The Nose Knows

Once again, the Winedaddy was on the road for his day job. I'll spare you the details but I spent 2 days in Montgomery, Alabama (a state not known for their advances in viticulture). That was the bad news. The good news was that my head cold that had been plaguing me for over a week was, well, still plaguing me. Why was that "good news?" It meant that I couldn't taste a single thing and thus, wasn't missing out on any of my regular wine drinking.

It got me thinking on how important, actually, how crucial your sense of smell is when tasting wine. This isn't a new concept by any stretch of the imagination but without having a head cold for almost 2 years, and with my wine intake increasing exponentially over those 2 years, I really never had the reason to think about the role of scent in wine consumption.

There really is no wrong or right way to describe wines. If you like something and it smells like cotton candy to you, then it smells like cotton candy. Conversely, if you think a wine smells like an elephant to you, then it smells like an elephant (that's how the Winewife likes to describe some earthy wines that we drink). Somewhere, someone, created a "tool" called the Wine Wheel. (actually, it was developed by a UC Davis professor, Anne C. Noble back in 1990 to better describe the scents associated with wine). Since then, there has been much written and discussed about how to smell and taste wine. Most of it is garbage in my humble opinion but I did stumble across the "Online Wine Tasting Course" from the Wine Lovers Page that I found really well written and informative without being too snobby.

But back to the wheel. Personally...I think the wheel is a huge gimmick. I don't need a colorful disc to tell me what a wine smells and tastes like. I need some good cheese, a nice baguette, and some clear sinuses.

Stick a Fork In It

I don't know about the rest of the world, but the Winedaddy has been hearing a refrain lately. It goes something like this: "The North Fork of Long Island (NY), is making really outstanding wines and is one of the biggest up and coming wine regions in the US." Now, of course that's a paraphrase to the audio recording in my head but it seems like everyone in these parts are talking about the North Fork these days. The good news is that all this chatter actually has some merritt to it. There really are some outstanding wineries out there and seeing is I have Wine-In-Laws who own a house just south of where all the action is, I've actually been able to taste some of this hype. Here are two standouts that I've had recently (and surprisingly, both are varietals that I almost always steer clear of).

Osprey's Dominion Regina Maris Chardonnay (NV) $10

That's right, I said it. The "C" word. Normally, my palette never veers in the direction of Chardonnay. It's not that I look down upon it, nor do I consider myself a wine-snob who won't drink Chardonnay or Merlot (i.e. the stuff that the masses like to consume), it's just that my tastes usually gravitate towards the more acidic or more crisp end of the spectrum for whites and the heavier, more spicy end of the spectrum for reds. The Regina Maris Chardonnay was an enigma.

A few weeks back, I stopped into Osprey's Dominion to pick up a bottle of their Cabernet Franc which I've had before and liked very much. It was March and the tasting room was dead. Just me and the Wine Father-in-Law. We felt badly for the nice lady behind the counter who said it was her first day on the job. She said "You really should try the Regina Maris Chardonnay. It's my favorite." Now usually when someone tells me to try their "favorite Chardonnay" I politely decline but since it was a Saturday (and Saturday's are meant for drinking), I obliged. What I tasted was amazing.

This wine does NOT taste like a Chardonnay. In fact, the Winelady brought it to my attention that this wine is more like an Italian Vin Santo (dessert wine) than it is like a Chardonnay. It's very thick and has a distinct caramel and raisin aroma to it that really comes through when you taste it. The only unfortunate thing about it is that we opened it to drink with some Wild Cod that we were cooking up and it just didn't pair well with that. It is much better on it's own, with some nice salty cheese as an aperitif. For $10, it's well worth picking up a few bottles.

Peconic Bay Winery Merlot 2001 $26

When the nice man at the winery said "You should try our 2001 Merlot, it was voted Best Merlot in NY State," my first thought was that they must have a tone of this stuff leftover and are looking to unload it on unsuspecting customers. The last time I checked, NY State was better known for it's bagels and smoked fishes than it is for it's Merlot. But onward we went and paid our $2 for a taste at NY's Merlot of Merlots. Surprisingly, it was really good.

