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.

My destination was Santa Barbara, where my former roommate (and current Princeton grad student) Alex would pick me up.  That first day and evening, including a wonderful dinner at Bouchon, will be the subject of Part Two of this series.

I’d like to talk about Stolpman Vineyards, a winery located in the Ballard Canyon area of the Santa Ynez Valley.  If you might recall, my friend Billy had brought a bottle of Stolpman, the excellent 2007 L’Avion, to a tasting at Mission Wines we attended two weeks ago.  Alex had planned a late morning of tasting, so we went to Los Olivos to look around.  You might recall, if you were in Southern California, that the weekend of December 18 was rainy as heck.  This made driving a bit precarious but also had the unexpected benefit of clearing Los Olivos of nearly every other tourist and taster.  Alex and I basically had the town to ourselves.

We started with a light repast at Corner House Coffee, where freshly-brewed Peet’s awaited us and we could play a few rounds of Hive while we dried off.

We walked around Los Olivos, which was absolutely beautiful:

There were a number of tasting rooms, including a few I recognized (e.g. Qupe). But, one of the most attractive tasting rooms was none other than Stolpman Vineyards! I had totally forgotten that the Stolpman tasting room was in Los Olivos. We decided to give it a shot.

There was one other taster in the room when we got there, and over the course of the hour or so we were there only two or so others came in. This was probably not the best day for business, but it was a great day for me and Alex to get personalized attention from one Tom Franklin. He was very liberal with the lineup, which consisted of:

• 2009 Sauvignon Blanc ($22)
• 2008 L’Avion ($38)
• 2009 “La Coppa” Sangiovese (N/A)
• 2007 Estate Sangiovese ($36)
• 2007 La Coppa Syrah (N/A)
• 2008 “Originals” Syrah ($38)
• 2008 “Hilltops” Syrah ($48)
• 2008 Grenache ($34)
• 2008 “La Croce” Sangiovese/Syrah ($66)

I don’t think there was a wine here that I didn’t like.  Obviously, I liked some of them more than others, some much more so.  For instance, the Sauvignon Blanc was clean but fruit-forward, sort of like adding tropical fruit to something you’d find in the Loire.  At $22 a bottle this is a serious contender at your next barbecue.

The ’08 L’Avion is composed of 100% Roussane (as opposed to the ’07 L’Avion, which was 90% Roussane and 10% Viognier).  I found it to be feminine and smooth, with a great Chateauneuf-du-Pape blanc finish.  I personally found the ’07 more voluptuous and fruity–to me, the ’08 seemed more restrained.  According to Tom, the ’08 L’Avion is more typical of the Roussane varietal.

The difference between the Estate and La Coppa bottlings was very interesting.  Stolpman’s La Coppa line is meant for everyday drinking.  They are still good-quality wines, but are great for Tuesday night and will not break the bank.  I actually liked the La Coppa Sanviogese more than the Estate Sangiovese–the La Coppa was lighter, juicier, and had more pronounced acidity.  It was more approachable than the Estate Sangiovese, which was serious, with big notes of dark cherry.  Don’t get me wrong–I could drink the Estate Sangiovese for days, but when I think of Sangiovese (not Chianti Classico or Riserva, mind you, but straight-up Sangiovese) I think of something like the La Coppa.

Similarly, there was a significant difference between Stolpman is especially known for their Syrahs.  I tried three.  The La Coppa Syrah, while billed as the “crowd favorite” on the tasting sheet, was my least favorite of the three.  I found it to be vegetal, herbal–not necessarily bad qualities but ones I found detracted from the fruit.  My favorite was the Originals Syrah, which is picked from Stolpman’s oldest “original” vineyard blocks.  Mouth-filling and luscious.  Graphite, dried fruit.  Dark and sexy.  Excellent.  The Hilltops, made from Syrah “micro-picked from only the ridgelines [of the vineyards], where the thin topsoil and harsh limestone yield less than 1 ton of fruit per acre,” was crazy intense.  It does not overpower like certain Shirazes, but it fills the mouth and shows your palate who is boss.  It is a powerful wine and one that demands to be contemplated and enjoyed over the course of a long, long evening.

