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Alan Boehmer's BlogPosted by Alan Boehmer Steve Ledson is a fifth generation California winemaker who is finding his unique place in the pantheon of specialty wineries. The United States and Canada are replete with small production wineries who find niche markets for their unusual wines. Most of these specialize in a single varietal or wine style—Zinfandel, Icewine and Pinot Noir come to mind. Ledson Winery is different. They have offered 77 different wines, all made in very small batches using intensive and careful winemaking procedures. Along with most of the popular varieties, Ledson offers Grenache, Primitivo, Barbera, Sangiovese, Petite Sirah, Madera Port and others. Their wines are offered for sale only at their stunning winery in Kenwood, California; at their elegant hotel on the historic Sonoma Plaza; and through their website. Among their extensive offerings, we are pleased to recommend two standout wines: 2007 Ledson Sauvignon Blanc Russian River Valley; 13.5% alc., $26. A distinguished Sauvignon with a nose of fresh, ripe melon, Myer lemon peel, characteristic understated gooseberry and quince. Very aromatic wine with an inviting, round texture. Rich on the palate, with fresh but not overly bright flavors. Excellent balance, perfectly reflecting Sauvignon varietal character at its best, along with a clear expression of Russian River terroir. A classy Sauvignon with special appeal to lovers of Oregon Pinot Blanc. 2005 Ledson Zinfandel Russian River Valley Clapton Vineyard; 14.2% alc., $40. Deep ruby color and viscous texture in the glass. Arresting, rich, aromatic nose of spicy ripe plum, dried orange peel, white pepper and smoke. Very full-flavored on the palate, but not over the top in aggressive fruit flavor. Complex, layered flavors are reminiscent of a fine cigar. A distinctive Zinfandel that stands apart from the mainstream of voluptuous, high-end California Zinfandels. Posted by Alan Boehmer Muse NV Carnivale; 15.3% alc., $12.99 Soft, richly flavored sweet pary wine. Natural pineapple and orange add a festive note in the tradition of Sangria, but the principal flavor comes from its 100% Central Coast Syrah base. Sweet red wines fell into disregard after the Cold Duck debacle of the 1960s but have always been a part of the European wine spectrum, especially in Italy, Greece, and within the Jewish community. We don't think Carnivale will be replacing dry red table wine any time soon, but it makes a great party wine. It's full-bodied enough (15.3% alcohol) to pour over ice and garnish with fresh fruit. Or use it as a base wine for your own fresh Sangria or party punch. Muse is a new brand slated to hit the supermarket shelves in late 2008. The Muse lineup is devoted to inexpensive wine blends that are fun to drink. The label art and packaging absolutely screams "party!" and all the Muse wines are finished with hi-tech ZORK closures that allow you to "peel, pop, pour, and reseal" without resorting to a corkscrew. The ZORK closure can be re-used to re-seal any wine; it lasts indefinitely and is recyclable. In addition to Carnivale, the Muse lineup includes a red blend named Mingle, made from Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah (14.3% alc.) and a white blend named Génie made from Chardonnay, Trebbiano, Muscat Canelli, Marsanne, Roussanne, and Viognier (whew!). It's also no slouch, coming in at 14.2% alcohol. Both of these wines carry a California appellation and are vintage dated. Posted by Alan Boehmer The history of Sauvignon Blanc in California is so full of twists and turns it could easily be the subject of an entire book. It was relatively unpopular until the late 1960s when Robert Mondavi rechristened his Sauvignon Blanc as Fumé Blanc, suggesting a connection to Pouilly-Fumé from the Loire Valley in France. Mondavi set a new style for California Sauvignon—fuller bodied and oak influenced. It became an overnight success and remains so to this day. In the years following, wineries that produced Sauvignons in the Mondavi style began using the Fumé moniker; those sticking with a clean, fresh, crisp style staying with the Sauvignon Blanc label; or in increasing numbers, simply naming their wine Sauvignon. Everything changed with the introduction of Sauvignons from New Zealand. Even the intractable French became influenced by the new agressive style that featured crisp acidity and strong gooseberry flavors. While some wine lovers applauded this new style Sauvignon, others preferred their wine to be softer, with balanced flavors. Our tasting panel recently assessed Ferrari-Carano's 2007 Fumé Blanc from Sonoma County in a double blind tasting event that included nine other varieties. Some of our experienced tasters mistook it for Roussanne, Chenin Blanc and Pinot Gris—all soft and round varieties. If you are a fan of Oregon Pinot Gris you will love this wine. Its lovely and complex nose of sweet grapefruit, pineapple, green apple, melon and vanilla is a result of the skilful blending