum for their 2007 Cab Franc once it's released. This is a wine that goes deep. At the end of the day, we found the best QPR for our money at Lenz. Eric Fry wine maker and all-around character*, seems to be on a mission at Lenz. When you visit Eric's tasting room, he will not impose his preconceptions (or your own for that matter) on you by doing anything so covertly influencing as announcing the varietal being poured. That would be mind control and Eric doesn't do that. But wait, there's more: He is a die-hard protagonist against the evil Astrigent Tannins. He has also taken it upon himself to age his wines for consumers (because if he doesn't do it, chances are nobody will). All of this adds up to some mighty fine juice (depending on the vintage). He likes it. We kinda did too.

* Sorry, we were too distracted to capture any photos of Eric Fry

Piemonte! As goes WBW, so goes SLG!

I got an email from B today exclaiming her disappointment that she wasn’t able to get the Wine Blogging Wednesday together in time and that it is for Piemonte wines. Not to worry B, I’ve got your back. McDuff’s Food and Wine Trail will have a posting from SLG!

I love Piemonte for a wine region, it is perhaps one of my favorites. The wines have been kissed by the land with wonderful herb and floral qualities that I think compare with the garrigue of Côtes du Rhône. Mind you, I’m using this as a datum of comparable magnitude, not a head-to-head comparison. That would be silly and violate the proposition that all terroir are created unequally.

I love Barbera. I love Barbera for its floral notes and its bouncy fruit. It is a wine that does well oaked or not. All of the Barbera wines that I have had have been from Sonoma. This is my first Piemonte DDOC Barbera. Let’s see how this did. Will I be happy or disappointed?

Barbera
Mattei
Piemonte DDOC
Vintage: 2005
Alcohol: 13%
Price: $13.99

Color: Ruby
Intensity: Moderately Dark
Aromas: Rose, ham, mushroom, raisin, savory herbs
Flavors: Cherry, strawberry, licorice, blueberry, plum
Body: Full
Acidity: Crisp
Sweetness: Dry
Tannins: Mild tannins,
Finish: Moderate

Summary: This is just a delightful wine with some dried flowers, berries and licorice. It has very mild tannins. Very drinkable with a wonderful mouth feel. There is a smokiness to it that isn’t barrel or toast, but more like caramelized ham which I wish I was having with this. After a while, the plum kicks in. As I would expect from a Piemonte, this wine has not been oaked and smoked to death. I’m just digging this wine.


I would have this wine with glazed ham, tomatoes and mozzarella or even without food. (Okay, I’m nuts, of course you should have food with this!) The fruitiness of this wine and the floral essences would be just great with bacon wrapped tenderloin. Perhaps a ratatouille, yah, that would work too. I would even go Mediterranean with eggplant salads. Oooh, tapas! Bacon wrapped dates and orejas.

WBW #53 Wine with Breakfast

This month's theme from our Twisted Host Jeff Stai, AKA El Jefe of Twisted Oak Winery, is one that is sure to inspire some good old fashioned debauchery: Wine with Breakfast. No bubbles, dessert wines, or mimosa's allowed! Dear me! Since I just don't have a stomach for booze before noon, I decided to go with a late "brunch" frittata. As you can see, I served it up while still in my jammies. This frittata had hash browns on the bottom, a little cheese, and some roasted red peppers, and was garnished with scallions, salsa, and sour cream.

Okay, there are several ways we could have gone with this food pairing. However, the overwhelming influence, thanks to the potato and sour cream was Northern European. I think this eggy delight could have paired nicely with a buttery Montagny 1er Cru or a nice bright Alsace Pinot Gris, but we had no such thing on hand.

The dish reminded me a lot of something the german side of my family used to make: Potato pancakes (with sour cream of course). Correct me if I'm wrong, but Germans would never have wine with breakfast..? Right? No, I think they would have beer. Now, go with me here for a second; frittatas are also a lot like pizza except with potato and egg instead of dough and sauce, and since I'm told that Italians never drink wine with pizza, I think my choice is clear and justified... That's right. Beer. Especially, if you're having pizza for breakfast, right? Any college kid could tell you that. Okay, okay, I cheated. I didn't see anything specifically barring beer in the rules though...

