BRAMBLES: Waiting for Winter

Mission Ridge, Santa Clara County

Drought seems on the surface natural for grape vine 'dry farming', the sustained use of residual moisture in soils accumulated during the rainy season for crop production during the dry season.  Local grape growers had a relatively dry Winter in 2012-13, so water tables and reserves were already low.  January and February here were without significant rainfall, and saw to it that our hills and vineyards stayed golden brown. Now almost in mid-March, we here are still waiting for needed Winter rains, as rainfall amounts are about half of what they were this time last year.  Dormant grape vines store water during the Winter, but this year there is again, not alot to go around.  Recently, after the storm door had opened slightly, we took a short needed road trip to a drier, warmer climate south into the Livermore Valley AVA.

Just over the San Francisco Bay hills, the east-west oriented Livermore Valley was basking in sunlight. Spring bulbs, early season wildflowers and flowering shrubs splashed color across the backdrop of newly green hillsides. It was beautiful!  The valley is home to about 50 wineries in a ten(10) mile stretch, dotting an increasingly suburban landscape.  Early names like Wente, Concannon and Murietta's Well are prominently part of this areas California viticultural history from the pioneering 1880's. The AVA is today part of the larger Central Coast AVA, and its sub-region, San Francisco Bay AVA, as the Bay's influence can be felt by the cooling winds that race across its rolling hillsides.

Here the smaller producers open their doors and get by with direct to consumer sales and retail placements in local restaurants and bottle shops, but our first stop was at a large, nationally distributed brand, Concannon.  Recent investment into the brands production and visitor facility brings out the family picnics to their expansive and creatively landscaped grounds, as well as the limousines of younger wine lovers who toy in their tasting room. Creatively, the long established brand also has a restaurant and wine bar that serves local & import brands in addition to their own.  During our recent tasting, our favorite was the Concannon 2008 Petite Sirah with its mouth-filling black fruit and fine grain tannins.

 

Way back in the early 1880's, a nursery-man from southeastern France, Dr. Francois Durif, crossed a workhorse variety, Peloursin, with a late-season ripening indigenous grape, Syrah.  He named his grape progeny, Durif.  James Concannon planted the new variety, now commonly known as Petite Sirah, on his estate at the turn of the 20th century, and the rest is as they say, history.

We did not have to travel very far to find the down-home Mitchell Katz winery; a horse-drawn surrey was in the gravel parking lot and locally made sausage were on the grill.  Our tasting included several adequate white & red selections, but the consensus favorite was the fruit driven bing cherry notes in the 2010 Abbout's Acres Merlot. Here we conversed with a local vineyard owner who was staking his sweat and fortune on the minor variety Sangiovese planted nearby. He announced that he had just returned from a much needed vineyard pruning, only to find that his freshly cut cane's did not weep a drop. "They need a good soaking", he cautioned. As the afternoon winds picked up we drove a short distance into the hills and across another gravel lot to the McGrail Winery.  Easily the best reds of the day were found here with the 2008 Picazo Proprietary Red(a Bordeaux blend) and a solid rockstar of a young, herbaceous Cabernet Sauvignon.

Gravel is big here; you can see it in the log row vineyard soils.  But most noticeable was the advanced new leaf growth in row after row, a sign that bud break occurred very early here in this warmer inland environment. Just as in the wine valleys above the Bay's north shore, we are all waiting for Winter. With no rain in the regions extended forecast, it would seem to be a good time to plan a visit to a few more of these down-home vintners.  Livermore Valley Wine Country's 6th Annual Barrel Tasting weekend is on March 29/30, with 32 open-armed venues ready to sample and to entertain winelovers.

Awakening Bud Break

With Spring just a few weeks away, I'm also waiting for the much anticipated results of my submitted teaching video to the Society of Wine Educators.  Waiting seems to be the constant theme for this Winter.  We are waiting for the rains, waiting for the seasonal chill, and waiting for consequence of our many years of wine study.  Perhaps that is the wonderful and curious thing about Winter; it is the sustained anticipation of a renewed growth season... just like the dry farming of our winegrape crop.

Salute' and Cheers!!

