Something to Talk About

There are wines you drink. And then there are wines you talk about while you drink--but only to good friends, who also like to talk about wine, or your dinner companions will soon evaporate.

Burgundy probably grows more than its fair share of wines that call for conversation. The latest stage of my Burgundian adventure involved wine that was almost more fun to talk about than drink. It was from Vosne-Romanee, a viticultural area area of Burgundy that conjures up images of classic pinot noir wines. It's also where the famous (and famously expensive) Domaine de la Romanee-Conti has its origins. (image of vineyards in Vosne-Romanee from Wikimedia)

I suppose you could spend nearly $10,000 on a single bottle of 2000 Domaine Romanee Conti Romanee Conti (hey, it's on sale!), but I chose instead the 2000 Baron de la Charriere Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Suchots ($29.95, Chronicle Wine Cellar). Oddly enough, though this was the most expensive Burgundy I bought during my spree at Chronicle Wine Cellar this winter, it was not my favorite, and simply represented good QPR in my book. But it did give all of us at the dinner table a lot to talk about as the wine evolved and changed and developed over the course of the evening.

The 2000 Baron de la Charriere Vosne-Romanee 1er Cru Les Suchots opened up with a nice bright ruby color and tinges of brown around the edges known as bricking. A quick taste determined the wine wasn't corked or oxidized, although we were a bit worried since there was some slight signs of seepage on one side of the cork. The first taste was spicy and rich, with very little fruit. At this point, we were expecting great things. We pulled the cork and let it sit in the bottle for an hour. Then we poured our glasses and gave them a swirl.

After an hour, the wine was much more aromatic, with black cherry fruit smells, cinnamon and spice. But it was more closed in the flavors department, with muted earthy notes. As we continued to drink the bottle, the earthiness of the wine began to emerge in the aromas, and the black cherry flavors developed along with more spice and growing complexity. Then the third glass had a metallic odor of tinned tomato paste which took us all by surprise. We let it sit, swirled it some more, and it became full of cinnamon, cherry, and earth. An interesting wine, but not one that most of us felt hung together very well.

During the hours we sat at the table, no matter what we started talking about, we always came back to the wine. "What are you tasting?" "Do you smell aluminum?" "Anybody getting cinnamon now?" These were some of the questions that we shot back and forth, swirling our wine and taking sips. I honestly can't even remember what we ate with the wine. All I remember was that this was a wine that was a better talker than a drinker--at least to my palate. Have you ever had a wine that fit that description?

Watching Your Adopted Grapes Grow

So I was catching up on my blog reading over the weekend, and went to visit the Winehiker and a nifty little icon caught my eye. I clicked on it and it led me to a site called Adopt A Grape.

It may be the coolest site I've found in a long time. And what a great concept! It's meant to help consumers like you and me learn more about the process of making wine--from budbreak to barrel aging. No money changes hands; this adoption is all about feeling a sense of connection to a particular grape varietal in a particular vineyard. It's packed with video clips, timelines that let you know just where the grapes are in the growing cycle, and you can leave comments and questions, too.

I'm not sure who the genius was behind this, but the owners of the vineyards are Duane and Susan Hoff of Fantesca Vineyards, the folks who also dreamed up Fortune Corkies, blog about their experiences, and in general get what wine 2.0 is all about. All the grapes up for adoption are from their Spring Mountain vineyards in Napa Valley. When you sign up to adopt a grape, all you have to do is select a user name, a password, and enter your zip code. Then you are presented with some options of grapes for adoption. Once you adopt a grape, you will receive updates with pictures and information about the grape's progress.

I had the choice of adopting some cabernet grapes, or some petite verdot. Of course, I picked petit verdot (how could I not, after loving the Escafeld PV so much?). Here is a picture of the location where my adopted petit verdot grapes are now growing and, according to the August 15 report, beginning to take on some color or veraison. And also a picture of the vineyard taken a bit closer up.