Next was the Grenache, which Tom described as a “candy store in a bottle.”  It has low residual sugar but is so fruity that people mistake it for a sweet wine.  This was my least favorite wine of the morning, but it was perhaps the most fun to discuss with Alex and Tom.  I found front notes of plum resolving to a sweet-sour green apple.  Tom said he found cotton candy, and Alex said he tasted Jolly Ranchers.  Again, not my favorite, but certainly a well-made and interesting wine that has a number of adherents.

Rounding out the tasting was the ’08 La Croce, which is composed of co-fermented Sangiovese and Syrah.  Most blends are just that: blends of grapes that were vinified separately.  Co-fermented grapes are vinified together.  This wine was surprisingly refined and, after the Hilltops and Grenache, seemed light.  Beautiful cherry notes and a long finish.

Overall, the Stolpman tasting was an excellent experience.  The tasting room is nicely appointed, the staff is friendly and knowledgeable, and the wines are outstanding.  Not only did I purchase a bottle of the Originals (for myself) and the Grenache (for Alex’s mom) I ended up joining the Stolpman Wine Club and am eagerly awaiting my first shipment in April!

TO BE CONTINUED…

For one, I’m living in a nice, comfortable apartment with great food.  I have a wonderful family that I appreciate more as I get older; great friends.  I am going to a good law school with outstanding professors and classes.  I have nothing to complain about, and I am going to try to be more appreciative of the incredible opportunities I’ve been given.

To kick off the new year, my roommate and I hosted a champagne and sparkling wine tasting, the details of which will be coming out in the upcoming Nota Bene (GW Law student newspaper); I will write up my blog observations on that evening a bit later.  Suffice it to say that the big winner in the tasting were a beautiful sparkler from France, the Charles de Fere Blanc de Blanc Reserve Brut ($12.99)–was, as I described it, “the group’s favorite, with a nose of hazelnut and toast, a light, almost ethereal mouthfeel, and notes of apple and pear.”

But I have to lay rest some unfinished deeds from the previous year, too.  I went to Mission Wines five times over break (1.33 times per week I was at home), during which I merely stopped by twice for bottles, attended a weekend tasting with some LegalZoom friends, drank some excellent wines with my high school friends, and visited with my roommate from DC, Alex.  Managed to catch up with people like Dave, Debbie, and Kirk; from high school, saw Billy–whom I haven’t seen for two years–Brian R.–who moved to Japan after Berkeley and had not been seen this side of the Pacific for quite a few years–Brian H.–UCLA film student extraordinaire–and Jen–soon to be lawyer extraordinaire.

Some notable wines were a 2005 Caymus Cabernet (approx. $70-$80), courtesy of Billy (whoa!)–intense, really really BIG–Robert Parker big–California big; vanilla and tobacco and earth throwing off crazy fireworks in the mouth.  Kirk let me try some of some fantastic zinfandel, and on another day Dave was kind enough to pour for us a bottle of the same, a 2006 Hartford Family Winery Zinfandel from the Russian River Valley (approx. $30)–spicy and full, one of the best zins I’ve ever had.

Alex and I shared a bottle of Casanova di Neri Rosso di Montalcino (approx. $25), from the Southern Tuscany–90% sangiovese and 10% colorino, pronounced acidity that wasn’t overbearing and actually well-balanced, cherry, a bit of spice.  An excellent food wine but also nice by itself, slightly chilled.  I managed to find and buy a bottle of this in DC at the Wine Specialist and got a $5 discount ($24 instead of $29) and am looking forward to drinking it with a nice meal.

And finally, a really wonderful wine from the Languedoc: the 2006 “Les Garrigues” from Domaine Clavel (approx. $12-$14)–everything you would ever want from a wine from the South of France: definitely a cold weather wine, with medium body, dark fruits, nice tannins, and a taste of–you guessed it–the garrigue.

All in all, I had some wonderful wines.  Oh, and before I forget, another wine I had here in DC at the end of the champagne tasting: the 2006 Domaine Joulin Saumur Champigny Rouge ($17.99).  A cabernet franc, it definitely was better than the “Cuvee de la Cure” from Charles Joguet (importer: Kermit Lynch) ($26), I felt–very smooth, very light.  It smelled like gamay and tasted a bit like strawberries, but there was a streak of minerality that separated it from a beaujolais.  Excellent, and a crowd-pleaser.