of vineyard lots from Russisn River, Dry Creek and Alexander Valley. It's a triumph of winemaking expertise that blends stainless steel lots with neutral oak lots followed by careful ageing on the lees. With superior Sauvignons gaining in recognition and price, the Ferrari-Carano Fumé Blanc is a bargain at $17. Posted by Alan Boehmer Robert Mondavi was, whatever else might be said, a visionary. He was the first to show early California wineries the path to excellence. The first to establish partnerships with the greatest winemasters of Europe and Chile. And the first to erect an $82million monument to the art of food and wine. That was COPIA, the American Center for Food, Wine and the Arts, named after the Roman goddess of abundance and occupying 80,000 square feet on the banks of the Napa River right downtown in the city of Napa, California. The vision was to establish a center of instruction and seminars where the world's premier authorities on all matters of food and wine would hold court. A restaurant—Julia's Kitchen—was established to honor the amazing contribution of Julia Child, an honorary COPIA trustee. COPIA was intended to be America's showplace of food and wine and in many ways it succeeded. But COPIA is on the rocks. Mondavi's vision was unrealistically visionary. The admission price of $12 discouraged those who would come to dine or see the exhibits. And the sometimes pricey seminar fees were paid in addition. The insurer of the COPIA bonds is awash in subprime mortgage debt and facing a looming deadline to come up with cash to back its guarantees—a deadline already extended six times since last December. Nobody wants COPIA to fail, but since 2001 it's lost up to $12 million a year and faces a $14 million deficit today. The problem was that the project was just too visionary. The expected annual attendance at its various events was targeted at around 500,000. The reality was that the average attendance over its seven year history has been below 150,000. COPIA is well worth restructuring and saving, but the State of California is not currently in a position to prop it up. Posted by Alan Boehmer The Oregonian announced that some industry analysts are predicting an oversupply "of biblical proportions" in the next few years. The 2008 harvest is expected to equal or surpass the huge harvest of 2007. Such a glut could impact the price of already pricey Oregon Pinot Noir and lead to bargain blends of astonishing quality. Not everyone agrees with this assessment, pointing to the uniqueness of Oregon Pinot Noir in the national marketplace. Others point to the fact that most Oregon vineyards are winery owned in contrast to California's huge privately owned vineyards which must secure buyers for their fruit. Oregon vineyardists are unlikely to plant more grapes than they realistically believe they can use. And they are already pruning off excess grape clusters to concentrate the quality in lower yields, as is done routinely to keep the yield down to 1-3 tons per acre. Contrast that with the new trellising designs appearing in California's San Joaquin Valley that promise to double the current yields to 26 tons per acre. One would expect that any looming oversupply of grapes would come from California. However, an oversupply of high quality Oregon Pinot Noir might not be all that bad for consumers. Posted by Alan Boehmer The U.K.'s Prince Charles has converted his 38 year old Aston Martin Volante convertible to run on wine. Well, not exactly. Here's what his spokesman said. Sir Michael Peat, the Prince's private secretary announced: "The bioethanol from our supplier happens to be made from wine. I think our wine is surplus English wine. It is wonderful. It is not corked." The Prince's automobile doesn't run on just any wine. It is English wine in particular. The Prince is lucky his car doesn't require red Burgundy or other premium grades. Amusing as this announcement is, it's really nothing new. The European Union has for many years strictly controlled the amount of wine allowed to enter the market. All surplus is made into biofuels. Posted by Alan Boehmer Lebanon is one of the world's oldest wine producing regions. Some wine historians credit Lebanon's ancestors, the Phoenicians, with introducing wine and wine grapes to Greece and Italy. There has even been speculation that the first vineyards of France's Rhône Valley may reflect this early trade. But with the rise of Islam in Lebanon and fanatical supporters of Hezbollah commercial wine production almost ceased. And then came the Lebanon-Israeli conflicts. Agricultural equipment was sometimes targeted by Israeli drones as instruments of war, making farming a risky enterprise. And Lebanese winemakers faced an almost impossible export trade as well as a shrinking local demand. All this has changed dramatically over the past few years. New vineyards have been planted in the south near the Israeli border and new wine is flowing. An estimated 55,000 bottles in 2007. And the wine is good! This region is not