Over the past several years I have given at least 300 wine seminars, but last Saturday was the first one I have given that was more of a party atmosphere. First the seminar was given at someones house, whom I am friends with and of the 13 attendees four were friends. So this was a bit different than giving a seminar to either wine professionals or at a corporate event. So with this tasting/seminar we were not terribly serious, which for me is actually a relief.
Tina and Bryan (the hosts) have a passion for things Italian and they decided that the wines of Northern Italy would be the region to focus on. Lucky me, I love the area and have traveled there several times and even worked not far away in the Swiss Alps at one stage of my life. So for me the region has some emotional strings attached.
Italy is divided into 20 large regions or states, seven of these I consider to be northern. They are Valle d'Aosta (not much wine here but some great skiing), Piemonte (lots of wine and world class reds), Liguiria (not much wine, but home to Christopher Columbus and some great restaurants), Lombardia (plenty of wine but very little is marketed in the US unfortunately), Alto-Adige/Trentino (some really great whites but I think there is great potential for both Cabernet and Pinots), Veneto (home to Valpolicella and Soave along with Prosecco) and finally the Tre Venezia or Friuli-Venezia-Giulia (another great white region with some reds and home to the wonderful Tocai-Friuliano). OK so there's a long-winded introduction of Northern Italian regions, now I want to elaborate on the regions and the wines we tasted, some ecstatically enjoyed, some choked down begrudgingly and others spat out in disgust (well not really, but wouldn't that be unusual to see at a tasting).
The first wine is one of Tina's favorites, Prosecco. There are a few regions in the world where the name of the wine, the name of the region and the name of the grape are all the same and this is one of them. Prosecco is thought to come from the name of a village across the border in Slovenia (just what I've read as I've never been there). Prosecco is a sparkling wine from northeastern Veneto (hop on your Vespa in Venice and head northwest for about a hundred miles or so), it is produced in the less expensive way so we can enjoy it a bit more often than we do Champagne. Sparkling wines are fermented twice, once to change the sugar into alcohol and a second time to make the bubbles (the bubbles get the alcohol through our bloodstream faster, making us more...interesting). With the more (much) expensive Champagne, the second fermentation happens in the bottle and is aged for quite awhile. The second fermentation for Prosecco happens in tank and the wine is then carefully bottled under pressure...so less expensive to produce and less in the restaurant or store.
The Prosecco we used is Zardetto from the Conegliano area of Prosecco. The wine is fresh and pretty with sweet citrus aromas and a hint of toasty character. The body is light and refreshing so its easy to guzzle.
The first still wine we had was Tramin Pinot Grigio DOC, now the reason it is DOC is because it is from the region of Alto-Adige one of the best areas for Pinot Grigio in Italy (the other would be Friuli). Tramin is named for the town in the area and is actually a co-op, but up in this part of Italy co-ops are actually quite fine and this one has been in existence for several hundred years. Pinot Grigio can often be a bit boring, which is unfortunate as the grape has amazing pedigree. Pinot Grigio is closely related to both Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and in the right climate and soils the balance and crispness can be lovely and let the minerality of the soils sing through. That for me is what happens with this Pinot Grigio and others from the steep, cool and sunny vineyards of Alto-Adige. The Alto-Adige is hard in the foothills of the Dolomite Mountains, just south of Austria. It is a stunningly beautiful place, but all the vineyards must be tended to manually due to the tough site locations, this means the wines aren't cheap, but what's the point of cheap Pinot Grigio anyway? Especially when ones like this can be found for about $15 to $17 and we are supposed to be drinking less but better according to the State Troopers anyhow.
The Tramin has a light refreshing palate and bright aromas of lemon, lime and some floral notes reminiscent of white spicy flowers or maybe honeysuckle. The finish is crisp and clean with hints of minerals and quite long. I would drink this on a nice warm spring evening with a spread of cured meats and fresh mozarella. Or even at the mountain cafe in Gstaad or Davos while listening to the Presidents and Prime Ministers talk about world economics.
We followed that wine with a Soave, but first I'd like to talk about the blind wine I challanged the group with. And you know what, even without much experience in this, most could recognize the grape and that I feel is a great sign for a wine. The wine was another Tramin from the Alto-Adige, this time however it was a Sauvignon. And yes some thought it was a Sauvignon Blanc and were thinking it might be New Zealand or Loire, which makes plenty of sense as both areas are quite cool and Alto-Adige shares the intense sun of NZ. This wine is one of my favorites, I love cool climate Sauvignon Blanc and the ones from here and in the areas of Friuli produce really high quality wines. Look for all the bright citrus notes along with grapefruit or grassy notes, but the wine is not a lightweight, the palate is moderately full and the finish is quite long with lovely balance and crispness. This is an easy wine to drink several glasses of which was demonstrated after my little seminar was over.