The wines I had at the end of last year and the start of this year have been very, very good indeed, and more importantly, I was able to share those wines with friends and family.  I have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to in 2009.

7 | 2004 Arzuaga Navarro Crianza | Ribera del Duero, Spain | $29.99
This was the seventh wine of the series, second round of overtime. Dave from Mission Wines was kind enough to pour the party a tasting of this really excellent tinto fino (as tempranillo is known in this region) from the dry river of Duero. Being a crianza, it was aged for thirteen months in oak. I was expecting it to be huge and powerful, expecting some forceful tannins (I’ve found tempranillo from Ribera del Duero is “stronger” or more assertive than those from Rioja), but this wine was surprisingly smooth. Plummy, a little hint of leather. I think this wine probably benefited from my having tried the tannic firebombs of the Barrel 27 and the Tejada beforehand. I would love to compare this one to the Tinto Pesquera, which is another wonderful tinto fino from Ribera del Duero.

(95% tinto fino, 3% merlot, 2% cabernet sauvignon)

8 | Sean H. Thackrey “Pleiades XVI” | Bolinas, California | $23.99
This is a crazy wine. Dave poured this for the party and told us to try and guess what it was. I sniffed and got menthol. A lot of menthol, as in eucalyptus. I also detected a bit of anise as well as other herbs.

This picture is from an older vintage, but you get the picture.

The taste was amazing and yet, very polarizing. No one else in my group liked it at all. Erica compared it to drinking rubbing alcohol. Someone else said it was like Listerine. I can understand: the menthol did impart a bit of a fiery element to the wine, and it did have a fair level of acid. However, it was complex and unlike any other wine I’ve ever had. Tar and citrus, earth and fruit. I don’t know quite how to describe it other than it’s probably the most interesting wine I’ve had in a while and one that every “serious” wine drinker should pick up.

I guessed syrah, though the color was way too clear for just syrah. The color made it look like a pinot noir or gamay, but it didn’t have any of those varietals’ flavor profiles. Maybe some Italian wine–nebbiolo or barbera. I was thinking maybe a blend. And I couldn’t explain the menthol.

Dave put it together for us. It WAS a blend, of everything from syrah, barbera (yes!), carignane, petite sirah, sangiovese, and viognier, among others. And the intriguing part is that this blend was fermented in open-air vats that sat under–what else–eucalyptus trees. Wow! The Pleiades XVI is, obviously, the sixteenth iteration of this particular blend and was bottled in January 2008.

Now, the “tasting” was over, but we weren’t ready to throw in the towel. We picked up two bottles of wine to drink:

9 | 2006 Amancaya Malbec / Cabernet Sauvignon | Mendoza, Argentina | $19.99
Yikes! This was more expensive than any other malbec I’ve ever had in my life, but then again, it had unparalleled lineage: Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite) of Bordeaux. This wine combined the power of Argentine malbec and the finesse of Bordeaux. It was purple, but bright and not brooding. Black cherry, plum, licorice. Good tannin. Overall, the combination of 50% malbec and 50% cab was win-win.

10 | 2006 Elizabeth Spencer “Special Cuvee” Pinot Noir | Sonoma Coast, California | $32.99
Probably shouldn’t have had a pinot noir after all the strong, tannic wines, but eh. The Elizabeth Spencer was still good. I already wrote about this wine earlier, so I’ll just link to my previous review.

Then Kirk, one of the regulars, came around with a bottle of zin from a recent trip to Paso Robles:

11 | 2005 Minassian-Young Estate Zinfandel | Paso Robles, California | $20.00
I’m not too familiar with zinfandels. It seems that a lot of them are just overly jammy and simplistic. This zin, from winemaker David Young, was delicious. Yes, it was jammy but not cloying. It had a good structure of tannins to keep it from becoming something you’d swill from a jar. A lot of boysenberry, evocative of Fig Newtons. Long, long finish. Great wine from a very new vineyard.

So there you have it. One of the best–and longest–tastings I’ve had ever. Actually, the second-longest: my first consisted of 24+ wines, when I was a barista / runner at Adagia. That was crazy.