Hello from Bittersweet in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.  That’s an apt name given the subject of this post.  After nearly four years in DC and Virginia, I have decided to move to New York to try and pursue professional and creative opportunities.  Some of those opportunities are in the legal industry; others are in the wine industry.

I’ve been in New York for about nine days now.  I’m already writing a wine column for a local Brooklyn neighborhood blog, and I’ve surveyed the local cafes, bars, and restaurants.  There is so much hustle and bustle here.  I never thought I’d say this, but I miss Virginia with its clean streets, quiet neighborhoods, and familiar haunts.  But there is an energy here that I love, something in the atmosphere that not only inspires people, but makes people receptive to new ideas no matter how crazy.

I had a wonderful wine dinner with friends at Founding Farmers the Friday before I left DC.  We had a number of good bottles, including the 2009 Stangeland Pinot Gris, 2008 Stangeland “Miller’s Vineyard” Pinot Noir, 2008 Margerum “ÜBER” Syrah, and the 2008 Domaine de la Fontainerie “Coteau la Fontainerie” Vouvray Doux.  The Stangeland Pinot Gris was fruity and tasted sweet, prompting one of the guests to say that this was not a “Joon wine” (I like sweet/fruity wines!).  The Pinot Noir was my favorite of the evening, with nice red fruits and a savory aspect.  I had tasted this wine previously, and it showed even better during the dinner.  The Syrah was good but did not show as well as it had previously, and the Vouvray was super sweet but had great elegance, structure, and weight.

For my last bottle of wine, however, I wanted something special.  Mary Kate and I were having Thai delivery for dinner, and I would never recommend this pairing to anyone, but I had one more nice bottle squirreled away that needed to be drunk: the 2006 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe “La Crau” Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

This is a storied wine from the storied region of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (“New House of the Pope”, in memory of when the Papacy moved to nearby Avignon), a Southerly region of France that is known for its gnarled old vines and distinctive cover of smooth round pebbles called galets.  The galets serve as insulation, reflecting sunlight and heat so the vines do not get too hot, but also trapping heat so the vines do not get too cold.  The combination of old vines and minerals from the galets produce wines that can only be said to possess soul: they have great depth, are tremendously expressive, and have layer upon layer of flavor and aroma.

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe is one of the top producers in the region.  Owned by the famed Brunier family, the specific “La Crau” vineyard has been under cultivation since 1898 and is planted with Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah, Cinsault, and Clairette.  It is reputed to be the best vineyard in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and the bottle we opened supported that statement.

My God.  This had to be one of my top five wines, ever.  The nose was utterly entrancing, with lavender, herbs, and dark fruits.  It basically tasted exactly how I want every one of my wines to taste, ever, just plum and other dark red fruits, spice, leather, earth, minerals… The best thing about this wine, however, was just how integrated everything was.  All of the flavors blended into each other seamlessly.  Mary Kate equated this to shifting in a sports car versus, say, a beat-up Toyota CR-V.  The finish lasted minutes.  Even with Thai food, this wine more than held its own and, in fact, did not overpower the Thai, either.  Of all the bottles that could have been my last in DC, this was perfect.

I would highly recommend this wine.  If you don’t feel like shelling out $60 or $70 for a bottle, however, the Brunier family makes the very excellent Domaine la Roquète, also a Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and the Le Pigeoulet en Provence, an outstanding Vin de Pays made from much of the same type of grapes.

There are great examples of California Pinot Noir–for instance, the illustrious Sea Smoke and the much more affordable Belle Glos “Meiomi”–but I have found that too many are high-alcohol, big-bodied wines that hurt my palate.  I mean, of all wines Pinot freakin’ Noir is supposed to be easy to drink, right?

Enter, stage north, Oregonian Pinot Noir to steal the show and save the day.

As a general rule, Oregon winemakers subscribe to Old World virtues such as restraint and elegance.  Their Pinot Gris is more Alsatian in character than Italian, and their Pinot Noir is positively Burgundian.

Part of this has to do with Oregon’s cooler, wetter climate, which lends itself to the more classical French style of winemaking.  But much of this also has to do with the winemakers’ philosophies on what wine should be.

I had the chance to taste some of this philosophy in action at a tasting of Stangeland Vineyards & Winery, held at Planet Wine.  Also at the tasting was Larry Miller, the president and winemaker at Stangeland.

