Winery Watch: Ballentine Vineyards

This is the first in a series of posts highlighting California family wineries. You might not be familiar with them--yet--but they produce wines that speak with the voices of this state's people, places, and history. They are worth seeking out. These posts will be longer than most posts on the blog, but I hope you will find them perfect for leisurely weekend reading and internet browsing. Have fun!

This old Chenin Blanc vine from the Napa Valley represents the essence of Ballentine Vineyards. (photo courtesy of Ballentine Vineyards) With roots that extend back into the history of California winemaking, and a philosophy that embraces the best modern methods within a family-run operation, the Ballentine Vineyards team is producing some simply excellent wines as I discovered recently at the Family Winemakers of California tasting in Pasadena. Van and Betty Ballentine, along with wine-maker Bruce Devlin, presented a lineup of wines where every sip was better than the last. They said Napa Valley to me, and exhibited textbook varietal characteristics along with fabulous terroir.

The Ballentine story begins in 1884, when Betty Ballentine's grandfather, Libero Pocai, arrived in the US from Lucca, Italy. In San Francisco, Libero met and married Maria Cristofani and the two left the city following the devastating 1906 earthquake. He purchased 60 acres in the upper Napa Valley near Calistoga--about as close to viticultural heaven as you can get. The Pocais planted Zinfandel, Gamay, Charbono, Merlot, and Petite Sirah vines and started the 115th bonded winery in the state of California. This historic ranch was Betty's home, and the Pocai vineyards continue to produce the bulk of Merlot grapes used by Ballentine.

Around the same time as Libero and Maria Pocai moved to the Napa Valley, John Ballentine came to the US from Ireland. It was 1910, and John Ballentine lived in San Francisco for a decade before heading for the Napa Valley. In 1922, John purchased the original Sutter Home Winery which had become derelict due to Prohibition and renamed it Deer Park. Then, he waited. He was ready in 1933, when Prohibition was lifted, to bottle his first vintage. Cabernets, Zinfandels, and Rieslings all came from the Deer Park vines until, in 1959, Deer Park stopped making its own wines and began selling grapes to other makers such as Ravenswood, Rombauer, and Caymus. These were tough times for the wine industry, and many small family operations closed their doors.

Thankfully for us, after years of selling their grapes to others, Betty and Van Ballentine decided to revive the Ballentine brand. They built their own winery behind their farmhouse in 1995, and recently opened a tasting room that is open for visitors. Once they got things up and running they hired UC Davis graduate Bruce Devlin, a San Jose native with wine-making experience gleaned in Germany, South Africa, and Australia, to be their winemaker. In 1999 he joined the Ballentine crew, and was given the freedom to follow the grapes and his own inspiration in making wines. Check out The Cork Board's "5 Questions" interview with Devlin that was posted just this week to learn more.

Even with all that history, the Ballentines are still trying new things and developing new wines. Ballentine just released their first Cabernet Sauvignon from the Maple Lane Vineyard ($60) and if you are looking for a very, very special bottle of red for a gift or a family meal, this would be an excellent choice. (photo of Van Ballentine amid the cab vines at Maple Lane, courtesy of Ballentine Vineyards). It has amazing complexity, with intricate aromas of black cherry and fresh ground pepper. These notes follow through on the palate, along with an entire herb garden and spice cabinet of additional flavors, including vanilla, licorice, and mint. Get it while you can, and stash it away for the holidays. I think it is going to become a coveted and highly collectible wine.

Here are some of my other top picks along with brief impressions of the wines I tasted recently. You can click on the wine's name and be whisked straight to the Ballentine site to read more, and order some for delivery.

2006 Ballentine Chenin Blanc Old Vines ($15). A brisk and refreshing chenin blanc made from grapes grown in the historic Pocai family vineyards, with good acidity combined with aromas and flavors of pear and minerals. Perfect for spring and summer sipping on the porch, or with some fried chicken or bbq. Excellent QPR.