Long Trail Hefeweizen is one of my favorite Hefeweizens. I think Jeff will also appreciate that the word "Hefe" features prominently in the name. I first experienced Hefeweizen in a biergarten in Germany where it was served in a long skinny glass with a wedge of lemon. Long Trail has the closest thing to that authentic Hefeweizen that I've found. It has aromas of white blossoms on the nose, and is slightly sweet. The tiny bubbles provide a nice smooth mouthfeel overall, with a crisp lemony attack. Just for the record, I did try some chard that was laying around but, this beer was definitely the match to beat.

Thanks to El Jefe for this month's twisted WBW theme (sorry, I cheated!!) and, as always, a shout out to WBW founder Lenn Thompson. Now for the parting money shot of my frittata!

WBW #51: Madeirized

This month Joe over at 1WineDude is hosting Wine Blogging Wednesday, the monthly event where wine bloggers write on a theme chosen by the host. This month's theme is cooked wine (not the bad kind). Madeira is unique in that it is exposed to heat during the wine-making process as well as being fortified. The fortification stops the fermentation process, and raises the alcohol level making it perfect for those bothersome long sea voyages aboard a man-of-war. Oh... Perfect because it resists spoilage, of course. It was one of the favorite imports of Great Britain and her colonies in the 18th century. In fact, Madeira actually owes its style to its sea-faring past: Vinho da roda was Madeira that had made the roundtrip on a sea voyage and its transformed flavors were preferred to the stuff straight off the island. So, producers developed methods to imitate on land, the jostling and heating effect of a voyage at sea.

By the way, I had the pleasure of meeting the Wine Dude, along with Mrs. Dude and the little dudette (such a chill baby) at the Wine Bloggers Conference in October. Joe is one cool cat, so check out his blog if you haven't (which you probably have because it's notorious).

Anyway, back to the Madeira. We tried the Blandy's Verdelho Reserve. According to wikipedia, Verdelho is characterized by smokey notes and high acidity. Reserve just means it was aged for a minimum of five years and the classification is 'bottom of the barrel', so to speak. The classifications go up from there. The name pretty much says it all for the Blandy's Verdelho: Blandy. Rhymes with brandy. It has a brandy-like nutty aroma nose, and the flavor? Bland. Sorry, I guess that is to be somewhat expected with Verdelho which is a milder style but, this pretty much tasted like fancy juice-box. I didn't find it smokey and the acidity was about the equivalent of apple raspberry Juicy Juice. A little harsh maybe but, I guess I'm still a little pissed that I spent thirty bucks on this grog. Unfortunately, it was either this or a $40 bottle of Blandy's.

I could see using this Madeira for canning cherries or marinating fruit, or pouring over a fruit cake or something. At $2.31 a gallon, I could also see filling my gas tank with thirty dollars, but hey, what's done is done.

Thanks again to 1WineDude for hosting this month's theme. I'm sorry I couldn't pick a winner Joe, but I hope you are enjoying yours.

Dogtown, WBW #50

This is a being posted simultaneously on SMU

For those reading in on Shooting My Universe, Wine Blogging Wednesday is a monthly tradition where wine bloggers all over the world blog on the same topic. Our WBW host this month Russ, from Winehiker Wititculture wants us to come up with a hike and a matching wine for this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday.

On Harry Chapin’s first album Heads and Tails, he had a song Dogtown. Dogtown is an actual location in Gloucester Massachusetts. Harry liked to write songs that told stories. Taxi, Cat’s in the Cradle, Mr. Tanner, Thirty Thousand Pounds of Bananas just to name a couple.

Well, Dogtown is a song about a woman who is widowed in Gloucester and it gives a little history about the area. I didn't understand the song when I first heard it, but when I rediscovered it after moving to Gloucester, I had an epiphany.

Today, Dogtown is set aside for a watershed and for hiking, horseback riding and biking. You can read about this interesting chunk of land on the Dogtown Massachusetts page on Wikipedia.org.

During the depression, a man named Roger Babson commissioned out of work stone cutters to carve inscriptions in rocks in Dogtown. These have become known as Babson Rocks.

I’m still clearing out the effects of the flu that hit me last Friday. My sensory capabilities are not up to speed yet. I had a wonderful Heitz wine picked out for this posting, but we’re saving it for when my nose isn’t in a sling and my tongue isn’t on crutches. I do have a wine that I bought two bottles of last January. I’m going to have a glass while I sort through some photos I took in Dogtown.