High in tannins but also high flavor, this is definitely a powerful Merlot. There are some really nice cedar notes in this wine, as well as good spice and a little bit of fruit. Since the tannins are quite high, I'm going to hold off on opening my bottle for a few years but if this site is still around and/or the Internet is still allowing guys like me to ramble on about wine, then I promise to write a post about it. Until then, enjoy your weekends.

Over the Hump...Sort of

My apologies, Winereaders. I have a cold. The Winechild finally decided she wanted to share something with her daddy and gave me the head cold that she has been harboring for the last week or so. Needless to say I haven't been drinking much wine or wine related beverages (beer), but before my head felt like it was immersed in a bucket of murky water, I do recall drinking a notable wine that I felt compelled to share with you.

As some of you may recall, I set out on a quest to drink all 10 of the Food and Wine 10 Best for $10 or Less a few months ago. It was a tough gig but with the love and support of the Winelady, I set out on the challenge. Some have been duds. Some have been wonderful. Some, were just hard to find. Until now.

I was doing some "work" for my day job in upstate New York and seeing is I spent the better part of 4 years up there learning how to be a well-rounded thinker, I thought I would make a quick pitstop in the town I called home for 4 years, Saratoga Springs. The town has changed a lot since my college days and while some of the additions to town (Eddie Bauer and Borders Books) are a bit of an eyesore, some of the additions were truly an upgrade. One such upgrade was the wine annex of the fantastic specialty food store, Putnam Market. (sidebar...the store's tagline is great: "The Best Specialty Food Store Between Manhattan and Montreal") They had some great bottles here. (Mollydooker COL was represented to the fullest...I guess the residents of Saratoga didn't get the memo on how good this wine is).

Off in a corner, in small wooden box was a dozen or so bottles that peaked my interest. I couldn't figure out why or how I knew the name but when I saw the $9.99 price tag, the bells started ringing. It was the very Grenache/Shiraz by Aussie producer, d'Arnberg called The Stump Jump. And it was one of 2 bottles on the F&W list that I could not locate (it was also one of the wines that a fellow reader, the Pinot Princess, on my old site highly recommended). Of course, at the $9.99 price tag, 2 bottles miraculously fell into my shopping cart (along with a bottle of Mollydooker Two Left Feet), and off I went, back to NYC to unscrew the twist-off top and get a taste of a cheap wine with a big following. Here are my tasting notes (well, at least what I can remember of it pre-head cold funk).

Don't expect a huge fruit bomb type of wine like you'd get from a Mollydooker but I was impressed with how much fruit really is in this wine. The color is that inky black that you'd expect from an Aussie Grenache/Shiraz but then you taste it and realize that at $9.99 you aren't going to be blown away by this wine. What you will get is a lot of spice and very little tannins but it was a bit thin for my blood and didn't really have the complexity that I look for in wines. Granted, I was drinking this wine with some sushi and very spicy wasabi but since the weather is finally getting nicer here in the Northeast, I'm hoping to try it with some grilled meats in the not too distant future. Let's just hope I can actually breath by the time I get around to the other bottle.

No Wimpy Posts

Greetings! Sorry about the absence but the Winedaddy has been curled up in the fetal position under his desk in major bread withdrawal since last Monday. I mean, come on! It ain't easy enjoying wine when you can't properly eat cheese and some crusty baguette to accompany it. But I've managed and seeing the finish line to the Matzoh Marathon in sight. In the meantime, I spent the better part of this past week reacquainting with an old friend and felt it was my duty to let the winedaddy reading public about him (or her...well, it's a Zinfandel so probably a him, but then again, women can definitely be spicy, so maybe it's a her?)