far from the Golan Heights, Israel's most distinguished winegrowing region. There has been speculation that if Israel returns the Golan Heights to Syria, a muslim country, the sheer economics of the very successful Golan wine industry will compel the Syrian government to allow its continuation. A most surprising circumstance is the hands-off treatment of Lebanon's wineries by Hezbollah. We will hope for the continuation of their tolerance and for the rapid reinstatement of the export of Lebanese wine to Europe, Canada, and the U.S. Posted by Alan Boehmer In response to the increasing prices of Champagne caused by supply and demand worldwide as well as the falling value of the U.S. dollar, the French government has agreed to expand the appellation controlée boundary of Champagne. The new appellation will be roughly twice the size of the current one and the result will be vastly increased production and, hopefully, lower prices. Champagne sales in the U.S. have dropped in proportion to the sagging dollar. Might we hope that as the dollar regains strength Americans will be treated to more affordable Champagne than in former times? Property values within the Champagne appellation are the highest in the country, so former beet farmers will find the value of their farms dramatically increased and the big Champagne houses are already knocking on farmhouse doors with purchase and leasing offers. It is expected that annual production over the next three years will increase by at least 100 million bottles. But even so, Champagne will probably never be truly competitive with domestic sparkling wines. In the first place, the two products are worlds apart in quality, complexity, and texture. Even sparkling wines from other regions of France, such as Vouvray, Cremant d'Alsace, and Blanquette de Limoux, lack the exquisite quality of the real thing. New World sparklers, on the other hand, are wonderful value wines. They offer refreshing wines at unbelievably attractive prices, putting them in the category of everyday treats. Our favorite domestic value sparklers are the Brut, Extra Dry, and Blanc de Noirs from Washington State Chateau Ste.-Michelle, priced around $7. Posted by Alan Boehmer California’s historic Napa Valley is facing one of the most serious economic crises in its history. It has been projected that the valley will be unable to meet the demand for its grapes by next year. California has moved from the glut of 2005 to the most severe shortage of winegrapes in recent memory. The benefactor will be imports, which are expected to increase their market share over the next years. The answer to this economic dilemma is obvious: plant more grapes. But the price of prime agricultural property in Napa Valley has risen to unbearable heights. The least favored sites in Chiles and Pope Valleys (far from the valley floor but entitled to the Napa Valley AVA) have risen as high as $75,000 per acre. Even more stunning is the value of prime acreage in places such as Stag’s Leap, Rutherford, and Oakville, where current asking prices have risen as high as $300,000 per acre! Since the price of California winegrapes is heavily influenced by Central Valley fruit, Napa Valley farmers face the grim possibility that they may be unable to receive a price for their fruit that justifies buying expensive acreage and extending vineyard properties. Adding to the dilemma is the fact that, even if farmers plant new vineyard property, they won’t come online for three years. Meanwhile, imports grab ever larger shares of the American market. Posted by Alan Boehmer Amorim & Irmãos of Portugal, the world’s largest producer of natural cork wine closures (over 3 billion annually) and their U.S. sales offices, and Anorim and Portocork America, have instituted a pilot program in California and the Pacific Northwest to recycle natural cork wine closures. Natural cork offers advantages over all other wine bottle closures, along with a few serious disadvantages. Between 5-9% of all wine sealed by natural cork will be affected by TCA, or cork taint. These wines are ruined. However, this year a French company, Oeneo-Bouchage, introduced the first taint-free cork—DIAM—now in use by some of Alsace's largest wineries. This may signal a move away from synthetic closures. Amorim's ReCork America program has set up recycling centers in several wine regions, including Napa Valley, along with a convenient recycling program. The used corks are placed in the same bags used to deliver fresh corks and trucked by the recycler to a processing plant where the material is prepared for use in floor tiles, building insulation and gardening products. A company is Missouri is producing attractive flooring made from recycled corks and has already partnered with ReCORK to pay for transportation. Natural cork is a fully sustainable agricultural product. The bark is stripped from cork oak trees once every nine years; the trees live for around 200 years. Natural cork is the closure of choice for all the world's finest wines. Posted