Wine Blogging Wednesday #39: Silver Coast Burgundy

This month's Wine Blogging Wednesday has a theme that's near and dear to my heart: value wines from Burgundy. Our host for this week's event, and the genius behind the theme, is Neil the Brooklynguy Who Loves Wine. He asked us to look for Burgundies from a specific region that often has better values than those found on the Cote d'Or (Burgundy's Gold Coast). In the Cote Chalonnaise and the Maconnais (map of the latter to the right), Neil explained, it was possible to find excellent wines that were characteristic of Burgundy but did not always have astronomical prices associated with them.

I've been drinking a lot more Burgundy this year, since I am trying to get over my phobia that all Burgundies are going to be wildly expensive. So I was eager to see what the store would turn up. What I found was a white Burgundy from Pouilly-Vinzelles in the Maconnais: the 2004 Domaine Larochette-Manciat Pouilly-Vinzelles Les Longeays made from chardonnay grapes. ($15.95, Chronicle Wine Cellar; available from other merchants for around $19).

This was one interesting bottle of wine: it was fascinating to drink and gave you lots to talk about if you were tasting it with others. It was bright straw in color--not too golden, nor too pale. When you sniffed it there was no fruit. At all. It smelled instead of almond, hazelnut, and stone. These nutty and mineral notes were echoed in the flavors, with perhaps just a whiff of citrus when the wine entered your mouth. The wine had a quality of a live electric wire after a storm (in a good way!), and it felt tense and alive in your mouth. This wine was fresh and complex, and delivered an awful lot for just under $16, so I thought it represented excellent QPR.

We had the wine with some mustard-tarragon roast chicken, some noodles tossed with parsley, and a salad. It was nice with the dish, but I think something even simpler--broiled scallops or fish, perhaps--would have been an even better pairing. The tarragon and Dijon mustard threatened to overwhelm the wine here.

Thanks once again to our host, and to Lenn Thompson of Lenndevours who dreamed up this event more than three years ago. I'll be sure to let you know when Neil posts what promises to be a terrific roundup, and I'll see you back here in December for WBW #40.

Exploring Portuguese Wines: They're the Next Big Thing

I'm a novice when it comes to Portuguese wine. Until recently I'd never had anything other than port from this region. WBW #38 really opened my eyes to the wonderful variety and stunning value of Portuguese wines, and so it was especially exciting for me to attend yesterday's "Wines and Portos of Portugal" tasting in Los Angeles at the Ritz-Carlton in Marina del Ray. Sponsored by the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e Porto and ViniPortugal, I learned so much from this tasting.

Yesterday's event was one of a series of tastings that are being held throughout the country to introduce folks to Portuguese wine, and if you are living in Portland, Seattle, or Boston I highly recommend that you attend one of the public tasting events that is happening over the next few days and weeks. More than seventeen different producers were there, pouring both ports and table wines. The cost is only $25-$30 and the proceeds benefit local humane societies (the cover image from the program celebrating another indigenous Portuguese beauty, the water dog, is to the right).

So what did I learn from my tasting?

1. Portuguese wines are food friendly. I sampled dozens of wines and I can say in truth that I didn't taste a single one that didn't make me think, "oh, this would be so great with X food." The real revelation for me here was Trincadeira, a native varietal that has all the silky and fruity qualities of pinot noir, with aromas of summer flowers and fields. The 2006 Vila Santa Trincadeira made by Joao Portugal Ramos was silky, and tasted like blackberries and cream. It would have been perfect with any food that you normally pair with pinot noir. I was so keen on Trinacadeira by the time I left the tasting that I went home and opened up a bottle that was in my cellar!

2. Portuguese wines represent insanely good value. Many of the wines I tasted are not yet available in the States (see #5) but of those that were, I was taken aback at how inexpensive they were compared to other US and European bottlings. Most were well under $20. And they had complexity and finesse, to boot.

3. Portugal produces aromatic reds and crisp whites. Portuguese wines will clear all the cobwebs out of your palate. These whites were crisp, clean and lively, especially wines such as the NV Aveleda Vinho Verde, which retails in most places for around $5. Some tasted like champagne without bubbles, like the 2006 Quinta da Aveleda Vinho Verde which retails for around $6. On the red side, the table wines had amazing, evocative aromas of flowers, herbs, and stone. The 2003 Herdade do Meio Garrafeira from Alentejo smelled of violets, and had flavors of blackberry and cherry. The 2006 Marques de Borba had aromas of cherry blossom and raspberry. And the 2003 Conde de Vimiosa Reserva exploded in your mouth with eucalyptus, cherry, and an intriguing note of grilled meat.