Domaine Le Pigeonnier 2005
Côtes du Rhône
Alcohol: 13%
Price: $9.29
Color: Deep Ruby-Purple
Grapes: Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre


You can read about Domaine Le Pigeonnier 2005 on our earlier post.

WBW #50 Tomorrow: Wine and Wilderness

Okay, you guys, I need your help with this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday. Our favorite Wine Witiculturalist Russ, from Winehiker Wititculture wants us to come up with a hike and a matching wine for this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday. Russ conducts Wine Hikes in California and I can't think of anything more perfect than a nature walk in wine country followed by a great local wine. I think this month's WBW theme is a great idea and great way of getting Wine Bloggers out on the trail!

We got out on the trail but, here's where we need help: See, it's Fall here in New England, and it's, well it's not truly cold yet, but it's crisp. When considering what beverage we would enjoy after our nature walk, we weren't sure but we thought it should probably be from a thermos--and hot. We were coming up with things like mulled cider, or cocoa, but we just couldn't think of a wine for our walk. So, I'm asking you, dear reader, to look at the photos below from our walk at the Parker River Wildlife Refuge and give us some suggestions on what wine you could imagine yourself drinking in this setting. Russ is giving extra credit for local wines (local for us would be Massachusetts) but, anything goes!


The Parker River National Wildlife Refuge is located on Plum Island which lies between Newburyport and Ipswich, MA. It is separated from the mainland by an estuary. Our friend, a wildlife photographer from Florida was in town so we met up with him so the guys could do some bird photography (that's them on the trail above).

There aren't that many bird species hanging around this time of year but, a good time was still had by all. We saw dozens of Monarch butterflies gorging on what we believe was goldenrod. They were really tolerant and afforded us some great close-up views. The Plum Island light was erected in 1898 next to the site of an older "Bug" light which had been moved several times due to shifting sand dunes. The lighthouse is accessible without entering the Wildlife Refuge.





Don't forget to add your wine suggestions for a Plum Island nature walk in the Comments, and thanks for your help!

WBW #48 Roots? What Roots?

This month, Wine Blogging Wednesday goes right back where it started from. WBW creator, Lenn Thompson is hosting once again and has given us a fitting assignment: Back to Your Roots. Right away I’m in trouble because I have no roots. My family has no roots. I was born in Canada, grew up in California, and currently reside in New England. My maternal grandmother doesn’t know what town her parents were born in. I stammer when people ask me “where are you from” and expect a succinct answer. But, we’re talking about wine so my itinerant personal history should be less of a factor. Let me see now…Wine roots--shouldn’t be difficult…Right, so...Scarcely over a decade since I turned 21…roots, roots, roots...I got nothin’!

Okay, maybe not nothing: I did a stint as a hostess when I was 22 working in a bistro which boasted a very extensive port collection; in fact, the largest selection of Port wine (dating back to 1896) on the West Coast—pretty impressive. I had the opportunity to taste several very good, and quite old ports while working there. So, roots? Yes, perhaps... But, when it came to shelling out $50 for a 20 year old Tawny Port for WBW, I wasn’t really feeling it.

So, what’s left then?

You guessed it: California Chardonnay.

My parents usually kept a bottle of Chardonnay in the fridge when I was growing up. Chardonnay is the first wine I remember trying. Kendall Jackson is the first brand I can remember liking.

So, I’m at the wine shop last weekend, and not feeling particularly excited about the prospect of buying a bottle of Kendall Jackson just for WBW. So I decided my approach would be to buy a California Chardonnay using the same selection criteria I would have used way back in the mid-nineteen-nineties when I first began purchasing wine. Those criteria were: a) Under $9.99 b) Attractive Name and/or Label c) Not Fetzer/Gallo.

I found a Russian River Chardonnay that met my stringent guidelines: Angeline 2006. We love visiting the Russian River by the way. We haven’t been to many of the wineries there but, Hop Kiln stands out in my memory. Also, Chai Baba chai.

Angeline Chardonnay 2006

AVA: Russian River
Color: Straw
Intensity: Medium
Aromas: Butter, pear, mushroom
Flavors: Mineral, peach, pear, butter, strawberry
Body: Full
Acidity: Moderate


Summary: The label declares a hint of oak, and they are true to their word. Some butter is there but it’s definitely not a butter-bomb. This wine has a surprisingly mineral mid-palate for a Chardonnay with a round, fruity, medium-length finish. Great with chicken; bit of a let down with cheese and crackers. Still, it’s a decent bottle for under $10 and certainly a nice alternative to Kendall Jackson or Yellowtail that I would recommend trying in place of either of those.