by Alan Boehmer The media have braced us all for rising prices across the board. We're already suffering from enormous increases in energy costs and since all commodities depend upon energy, everything seems to be skyrocketing. How will this affect the price of wine? Well, on the bright side, the price of Two-Buck Chuck remains still at two bucks. And inexpensive imports seem to be holding the line for the time being. We've not yet seen the full effect of rising costs in domestic wine, but they are almost certain to impact the cost of wine in the years ahead. Other factors, too, will affect the price of wine in the coming years. In addition to rising costs of production and transportation, basic market factors will drive up the prices. Wine Business Monthly reports a projected shortage of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Chardonnay grapes in the years ahead. Not a single year shortage, which would impact the price of those wines, but an indefinite shortage due to the fact that newly planted vineyards are not going to keep up with the demand. We can know almost with certainty just what the anticipated shortfall will be over the next three years, since it takes three years for a new vineyard to come into production. The numbers suggest the greatest undersupply in recent history. If you are a lover of fine Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, now is the time to buy those wines and lay them down (in a cool place!) to enjoy when the price of those wines rises as it inexorably will. Posted by Alan Boehmer No sector of retail sales features the labarynthine maze of regulations that wine sales suffers, especially in the United States. One of the legacies of Prohibition was the development of the "Three-Tiered-System." Producer—Distributor—Retailer. Only recently have some state laws softened to allow consumers to order wine directly from the wineries and have it shipped to their homes. States that allow these purchases are known as reciprocity states. At the time of this writing there are 20 of these in addition to Washington D. C.:
As a result of these states relaxing their laws, consumers are flocking to online purchasing. The move to direct sales has had the greatest effect on the high end of the market. Wines costing over $30 comprised 58.5% of the direct sales market in 2007. Direct sales rarely involves wines priced under $10 because these wines, mostly imports, are readily available in most parts of the country and the cost of shipping causes them to compete directly with more expensive wines. About half the small wineries we have visited in California, Oregon, and Washington are not seeking distributors. To obtain a distributor a winery must produce a certain volume of product which is sold to the distributor at a substantial discount. This is not feasible for the small producer focussing on a high quality product. So we are seeing a sea change in the way fine wine is marketed. Many of the finest small producers sell only through their tasting room, cellar clubs and online sales. This is becoming an increasing trend. Some of the most desirable wines—Kosta Browne Pinot Noir, for example—are being sold only to members of their mailing list . Posted by Alan Boehmer First it was organic farming, then sustainable farming, then biodynamic farming. Now all these efforts are recognized by the California State Legislature which has awarded Certificates of Recognition to the winners of the 1st International Green Wine Competition to be held on May 5 in Santa Rosa, California. The International Green Wine Competition will answer the question, "Which Outstanding Wines Should 'Green' Consumers Buy?" This is the first competition devoted to recognizing and awarding outstanding wines made from "green" grapes. "This competition is all about the grapes," added co-founder and Director De-Anna Alba, explaining that only wines made from biodynamically grown grapes certified by Biodyvin (France) or Demeter certified biodynamic grapes, certified organic, transitional, 3rd party certified, and natural grapes will be judged The interest in organic and biodynamic viticulture is exploding, with many small and mid-sized wineries planting experimental vineyards. Sustainable agriculture has been a major focus of California’s Wine Institute. When compared directly with non-organic wines from the same producer, we’ve noticed a significant difference in the biodynamic wines. They will certainly be more expensive; and whether the added cost is justified in the quality of the products has yet to be clearly seen. Posted by Alan Boehmer According to The Nielsen Company, U. S. consumers purchased 111,584,589 cases of wine in 2007. That's 4.4 750ml bottles of wine per person in the U.S., including infants, infirm, and elderly. The U.S. has become a nation of wine lovers. We looked at those purchases by sector and uncovered some interesting facts:
Posted by Alan Boehmer Trade tastings like the Family Winemakers' of California Annual Trade Tastings in Pasadena and San Francisco show the current state of affairs in the California wine industry. At the Pasadena tasting on March 18 more than 300 wineries were represented. "Family Winemakers" in this context means not incorporated. So many of the big guys like Kendall-Jackson were represented. Each year the wines offered to the trade represent the state of commercial wine in California. Rising stars become apparent, such as Grenache (12 examples) and Petite Sirah (37) show rising interest in these formerly obscure varietals. Tempranillo (9), once the most widely planted Italian varietal in California—by far—is failing to attract an audience. On the other hand, Syrah (129) surpassed even Zinfandel (95) and has now found a place among the standard tried-and-true California varietals. A considerable number of wineries continue to test the waters with lesser-known varietals: Charbono, Vermentino, Grenache Blanc, Malbec, and others. We applaud their efforts and wish to see more of these unusual offerings. A surprise was in the growing number of rosé offerings (46). This shows that American audiences have finally outgrown their adolescent infatuation with white Zinfandel. All the rosé wines we sampled were dry or slightly off-dry and many were outstanding. Gewürztraminer (9) and Riesling (8) were poorly represented. California winemakers have largely been less than fully successful with these varietals so far, although there are a few notable examples. Kings of the hill were, as expected, Cabernet Sauvignon (187) and Chardonnay (129). It's what people continue to purchase at all price points, so that's what wineries that want to stay in business offer. Pinot Noir (104) continues on the rise and Merlot (94) seems to be holding its own. Posted by Alan Boehmer Argentina may the most overlooked important New World wine region. It's primary varietal, Malbec, is not well known to most American and Canadian wine lovers, who often assign it to a quality level far below Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon. While Malbec never produced a truly great wine in it homeland, France, it has found ideal growing conditions in the Mendoza region of Argentina, just across the Andes from the fine winegrowing regions of Chile. Our tasting panel will present its own reviews of Argentine wines later this Spring. Meanwhile, here are some highlights from Mr. Parker's rating: At the top of the list, rated 98-100 points on the 100 point scale are the 2005 and 2006 Vina Cobos Malbec Marchiori Vineyard ($150). A little less expensive is the 2005 Achaval Ferrer Malbec Finca Altamira at $79-100; rating is also 98 points. Vina Cobos second label Bramare Malbec, 2005 Vina Cobos Bramare Marchiori Vineyard garnered 96 points and is priced at $75. We were happy to see the 2003 Bodegas Trapiche Malbec Tributo Vina Felipe Villafane win 95 points. It's priced around $45 and a huge bargain. All Argentine wines rated 95 points or above were Malbecs. Some Cabernet Sauvignons climbed up to 94 points. A standout in that category is the 2005 Vina Cobos Bramare Marchiori Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon at $55. Try finding a 94 point Napa Valley Cabernet at that price! The economy standout was 2005 Bodegas Poesia Clos des Andes, a 93 pt. Malbec priced at $12. Posted by Alan Boehmer The highly celebrated 2008 Paso Robles Zinfandel Festival is set for Saturday, March 15, at the Paso Robles Event Center. Paso Robles is one of the six major Zinfandel appellations in California and maintain their distinction by being chewy, fruity, peppery wines that typically carry alcohol levels around 15%. Some rise to the very limit of unfortified wines at 17%. The Zinfandel Festival is intended to allow wine lovers to experience the full spectrum of Zinfandels from this respected appellation in an unlimited tasting format. The Festival is a weekend-long event, featuring special events at many member wineries. Such events will include Zinfandel and food pairings and vertical tastings. But the main events take place on Saturday afternoon and evening: Live Auction—4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Live auction is offered both in standard auctioneer and silent formats and will include many special offerings including hotel stays, luxury trips, private winemaker dinners, and many large format bottlings (magnums, Jeroboams, Rehoboams, Nebuchadnezzars (?). A special feature of the Live Auction will be the chance to taste this year's Zinfandel Collaborative Blend, made by this year's selected blendmaster Steve Felton of Norman Vineyards. Grand Tasting—7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. This is the Festival's showcase of the finest Zinfandels produced in the Paso Robles appellation, and some would say, in all of California. Visit www.pasowine.com for further details and ticket prices. Posted by Alan Boehmer Charles Sullivan has been called the Dean of Wine Historians and rightly so. His monumental two-volume work, "A History of Wine in America," contains a thousand pages