Stangeland is a pioneer of Oregon wine, having planted a vineyard at the current Eola-Amity Hills AVA in 1978.  Eola-Amity Hills, which is contained entirely within the larger Willamette Valley AVA, is a very new AVA, having been designated in 2006.  Stangeland focuses on Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris.  I tried a number of the winery’s Pinot Noirs, in addition to one of their Chards and a Pinot Gris.

• 2008 Chardonnay | very racy, clean, with bright lemon notes.  I loved this wine because it had only a trace of oak (from large, neutral oak barrels) and was simply refreshing.  A steal at around $18.
• 2009 Pinot Gris | this was the hands-down favorite white among the ten or so female tasters that evening.  Fruity-sweet, with good acid and medium body, this Pinot Gris gives American Pinot Gris a good name.
• 2009 Oregon Pinot Noir | the winery’s basic Pinot, this is a solid wine on par with a good Bourgogne.  Floral aromatics, red fruit.  A bit of bitterness, however, that I couldn’t place.
• 2008 Miller’s Vineyard Pinot Noir | a single-vineyard Pinot, this was light, with savory notes and red cherries.  This was one of my favorites of the evening, and it showed even better at a dinner to which I brought a bottle.
• 2009 Vermeer Vineyard Pinot Noir | named after the artist, this vineyard yielded the grapes that made this wonderful wine.  A sauvage wine–with earthy, gamy notes and darker red fruit.  This was my favorite wine of the evening.
• 2008 Eola-Amity Hills Pinot Noir | oakier and bigger than the other Pinots, with a good tannic grip.

All of the wines were restrained and balanced and would not be out of place in a Paris bistro.  If you want to “buy American” you would be well-advised to seek out Stangeland’s offerings.

But the wines weren’t the only highlight of the evening.  I managed to talk to Larry about his wines, about the land, pruning techniques, global warming, soil composition, and how he came to winemaking.  It seems his parents, both schoolteachers, had purchased the land back in the ’60s.  Interestingly enough, his mother doesn’t drink, though she did enjoy a glass of her son’s wines from time to time.  If they tasted then as they did at Planet Wines, I can see why.

To fill you in a bit about what’s been going on, I’ve been living in the tiny Alexandria, VA neighborhood of Del Ray, which with its small Craftsman-style homes and tree-lined streets reminds me a great deal of my native South Pasadena.  It has everything one might want for good living, including a great barbecue restaurant and bar, independent coffee shop, and a kick-ass wine shop.

The name of this kick-ass wine shop is Planet Wine, and I’ve whiled away many an afternoon there browsing its very carefully curated selection of bottles.  I’m salivating over a bottle of 2003 Loire Valley Chenin Blanc I’ve laid down in my basement, and I’ve tried a fair percentage of the shop’s inventory.  As I’ve told the manager, Tim, this is exactly the type of shop I would open if I had my druthers.

On a recent occasion I had opportunity to purchase and open a Burgundy from 1997, the 1997 Louis Jadot Nuits-St. Georges “Les Damodes” 1er cru ($45, on markdown first from $65 and then from$ 52 at Planet Wine).  The vineyard is named after a triad of Druid goddesses who were believed to control harvests, and is a limestone-rich mix of clay and silt.

While 1997 wasn’t a stellar vintage in Burgundy, it was still a decent one.  I was just happy to find an older bottle of Burgundy at such a good price!

Kudos to Tim for doing a fantastic job of opening the bottle: the initial pull only managed to remove the center of the cork.  The cork was extremely brittle and soft, but after about two or three minutes he was able to extract the remainder of the cork.

Fortunately for us, the cork had held up and the wine inside was good.  I got sour cherry, a little bit of spice, and a really nice savory finish.  Good acidity, with light tannins.  The color was a faded brick red, as could be expected for a nearly 15-year-old bottle.

Ultimately, this was a good bottle though not a transcendent one.  It’s been far too often my experience that older bottles turn out to be disappointing, on their way down, or ruined, but the Les Damodes was a pretty, and solid, wine.

I am typing this from Small World Coffee on Witherspoon Street in Princeton Township, NJ, where I am visiting my former roommate Alex who is now making a name for himself at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School.  All around me are people who are younger than me and much older than me: young students with nary a care in the world and gray-haired professor types.  They’re nursing coffees and perhaps hangovers caused from Princeton football’s drubbing at the hands of the Yale Bulldogs yesterday.  As I’m a Cal alumnus, this is a feeling I know all too well, but unlike the people keeping me company I at least am not suffering from a hangover despite sharing two excellent bottles of wine with Alex.