BLENDING: Truth in Plurals

Tradition is a wonderful thing because it takes time. So much time in fact, as it cannot be the latest or a nouveau trend.  In wine traditions, balance becomes harmonious when more than a single note is played. But are two notes enough?  Wouldn't three or four or a dozen be richer, more interesting. Complexity in wine is also a wonderful thing when found as by expanding the palate of flavors, and even textures, as well as its structure. Yin and yang, Merlot ripens earlier in the vineyard; its feminine roundness is there to balance out the course, in your teeth structure of late ripening Cabernet Sauvignon. Blending then sees that a sum is greater than its individual parts. Early ripening Sauvignon Blanc is lean and brightly acidic. Semillon is richer, its late ripening berries almost waxy in its stone fruit textures. Together they make a more interesting, a fuller white wine. It's a vino scored correction, and I love the music.

Drinking outside of school, Bordeaux

On a cool and rainy evening, I recently presented an informational Bordeaux seminar to a small group of dauntless and supportive wine lovers.  They attentively listened as I hemorrhaged dusty detail after (hopefully)intriguing detail of the serendipity that is the story of the evolution of Bordeaux white wines. As its tale unfolds, it is not just a few events strung together over the long course of history, but rather a series of actions and re-actions, geography and politics, necessity and innovation, that harmonize into the engaging wines of Bordeaux.

This white Bordeaux presentation also included a few examples of fascinatingly blended wines.  As is my nature, these products with 'Bordeaux' on the label were not expensive by contemporary standards. For less than the price of a lunch at a local diner I was able to enjoy centuries of harmonious evolution in a thirst quenching glass!  They presented aromas and a texture that altered my memory of Sauvignon Blanc, because it was a wine of beautiful complexity.  Sure the characteristic herbaceous was there in the nose, but it was not alone, sharing each wiff with yellow tree fruits, an almost familiar tangerine pith, and a hint of vanilla.  Round on the palate, it rolled over my tongue and presented reinforcements of its aromas, but now on the back of racy minerality. Its marriage to Semillon and its textured flavoring with oak created a sensation in the mouth that gave me pause.  It was quite unlike what I had tasted in recent memory.

And, it lingered.  Another sip followed a bite of a waterwafer smeared with L'Ami du Chambertin, a soft cows milk cheese, and the wine's expression was transformed.  There was that herbaceous personality, now sharing palate space with a refreshing, mouth-watering tartness. This wine had changed. With dairy fat its texture was diminished, yet it refreshingly made me thirsty for more.  Blending estate grown Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon, combined with a little oak aging, composed in this wine a richness and balance that I have rarely found in a white wine.

Throughout its long wine production history, Bordeaux has had an evolution of quality.  Native varietals, long known as the components of the 'Bordeaux blend', have been tested, acclimated and composed, to present a standard of quality found today in few other places in the wine world.  Whether a product of a historical estate(chateau), a negociant, or a local rural cooperative, the blended wines of Bordeaux(rouge or blanc) continue to reflect a long tradition of quality in blending.  It is truth in plural, from the most generic Bordeaux AOC, to the higher standards of sub-regional and village appellations.

Sauvignon Blanc harvest Ch. Couhins-Lurton, Graves

With our seminar video recording currently received by the Society, it is now a waiting game.  I've got a few Old World bottles and some unread wine books in the home library to keep me occupied.  The SWE will critically evaluate our submission for its educational merits and its continuity to our accepted production outline.  If approved, the video should satisfy the Presentation Skills Demonstration advancement requirement for my long awaited CWE certification. It is exciting to be near the end, but daunting to look forward into the unknown.  How will the Certificate, the initials after my name and a lapel pin translate into secure revenue or professional opportunities?  Perhaps I should explore another wine industry specialty, because as we know tradition tells us that there are truth in plurals!

Salute!

BORDEAUX: Great White Sighting

Vineland(Vinland) is how Leif Ericson described berry-bearing North America after sailing west about 1000 years ago.  If he had sailed south instead on to the Franc shores of Bordeaux, he would have discovered grapevines in much greater abundance in the gravel soils of the long established Roman outpost of Graves.  The Holy Empire had long since collapsed centuries earlier, and his fellow Viking raiders had already plundered Bordeaux and Gascony by the mid-9th century. But the vines and the wine culture had already been well established by Leif's time, their quality reputation increasingly galvanized from the English gains in the Hundred Years War. It was a succession of thirsty English kings who began exporting from the Right Bank of St. E'milion as early as 1302. The international business of Bordeaux took further steps in the centuries to come via the Dutch engineered drainage of its swamp water and the emergence of their many wine loving negociants.