WBW #48 - Going Back to my Roots.

Taster B usually handles the WBW, but I couldn’t resist doing one of my own. In the wine store, we were trying to decide what to buy. California Chardonnay seemed to be a common ground, but I cut my teeth before the influence of oak. Taster B was reaching for something buttery.

My thoughts were that going back to my wine roots may be like being like going back to high school. I've moved on to bigger and better things. Besides, the only time I go back to my high school is in a bad dream where I usually find myself in math class unprepared for the final exam and I’ve blown off all semester. But going back to my wine roots may be philosophically easier than going back to high school.

In my wine youth, I wasn’t married to a particular style of wine. It just had to be affordable for a graduate student living on a few hundred per month. I didn’t like cheap wine, but I did have a jug of Carlo Rossi Chablis in the fridge at all times. This was mainly for cooking chicken, white pasta sauces and worked well as a marinade with ginger.

I liked good wine and became a master scrounge with an eye for good wine at good prices. So, I could have chosen Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Rosé de Anjou, Chardonnay, Chablis, Chianti (in fiascos of course). What to choose? We have lots of Cabs and Merlots already. I did find a Chianti in a fiasco, but I wasn't about to pay $14.00 for bad chianti.

I really had my heart set on going to the basic foundation of my wine experience; Catawba from New York State. But that is like finding a needle in a hay stack. I did find a wine that is close to one of my early wine experiences when my mother and I shared a half bottle of Rosé de Anjou at a restaurant some 25 years ago.



We sourced this wine from Ceres Street Wind Merchants, a store famous for carrying wines that are true to type.

Terrasses
Château Pesquié

Vintage: 2007
Blend: 50% Cinsault, 40% Grenache, 10% Syrah
AVA: Rhone Valley
Alcohol: 13%
Price: $14.99

Color: Scarlet
Intensity: Pale
Aromas: Strawberry, cranberry, kiwi, wet stone, lavender, rose
Flavors: Strawberry, cranberry, pomegranate, citrus zest
Body: light
Acidity: Moderately crisp
Sweetness: Dry
Finish: Moderate

Summary: This is a summertime wine. The back of the bottle says Tasting 45 deg F, Aged 2 years. This has me a little confused as the labeled vintage is 2007. This is a nice dry Rosé that is bright. As the wine warmed up in the glass, there were hints of floral and zest notes. Not overly complex, but definitely refreshing fruit qualities. It stood up well to sun dried tomato and gorgonzola ravioli with red sauce. I thought that it would get lost, but it held its own.

After the glass was emptied and sat for a while, I decided to give it a sniff; rose, unmistakable rose.


The great thing about Rosé is that it will stand up to spicier dishes and be gentle enough for poultry. In the summer, I would serve this with shrimp, pork, brie, lentil salad, salmon, smoked oysters, clams, lobster, crab, anything vegetarian, baked haddock sandwich, squid, rack of lamb…I could go on and on.

WBW #46: Two Inexpensive Rhône Whites

Dr. Debs picked this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday theme with summer in mind. We decided to try two inexpensive Rhône whites since that was what was available.

The first selection was Parallèle “45” 2006 and here are excerpts from our wine selection process for your consumer habits study:

Taster A: “Oh, that’s half way to the North Pole…”
Taster B: “Yeah, that’s two degrees north of us—we should try it.”


Grapes: 50% Grenache Blanc, 20% Marsanne, 20% Viognier, 10% Bourboulenc. This wine was all about the zest: Lime zest…grapefruit zest…pith. While it had some tropical hints this isn’t a wine that I’d sip on the patio—it needs to be consumed with food. When it comes to wine and food pairings, occasionally we find a wine doesn’t work at all with a particular dish; most of the time it’s just neutral (neither competing with nor enhancing the meal); and then, every once in a while, we get lucky…

In Parallèle “45” we find an ideal pairing for pesto. The wine brought out dimensions of nuttiness in the pesto that were not present in the absence of this particular wine. Our second Rhône white was an acceptable match with the pesto, but didn’t exhibit the dynamic ‘greater-than-the-sum-of-its-parts’ reaction with the dish. I will definitely seek this bottle out again when planning a summer pesto meal. It’s one of those rare matches made in heaven.