of 8 pt (?) text and 161 pages of notes. It is an exhaustive affair that deals with every aspect and corner of viticulture in America from its inception in South Carolina in 1567 to the present. The book is current, including descriptions of reverse osmosis and spinning cones to reduce alcohol in wine and offers thoughts about the future of wine and wine making in the coming years. The award ceremony will be held at the California Culinary Institute in San Francisco on April 25, 2008. It is open only to invited members of the wine writing community and around 1,000 distinguished wines will be offered for tasting, along with a lunch prepared by the students of the CCI and an awards dinner in the evening. Previous winners of this prestigious award include Robert M. Parker, Jr., Gerald Asher, Anthony Dias Blue, Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson, Michael Broadbent, Robert Balzer and others. Posted by Alan Boehmer Charles Shaw wine, a.k.a. Two-Buck Chuck, offers a range of varietals at $1.99 and is sold exclusively through Trader Joe's grocery company. Included in the line-up are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Gamay Nouveau, Valdiguie, Shiraz, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. Charles Shaw Chardonnay won bragging rights to Best California Chardonnay at this year's California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition, winning a Double Gold Medal. (We suspect that it was served late in the queue and rated by judges who may have neglected to spit.) We included a bottle of Charles Shaw Cabernet Sauvignon in a blind tasting of California Cabernets. Predictably, although a terrific bargain and sound cooking wine, it placed last. Trader Joe's has now sold more than 300 million bottles of Two-Buck Chuck. The winery, Bronco Wine Company in Ceres, CA (Central Valley) controls more than 30,000 acres of vineyard property and produces around 20 million cases of wine annually. Bronco is headed by Fred Franzia, a nephew of Ernest Gallo, and is a growing operation. They are planning to expand into Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Riesling, and Colombard. "The market is going to need a lot of wine," said Fred. And he's planning to meet the need. Franzia claims that the key to his ability to provide sound wines at such a low price lies in his total control of the operation from vineyard to bottle, although other wineries with similar abilities can't seem to compete. Other brands offered by Bronco include Forestville, Estrella, Montpelier, Grand Cru, Silver Ridge, Rutherford Vintners, Hacienda, Fox Hollow and Napa Ridge. Bronco is now the 4th largest winery operation in the United States. Posted by Alan Boehmer For all you food enthusiasts, here's a recipe for a delicious dessert using red wine to complement our recent article "Cooking with Wine." It's a personal original and has garnered rave reviews from all who have tasted it. It can be made with blackberries, raspberries, or strawberries and will serve four people. Prep time is about 30 minutes. FRESH BLACKBERRIES IN ZINFANDEL REDUCTION SAUCE INGREDIENTS 1 bottle inexpensive Zinfandel 1/2 cup white sugar 1 cup fresh blackberries, raspberries, or strawberries vanilla ice cream PROCEDURE Boil the Zinfandel down to about 1/2 cup. Add sugar and continue cooking until sauce is thickened. Add fresh berries and cool to room temperature. Spoon over ice cream. This amazing sauce can also be used to complement pork or duck, in which case you would reduce or eliminate the sugar. Posted by Alan Boehmer The waiter hovers nearby after pouring a taste of the wine you ordered, waiting for your response. Should you smell the cork that has been placed on the table? What if it's a synthetic? Should you smell that, too? What about a screw cap? The wine isn't what you thought it would be. You don't even like it. Should you accept it anyway? Or send it back for another selection? An old world mystique has developed around the ceremony of wine service in restaurants. What gave rise to this quaint formality in the first place was the high incidence of cork taint. Before the rise of alternative closures, an estimated 5% of all bottled wine exhibited its ill effects: wet paper aroma, loss of aroma and flavor and odd, chemical aspects in both aroma and flavor. Since one bottle in twenty held in a resturant's cellar would suffer from cork taint, it was necessary to present each wine to the customer for his own evaluation. Corks were to be sniffed for the telltale signs and a small pour was to be sniffed to insure that the wine was sound. "Sound" is the operative word here. Unsound, that is, cork tainted or otherwise damaged wines should always be returned. But these days the incidence of damaged wine is very much reduced. In my personal experience I only remember two examples of tainted wine served to me in a restaurant—this out of hundreds of bottles. Nevertheless, the ritual continues. If the wine you ordered is not physically damaged, you should accept it