Adopting a grape is a whole lot of fun--and it's free. In our hectic, modern, faster- than-the-speed-of-light lives, it's nice to be connected to something that moves more slowly, and that we can't control. I can sit by my computer, batting out emails and answering the phone, knowing that somewhere to the north the sun is ripening petite verdot grapes. And when they're harvested, I'll be among the first to know. Thanks to Russ the Winehiker who found this treat, posted the icon on his site, and got me hooked!

It's Too Darn Hot

It's hot in LA. Really, really hot. After a relatively cool summer, the Labor Day weekend was a scorcher. It was 108 degrees yesterday--and that's air temperature, not heat index temperature. Drinking wine in such conditions is not always pleasant. Sometimes, the alcohol does funny things in the heat, like give you crashing headaches and make you feel even hotter.

And food. I usually pick what I'm going to drink based on the meal I'm making for dinner and in this heat wave I didn't want anything that was even tepid in temperature.

So I got some peel and eat shrimp, cooked up in lots of Old Bay seasoning. I got a loaf of crusty bread with rosemary. I tossed a salad with tomatoes, arugula, baby romaine, and some sliced avocado. And I popped a bottle of white wine in the fridge. The white wine in question was the 2005 Arnaud Gaujal Picpoul de Pinet Cuvee des Comtesses ($9.99, domaine547). And it was just perfect for the meal and for the heat. (picture of the 2004 label nicked from domaine547's site, too)

I've never had a wine made with the picpoul varietal, one of the 13 Rhone varietals permitted in Chateauneuf du Pape. Despite its use in the Rhone, picpoul is (we think) native to the Languedoc-Roussillon and I had planned to save this wine for Dr. Vino's indigenous grapes Wine Blogging Wednesday next week--but I couldn't wait. The name "picpoul" literally means "lip stinger," and all I can say is it's well-named! It was lip smackingly bright and acidic, but not in an unpleasant way. Instead, there were really bracing citrus and mineral aromas when the wine was poured. The flavors were of white grapefruit, fresh lemon zest, and a touch of pineapple on the finish. As the flavors held in your mouth, they took on an almost bitter edge, like lemon pith. This was tart, refreshing, and an ideal companion to the meal and to the hot late summer temperatures. For under $10, this represented excellent QPR in my book, and was a nice change of pace from California sauvignon blancs or a Spanish white.

This wine would be perfect not only with shrimp, but with crab, oysters, or fish. If you're looking to beat the heat, this is the wine to pick up and eat with a cool salad and some critters from the sea. You'll feel cooler--and not just because you're drinking a hip, little-known varietal. This wine tastes like a cool dip in the pool--which sounds just about perfect right now.

One Lump or Two? Bordeaux Green-lights Chaptalisation

The news from the 2007 Bordeaux harvest continues to be less than promising. Today, Decanter magazine reported that the area's wine officials are likely to allow chaptalisation of the wine because grapes have not achieved a desirable level of ripeness during this year's difficult growing season. (image from wijnidee.com)

What is chaptalisation (or chaptalization, if you spell things the American way)? It's the technical term that refers to the practice of adding of sugar to wine during fermentation. This process, which was developed in the 18th century, raises the alcohol level, and in Bordeaux they impose a standard limit on how much sugar a winemaker can add. Bordelaise winemakers can only raise the alcohol levels by 1% by adding sugar. So the sugar isn't going in to the wine to make it sweeter--it's going in the wine to give them more alcohol and more body. Though some wines in past Bordeaux vintages, and other wines in other areas, have been watered down in order to lower the alcohol levels, signs are that the 2007 Bordeaux harvest will be requiring just the opposite.

The European Union is looking into chaptalisation and may ban the process in future years. It is likely that winemakers would still be able to add concentrated must (unfermented grape juice) to wine to raise sugar levels, but not sugar. Already, however, Bordeaux officials have agreed that sugar can be added to 2007 sauvignon blanc grapes. At a time when many wine buyers are looking for the least manipulated wines they can find, and lower alcohol wines to boot, one has to wonder how this development will effect the sale of 2007 Bordeaux futures.

Happy Labor Day

Happy Labor Day! (image of Indianapolis glassworks and bottle makers from The History Channel)