In Bordeaux, the largest winegrowing area in France, almost 300,000 acres of vineyards support more than 13,000 grape growers and more than 10,000 producers. Annually, more than 960 million bottles, produced under 5 broad classifications, within 63 appellations continue to define this important commercial region. By comparison, all of California produces about 207 million cases of wine from more than 500,000 acres and 5000 grape growers. Bordeaux is a perfect place for the vine, vitis vinifera.  A maritime climate, its mild ambient temperature, combine with the natural drainage of its poor soils, the prominent influence of the numerous waterways(Aquitaine: land of many waters), and the protection from its western Landes forest to make Bordeaux a very unique vine land.  Here, the years can start out cold and wet, as they did in 2013, slowly producing drastically reduced yields from poor fruit set(coulure). Disappointment was compounded by record hail in August of that same year.  But, in Bordeaux, when one hand is soiled the other typically raises in triumph, as it did when the fungus botrytis(noble rot) broke out early enough to take advantage of good October weather in Barsac and Sauternes in the south.

'Noble Rot' fungus, botrytis cinerea

Its this on-the-edge environment that created a need to historically blend varietals, where the sum of the parts are greater than the whole. Unlike Burgundy, Alsace or the Rhineland, the Bordelaise have become the masters of that art; blends that optimize the unique ripening schedules and essential personalities of companion grape varieties. Combined with their growing export demand and commerce, regional quality controls were increasingly necessary. At the broad base of the stringent quality control pyramid Bordeaux AOC and Bordeaux Supe'rieur AOC represent slightly more than 50% of the Gironde department's annual production and can be produced from anywhere in the Bordeaux region. Cotes de Bordeaux,  a more limited & elevated designation is available to producers in the eastern banked hills above the river Garonne, and balance stringent regional AOC's of Me'doc, Graves, Saint-E'milion, Pomerol and Fronsac which straddle both sides of the important waterway.  Under this umbrella of locale there sits the sub-Me'doc classifications: Crus Artisans, and then Crus Bougeois which recognizes about 250 prized properties belonging to the Cru Bougeois Alliance.  Crowning the pyramid are the 61 chateaux ranked Grand Cru Classe's, spawning from the famous 1855 merchant ranking required by Emperor Napole'on III.  Historically, the commercial ranking was the first of its kind.

Gravel topsoils dominate vineyards of Graves

Within the 5-tier classification, only Chateau Haut-Brion in Graves was outside the northern region of the Me'doc.  Additionally, sweet white wine(27) properties from Sauternes and Barsac were ranked separately within three(3) Crus; with long revered Chateau d'Yaquem sitting at the top. Almost 100 years later, sixteen(16) properties south of the city of Bordeaux were classified as, Cru Classe' des Graves; established in 1953, it was revised in 1959. Geographically, these chateau were clustered in the north of this region, resulting in its world class reds and whites breaking away in 1987 to form the Pessac-Le'ognan AOC, as a more prestigious appellation. Although these regional siblings produce more white wine than red, it is the only place in Bordeaux where red and white wines are equally regarded, per wine historian Oz Clarke. Stemming from the 1959 administrative decree, quality semi-sweet and sweet wines were regulated under AOC Graves Supe'rieures.

If Entre Deux Mares, the land between two seas(rivers), is on the label the wine must be a white varietal blend from its sandy and clay soils.  Here, the large production regions best reds are sold as Bordeaux Supe'rieur. To the southwest, the white wine 'superior' appellations of Barsac and Sauternes produce luxuriously fine sweet wines of honey, fig and dried yellow fruit character in the viscous, rich body that makes the perfect match for foie gras, a rich cheese or a decadent fruit dessert.  Importantly, some of the greatest white wines in the world are produced in these regions, south of the city of Bordeaux.  At thier base is Semillion, an easy to grow thin-skinned variety is easily effected by botrytis, offering musky notes of apricot and oily honey; one of the most widely planted Bordeaux grape varieties a few centuries ago, but of late its vineyard march has reversed.  Much of its acreage has been taken by blending partner, noble Sauvignon Blanc, with its aromatic freshness, bright acidity and traces of minerality.  Together they are brilliantly yin and yang. In a support role, Muscadelle, is a minor white grape with bright floral tone, although it too is easily effected by the noble rot.