Those few of you who have kept up with my blog know I love Ridge Vineyards to an absurd degree.  To me Ridge represents the best of California winemaking, and its wines are never disappointing.  I might disagree with a few of them, but much more often I love them.

Ridge is well-known for its Zinfandel, but it made its mark on the wine world by making the legendary “Monte Bello” Cabernet.  Monte Bello was selected as one of the California Cabs to go head-to-head with Bordeaux in the now-legendary Judgment of Paris of 1976.  Their 1971 Monte Bello came in fifth and was the second-highest rated California Cabernet in the tasting, not bad for a wine made only nine years after the start of the winery.  More tellingly, however, a re-enactment of the tasting was conducted in 2006, and the 1971 Monte Bello came in first, beating out all other California and French wines!

Unfortunately for broke post-grads,  the Monte Bello line usually starts at $150+ when released.  Fortunately for us, Ridge makes a “second wine” (in the tradition of the great Bordeaux chateaux) from grapes grown in the same Santa Cruz vineyards as the Monte Bello.  The winemakers separate the more concentrated, tannic grapes–those with the chops for long-term cellaring–to make Monte Bello, and the rest are used to vinify the “Santa Cruz Mountains” Cabernet blend.  The 2008 vintage is the first to feature the new name of Estate for this wine.  I had the opportunity to pick up a bottle of the 2008 and an older bottle of the 2003, and I brought them up to Princeton for a comparative tasting.

the tasting notes

2008 Ridge Vineyards “Estate” Cabernet Sauvignon | $35
75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot, and 2% Cabernet Franc

We opened this bottle first.  The nose was promising–dusty cherry and plum sprinkled with graphite.  Very, very approachable tannin and good acidity, with nice blackberry and blueberry on the palate.  I really enjoyed this wine, though Alex was adamant that this wine did not have a skeletal backbone.  ”This is a blob,” he said, though he still thought it was an enjoyable wine.  I did notice that the wine did not seem to hold up very well over time.  We opened the bottle and had a taste, then came back a few hours later to finish the bottle over the course of another few hours, and I think it was best closer to its opening.

2003 Ridge Vineyards “Santa Cruz Mountains” Cabernet Sauvignon | $32
68% Cabernet Sauvignon, 23% Merlot, 5% Petit Verdot, and 4% Cabernet Franc

This wine smelled old, with a musty, funky nose that was very appealing.  It still had good color, however, and the first taste was savory and tart, even.  It started with umeboshi on the palate and finished with, I thought, unmistakable notes of fresh cranberry.  This wine got better over time, as the initial tartness resolved and integrated into a pleasing whole.

At 13.5% and 13.4% respectively, these wines were easy to handle (thus explaining my lack of a hangover today).  These are California Cabs that, while offering a certain level of complexity, are just very enjoyable to drink.

———

the typewriter

You might notice in the background a vintage baby blue manual typewriter that Alex purchased some time ago.  It was fully refurbished and works like a charm.  We spent the evening not only drinking wine and eating stuff we picked up from D’Angelo Italian Market, but typing letters and notes to various people on the typewriter.  It’s a beautiful thing.  While I enjoy writing letters by hand, I think I enjoy typing letters even more.  What more could we ask from life than friends, a typewriter, and a nice bottle or two of wine?

Weygandt Wines, located in Cleveland Park, reminds me a lot of Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant.  That venerable Berkeley institution is one of my can’t miss shops whenever I visit my alma mater, and for good reason: the wines I buy from the store are perhaps the freshest, most vibrant wines I’ve ever found.  KLWM is sort of like a farmers’ market for wine.  If that is the case, then Weygandt Wines is sort of like the Eastern Market of wines.

The namesake of the shop, Peter Weygandt, and his wife Maria (née Metzler) have been importing boutique French wines since 1987.  He has recently expanded his portfolio to include wines from Italy, Germany, Austria, Australia, and Spain.  He imports some killer Beaujolais and Burgundy, and has an excellent Rhône selection.  In all, they import around 70,000 cases of wine from over 100 producers.

The Weygandts were not at the media event, but the event was run by the store’s general manager, Tim O’Rourke.  Tim has an interesting history, having started out as a chef.  He graduated from L’Academie de Cuisine in Maryland in 2000, did tours at Café Atlántico, Ristorante Tosca, and Citronelle, and has cooked with such celebrity chefs as Daniel Boulud and Michel Richard.  Being the general manager of a wine store probably has its own set of stresses, but I can imagine that it might also be very relaxed in comparison to working in some high-profile kitchens!