2002 Ballentine Zinfandel Old Vines ($18). What a beautiful color on this wine! Aromas of black and blue berries, with flavors of cranberry and cracked black pepper. Pizza, pasta, or grilled meats would be great with it. Excellent QPR.

2002 Ballentine Merlot Estate Grown ($22). Another find from Ballentine, which has received very favorable press reviews, this is a fantastic merlot with yummy black and red fruit aromas and flavors accented by warm notes of currant, spice, and pepper. Excellent QPR.

2002 Ballentine Zinfandel Reserve Block 9 ($27). This outstanding zin had complex aromas of flowers, black fruits, and spice which are also present in the flavors. Serious bang for the buck, with lots of complexity. I would buy this in a heart-beat. It's that good (and I'm not alone in thinking so. If you are a reader of wine mags you may have seen the positive reviews of this wine). Very good QPR.

2004 Ballentine Petite Sirah Field Blend ($35). Just 100 cases were produced of this outstanding blend of Petite Sirah, Zinfandel, Syrah, and Carignane--all grown in the same vineyard. Intense blackberry flavors and aromas in a silky package, this wine would be a great match with a wide variety of foods. I really liked this wine, with its intriguing mixture of blockbuster fruit and elegant mouthfeel. Good QPR.

2002 Ballentine Integrity ($32). A very good, soft merlot blend with abundant aromas and flavors of blackberries, black cherries, vanilla, and herbs. Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Cabernet Franc. I can't think of any food that would fail to pair well with this wine. Very food friendly. Good QPR.

These Ballentine bottlings represent the kind of wine we should be drinking.

They are such good value, and produced with such care. At a time when Napa wine prices are reaching stratospheric price levels, it is amazing to see how the Ballentines are able to make such seriously good wine at these prices. Their wines are readily available in LA, can be had directly from the vineyard, and I'm guessing you can find them at a wine store near you. If not, then march up to the counter and suggest that the buyer starts stocking these wonderfully affordable Napa wines.

Spread the word. Drink their wine. And if you are a fan of Ballentine wines, leave a comment and let us know which one is your favorite.

Next week: Four Vines Winery

Between Beaujolais and Burgundy: Alsatian Pinot Noir

When we think Alsace we think fruity white wines made with elegance and finesse. Back in the Medieval period, Alsace was known for its red wines, too. Groumets, certified wine brokers who helped to make deals between the vintners and their consumers (and made sure the local authorities got their tax cut) were kept busy in Alsace between November and January. During this period customers traveled to Alsace to taste wines, make deals, and get tasting reports from the groumets. It is from the groumets that we get our modern term "gourmet," as well as wine tasting report and, eventually, the wine blog like the one you are reading.

I've long been a fan of Alsatian whites, which are so well suited for pairing with Asian food, but recently I had the chance to try an Alsatian red. It was a chance to taste a little history when I opened up the 2005 Andre Scherer Pinot Noir ($12.95, Chronicle Wine Cellar; also available at Weimax). Talk about history. Vignoble Andre Scherer is owned and operated by Christophe Scherer, the 9th generation of his family who have worked as vignerons in the village of Husseren-les-Chateaux (pictured on the label to the right) since 1750.

This very good QPR, 100% Pinot Noir wine tasted to me like a red wine poised halfway between a gamay from the Beaujolais and a Burgundian red. It was made from fruit hand-picked from 30 year old vines. Aged for 10 months in small oak barriques, which gave the aromas and flavors sweet vanilla overtones, it was bright berry in color, with high-toned cherry and strawberry flavors. There was a bit of alcoholic heat on first opening--even though this was a relatively low alcohol wine. I would recommend serving it cooler than most reds, much as you would with a wine from the Beaujolais. Its getting harder and harder to find drinkable pinots that are under $15 (thank you, Sideways) and the fresh flavors, silky texture, and heady aromas of this wine definitely make it a very good QPR wine given the varietal.