Our second selection, E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône Blanc 2005, was less about the zest. We found some pleasant aromas of pear, lychee, lemon, marzipan and orange blossom. Conversely, the first taste of this wine smarts a bit. It’s very dry and mineral with grapefruit on the palate…Can’t say I was overly fond of it at first but, we hauled it out again for a meal of poached haddock seasoned with lemon, tarragon, and marjoram. Suddenly, this ugly duckling became a graceful swan. I get so caught up in the habit of ‘tasting’ wine that I forget to drink it sometimes. This is a drinking wine--it wants to be swallowed because of how it feels on the back of the tongue.

To get an idea of how remarkable this wine was paired with our seafood dish, just recall the driest most spartan wine you ever tasted. We’re talking about the kind of wine that puts a tiny vise on every taste bud and thumbscrews on both sides of your tongue. Now imagine this same wine, by virtue of the meal beside it, magically becoming buttery and rich. Can this really happen with a $12 table wine? I’m here to tell you it can.

Once paired with food, subtle flavors of melon began to emerge. At one point, the distinct aroma of fresh cut green grass opened up on the nose.

Thanks to Dr. Debs for hosting and picking this month’s theme for WBW. These wines reminded me of why I started this blog: Not just to post an endless stream of predictable tasting notes but, to relate an experience with a wine that was totally unexpected, or one that reminds me of a basic principal I knew once but had forgotten, or both.

WBW #45 Old World Riesling: Mosel Saar Ruwer (The Un-Cola)

For this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday, Tim Elliott from Winecast brings us to Northern Europe where we find some of the best examples of Riesling. I admit I'm not a huge white wine drinker but, I do enjoy a nice dry Alsace Riesling. Since, WBW is all about trying new things we decided to try a sweeter Riesling. We settled on a Mosel Saar Ruwer producer.

St. Urbans-Hof Winery is located in the village of Leiwen with estate vineyards scattered on various slopes of the Mosel and Saar Rivers. This wine is designated Qualitatswein which is the basic level of German wine quality. So, was this sickly-sweet plonk or a fine example of terroir-driven wine made from Germany's 'King of White Wine Grapes'?

Weingut St Urbans-Hof
Riesling

Vintage: 2007
Growing region: Mosel Saar Ruwer
Alcohol: 10%
Price paid: $14.99

Color: light hay
Aromas: limon*, pineapple, wet stone/slate, honey
Flavors: apple, pineapple, orange blossom, lemon, lime, mica

First pour was a touch warm and smelled remarkably similar to a warm 7•Up...or maybe it was Sprite (*I noted 'limon' in my tasting notes). AH-HA-HAaa... Beyond the clear citrus-effervescence notes, are ripe pineapple and soft hints of wet stone. The back label notes the fruit came from sites featuring slate soils and I concur it's easy to find slate on the nose. On the palate we find apple, pineapple, and orange blossom. Also there is a rich mineral component that reminded me of Mom's Mary Kay lipstick (which I thought would be best described as "mica"). The wine has medium light body and a moderate citrus and mineral finish--not cloying. This is a basic wine with a light touch, delicate sweetness and nice round mouthfeel.

We tried this wine paired with a few different dishes but by far the best pairing was fish tacos topped with lime-tossed cabbage, tomato, cilantro, avocado, and creamy chipotle sauce. The light sweetness and effervescence of the Riesling is a perfect foil to the spicy, smoky sauce and creamy avocado. Before having tried this combo my mind would usually zero in on Corona with lime for fish tacos. Now I can't imagine anything better than an off-dry Riesling to go with Baja cuisine.

Once again, we have to give a shout out to Tim for this month's WBW theme. Also a big shout out to another Riesling advocate and WBW Founder, Lenn Thompson. I will definitely be picking up more Mosel Rieslings to go with my lighter summer fare this season.

WBW #44 Loire Lovefest...or not.

