A Bordeaux-Blend from Down Under

Yesterday was the second edition of the Wine Book Club, and we read about life in Bordeaux. This made me want a Bordeaux red wine in the worst way, but at the same time I didn't want to drink one from France. Does that make any sense? It probably does if you've read Noble Rot.

So I looked through my stash of wine and found a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot that was made Down Under by Greg Norman Estates. It's an interesting bottle because I bought it more than 2 years ago when it was on sale at BevMo for $9.99. I wanted to see whether a wine that cost less than $10 would develop with some short-term cellaring. So I tucked it away, and just opened it, and the results are in: this wine did very well with some cellaring, despite it's low price, and I actually think it could have done with another year or so of shelf time.

The 2002 Greg Norman Estates Cabernet Sauvignon-Merlot from the Limestone Coast is a wine that I suspect would fool most drinkers into thinking it was a red from Bordeaux if tasted blind. ($9.99, Beverages & More; if you are looking for this now, expect to pay between $11 and $23) The wine was a nice garnet red in color, with the faintly pinkish brown edges known as "bricking." Usually, bricking is a sign that the wine has some age on it (in this case, 6 years from harvest). Opening this bottle of wine, I smelled aromas of bell pepper, cassis, and a touch of acetate. These are all true to the varietal characteristics, and Old World in style. Flavors of raspberries, blackberries, and a bit of green pepper appeared on the tongue, and there was a smoky aftertaste, with some herbal notes. The wine has a smooth texture--not syrupy by any stretch--and that little bit of glycerin quality that catches the attention of some professional reviewers. Very good QPR.

This wine would be much better with food than without. We had it with some grilled Greek-style lamb burgers and a spinach salad. The smoky richness of the lamb went nicely with the fruity core of this wine, and the herbal and pepper notes melded with the spinach and onion in the salad.

For under $10, and after 2 years in the cellar, this is a pretty nice wine, and certainly not an Aussie fruitbomb by any stretch of the imagination. I should also note that I put the cork back in it, left it on the counter, and didn't use preservative. Three days later, the wine was smoother, richer, more full of berries, and with less green pepper. This leads me to think it will continue to integrate and improve over the next 12-18 months at least.

It will appeal to lovers of Old World style wines, and give those looking for bargain Bordeaux-blends a chance to taste one. And, this wine proves that sometimes wines that don't cost much are still worthy of some short-term cellaring. Have you had any experiences with cellaring inexpensive wines? Please tell us about them in the comments.

Wine Book Club #2: Noble Rot

I used to think I would love to live in Bordeaux. All those vineyards, the old chateaus, the sense of place--where could you possibly imagine living that could measure up to this ancient wine region?

Then I read Tim Elliott's selection for the second edition of the Wine Book Club: William Echikson's Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution.

Now I'm not so sure.

Echikson paints a portrait of politics and wine culture in the region that is poised somewhere between bitter family feud, hostile corporate takeover, and prolonged civil war. There are two things at stake in this struggle, no matter how you label it: money, lots of money; and a death match between advocates of traditional and more modern styles of wine making. Among traditionalists, the 1855 Bordeaux Classification is gospel, and pedigree matters. The modernists think Parker is king, employ consultant winemakers, use lots of oak, and pray on their knees for 90+ scores.

In the process of describing these relationships, he introduces us to some arresting characters who dot the Bordeaux landscape. Robert Parker, of course, appears and reappears as the story unfolds, tasting wine and setting futures prices that are based almost entirely on whether he pronounced the wine to be good, not so good, or great. So, too, do great winemaking families such as the Lur-Saluces, who have been making wine for a very, very long time. Clan warfare so bitter as to make the Hatfields and the McCoys envious broke out between branches of this distinguished family. The feud started over who should control Chateau d'Yquem, the name of which is synonymous with the ambrosia-like Sauternes made from botrytized grapes that have shriveled due to the fungus known as "noble rot." Inter-generational strife, money, love affairs, broken marriages, back-room deals, shady legal documents--it's all there in the tale Echikson tells about life behind the chateau's walls. All I can say is this would make one hell of a TV series.