4. Portuguese wine makers are experimenting with the newer "international style" of wines, but they haven't forgotten their wine-making roots. Trinacadeira, Touriga, and Maria Gomes are just some of the varietals that I tasted yesterday, and they are featured in the blends that so many Portuguese wine makers favor. There is cabernet sauvignon, too, and Aragonese (as the Portuguese call Tempranillo), as well as Alicante Bouschet. Portuguese wine makers are clearly dabbling in the more international style of wines made with more oak and heavier body. One of the standouts of this style for me was the 2004 Bacalhoa Palacio da Bacalhoa, with its blend of Touriga, Petit Verdot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. This was smooth, silky, and aromatic with dry black cherry flavors and a sophisticated use of oak to lend it some grip and smokiness. But they are not leaving their native varietals, relatively low alcohol levels, and traditional flavor profiles entirely behind, either.

5. Portuguese wines need wider distribution to US consumers. These are fantastic, fantastic wines. Yet many of them are not available in the US. If you are a store owner, distributor or sales rep and you are reading this, what are you waiting for? I found 1 bottle of Portuguese wine in my area of LA last month after 3 weeks of searching and visits to nearly a half dozen stores. US consumers are thirsty for more great value wines, and they are more willing to try new varietals than ever before. Help us out, and bring these wines into our stores. If you are skeptical, I assure you that one Saturday tasting is all it will take to get them flying off the shelves.

After this tasting, I am fully convinced that Portuguese wines are the next big thing. Spanish wines have primed us for all that the Iberian peninsula has to offer. And what a fun trip it will be to explore this region and its wines! I'll have some more specific notes on wines and producers in upcoming posts, but until then start asking your local merchants to stock some Portuguese wines.

I sure hope that this will become an annual event here in LA, because I ran out of time before I tasted a drop of the ports that were being poured! And they were pouring some that were 40-years old.

Good Pinot Noir Under $20 Found South of the Equator

After Pinot Days this summer, I was afraid I'd never find another good pinot noir under $20. Then I found the Navarro Pinot Noir that's in my Thanksgiving picks for this year, and now I'm happy to report another find: the 2006 Veramonte Pinot Noir Reserva. I received this as a sample from the winery, but you can get your own bottle for around $15 from most merchants.

The grapes for the 2006 Veramonte Pinot Noir Reserva come from south of the equator, in the Casablanca Valley of Chile. The wine is made from 100% pinot noir grapes that see eleven months in 100% French oak. The result is a wine that is bright cherry from the moment it's poured through the aromas and flavors. As you drank the wine and it opened up the cherry flavors got richer and blacker. Cool notes of green tea and mint entered into the wine as you swallowed it, and there was a nice, juicy finish with herbal and spice elements. Even though the richness was noticeable in this wine, there was still a silkiness of texture that I associate with pinot noir. Excellent QPR.

We had this wine with a stir fry made of sliced pork tenderloin, wild mushrooms, and Asian spices. This was a lovely match for the wine, and the silkiness of the mushrooms paired very nicely with its texture. The bright cherry flavors were a nice counterpoint to the ginger and garlic, and the green tea notes in the wine lent a cool, Asian influence.

Veramonte hired Paul Hobbs to serve as the consulting winemaker for their pinot and chardonnay. Hobbs has his own label here in the US, and you can read about his harvest experience from this fall over at Wine Spectator. Hobbs introduced some of his favorite wine-making techniques into Veramonte's bottlings, like wild-yeast fermentation. The 2006 is a new release, so keep your eyes out for it in the store, because it's not going to sit on the shelves for long given its quality and its price. And if you see it while you're out shopping for your Thanksgiving wine, grab it. It will be perfect with most Turkey Day feasts.

Tasting Room: Roshambo Winery

Roshambo Winery, the unpretentious and fun winery that is also home to an annual Rock/Paper /Scissors tournament, has a new tasting room. What could be better than telling you about it, and what you might be able to taste there, in this week's Tasting Room feature?

After selling its previous winery and tasting room on Westside Road in Healdsburg, and then moving their operations slightly down the road into the "Roshambus," Roshambo's Naomi Brilliant secured space for a public tasting room in Carneros at Cornerstone Place.