Ravenswood. It's a popular name. It's a popular wine. It's also possibly the first wine I ever had that made me realize there was more to life than just microbrews and house chardonnay. (insert wavy lines here and "flashback" music). The year was 1998 and the month was October. The young Winedaddy and his new Winegirlfriend (now the Winewife and Winemommy), took a trip to the California Wine Country. I knew little about wine but in the months leading up to the trip, I bought several books, including "Sip by Sip" a fabulous book by Michael Bonadies (the one time and possibly still wine director for the Deniro/Neiporent food empire known as the Myriad Restaurant Group).

I read it cover to cover and loved his easy going, unpretentious approach to learning about wines. It was my bible as we toured the wine country in search of new varietals I had never tried, including the grape that is native to California and basically put Napa and Sonoma on the map, Zinfandel.

I'm not talking about White Zin, the appalling "wine" that is actually popular in this country (thank you North Dakota!), I'm talking about the dark, thick, spicy stuff that grows in abundance in Sonoma. And no one does an approachable, affordable Zin better than Ravenswood in my humble opinion. It was the very first tour I ever had at a winery and I learned and loved every minute of it. (I still have my t-shirt that says "Maximize Polyphenolic Extraction" that I purchased on that trip.) To this day, I still think they make some of the best Zinfandels on the planet. Like their ubiquitous, Vintners Blend.

Ravenswood Vintners Blend Zinfandel (various vintages) $9.99 (approx)

This is my kind of wine. Cheap, strong, spicy, approachable. There's a reason Ravenswood has adopted the slogan "No Wimpy Wines." This is not a kind gentle Merlot or a soft, fruit-forward Pinot Noir. This is a take-no-prisoners, in your face Zinfandel, that actually goes down rather smooth for such a spicy wine. What I like most is how consistent this wine is from year to year and how you always know what you are going to get when you buy a bottle. Trust me, there's a reason accolade upon accolade has been bestowed on this wine. I just wish I hadn't forgotten about it while I stocked up on all the other stuff that's cluttering the Winedaddy's apartment at the present time. There's simply no more room in the wine fridge (or bank account) to bring a few bottles in from the cold. In due time old friend. In due time.

Holy Wine!

In honor of the first full day of Passover, the Winedaddy felt it was necessary to shed some light on what exactly makes a Kosher wine, well, Kosher and why it's so hard to find one worth drinking.

As with any topic in Judaism, the notion of what makes a wine Kosher is a topic for debate. Of course, there can't just be a simple one sentence answer that explains everything but in the interest of keeping things simple here on the site, I'll break it down to what I think is a fairly simple explanation. A wine is only considered Kosher if it a) is produced and bottled under strict Rabbinical supervision and b) the people who are actually handling the grapes and the entire process must be Sabbath-observant Jews. This means that from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday (or on any major religious holiday), no part of the wine making process is allowed to happen (unless of course that process is malolactic fermentation, which last time I checked is a process that only Mother Nature can handle).

To take it one step further, there is also a process called Mevushal which allows for Kosher wine to be handled by non-observant Jews (i.e. sold in stores, served in restaurants who employee non-Jews, etc.). Mevushal is a process in which the wine is briefly heated to a boiling point and then cooled before the fermentation process happens. This basically kills off certain bacteria and ensures that a wine will remain Kosher. While some argue that this process can actually enhance the color and hue of a wine, it unfortunately kills off bacteria that may actually be helpful in the aging of fine wines.

So, what does this mean for you, oh Kosher wine seeking individual? (that would be the Winedaddy for 2 nights a year...the first and second nights of Passover). It means that it's hard to find decent Kosher wines because let's face it, they are not widely produced. Unless you live in a city like New York and Jerusalem with a hefty Kosher population, you ain't walking into your local supermarket and finding a Kosher wine worth dropping some shekels on. Until now.