Wow! This WBW comes on the heels of a Wine Blogging firestorm concerning the sudden appearance on the scene of meta-wine-blog spoof WINE-ING 2.0. Efforts to ascertain the identity of the mastermind behind the site carried on throughout the weekend and into Tuesday amidst swirling accusations. Earlier speculation seemed to point to our own WBW Founder, Lenn Thompson but, the exposé turned out to be another red herring. At the time of this writing, it is not clear if any further investigation is being pursued as wine bloggers began to realize late Tuesday that they might prefer not to learn the author's true identity.

In light of recent developments, I’m sure I’m not the only member of the wine blogging community who found it difficult to get off social-networking app turned real-time newsfeed, Twitter and get down to the business of writing up a kick-ass WBW post that would show well beneath the glow cast by Wine 2.0 Brand Giant, gary vay•ner•chuk. Powered by Viddler

Another thing that made this WBW difficult to write is the fact that I couldn’t find many nice things to say about the wine I selected. Gary is such a positive person, and I really wanted to echo that positivity. Gary gives so much and I wanted to return the flow so, to that end, I put together this collage to salute our famous WBW #44 host.


Sorry about Corky Gary. You understand I don’t think it’s too late for him I just thought this might be what you needed to see right now to help avoid such a fate for potential Killer App, cork’d™. (For anyone not familiar with Tenacious D & the POD, the evil-looking green horned thing actually symbolizes the magical quality that transforms mere mortals into Rock Stars)

Now for the wine which was a Jean-Marie Raffault Les Galuches Chinon 2005. This wine actually would be really good in a blend. I could see blending a barrel of this wine with say, sixteen barrels of Cabernet Sauvignon and 3 barrels of Merlot; that would be good. It would also be okay to use this bottle, which retails around $13-$18, in a stew. Other than that, the best thing about this rather unattractively labeled bottle of Chinon is the photo I took featuring my Pysanky eggs.

It was very difficult to find a Loire red wine in my area and this was actually the only bottle available in the 4 wine shops we visited. I wish we could have found another one to compare it to. We have had good Cab Franc but it was from Long Island . I wish we’d had time to buy the WBW Sampler Pack from Domaine547 [ "ripping cute!” –gary vaynerchuck, WLTV]. We sampled this wine three different times over the course of three nights. We tried it paired with lamb, with chicken, with hard cheese, with steak. Gary? Was this French Cab Franc theme your April Fools joke? The wine tasted like burnt strawberries: If you took a piece of unripe fruit and completely carbonized the outer layer, that’s what this wine tasted like. Was the wine corked? It didn’t have the musty aroma or vinegary flavors that I would normally detect in a corked bottle. Actually, out of curiousity, I looked up some tasting notes from Wine Advocate: “beef broth” (yep) “iodine” (yep) “faintly saline on the palate” (mm-hmm)... This was not the worst bottle of wine I’ve ever had. It was simply the worst bottle (IMHO) that I’ve ever had to post on my blog.

Thanks again to our affable host Gary Vaynerchuck for bringing the Thunder to this month’s WBW. It was fun! We don’t have a WLTV badge link to Wine Library TV on Smells Like Grape for the simple reason that everybody else does. However, I'll make an exeption in honor of this momentous occassion.

WBW #43 Comfort Wine

This month’s theme for Wine Blogging Wednesday is Comfort Wines. (yay!) It sounds like our busy host is due for some indulgence in comfort and relaxation with a new baby and launching OpenWine Consortium in the same month--Whew! So, here’s to our host Joel—Cheers!

[Attention Grammar Police: The following post is rife with incongruous parenthetical comments, ellipses, and creative grammar. That’s how I communicate. Try to roll with it.]

So, what wine do I like to unwind with? It doesn’t really matter what wine, as long as it’s what I’m in the mood for, although, most likely it is red and contains some Cabernet Sauvignon.

This is where I like to unwind; in my kitchen (as pictured above in the moonlight) with Taster A of course. We’ll sit here in the evening, each with our glass of wine, and swirl – sniff – swirl - sniff. Actually, "sniff" isn’t quite accurate; it sounds too dainty…

The Art of the Nasal Pull
Its not unlike Tai Chi actually: A deep inhalation in through the nose, then exhale out through the mouth.

“…all the way out…just let all the tension and worries of the day go as you exhale...” aaahhhhhh (a line from my Tai Chi DVD)

Actually, when I'm all stressed out, I need to unwind with some form of exercise before sitting down with a glass of wine. I like to be in a good mood when I crack open a bottle.