whether you like it or not. If you're not sure, ask the restaurant's wine steward to check it out for you. Posted by Alan Boehmer Not long ago we noted the conspicuous absence of good quality mid-priced Merlots. The best, whether from France, Italy, Washington State or California all seem to occupy the $40+ price bracket, with some even fetching upwards of $70. Merlots on the low end of the price continuum we found to be varietally indistinct, so our advice was to drink other red wines unless you can pony up to buy luxury wines. Chateau Pétrus, the prototypical French Merlot based wine, currently sells for $3000. We'll overlook that one for now. At last we're seeing excellent Merlots that anyone can afford to buy. The best so far comes from Moonstone Cellars in Cambria, California. Moonstone Cellars is an example of the many small boutique wineries popping up all over California's Central Coast. Typically these are husband and wife operations, sometimes with a few acres of vineyard, and sometimes not. The wines are often made in rented facilities. But often, the quality of these boutique wines far outpaces their cost, due to the lack of overhead. We've previously reported on Mitchella's wonderful $18 Cabernet Sauvignon from Paso Robles. Now we're pleased to introduce you to the finest $18 Merlot we've found to date. 2004 Moonstone Cellars Merlot Paso Robles; 14.4% alc., $18. Put this wine to your nose and you will think it's a real St. Emilion or Pomorol. The nose closely resembles red Bordeaux with clear aromas of cedar, tobacco and candied cherry. When you drink this wine, you will know it's not really French because of its voluptuous body. But it's not made in the typical overripe, overoaked style so common in California Merlots. A superior Merlot at an unbelievably attractive price. Highly recommended. And if you live in California, Moonstone Cellars will ship your wine at no charge. Posted by Alan Boehmer We bring out Champagne for our special occasions. Most of us reserve sparkling wines to celebrate such events. Yet it is generally agreed that sparkling wines offer the broadest range of food pairings, from cheese courses to desserts. So if you happen to be of the former opinion, perhaps it's time to give sparkling wines a second thought. Unlike poor still wines, poor sparkling wines can often be useful. Add a splash of fruit syrup and you have a sparkling cocktail. Even served straight up, the effervescence covers a multitude of shortcomings for most tasters. Champagne is, of course, a premium product. But France produces sparkling wines in the Loire Valley and Burgundy also. Sparkling Vouvray (Loire) can be delicious; it can also disappoint. We've not tasted an inexpensive one that we can recommend. Burgundy is another matter. We've not tasted an inexpensive sparkler from Burgundy that we did'nt like. These wines will retail for around $9 and go under the moniker of Cremant de Bougogne. They come in white and rosé versions. Cremant d'Alsace is another, slightly more expensive, alternative, well worth seeking out. Also, German wineries produce a bulk sparkler called Sekt which can be found in North American markets for as little as $4. They are decent wines and worth every penny. Of the American sparklers, we recommend the sparkling wines of Chateau Ste.-Michelle, a Washington State winery that specializes in inexpensive sparkling wines along with a broad spectum of still wines. They offer a Brut, Extra Dry, and Blanc de Noirs—all for around $8. We like the Blanc de Noirs the best. Posted by Alan Boehmer Napa Valley's historic Beaulieu Vineyards has announced its intention to create a self-contained winery devoted exclusively to its flagship Cabernet Sauvignon Georges de Latour Private Reserve, one of the earliest wines to put California Cabernet on the map. Georges de Latour Private Reserve, created by legendary winemaker André Tschelistcheff in 1936, became California's first reserve wine and was considered the finest Cabernet Sauvignon in California until competition from Inglenook surfaced a few years later. Inglenook was by far the older winery and held some of the best vineyard property anywhere in Napa Valley. BV's Private Reserve inspired owner/winemaker John Daniel to develop a competing wine in 1941 to become known as Inglenook Reserve Cask Cabernet Sauvignon. Unlike BV's Private Reserve, Inglenook's was a blended wine loosely based on the Bordeaux model. These two wines were held in the highest esteem up to the 1970s, when an explosion of enterprising new winemakers set up shop in Napa Valley and began to make Cabernets that would be rival the best in the world. BV's new facility will be a $7million dollar state of the art winery with stainless steel and oak fermentors, equipped with heating and cooling jackets; and barrel racks with rollers that allow the barrels to spin in place, fostering gentle cap management. The new facility is scheduled to be up and running by the Spring of 2009. |
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