Every region needs a work horse.  Here, it is the ubiquitous Ugni Blanc(know as Trebbiano in Italy), where it produces aromatic though simple, everyday white table wines when it is not blended with other Bordeaux whites.  However in Cognac to the northeast, and in Armagnac to the south, this everyday worker is the varietal basis for the areas internationally famous fortified wines. Although not typically part of the Semillion-dominated blend that makes some of the worlds best sweet wines, Ugni Blanc does make its way into the beautiful, rich discoveries we so often called White Bordeaux.  Their body, their texture and aromatics make them richly different from Sancerre or a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.  These wines can be refreshingly complicated and multi-faceted, yet offer great examples of  food-friendly whites that marry beautifully with light seafood dishes or a light lunch. Should room be left for dessert, a Sauternes or a Barsac would be the perfect partner for a decadent fruit tart or creme brulee.

Great whites have been sighted in Bordeaux, and when found they offer us a discovery that would even make Leif envious. Cheers!

Recommended: Chateau Tertre de Launay Entre-Deux-Mers 2012


http://www.bordeaux.com/us

PAIRING: More than 2 Together?

Bright sunlight, clear skies and a neat garden made the lunch special.  We sat on the comfort of the deck, around our Summer table, although it was mild and late November!  Fettuccine Carbonara and a garden salad with a mild citrus vinaigrette danced here with an inexpensive White Burgundy from the 2009 harvest, still its briny acidity dancing in the mouth.

Anderson Valley AVA Hilltop

It had blossomed into a celebration of sorts.  A strong recovery after a serious illness is a good reason to celebrate, particularly when being in the Thanksgiving mood.  The Society of Wine Educators also had recently given their official approval of my examination of Wine Faults & Imbalances, thereby allowing progress to the Presentation Skills Demonstration.  The journey's end may be near, and that too is a reason to celebrate.  It is the Season, after all.

Refreshing Riesling likes acid, salt and oily pairings.

Merchandising, those Holiday parties, and the general euphoria of the good cheer expressed by friends, by family, and even by strangers, are the hallmarks of the weeks that followed.  It is the Season, after all.  Even as we were surrounded by the warmth of well wishers, my focus continued to return to the urgent need to submit a declared subject and an outline to the Society for my Presentation Skill video exam. One of six(6) subjects were available at this time, and I found myself only considering those that I thought that I had some confident command over.  But, the more I read about Carbonic Maturation, or the Wines of Sicily, or even White Burgundy, the more unsettled or unsure I found myself.

Demonstrating command of the subject matter with the ability to coherently present understandable details about the uniqueness of Chablis, or the white Aligonte' grape would certainly make Burgundy interesting. And the idea of being able to practically convey a fermentation inside of a grape berry, as is the case with carbonic maturation, actually made my head hurt a bit. Alternatively, having more than 3000 years of winemaking history, the paradise that is Sicily was definitely a ripe subject to consider.  Most wine drinkers have probably heard of its fortified Marsala, but what about the islands prominent red, Nerello Mascalese or even Frappato? I would have to declare a choice and develop an outline soon, but which one?

Those closest to me say that I work well under deadlines, and that is exactly what I have created.  The Society will offer new subject matter choices in February, but I really do not want to delay this attempt at advancing my Certification.  At this point, the production of the video seminar is still in the distance, but it does little harm to put energy into lining up a videographer, a production setting and an audience of at least six(6) supporters.  It does little harm, I think, to put those carrots in front of this horse.  Our newly launched service web site: www.your-wine-guy.net, is just one of those hopefully positive influences that will move this quest for certification forward.

As much as we look forward, this is also the time of year when we look back. As I reviewed our 2013 wine impressions, there were a few notables that stood out as being some of the best wines enjoyed this year.  All of our wine samplings will be found on the popular wine lovers site: http://www.snooth.com/my-wines/InWineTruth

In no particular order, the standouts for the year include two French and two Spanish treasures:

• Resso Garnacha Blanca 2011 from Spain was a delight, with its lively, tart

         fruit body and racy acidity it was a wonderful lunch time, a chicken and seafood
         refreshment.

• Mayor de Ondarre 'Reserve' 2006, also from Spain(Rioja), proved to be everything we wanted in a rich, food-friendly red wine.  It has ripe, dusty black tree fruit character with candied spices that linger with an integrated length on the palate; perfect for what we braised or smoked because of its firm structure and earthy richness.

•  Domaine du Garde Temps Rose' Tourbillon 2011, produced in southern France, proved to be a delight, with wispy, lively white strawberry and Rainer cherry notes and a very long bright finish.  A terrific sipper from the land of rose' that worked with summer salads and Cajun fried chicken. Yum!
  