I had been to Weygandt only once before, and recently: I picked up a bottle of Cabernet France for an ongoing dinner with friends at Dino (which is right across the street).  The store was technically closed but I sneaked in and asked who I found out later to be Tim whether he could recommend a good Cab Franc, which he did.  Unfortunately, I don’t remember which bottle he selected, but it was good, and I appreciated being able to pick up a bottle after closing time (and at a substantial discount to boot!).

The event started out with a flight of six sparkling wines–one Crémant de Bourgogne and five Champagnes.

The N.V. Chermette Crémant de Bourgogne Brut, made of 100% Chardonnay, was lean and almost stony.  It wasn’t fruity per se, but it did have some citrus character.  It was tasty but not especially interesting (especially in relation to the Albert Sounit Crémants carried by Ansonia Wines).  The next wine, a bonafide Champagne, was the N.V. J.L. Vergnon Brut “Conversation”, a blanc de blancs that had tropical fruits on the palate a tart green apple on the finish.  This one was refreshing and would be perfect as an aperitif.

The next two wines were from Nathalie Falmet and were both non-vintage.  The Brut Nature, made with no added sugar (hence the “nature” in the name), had ripe apple and a nice round mouthfeel.  Even better than that, though, was the Le Val Cornet Brut, which had even more apple–the finish reminded me of the bitterness you get from apple skin, not a bad thing–and was fuller than the Brut Nature.

Bringing up the rear were the N.V. Philippe Prié “Depuis 1737″ Brut Tradition and the N.V. Nicolas Maillart “Platine” Premier Cru.  The Prié had what I thought was some noticeable malolactic character, and while I tasted some stone fruit/apple on the palate, the thing that struck me about this wine was the hint of something non-fruity.  I couldn’t quite put my finger on it: maybe it was herbaceous, maybe it was minerally, maybe it was even a bit of sous bois.  Whatever it was, however, it was quite attractive.

The Maillart had rich fruit–like an apple and quince tart–and very nice body.  The Prié and the Maillart were my two favorite Champagnes of the evening.

But we had more to go.  Derek of the Weekly Wine Pick started off round two by contributing a bottle of grand cru Burgundy he had picked up from MacArthur Beverages’s bargain bin for around $20 or $30.  The 1983 Domaine des Lambrays Clos des Lambrays grand cru was created during my birth year and, like me, seems to have faded with age.  You can see its brick color in the picture below.  It had a cranberry nose, and the palate reminded me vaguely of pine nuts.  It was very light and had a short finish.  While pleasant, it was clearly past its prime.  I did appreciate being able to try such an old wine!

By this point I had decided to purchase a one-way ticket to Drunksville (business class, mind you).  So, I made a rounds of the store and my eyes settled on the Rhône.  But Southern Rhône or Northern Rhône?  I asked Tim for a recommendation, and we settled on the 2009 Yann Chave “Le Rouvre” Crozes Hermitage, a bargain at $29.99.  This Syrah, along with the pair of Beaujolais cru I will be mentioning soon, was my favorite wine of the evening.  It offered up a beautiful nose of dried herbs, violet, and anise, and the palate was a cornucopia of flavor: raisin, graphite, minerals. Relatively light-bodied, it had good acid and moderate tannins, with a long finish.  I could drink this all night long (and I did), and I could not believe how well it was drinking!

I would have stuck with that wine, had I not mentioned casually to Tim that I loved Beaujolais.  He instantly offered to find an older Beaujolais cru somewhere from the recesses of the store.  He brought back a 2007 Domaine Pierre Savoye Morgon, but when I mentioned also that I loved the ’09 Beaujolais vintage but had not yet tried the ’10s, he graciously opened up a bottle of the 2010 Daniel Bouland Chiroubles as well.

My loyal readers will know how much I freaking love Beaujolais.  To me, Beaujolais is a happy wine that can be put to serious use.  It pairs well with nearly everything, but when eating is not the point it is also just terrific to gulp and guzzle by itself.  Beaujolais cru are more complex, but at their price point (usually $15-$30, tops) it’s not a shame to use them just to slake one’s thirst.

