Fall in the Russian River Valley

Last weekend I enjoyed some wine travel and conversation with Jill from domaine547 and nearly two hundred other wine friends and family at the 2008 Wine Bloggers' Conference in Sonoma.

One of the events I enjoyed was the vineyard walk on Saturday morning led by Zephyr Adventures. We went to Saralee's Vineyard in the Russian River Valley, where we met up with Rich and Saralee Kunde (who made us a fabulous lunch!), Daniel Moore of Zmor Winery, and Rod and Lynn Swan Berglund of Joseph Swan Vineyards. We hiked through the vineyards, learned a lot about the area and its viticultural heritage, and drank some fantastic wines.

I hope this slide show whets your appetite to learn more about the Russian River Valley appellation, and makes you feel that you've been able to enjoy a little bit of this year's fall season here in the California Wine Country.

If you're interested in seeing more pictures of the 2008 Wine Bloggers Conference, head over to my Flickr photostream where I've set up a collection of pictures for you to flip through.

Malbec: Argentina's Signature Red

I came back from the first Wine Bloggers Conference in Sonoma this weekend and there was one thing I knew for sure: I didn't want to drink any California wine. I needed a change. I caught up on my mail and read the backed up blog posts in my RSS reader and inspiration hit: I was going to drink an Argentinian Malbec.

This inspiration stemmed from two of the people I met at the conference (though I've known them via the blogosphere and Twitter for some time now): David from the blog Vinomadic, and Philip James from the wine finder and keeper site Snooth. David lived in Argentina for a time (and always gives me good suggestions on what to drink), and Snooth just had a tasting dedicated to value Malbecs. I enjoyed talking to both of them this weekend, and that was enough to send me scurrying to the cellar in pursuit of an Argentinian Malbec.

The wine that I pulled out was the 2006 Finca Las Moras Malbec Reserva (sample; suggested retail for this new release is $12; you may find it or other recent vintages near you for between $7 and $12) This wine was a simple pleasure from start to finish, because it was made in an apologetically New World fruit-forward style, but with some sensitivity and restraint. Malbec is often described as fitting somewhere between Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon in the flavor spectrum, but what I always think of is plums--lots and lots of plums. The 2006 Finca Las Moras Malbec Reserva did indeed have prominent aromas of plum, leather, and vanilla. These aromas were echoed in the flavors of plum and spice, and there was also a nice meaty note that gave the wine some depth of complexity. Very good QPR for this wine brought into the US by Joshua Tree Imports, who are known for their good value brands such as Razor's Edge and Fetish.

I love lamb with Malbec, and so we had this with Lamb Chops and a tomato-and-potato gratin. If you are vegetarian, I highly recommend making the gratin, and having it with some meaty grilled portabello mushrooms instead of the lamb. Whether you go with meat or a meatless option, you'll find that the meaty, leathery aromas and flavors will get drawn out by the grilled food and the beautiful plum fruit will be a nice complement to the earthy potatoes and sweet tomatoes.

Thanks to David and Philip for helping me get inspired about wine all over again. See you next year at the Wine Bloggers Conference!

Wine Book Club #5: Wine Politics

By the end of Tyler Colman's excellent book, Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink, I could only come to one conclusion: it's a miracle that we are able to find anything at all that is decent to drink.

Welcome to the 5th Edition of the Wine Book Club, the online book club for wine lovers who also like to read. I'm the host for this month's event, and for my theme I was inspired by the season. What better way to celebrate September and October than to read a book written by a genuine PhD (September is back to school month) about wine and politics (we are in the midst of an election)? This idea was even more appealing given that the author may be better known to those of you who read wine blogs as Dr. Vino, the award-winning wine blogger.

Colman's book compares the way that politics has shaped wine culture in France and America. One of the most striking things about the story he tells here is that, along with politics, there are two other "P"s that have played an equally active a role in determining what you drink: phylloxera, the louse that destroyed grape vines all over the world in the 1870s; and Robert Parker, the critic who began telling us what we should drink in the 1970s. Phylloxera, it turns out, led to such a collapse in the worldwide wine business that it opened the door to greater governmental control and intervention as people sought to limit fraud, graft, corruption, and lost income. And Parker helped people to wade through seas of indifferent wine with misleading labels at a time when Americans were still drinking like it was Prohibition and they'd rather mainline the hard stuff than drink a glass of wine with dinner. The ripples he sent out from his one-man business in Monkton, Maryland in the 1970s now threaten to engulf us in wave after wave of homogeneous wine made to please Parker's influential palate.