With this wine I would recommend simple French homestyle cooking or bistro fare. For me, that means coq au vin. This is a recipe that requires a fair amount of vino in the pot. The recent debates about cooking with wine started by the NYTimes and followed up by Sonadora at Wannabe Wino and JohnG at Quaffability, have highlighted the dilemma of what wine to use when you have to use a lot of it in your cooking. While I agree that you can deglaze a pan with almost anything, or use up to 1/2 a cup of almost anything to bring some acidity to a sauce, if you are going to be using more than a cup of wine in cooking like coq au vin I would recommend something you don't mind drinking. Some recipes, like Tyler Florence's, call for a full bottle of wine. As a time-saving measure on a busy worknight, I used Rachael Ray's version from her first 30-Minute Meals Cookbook (p. 149, since the $!%# thing isn't indexed). Really, coq au vin is just chicken cooked in red wine, so don't stress too much about which recipe to use or you miss the point. This wine was perfect for cooking and drinking, since it tasted great and it didn't cost too much.

If you are interested in learning more about the wines of the region, both red and white, Alsace Wines is the official site for the region's winemakers and is available in a number of languages including English. Though often overlooked in the enormous shadows cast by Bordeaux and Burgundy, the wines of Alsace offer great value, and are great food wines so try one if you get the chance.

Mini March Madness

Hey, it's college basketball tournament season. What, you didn't know? Have you been living under a rock?

If you haven't been living under a rock, you may have been invited to one, two, three, four or more parties to watch games. This always leaves me with lots of half-drunk bottles of wine sitting around that I open up on Thursday and then can't finish for days and days while we go scream at television sets with friends. Sure, there are lots of preservation strategies out there, but some of the best involve pouring your undrunk wine into smaller, 375ml bottles and then blanketing them with inert gas or pumping out the oxygen. The smaller bottles enhance the preservation action of these other strategies, since smaller bottles leave less opportunity for air to creep in there and begin to turn the flavors.

So March is as good a time as any to find out if your local wine merchants stock these mini, 375ml bottles. And while you're at it, you may as well look for wines that you actually want to drink. Typically, the 375s are tucked into some out of the way place and often the selection is not very extensive. But it's worth asking your shop owner if they have any in the back, since sometimes the wines aren't even displayed. I've found some very nice options here in LA at Whole Foods, at Mission Wines in South Pasadena, and at Chronicle Wine Cellar in Pasadena. They've included older French cabernets, Dry Creek wines, young California grenache blends, a cabernet franc from the Loire, and a nice tempranillo from Bodegas Arzuaga. (photographed here to enhance their height, in case basketball scouts are reading this...)

375s are also perfect if you are facing a week of white wine dinners and are gasping for a glass of red, or have a sudden burger hunger that must be slaked with a cabernet for accompaniment. I should also say that this size bottle is great for trying out a producer or varietal that you aren't familiar with. It allows you to be adventurous with less risk of being stuck with 3/4 of a bottle you don't particularly like.

Finding good 1/2 bottles is always an opportunistic business--buy them when you see them, because you may not see them again. Having a few nice minis on hand is always a good thing, even when it's not tournament time.

Evolution, or a Burgundy in Three Acts

Sunday night we had dinner with friends, and I decided to take along one of my bottles of Burgundy bought back in January from Chronicle Wine Cellar. These are Burgundies labeled "Baron de la Charriere" which Allen Meadows and others tell me is Vincent Girardin's pre-2003 European label. I know this was a special opportunity to taste some really excellent, well-made Burgundies. Not a highly-regarded vintage, it seems, but I'm enjoying them enormously.

We popped the cork on a wine from the Cote de Nuits, the 2000 Baron de la Charriere Nuits St. Georges "Les Damodes". (map of Burgundy showing the Cotes de Nuits and Nuits St. Georges from Justerini & Brooks, a merchant specializing in Burgundy wines) This was a premier cru wine, and it cost $22.95 at Chronicle, slightly more than the 2000 Baron de la Charriere Volnay "Les Santenots" that I had last month.