The Morgon was more mineral and “cheese” than fruit.  It was a complex, delicious wine that was like the flirty bookish sister of a nice premier cru Burgundy.  The Chiroubles, by contrast, was all light cranberry and reminded some tasters of bubble gum.  It was juicy, bright, and just plain fun.  If the Morgon was the flirty bookish sister of a nice Burgundy, then the Chiroubles was the youngest sister everyone’s worried about.

After the Beaujolais came a trio of other wines.   Someone chipped in the 2009 Font Sarade Vacqueyras, and if I recall correctly Jessica and Jonathan of Jessica In Search Of… bought a bottle of 2009 Alfredo Maestro Viña Almante “La Olmera” Tempranillo (from the Castilla y León region of Ribera del Duero).  Aaron from Hogshead: A Wine Blog contributed a bottle of 2010 Domaine des Soulanes “Kaya” from the Roussillon.  The Vacqueyras, composed of Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah, was a darker older cousin to the Chave Crozes-Hermitage, all tangled vines, leather, and green olives.  The Alfredo Maestro was juicy and fresh and reminded me of a Rioja crianza.  The Kaya, made of 100% Carignan, didn’t make too much of an impression on me, I’m afraid, because by the time I got to it the drunk train was nearly to the station.

Overall, this was a terrific event and I met some wonderful bloggers, some of whom have scooped me on this story.  The wines I tried at Weygandt were all at least good–many of them were excellent, and both Beaujolais were inspirational.  I would like to try some more of Weygandt’s Rhône portfolio, too.  My thanks to Tim, Weygandt Wines, and all the bloggers and people who made this such an awesome evening.

Considering sparkling wine is like considering heaven and hell.  On the one hand, you have sparklers that barely qualify as wine–Andre and Cook’s come to mind–while on the other hand you have Champagnes that will take you to the sky (related to price).  I haven’t had too much sparkling wine in my life, which is a shame because they are fun, well-made, and, as many are coming to realize, are absolutely terrific with food.

Last week I was fortunate enough to be invited to a trade tasting of the sparkling wines of Schramsberg Vineyards, a venerable California sparkling wine institution located in Napa Valley, at Marcel’s in DC.  I had had their wines once or twice before, but was never in a condition to remember too much about them.  With this tasting I was in luck, however, because not only would I try a number of Schramsberg’s wines but would also participate in a blind tasting of Schramsberg wines and the finest French têtes de cuvée (prestige cuvée) wines.

Yikes!  A blind tasting at a trade event?  I felt outclassed, but I decided I would drink more than I spoke. I rolled up (on foot) to the tasting in my black suit (featured in my previous post) and heavy black backpack (at least it matched my suit!) and was greeted with a glass of Schramsberg’s Brut Rosé, which had pretty strawberry and peach aromas that were mirrored on the palate.

We were then led to long tables, where I sat next to David (the proprietor of the excellent Pearson’s Wine & Spirits in Glover Park) and the wine director of the Ritz-Carlton.  The phalanx of glasses reproduced above awaited us, as well as scoring sheets:

Hugh Davies, son of the founders of Schramsberg Vineyards, gave excellent commentary and production notes throughout the whole tasting.

For the first flight, which was the blind tasting of the Schramsberg sparkling wines and the Champagnes, the idea was that we were supposed to rank the wines from first to seventh and determine if we could which were blanc de blancs and which contained Pinot Noir, and which were the Californian wines. These are my transcribed notes from A to G:

• A | aromas reminiscent of white Burgundy–hazelnut and lanolin.  A long finish but a noticeable burn.  | MY RANK: 6
• B | thin bodied and high acid, with notes of green apple.  | MY RANK: 7
• C | wow!   Clover honey and bread, tart but rich.  Really freaking good.  I thought this could be the oldest wine in the lineup, and could contain Pinot.  | MY RANK: 2
• D | some aroma I couldn’t place… more of the Burgundy, maybe… really evocative and old-smelling.  Well-balanced, with tangerine notes.  | MY RANK: 1
• E | gentle floral aroma, with lemon curd.  | MY RANK: 5
• F | a rich color which made me wonder if this was an older vintage.  Burgundian aromas, with a round, full taste evocative of papaya and tropical fruits.  I thought this might contain Pinot.  | MY RANK: 3
• G | pineapple on the nose, less fruit-driven and more hazelnut on the palate.  | MY RANK: 4