I consider myself reasonably knowledgeable about wine history, but I was surprised again and again by the nuggets of historical lore and sharp analysis that Colman includes here. Lately, I've been wondering why we don't buy wine in bulk here in the US like they do virtually everywhere else in the world. Turns out it's due to a combination of Prohibiton (and the resulting patchwork of legislation) and something called the Office of Price Administration that was established in World War II. Until then, wine was shipped in tanker trucks and on the rails to 1500 bottling facilities studded all over the country. And thus the enormous carbon footprint of wine began!

Colman's message is sobering, even though his book is a delight to read with its clear prose and fluid style. The bottom line is this: when money, egos, and bureaucracy collide--as they do in the wine business--it becomes almost impossible to do what is best for consumers, the environment, and the winemakers themselves. With everybody taking a cut in wine sales, from the bottle makers to the distributors to the retailers to the government, it really is astonishing that anyone bothers to make wine at all. And in case you're thinking the situation is better in France, let me assure you it isn't--it's just different.

If you enjoy Colman's blog, you are in for a treat since this book is written in the same direct, engaging style as his blog posts. The book has great graphic features (like a comparison of how politics shapes French and American wine blog labels) and informative sidebars that offer the reader opportunities to pause and consider the issues from a fresh perspective.

I highly recommend this book, especially if you find yourself wondering why you don't know what grape is in a French bottle of wine, or why it is that an American wine is labeled "Cabernet Sauvignon" when 25% of the grapes in it are Syrah. The answer to both questions is simple. Wine Politics. After reading this book, you'll never think about the relationship between the two in the same way again.

Tyler Colman's Wine Politics: How Governments, Environmentalists, Mobsters, and Critics Influence the Wines We Drink was published by the University of California Press, who sent a copy of the book to me for review. It retails for $27.50, but you can buy it on Amazon.com for $18.15.

If you are participating in this month's online club, please leave comments and/or links to your own posts below. You can also leave links at the Wine Book Club site, or on our mirror site on Shelfari.

Umbria's Distinctive Grechetto

This month's trip through the wines of Umbria ends on a high note with a very good QPR white wine made with a distinctive grape called Grechetto.

Grechetto is not, strictly speaking, an indigenous Italian grape. Its origins can be found in Greece (hence the name) and has been used extensively as a blending grape. In Lazio, for instance, the Antinori family blends Grechetto with Chardonnay to make their famous white wine, Cervaro. In Umbria, however, the grape is increasing in popularity and being used to craft rich, full-bodied white wines with a distinctive flavor profile. And the good news is that an Umbrian Grechetto is affordable, too.

I tried an Umbrian Grechetto in the 2005 Arnaldo-Caprai Grecante from the Colli Martani DOC. ($17.99 in my local Bristol Farms store; available elsewhere for $9-$24). This yummy, distinctive wine was truly golden in color, with plentiful autumnal aromas of pears, herbs, and honeycomb. It was slightly spritzy upon first opening, which dissipated quickly. The wine's flavors also developed in the direction of late summer and fall orchard fruits, such as pears and white peaches. There was a zingy flash of lemon pith in the aftertase, which kept it from feeling too sweet or cloying.

This well-made wine went as well with a Thai chicken stirfry (which brought out its peachy character) as it did with an Umbrian-style cacciatore with lemon, capers, and anchovies (which brought out its lemony side). Grechetto turns out to be a versatile, food-friendly grape, as well as a great bargain.

Have you tried Grechetto? If you have any particular labels that you like, let me know in the comments below, because I'd love to sample some more wines made with this grape.

Today on Serious Grape: Chardonnay 101

If you are tired of drinking Chardonnays that don't taste the way you want them to, it's time to ask yourself if you have passed Chardonnay 101.

Today on Serious Grape, my weekly column on Serious Eats, I cover the basics of how to read a Chardonnay label. Included are discussions of how to figure out from the alcohol level, malolactic fermentation, and oak used in making the wine whether you are likely to enjoy it or not. Plus, there are mini reviews of five Chardonnays under $20.

Click on over and check it out, especially if you are looking for some nice white wine options for the upcoming Thanksgiving holidays.

Of course, there's a lot more to Chardonnay than just alcohol, malolactic fermentation, and oak--but that's for a more advanced class!