What I liked best about this book was the spotlight that it shone on aspects of Bordelaise wine culture that we either take for granted or never knew in the first place. I assumed, for instance, that Sauternes had always been fabulously expensive and prized. Not so. Thomas Jefferson ordered 250 bottles of the 1784 vintage of Chateau d'Yquem. Between 1968 and 1983, however, sales of Sauternes and other Bordeaux wines languished. I also assumed that Pennsylvania had the most Byzantine wine distribution system on the planet. Also not so. It's Bordeaux, with its middle-men, futures market, and allocations based on previous orders. Ever wonder why you see so much Bordeaux on shelves, even in bad years? Because if you don't order it consistently, you can loose your allocation entirely--which could prove deadly if you're a retailer.

Echikson's book will appeal to anyone who likes behind-the-scenes exposes or reality television. There is something gripping and haunting--like watching a train wreck--about watching a group of people engage in self-destructive behavior and bad decision making. You could call this book Survivor: Bordeaux and not be far from the mark. It's great beach reading, plane reading, corporate lunchroom reading, and hammock reading. If you've ever pulled the cork on a bottle of Bordeaux, or ever thought about doing so, you will find this book provides an engaging window into that rarified world.

Bordeaux will never be the same for me, now that I've read this book. Thanks to Tim Elliott of Winecast for serving as our host this month. If you're reading this and want to chime in on the discussion, check out the posts on other blogs, the Wine Book Club website, or one of our linked sites on Shelfari or Facebook. Next month's host will announce the title on May 6, and in the end of May/early June look for an inspirational post to keep you turning the pages on the new book club selection from Richard, the Passionate Foodie, about a book that touches on one of his areas of expertise.

The Many Faces of Sauvignon Blanc

Once upon a time, four men decided to band together to explore the potential that their favorite grape variety had to display terroir. Often invoked, but still not fully understood, terroir is the ability that a grape has to display the characteristics of the place where it is grown. No two places are exactly the same, and fans of terroir are drawn to the idiosyncratic differences that soil, climate, and other environmental factors can promote in a particular wine.

John Buechsenstein, John Ash, Paul Dolan, and Tom Meyer are Sauvignon Blanc fanatics, and they've devoted their company--Sauvignon Republic Cellars--to exploring how this grape performs in California, Chile, France, New Zealand, and South Africa. All four men are not only passionate about wine. They are also devoted foodies, and are intrigued by Sauvignon Blanc's food friendly ways, too. They think the grape fits the cuisine we eat now, and the flavors of the wine enhance the wide range of spices and ingredients on modern tables. I couldn't agree more--and of course it's a budget-friendly wine option, as well.

I decided to pick up their South African example, because I'm less familiar with wines from this region and because I was genuinely curious (fresh on the heels of my experience with a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc and a California Sauvignon Blanc) to see how different the flavors could be. The 2006 Sauvignon Republic Cellars Sauvignon Blanc Stellenbosch is a jazzy example of what the grape can achieve in terms of distinctive flavors in South Africa. (34 North Wine Merchants, $20; widely available online for between $12 and $20) It was pale in color, though not as clear and almost translucent as most of the New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs I've had recently. Lime and lime zest dominate the aromas and the flavors, giving it an almost Margarita-like intensity. The aftertaste that the wine left in your mouth had a decided strip of jalapeno pepper in it along with all the fresh citrus notes, which was both unexpected and very distinctive. This wine screamed out for chicken fajitas, ceviche, fish tacos, or any other fresh Mexican or Baja fare.

I was pleased at how this wine lived up to its promise to deliver an unusual mouthful of Sauvignon Blanc's flavors--especially when compared to the grass, grapefruit, nectarine, and melon notes that I wrote about a few weeks ago--and thought that it was a very good QPR bottling. But if you can get it for $15 or less it would be an excellent QPR find and you should buy it straight away to enjoy with all the vegetables, fish, and poultry that will be on your flavors this spring and into the summer.