If you are out Carneros way, I urge you to stop by and help them celebrate their new digs. While you're at it, you can taste some awfully good wine, like the wines described below that I sampled at this summer's Family Winemaker's Event in San Francisco. The prices indicated below in brackets are the recommended retail price. Clicking on a highlighted wine name in any of the notes takes you to Wine-Searcher, where I was able to find listings for some of the wines. To purchase the full range of Roshambo wines, including those not listed on Wine-Searcher, visit their online store.

2005 Roshambo Zinfandel The Reverend ($16). Another wine made with Dry Creek Valley fruit. This had a nice long finish on this brambly blackberry-flavored wine. Cracked pepper aromas and spiciness on the finish added to the interest. Excellent QPR.

2005 Roshambo Sauvignon Blanc The Obvious ($15). Very much in the style of a New Zealand sauvignon blanc, this wine had zesty citrus and gooseberry aromas and flavors. Nice value, and very good QPR.

2005 Roshambo Syrah Rosé Imoan ($16). Made from Dry Creek Valley fruit, this wine had strawberry aromas and flavors tending towards watermelon as you headed towards the finish. Nice notes of rose petal, and a zingy pink grapefruit accent at the very end. Very good QPR.

2005 Roshambo Chardonnay Imago ($17) Nice pear and mineral aromas and flavors dominate this wine, complemented by nuances of white peach and lemon. Clean and refreshing, and one of my Thanksgiving picks. Very good QPR.

2005 Roshambo Carignane The Rat ($25). Spicy red fruit in a silky, open-textured package. Accents of cinnamon and clove in the aromas and on the finish. Very good QPR.

2004 Roshambo Syrah Justice ($25). I liked this wine, with its dark, dark color and aromas of caramel and brown sugar. These were a nice prelude the blackberry fruit flavors, and the spicy finish. Good QPR--and if you can get it for less on sale or from your local merchant, very good QPR.

2005 Roshambo Pinot Noir “Frank” Frank Johnson Vineyards ($25) Roshambo’s first ever pinot noir, this is aromatic with high-toned cherry flavors. There is a rich finish, but the flavors beforehand are a bit hollow. Good QPR.

Have a great weekend, and we'll see you back here next week.

Showing Off My (Wine) Rack

Lenn of Lenndevours, with a fair amount of encouragement from Twisted Oak's El Jefe, asked his readers to show us their racks today.

No, the man who asked you to enjoy naked chardonnay for WBW #36 is not asking you to flash the wine world. He just wants to see where you store your wine. Check out your favorite blogs today to see how we store our wine, and if you feel moved take some pictures of your own wine storage and upload them to Lenn's Flicker project.

Without further ado, here are my racks:

The Vinotemp wine fridge to the left represents GWU$20's premium storage facility. It was bought last spring at Costco for just shy of $600 plus the cost of a truck rental from Enterprise since the damn thing wouldn't fit in my car! I purchased it after a lengthy and useful discussion here about what I should do to properly store wine in LA over the hot summer. Until my ultra-deluxe closet is built in what is now a china cabinet (thank you, El Jefe, for this suggestion!), this plug-in unit is fitting the bill and providing room for 52 of my more expensive and long-lived bottlings. One day, it will go into my kitchen when it receives a major overhaul.

Most of my stored wine, however is parked under my windowseats on the Sonoma Coast. There are six cases of wine up there, stuffed into boxes and sitting in the cool, damp air of an unheated house that never goes below 50 degrees. I am thinking of upgrading my boxes and getting some of these nifty running shelves from Wine Enthusiast. Making this improvement would have the added benefit of me being able to actually tag the wines so that I am not rummaging through them in pursuit of my Escafeld Zinfandel!

Back in LA, overflow from the wine fridge can be found in one of two places: my guest room closet, which thanks to our stucco walls stays quite cool for 9 months of the year.

And the white wines I will drink over the next week or so get moved out of the closet and put in the worst of all storage options: those silly wooden racks in the kitchen. Happily, they are not above the refrigerator. And fear not, they sit there no longer than 10 days. My criss-cross wooden racks in the kitchen are simply the staging area for wines that will be popped into the fridge a few hours before dinner to cool down to the right temperature. It's too embarrassing to include the photo here, but I'll upload them to the Flicker pages.

Thanks to Lenn and Jeff for this Friday fun!