• Pierre Sparr Cre'mant d'Alsace Brut Rose; gorgeous strawberry and white cherry notes dance across the palate with balanced acidity.  Stop the bus, what a terrific traditional method sparkling wine that pairs with almost everything!

  These wines were so food friendly, enhancing the meals by either a complement or a contrast to each dish.  Each side dish placed the notes differently(as they should), but each added to the flavors and the enjoyment of the meal.  With good times, or lovingly prepared food or good friends and good value wines, it is always the perfect pairing when we can get more than two(2) together!

  Happy New Year, and Salute! 

   

BRAMBLES: A New Harvest

Summer in the RRV American Viticultural Area

Caressed by the bright, warming sun of a mid-August afternoon, we sat across from each other enjoying plates of linguine with Romanesco sauce and hot sausage, steamed broccoli dressed in Parmesan and lemon oil, and  hearty stew of braised lamb necks with carrots & onions.  The Wilson Vineyards & Winery Ellie's Vineyard Zinfandel from the rich Sonoma County 2005 harvest was robust and perfect. An opaque black plum hue with a mahogany rim, its aromas announced stewed stone fruits and spice, with robust, juicy black cherries, earthy dried herbs, with a hint of pepper that lingered on the palate.  "This is summer", I thought.

These long days and mild nights have drawn us outside, consistently dining al fresco. Surrounded by the seasonal growth and flowering so abundant in our garden this time of year, we celebrate almost daily a nearly complete remodeled kitchen, getting our student off to law school,  the important first steps taken by our grandson, and our reconnected time together. We have reason to celebrate.  Our health is with us, our debt is small, and our appetites for good food and travel are abundant.  How fortunate we are too that we can travel this bountiful world vicariously one delicious glass at a time.  In past bright days, other selections  having recently crossed our table include:

Chateau Tertre de Launay 2012 Entre-Deux-Mers Blanc (12% alc.) bright light hay in appearance with a floral, wet grass and citrus aroma that announce notes of grapefruit, quince and yellow grass flowing with a bit of limestone minerality,  and lingering refreshingly long on the palate.  This is consistently one terrific value, and makes you thirsty for more.  What more can we ask of a wine?

A Taste of Summer

Saint Roch les Veigns 2012 Cotes de Provence (13% alc.) offered a translucent pink rose hue with an intriguing nose of dried strawberries, Rainer cherries, and rose-petals; dry and crisp on the palate, it sings with blushingly bright red berry fruits with a hint of minerality across a refreshing long departure.

We've had this wine from prior vintages, and it never fails to impress with its refreshing focus, its balance and tart fruit profile. Versatile, it finds its way to pair with many of our summer dishes and events, offering a consistent reminder of why rose' wines are so delightfully shared under the sun. 

Moshin Vineyards 2006 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (14% alc.) still holding a bright red garnet hue and offering a nose of dried red fruits with a floral component; on the palate its bright acidity carries tart red cherries, tea leaf and wood spice over a moderately long finish.  It made me think that Thanksgiving was quickly approaching, and it reflects wonderfully on the unique wine growing region we are fortunate enough to inhabit.  It is our beautiful, regional backyard.

A new kitchen's first Summer

The escapist in me wants to get away, just the two of us.  But even in Summer, there is work to do.  I owe the Society of Wine Educators a much-delayed paper, and I've got to prepare a presentation for our local wine tasting forum. We've got to prepare the house and its surroundings for our annual garden party, and as always, I've got to continue to search out the great value wines of the world.  If I don't make the time, don't make the commitment to these and so many others, there is a good chance they will simply wilt on the vine.  Wilting away my ambition, my dreams, and relationships simply cannot be part this or any cycle.  Like the nearby vineyards brimming with ripe fruit, this is the time we have nurtured and waited for.  If un-plucked, these unique opportunities will naturally be taken away.  It is, after-all, a season for a new harvest!

Ripening RRV Chardonnay

In these dog days my energies need to be devoted more earnestly towards working to completing my goal of Certification.  Excuses that I so conveniently produce should be exposed to the sun, so that the real work I need to accomplish can continue.  As a result, there may be a brief interruption in our regular posting schedule for this journal, but with a possible new harvest just over an upcoming calendar page.  That would be a New Harvest!
Salute!