• A | 2002 Dom Pérignon | mostly Pinot, 100% malolactic fermentation | TASTING RANK: 7
• B | 2000 Taittinger | 100% Chardonnay | TASTING RANK: 5
• C | 2004 J. Schram | 85% Chard, 15% Pinot | TASTING RANK: 2
• D | NV Krug | blend of Chard and Pinot | TASTING RANK: 3
• E | 2004 Louis Roederer Cristal | 50% Chard, 50% Pinot, 100% malolactic | TASTING RANK: 5
• F | 2003 Schramsberg Reserve | mostly Pinot with some Chard | TASTING RANK: 1
• G | 2002 Perrier-Jouët | 50% Chard, 50% Pinot | TASTING RANK: 4

It was only when I got to DC that I started to find some semblance of a wine community.  Some of my law school friends and I started the DC Wine Appreciation Society, which was basically an excuse for us to get together and drink good wine to the point of excess.  I made contacts at local wine stores (like Patrick Deaner at the now-defunct Wine Specialist, Jeremy Silva at Potenza, and Phil Bernstein over at the excellent MacArthur Beverages).  Working at Ansonia Wines was and continues to be an excellent and insightful experience.  And starting the DC Wine Buyers Collective was a great way for me to start to get a feel for what members of the 25-35-year-old demographic wanted to drink.

With my decision to stay in DC after graduating from law school, I have had more incentive to get out there and network.  Fortunately, many networking opportunities have come up, especially this past week.  I was invited to a comparative tasting of Schramsberg Vineyards‘s excellent sparkling wines, which I attended yesterday afternoon, and will be first volunteering at and then covering the DC Wine Riot tomorrow and Saturday.  I was also invited to DC Wine Week‘s “Washington Wine Academy Tasting Class” (a.k.a. “Virginia Wine Versus the World”), which featured Virginia wineries.

DC Wine Week is the brainchild of Vanessa French and Lisa Byrne, who “mindstormed the concept on a cocktail napkin–over wine, naturally.”  It’s meant to bring together DC’s wine community and is “dedicated to enjoying wine, wine education and an opportunity to help support the area’s growing local wineries, wine shops, wine bars, restaurants and merchants.”  It has been pretty darn successful, and there has been significant media buzz from both print and blog sources.

After getting lost walking from the Pentagon City metro in the light but persistent rain (and realizing I had left my camera at home), I finally found my way to the Washington Wine Academy.  There were a lot of people (and a lot of couples, proving again that Virginia may indeed be for lovers).  The first part of the event was an open tasting of nine Virginian wines; the second part was a blind tasting of three whites and three reds.

The open tasting consisted of three whites, one rosé, and five reds:

2009 Breaux Vineyards “Chere Marie” Vidal Blanc
I found this wine cloyingly sweet. It tasted like a generic Pinot Grigio or mass-produced Riesling. Sorry!

2007 Linden “Avenius” Chardonnay
I didn’t try this wine… I was chardonnayed out from the Schramsberg tasting I had attended a few hours before.

2009 Jefferson Vineyards Viognier
I gave this a try and found that, like the Chere Marie, it was cloyingly sweet and generic.

2008 Valhalla Dry Rosé (Cabernet Franc/Syrah)
I didn’t try this wine. After the Viognier I skipped straight to the reds.

2004 Valhalla “Cornucopia” Merlot/Syrah
This had a pretty, dusky nose that was, for me, marred by an almost candy-like quality. The wine lacked body and, while pleasant, didn’t do anything for me.

2001 Rappahannock Cellars Cabernet Franc
This was my favorite wine of the evening. Having been in bottle for 10 years, it was a wonderful brick color. The color and nose reminded me of old Rioja, specifically R. Lopez Heredia. This was round, with generous flavors of prune, red bean paste, quince, and herbs. Good acid, too, and overall simply a joy to drink. I came back to this wine again and again throughout the evening.

2006 Barboursville Vineyards “Octagon” (Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc)
I had had a bottle of the ’06 Octagon once before, and I was impressed with its length and depth of flavor, though I felt that it felt a bit awkward (perhaps it was in its awkward adolescent stage?) even with decanting. The Octagon appeared to be the favorite wine of the evening, a conclusion I can support though I personally liked the Rappahannock much better. This had good structure and a nice tannic grip, blueberries on the palate, but it was lacking a certain oomph. I’m sure this wine will be killer in a few years.

2007 Pearmund Cellars “Ameritage” (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Merlot)
Any wine portmanteau has my vote, and the Ameritage was really tasty. Prune, less fruit than the Barboursville, with pencil shaving notes and a nice savory note on the finish, this would make good refined drinking. I highly recommend this wine!