The Soave was a Classico (from the original, hilly area that is best for the these wines) from Inama. Soave has done some serious damage to it's reputation over the years due to the plonk produced by the rivers of low quality high volume vines planted throughout the lesser areas of Soave. There are two main grapes allowed plus some small percentage of Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco. The main grapes are the indigenous Garganega and Trebbiano di Soave. Now Trebbiano di Soave can make some decent wines, but the lesser clone, Trebbiano di Toscano is basically dreck and can easily yeild as much as 12 tons of fruit per acre - only about 4 times what a respectable vineyard would yeild in Sonoma, Burgundy or Loire. The Inama Soave Classico is produced entirely from Garganega, what I (and many quality Soave producers) consider to be Soave's best grape. The wine has aromas of ripe lemon, camomile, wild flowers and a round lush and full palate with a hint of the typical almond character in the finish and back of the palate.
The Soave was a bit controversial, as some people liked it, while some hated it... I am not sure if it was choked down begrudgingly or subtly spat out in disgust? I didn't notice the anyone spitting it out in disgust but it could of happened behind my back. Anyhow the wine had more weight and more obvious alcohol than the other whites so it was a bit more intense and some might think clumsy, but that is in comparison to the others and is a bit of the old apples vs. oranges debate.
The Reds will have to wait for another posting.
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( 3 / 367 )by Chris Miller
Every Saturday, I do a plan a tasting/seminar for the staff at a store I consult for.
Big reds was the theme this week - yikes. Purple mouth disease is on the run. The tasting included Jax Cabernet Sauvignon from Calistoga, Chateau Montelena Cabernet Franc, Chateau Montelena Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Far Niente Cabernet Sauvignon, Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill Cabernet Sauvignon and Diamond Creek Gravelly Meadow Cabernet Sauvignon.
Like I said, yikes. A collective of over $600 worth of big Napa Cabs. The Jax is a newish project from Calistoga in which 2003 was the first wine bottled under the Jax label, it is very limited in quantity and almost impossible to get. Is it worth it, well the price is right, but nothing to search frantically for as wines such as Judds Hill and the regular Montelena are just as fine if not better. The wine has big rich aromas of vanilla, black raspberry, rosemary and mint, the palate is rich and full but well balanced by decent acidity even with the touch of heat in the lingering finish. After about twenty minutes in the glass the amount of very sweet black cherry jumping out of the glass was amazing. Good wine for the about $42 you might find it for. We'll keep our eyes out for it next vintage though.
The Chateau Montelena Cabernet Franc is an odd ball, first it's not available but at my clients place in the city (gotta contact me to find out where - fees may apply), second they never make this wine, just use Cab Franc as a blender in their Cabernet Sauvignons, and they tried this with Merlot in a previous vintage and I was not impressed at all, maybe even a touch depressed as Montelena is one of my favorites from California. Anyhow the wine had notes of Provencal, cassis, rosemary, blackberry and was very Bordeaux in character - it was at least as good if not better for me than the Jax. Probably due to the Bordelais character.
Far Niente has never been one of those wines I feel a need to have, it is always a very good example of big ripe, lush Napa Cabernet - but I look for more minerality and complexity in my wines than what I find in this and similar wines. It is actually funny because while tasting this a discussion broke out about Parkers palate for such wines and how this is pretty indicative of the 'Parker' style, yet he never gives the wine very good marks. I think this has to due with his not tasting such wines blind. The wine has all the hallmarks of a Napa Cab, lush, big, ripe, sweet, sweet fruits, vanilla, black berry, black currant. Just all around ripe and sweet with a lushness to it and a bit of glycerin in both the palate and finish. A real crowd pleaser, no sense of terrior except the fact that it has that Napa Valley floor character. For about the same money (~$110/btl) I'd rather have the Chateau Montelena Estate Cab.
The Montelena Estate Cab has cassis, tobacco, licorice, cherry, raspberry and cedar - the note that really makes me love this wine is the all important Pencil lead character mingling with the cedar that reminds me of a top wine from Pauillac. The length and complexity evolves with air and keeps you guessing what aromas you'll run into each time you reach for the glass. I personally have to be careful with such wines as I often forget to drink the wine and just continually smell it...this is alright when drinking such a wine with one other person, but when sharing it with a group, I'll end up with a glass of the wine while everyone else has a second. Sometimes it's a mistake to stop and smell the roses, especially if someone else is picking them while you just stand there and smell.
The Diamond Creeks represented other problems, first the tiny production makes them both quite expensive and rare. The vineyard sites are tiny and in a great location, plus the vines were propagated (maybe nicked) from two of the four Bordeaux Premier Crus. Four you say, yes in 1966 there were only four Premier Crus, so my guess would be the vines originated in Haut-Brion and Latour. Mouton was not a 1st Growth at the time, Lafite is far to elegant to be related to wines made from Diamond Creek vines and Margaux was having a bit of a slump and was not really of 1st Growth quality back then.