With the Volnay "Les Santenots" I was most struck by its balance. This wine was also balanced, but what struck me about the Nuits St. Georges "Les Damodes" was its evolution. The Nuits St. Georges was much more complex and intriguing, and it kept changing and developing in the glass as you drank it over the course of a meal. Act I opened to simple aromas of cherry, strawberry, a bit of alcohol and a bit of earth. These were echoed on the palate, along with a good grip of tannins suggesting it still could handle a bit more age in the bottle. Ten minutes later, Act II: the wine the wine had opened up a bit, and now had aromas and flavors of cherry with chocolate and roasted coffee. I thought the play was over at this point, but once the second glass was poured we got Act III: the wine had become silky with totally integrated tannins, flavors and aromas of fresh red fruits, and just a dusting of cocoa at the end. This wine had less upfront, ingenue appeal than the 2000 Santenot. But (like watching a movie with Meryl Streep) it had much more complexity and interest all the way to the end.

This is only my second bottle of burgundy that I've spent any time with, and just like last month I feel I am progresing towards a complete understanding of why folks get utterly addicted and consumed with this marvelous wine. I drink few wines from any region that are as entertaining as this one was. Worth every penny of its admission price, this was a wine to savor, to talk about, and to enjoy over several happy hours with friends.

Brunch and Bubbles: the NV Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut

I adore Sunday brunches. Especially in LA, when it is the only time of the week you can set a time for a meal and actually have people from all over the city reach your house on time. That's because late Sunday morning is the only time of the week when the traffic jams occur outside dim sum restaurants and not on the freeways.

Mostly, though, I love brunches because time seems to move more slowly during the hours of 11 and 3 on Sundays. The light seems more golden. The flowers smell sweeter. And friends who make you laugh under most circumstances can make you hilarious for no good reason at all.

When I think brunch, I nearly always think "bubbles" right after. Sparkling wines, with their bright acidity and low alcohol, are perfect sippers for this occasion. And they can be cut with a variety of fruit juices and purees--raspberry, peach, orange, pink grapefruit--if you want to prolong the pleasure and cut the alcohol even further. But of course you don't want to pull out a vintage French champagne at a casual, friendly brunch. Save that for the big celebrations.

Instead, opt for a budget-friendly California sparkler, like the NV Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut ($14.99, Trader Joe's). Schramsberg was founded in 1862 by Jacob Schram, a German immigrant with a viticultural background. The winery fell into disuse and dereliction, and was rescued by Jack and Jamie Davies in 1965 who saw the enormous potential in the vineyard site and the caves that peppered the hillside. Their son, Hugh, now runs the place and makes a full line of sparkling wines. The Mirabelle Brut is made from a blend of chardonnay and pinot noir grapes from Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino. The juice is divided, some is aged, and then they are blended from many vintages until they achieve the Schramsberg house style.

The NV Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut was a very good QPR sparkler with a great deal of complexity for the price. It had a pale, buffed straw color and a nice, biscuity aroma that mixed with some hints of lemon. Citrusy, nutty, and toasty flavors enhanced the warmth of the afternoon, the soft spring air, and the companionship of good friends. It managed to be soft and refreshing, with its acidity and toast kept in nice balance and a soft, smooth bead/bubble adding to the pleasure that this wine gave.

We had the wine with an egg tart made with carmelized red onions, goat cheese, and pancetta from a great cookbook called California Home Cooking that makes the most of the local produce and foods from the great state of CA. Written by Michele Anna Jordan, author of the popular Cook's Tour of Sonoma, the recipe I used is not online, but some of her other wonderful recipes are and can be found by clicking here. With it we had a trio of salads pulled from Jamie Oliver and the Barefoot Contessa including smashed tomatoes and olives, pea and pesto, and a grilled zucchini salad with mint and basil. The meal tasted like a spring Sunday, and was the perfect companion to the sparkling wine.

If you haven't thrown a brunch lately, pick an upcoming Sunday, get some friends together, buy a few bottles of affordable bubbly, and settle in for a wonderful and relaxing afternoon. And don't forget to toast spring while you're at it.