[Warning: The following paragraph contains sci-fi references of a geeky nature. Reader discretion is advised]

I definitely enjoy a good 'sniffing wine'. I find a good nose on a wine can be more intoxicating than drinking the wine itself. Sometimes when I dip my nose below the rim of a glass of wine it’s like putting a hand through the veil (and here I have a vague recollection of an episode of the Twilight Zone) into a different dimension.

“A dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity...”

…and, yes, when I am relaxing with a great comfort wine, these are the kind of thoughts that go through my mind.

Seven Flowery Words (WBW #42) Boony Doon 2005 Ferraris Piemonteses Blend

Victoriana is now and it is rose-scented.

WBW #41: Friuli-Venezia Giulia white wines

We are very excited about our first Wine Blogging Wednesday entry. So excited that we botched it a little!

Finding the Wine
I had hoped to find a 2006 Friulano Blanco as recommended by Boulder sommelier Bobby Stuckey in this month’s issue of Runner’s World (since we lived there for 8+ years), but as our hosts at Fork and Bottle indicated, it was not easy to find any Friuli-Venezia-Guilia at the recommended price point in any of our usual shops.

We started by trekking down to one of the larger liquor stores in our area and could only come up with an $8.99 bottle of Ruffino. So, by the following weekend, when after another unsuccessful shopping trip at an actual Wine Shop I found a bottle marked “Friuli” at a small package store, I leapt for it. The next day, we finally went into our neighborhood ‘Liquor Locker’ where we found at last the coveted bottle of >$18 Friuli-Venezia-Guilia.

Only after we got all three bottles together, did we realize that one didn’t fit the profile. We included it anyway!

The Flight:

Ruffino Lumina Pinot Grigio 2005
First impression was oak and grapefruit zest, followed by mineral--reminiscent of a Chardonnay.

Albola Pinot Grigio 2005 (the renegade!)
First impression was of brie, and fig and reminiscent of a Sauvignon Blanc.

Bortoluzzi Pinot Grigio 2006
First impression was that it was very similar to the Albola: More stinky fromage, and fig, as well as Clementine. This one however, was more like a Riesling than a Sauvignon Blanc with a fizzy mouth feel.

Second Impressions
After going back to the Ruffino, the nose has gone harsh, almost chemically. Taster A smells heavy toast and I smell carbonized lighter fluid. Taster A suggests it smells like over-toasted pine-nuts. Let’s find out! We burned some pine-nuts over the stove and took a whiff: I then smelled the Ruffino and now it smelled like burnt nuts with tree fruit. More pleasant than a chemical fire but, still not my item!
I thought the Bortoluzzi, with its Riesling character would pair well with baklava—it definitely has a honey aroma. Taster A said “no way.” So, we got out some honey: I think it worked. Taster A thought it made the wine taste sour.

Pairings
With the undeniable odor of cheese from the Albola and Bortoluzzi, I figured a natural choice would be brie. The Albola actually stood up to the brie better than the Bortoluzzi. That leaves us with only the theoretical pairing of Mu Shu pork for the Bortoluzzi, or anything that you would pair with a dry Riesling.
The Albola went well with brie, and also with split pea soup. The Ruffino wasn’t bad with split pea soup either (think liquid smoke).

Final Thoughts
Quality followed the price point pretty consistently with the Ruffino being the most rustically manipulated, and the Bortoluzzi the most refined. For our money, the Albola at $12.99 and with a little more backbone than the Bortoluzzi was the best choice (oops! the non-Venezia-Giulia took the prize--the Bortoluzzi was the winner in the Venezia-Giulia division :))

We were really happy with our flight of three Friuli wines which gave us a chance to get a feel for the broad range of flavor characteristics that can be achieved with one varietal: Pinot Grigio. We had the charry chardonnay-like Ruffino, the taut Sauvignon Blancesque Albola, and the eloquent Riesling-reminiscent Bortoluzzi.

The Details
Ruffino Lumina
2005 Pinot Grigio
Venezia Giulia IGT
Alcohol: 12.5%
Cost: $8.99

Albola
2005 Pinot Grigio
Friuli Aquileia DOC

Alcohol: 12%
Cost: $11.99

Bortoluzzi
2006 Pinot Grigio
Venezia Giulia IGT
Alcohol: 13.5%
Cost: $19.99