2005 Chrysalis Vineyards “Locksley Reserve” Norton
I’ve been excited about Norton pretty much since Riedel introduced its Norton glass, but I had only tried some uninspiring examples in the past.  I was excited about the Chrysalis, as it is one of the most respected wineries in Virginia.  My drinking partners and I agreed that this was underwhelming.  I found it was dominated by a green grape vinegar quality (one commentator noted that some examples of Norton exhibit elderberry notes, which I can definitely see).  I did not find it to be unenjoyable, however: it was like a more acidic Sangiovese.  I think it would be good with Italian food.

My favorite part of the evening was yet to come.  Alex Evans, one of the Academy’s staff members, presided over the blind tasting with considerable energy and aplomb.  We had to guess whether the wine we were drinking was from Virginia or from anywhere else in the world.  The three whites were Viognier, and the three reds were Cabernet Franc.

How did I do?  I did okay, I think.  I correctly identified the first white wine as being a Viognier blend from the Rhône because it reminded me of Chateauneuf-du-Pape blanc, and I also identified that the third white was from the New World (though I thought it was South Africa, when in fact it was Virginian).  I also identified the first red as being from Virginia, and from its sediment and earthy, “brett” quality determined the second red was a French wine from the Loire Valley.  I thought the last red was Virginian but it was Californian.  New World though, right?

The takeaway for me was that Virginia wines are extremely well-made and are poised to make quite an impression.  They stand up quite nicely to wines from California and the Old World.  I haven’t yet been a fan of Virginia white wines, but many of the reds I’ve tried were good and even superb.  I was blown away by the ’01 Rappahannock Cellars and would also like to try the ’06 Octagon again in a few years.  Given that the Octagon is only around $35-$40 retail, I would say that Virginian reds are smart buys at this time.

All in all, this was a fun, well-organized, and educational event.  There was a lot of good energy and everyone seemed eager to socialize and learn about wine.  Kudos to DC Wine Week and the Washington Wine Academy for putting it together

I should be willing to take chances more often.

I had a bottle of the 2006 Francisco Alfonso Pedralonga DoUmia ($24) squirreled away from the January 25th deal of the DC Wine Buyers Collective.  It had survived a lot longer than the other wines I acquired from that deal.  I don’t know why… maybe it’s because I simply didn’t know what to expect from this wine.  What if I opened it and it was undrinkable with the pot roast with which I was trying to pair it?

This wine is from the Rias Baixas region of Spain.  This is a coastal region that is famous for its seafood and for a wine that pairs exceptionally well with seafood: Albariño.  Such is the supremacy of Albariño that most people, myself included, don’t know that this region also produces red wine (apparently red wine only makes up 1% of the total wine production in Rias Baixas).  This particular wine is composed of 70% Mencía, 20% Caiño, and 10% Espadeiro.  I’ve never even heard of the Caiño or Espadeiro varietals!

So, when Phil from MacArthur Beverages recommended this bottle to me I was a bit nervous.  But Phil knows his wine, so I decided to go with it.

Mary Kate and I opened a bottle of this to accompany our New Haven-style white clam pie from Pete’s Apizza in Clarendon.  What can I say?  This was really f*cking good, but in a way that skirted very close to potential disaster.

I say this because this was a funky, funky wine.  Funky in a savage Southern Rhône way.  It was almost so dark and funky that I thought it might have been hit by the brett train, but it was good.  Stewed fruit on the nose.  The mouthfeel was great–there was a surprising petillance which, with the wine’s ciderlike acidity, kept the wine from going irrevocably to the dark side.  Mary Kate said this wine tasted smoky; this wine was not characterized by fruit as much as it was characterized by things like smoke, wet soil, mushroom.  The DoUmia was quaffable, yet complex, and succulent as heck.

The wine was a surprisingly good pairing for our white clam pie.  The carbonation and acid were refreshing (they helped wash away the greasiness of the pizza), and the funk was a good complement to the the white sauce.  I think, however, that this wine would make an ever better pairing for a pizza with tomato sauce, maybe with mushroom, caramelized onion, or sausage.

I would like to tell you to pick up a bottle, but this wine is really not for everyone.  I can imagine that on another day–perhaps if it were hotter or in a celebratory mood–I might not have liked the wine.  Perhaps it would be better for you to pick up a bottle and hold onto it for a while, waiting for an occasion where a smoky, funky, high-acid wine with a touch of carbonation would be appropriate.