Chateau Yon Figeac. This is a wine estate in Bordeaux that produces some really outstanding wines for their price range. I first heard about this wine when a colleague of the Winefather's snatched up a few cases of their Grand Cru Classe St. Emilion from the famous 2000 vintage. We were told it was a real steal and worth buying to cellar for 10-15 years. So that's what we did. Only later did I find out that these guys also make a Kosher wine that will rival many non-Kosher wines. If you doubt the Winedaddy, here's what Mr. Parker had to say about this estate (translated from their website mind you):

"I advise to the amateurs to follow closely this vineyard, which operated a remarkable reversal these last years, and that can provide relatively large quantities. He could eventually stand out as one of the best affair of the appellation."

I have yet to taste this wine but know several people who have and they unanimously agree that it exhibits the classic Bordeaux style of Merlot: Fruit forward and thick with a long finish.

The bottom line here is that for around $35, your going to be much better off with this wine than lots of the offering from other French houses. It's also a nice way to impress your Grandma Pearl or your Uncle Moshe who will probably be thankful you brought something to the Seder other than macaroons or a bottle of Manischewitz. Trust me, you'll be doing a Mitzvah. L'Chiam!

Gris Lightning

It's not quite summer yet (hell, it's not quite spring yet either) but it's never too early to start thinking about what you plan to drink. For the Winedaddy, summer means beer and wine in this order (1. wine. 2. beer. 3. wine or beer).

In preparation of that time of year when the sun actually shines and you can take your children outside without first having to bundle them up like they will be spending the winter at McMurdo Station, I thought I'd shed some light on the mystery that surrounds Pinot Grigio.

Go to any middle of the road event (wedding, bar mitzvah, Uncle Jerry's 60th Birthday party) and you're bound to have a choice of red or white. Inevitably, the red wine is almost always a Merlot and the white wine is usually a chardonnay or a pinot grigio. It's not that this is a bad thing it's just that pinot grigio is not usually looked upon as a "Connoisseur's Wine" or one that you would seek out. But thanks to the combined efforts of Marketers and Vintners, there is actually some merritt to this mass produced wine.

The Italians and the Americans (and Italian Americans I'm guessing) call this wine Pinot Grigio. And it's a popular one. According to some research that the Winedaddy did, Pinot Grigio is poised to be America's 4th most popular varietal behind the dreaded (dare I say it), White Zinfandel. But what if you saw 2 bottles of wine on a table, looking remarkably similar but one was named Pinot Gris and the other, Pinot Grigio. Wouldn't you be intrigued to try the fancier sounding Pinot Gris? I would...and I have. Without getting too deep into the history of this grape, I'll give you some insight into the fact that Pinot Gris is basically a white version of Pinot Noir. Pinot Noir is a noble wine right? Then why shouldn't Pinot Gris get the same due as it's darker more seductive cousin. And to prove it, go out and do some market research of your own. Here are 2 excellent examples of what a popular grape in the hands of a skilled vintner can yield.

Amisfield Pinot Gris '05 $24.99

From New Zealand (a place the Winedaddy WILL get to one of these days), comes this magnificent find (the winery looks exactly like what you'd expect from a winery in New Zealand). I recently tasted this at Union Square Wines in manhattan from the clever Enomatic Wine system I once told you about back in the day. This wine has everything you could want from a white wine. It's crisp but not too acidic. It's fruity and floral but doesn't smell or taste like a flower shop. I finishes clean and doesn't leave any unpleasant taste. It's just good. Ok, so maybe it does have a screw top, but that's actually a good thing. It means the liquid gold inside won't spoil or fall victim to that nasty bacteria that can turn a good wine bad...really bad.

Bethel Heights Pinot Gris '05 $14.99

If the $25 is too much for you to spend on the Amisfield (that's the cost of 2 tickets and a soda to see a terrible summer blockbuster by the way...and that WILL leave a bad taste in your mouth), I highly recommend the Bethel Heights Pinot Gris. From the Willamette Valley in Oregon, comes this really nice refreshing wine. It's similar to the Amisfield but is just slightly drier, lighter, and actually has a the littlest bit of fizz to it. It's extremely clean and will pair well with just about any fish or light pasta dish. It's also from the good 'ol USA and is easily available all over the country.