Nectar

Dessert wines are often likened to nectar because of their sweet, potent flavors and their silky, syrupy texture. I have an orange tree and some enormous lavender in my back yard and since the weather turned warm here in southern California, I've been watching the bees getting drunk on the nectar they are pulling out of all the blossoms. When I walked by the orange tree the other day, there were so many bees drinking from the orange blossoms that you could hear this loud, distinctive buzz.

You'll feel like a honeybee yourself if you stick your nose into a glass of the 2005 Weiss Gruner Veltliner Eiswein. I've never had an eiswein--where the grapes literally freeze on the vine before they are harvested--made from the trendy Gruner Veltliner grape, but it was a real treat. I got this bottle as an unexpected birthday gift recently, but you can get yourself a bottle where he picked it up: at domaine547, where it will cost you about $26.99 for a 375ml bottle.

This rich wine was dark gold in color, with a bit of peachiness around the edges when it's poured into the glass. The wine smelled of apricots drenched in honey, which was interesting given the peachy-gold color that the wine had. Flavors of jasmine flowers, peach, and apricot rolled around your tongue and made you feel as if you were drinking in jasmine through an apricot-flavored straw. My favorite part of the wine, however, may well have been its caramel aftertaste. This richer, brown-sugared note helped to keep the wine's sweetness in check, as did the core of acidity at the center. A very nice effort, at a very nice price for an eiswein. Very good QPR.

As with most dessert wines, I drank it with a simple cookie, in this case some tiny waffle cookies called stroopwaffels. These have the same combination of honey and caramelized flavors I found in the wine, and picked up those notes beautifully. You can usually find bags of them at Trader Joe's, and they're quite good with a cup of coffee, too. That's how they're served in the Netherlands. In general, though, this dessert wine would be fabulous with anything that has brown sugar or caramel, including creme brulee and tarte tatin.

Thank you, Patrick, for this great birthday present! Buy yourself a present (even if it's not your birthday) and try a dessert wine soon. It was one of my wine resolutions this year, and even if you're late getting started, make like a honeybee and explore some of these nectared wines soon.

Pocket-Friendly Priorat

Two confessions to start out: first, I don't drink much wine from the Tarragona area of Spain known as the Priorat because they're usually out of my price range; second, I like a good fruit bomb every now and again, and occasionally even a wine that has been manipulated to suit A Certain Palate That Shall Be Unnamed.

That's why I decided to write about the 2004 Celler Can Blau from the Montsant DO, which forms a crescent shaped arc of vineyards around the much pricier Priorat DOC. There will be Spanish wine traditionalists who might take exception to my giving this a very good QPR designation, but honestly this is a seriously good buy for those of you who like bold, smoky reds. And if you haven't heard of Montsant, it's an appellation to watch out for if (like me) Priorat wines are often out of your price range.

The 2004 Cellar Can Blau is a terrific wine, that is drinking beautifully now. If you have a bottle, I think you might be able to hang on to it for as much as 18 months more, if you are keeping it carefully. The wine was rich plum in color, with decided aromas of smoke, leather, and blackberries. The ripe blackberry aromas continued through onto the tongue, where they seemed at times as if they were dipped in chocolate. The chocolate turned dusty, like cocoa powder, and melded with the bittersweet tannins and smoke of the aftertaste. Like many wines from the region, this is made from a blend of about equal parts of Carignan, Grenache, and Syrah.

That's a lot of wine for $12.69, which is what I paid for it in the summer of 2006 at Costco. I can't find it online any more, but I wanted to review it anyway because the 2006 vintage has been released and is in stores now, and seems to have a very similar flavor profile. The 2005 did not, from what I can tell (though I hasten to add I never drank it myself). I'd recommend you but a few bottles and drink them over the next few years. Expect to pay between $14 and $17 for the 2006 either online or at your local store..

Is this wine made for New World Palates? Absolutely. A tad spoofulated? Perhaps. Absolutely delicious? Yes, that too. A bargain? Undoubtedly. Once in a while a chocolate dipped blackberry fruit bomb is a delicious, opulent treat (and most readers probably have a wine that fits into this category, even if they usually prefer something leaner). What will I be drinking tomorrow? I think I'll have a Cabernet Franc to keep my palate on an even kilter.