A few weeks ago I was invited to a dinner with Jillian and David at Chez Kate et Rahul.  As I mentioned in my previous post, it’s been hard for me to quench my thirst for interesting wines lately.  So, in addition to being pleased to be able to see my good friends Kate ‘n’ Rahul and Jillian ‘n’ David, I was pleased to have an excuse to bring a bottle of Chenin Blanc recommended to me by Phil over at MacArthur Beverages (at left):

The Saumur appellation is located in the Loire Valley of France.  The Loire Valley–especially the region of Vouvray and to a lesser extent Montlouis-sur-Loire–is known for its Chenin Blanc.  I think Chenin Blanc is one of the underrated great grapes of the world.***  The best examples of Chenin Blanc have great acidity and taste of honey, almonds, and flowers.  Like Riesling and Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc can be aged to great effect.  I’ve had Chenin Blanc from 1983 and 1989, and when aged these wines take on low, nutty, waxy notes that are just incredible.  Best of all, just like old Rioja blanco, aged Chenin Blanc can be relatively affordable.

Phil, knowing my love of older white wines, sold me on the 2002 Château de Fosse-Sèche Saumur Chenin Blanc.  I was expecting great things but was, unfortunately, underwhelmed.  Rather than having pure honeyed notes, the Fosse-Sèche tasted a bit like stones washed with acid.  The acid was so high as to be bitter.  It did have some of the nutty quality that I love, but it was not part of a cohesive, beautiful whole.  The wine improved with some time, but overall it was disappointing.

Fortunately for me, Kate and Rahul decided to open up two more bottles of wine for dinner.  The first was the 2007 Antoine Arena “Carco” Patrimonio, a Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant selection and featured on the DC Wine Buyers Collective, and the second was the 2006 Gourt de Mautens Rasteau, imported by Ansonia Wines:

The Gourt de Mautens was a special wine.  I had given it to Rahul as a birthday present in 2010, but subject to one condition: that they drink it with me in 2011.  Selfish, I know, but what is wine without good friends, eh?

Thank you to Kate and Rahul for having the discipline to honor this condition!

We opened both wines but drank the Carco first.  The Carco is a Corsican wine from the Patrimonio region, which was the first to receive AOC status, in 1968.  I am not well-versed in Corsican wines, but they are supposed to  be terrific values and feature some unusual varietals.  The Carco was not an unusual varietal–it is made of Sangiovese–but it was a terrific value.****  It had nice light acidity and bright red fruit, sort of like you would imagine a Sangiovese to taste like if it were grown on a Mediterranean island.

By this point I was salivating for the Gourt de Mautens, which is mostly low-yield Grenache and comes from very old vines.  I’ve had a few glasses of this now and then, and I had gotten hooked on its dark, tannic, nearly-Herzogian power.  This bottle did not disappoint.  I had a glass of it and could have no more because it was so concentrated and so intense.

Normally, I prefer wines with greater acidity (like Chenin Blanc, or Sangiovese).  My palate has turned away from high tannin blockbusters (like much Australian Shiraz).  However, once in a while a big tannic wine ceases to be merely big or tannic and becomes something more: an experience, a big, brash woman who takes no quarter.  The Gourt de Mautens is such a wine.

Which did I prefer as between the Carco and the Gourt de Mautens?  Hard question.  I liked both of them equally but for different reasons.  The Carco I could drink forever and drink with food, drink as an aperitif, drink just for the hell of it.  The Gourt de Mautens requires you to gird your loins and steel your palate.  Both, however, are extremely well made, and both serve their own purposes.  Having them together was a good reminder of why I love wine so much.

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* The wines of Bandol are a prime example of wines that, to me, should inspire a little bit of fear.

** Then again, I do enjoy some good gulping wines now and again.  Beaujolais nouveau, chilled down, is a guilty pleasure, as is drinking red box wine with ice cubes as an accompaniment to Italian sausage and pepper sandwiches!

*** Shea from Just Grapes declared a Chenin Blanc from the Loire one of his top 10 wines of 2009.  But my Chenin Blanc love is not universal, and for good reason.  Much of it can be insipid or bleh, as noted by David Fang of La Cave de Fang.

**** The Carco is an example of a vin de soif, or “thirst-quenching wine.”  Very appropriate.  This would also be good chilled down and eaten with things like bruschetta, summer pastas, or grilled fish.