On the really fine web-site you can find pictures of the vineyards and a neat little map of them too. With that and some of my own memory of the wines I deemed that the Gravelly Meadow would be gentler and more elegant of the two - oops I was wrong, doesn't make sense but the Volcanic Hill is the less massive wine of these two giants. They remind me of Randy Dunns Howell Mountains. The Volcanic Hill was very concentrated, big yet balanced with an absolute ton of cassis and black berry/cherry aromas (this made me think of it being Latour cuttings). There were notes of ripe blueberry, gravelly minerals, dust and just a hint of lead (just lead no pencil - still counts though), a touch of cedar popped up in the finish along a some saber rattling tannins in a long complex and evolving finish. A truly amazing wine but not something I could handle for more than a glass, while compared to the Montelena Estate which I could drink several of.
The Gravelly Meadow was a giant with Syrah like darkness to the appearance. The aromas also had the similar cassis but this time it was very sweet cassis also with a touch of lead, but the oak was more obvious and the palate was very rich with very sweet fruits including sweet raspberry, cherry and giant tannins. The finish was again very long but slightly puckering due to the tannins (they need some time) and a bit of heat. Quite the wine but if the Volcanic was too much than this is off the charts.
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( 3 / 387 )by Chris Miller
Every Saturday, I do a tasting/seminar for the staff at a store I consult for.
California Whites was todays seminar theme, and this is one that can cause me to worry if it will come off well. Cause you know the white wines of California can sometimes be high in alcohol and low in acidity...meaning, clunk. But this line-up offered some interesting options. Two SB's, two Chards, a Sparkler and a wacko blend - oh yeah a two blinds. All pretty interesting.
The Sauv Blancs were Matanzas Creek (at one time in the 1990's one of Cals best) and Grgich Hills Fume Blanc.
Mantanzas Creek Vineyards:
Matanzas Creek was bought by Jess Jackson in the mid 1990's and went though a bit of a slump and some identity complexity issues. I've visited the winery twice, once under the original owners - the McKivers (sp?) and then in 2003 under the Jess's control. In 2003 I tasted many different wines and the current releases at the time were, um indifferent? But then the winemaker brought me to the cellar and I tasted from both the barrel and the tank and I was greatly impressed with both the Merlot (which the McKivers had also made a rep with), the Chardonnay and the Sauvignon Blanc.
The Sauvignon Blanc I tasted today had aromas of ripe grapefruit, a touch of green apple, some ripe citrus and that musky note of...hmm sweaty sex or wet dog or a musky kind of perfume but in a good way - well to me anyway. That musky character comes from the 17% of the Musque Clone of Sauvignon Blanc, blended into the wine. The palate is crisp but rich with a lingering finish and just a hint of alcohol burn in the finish. Yeah it's around 14% alcohol but the acidity balances that nicely.
OK, now who remembers the winemaker for the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay (well for that matter all the 1973 Montelena wines)? Why is that a worthy question you might wonder...well there was a very famous tasting in Paris in 1976, it was done blind with the greatest French wines and the American upstarts. Well the 1973 Chateau Montelena beat out comparable wines from Montrachet, Burgundy (considered the greatest site for Chardonnay in the world - oh and the most expensive vineyard land too). The Chardonnay that took 1st place was the 1973 Montelena, which was made by a Croatian name Mike Grgich. That's right, Mike then went on from that success to start his own winery, and today along with Montelena, Forman and a couple of others makes Napa Valley's finest white wines.
Grgich Hills 2005 Fume Blanc, this wine has all the bright, crisp notes of a classic Sauvignon Blanc with a touch of roundness from maybe some old oak treatment. Makes sense anyway as Miljenko “Mike” Grgich uses a bit of new oak for his Chardonnay and why not use that expensive oak once of twice more before making them into planters or displays at a restaurant or store. The wine has a Pouilly-Fume character to it, still grassy and citrusy but with a touch of roundness that is more Pouilly like than Sancerre like. Long and classy in the finish and palate - it's not cheap though, but neither is fine Pouilly-Fume or even Sancerre.
The Chardonnay was Hartford Court Three Jacks Vineyard in Russian River Valley. This wine is not produced anymore as the Hartford program has changed and they no longer use purchased fruit for their wines. Three Jacks is the name Hartford used for the Duttons J-L Ranch. The wine is not at all my style, yet very well made, it is a big, rich, tropical Chardonnay with a good dose of high quality oak (you know the French kind ~$900 a barrel), though the wine is creamy and lush the acidity does actually hang in there.
This is a picture of a vineyard near to the Duttons properties in Russian River Valley
After these wines we had two blind wines, they both stumped me and for that matter everyone else as they were not typical. I new they were both new world wines but the Viognier had too much zing and zip to be such and the Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier blend tasted like Semillon, and many agreed with me. While the Calera Viognier remained atypical with air, the Niebaum-Coppola Blancaneaux actually did start to bring out the Marzipan and floral components found in Marsanne and Viognier and really wasn't a bad wine, but no way for a price tag of close to $45 a bottle. And Josh Jensens reds are more interesting for me than his whites and for close to $40 for the Calera Viognier, I can think of more interesting wines to spend that kind of dough on.
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