Archive for November, 2009
A surprise visit from Ferdinando Frescobaldi of Marchesi de Frescobaldi
From Italy to Tarpon Springs, Florida, Ferdinando Frescobaldi, President of Marchesi de Frescobaldi paid us a surprise visit this morning. Mr. Frescobaldi spent time chatting about wine with B-21 Proprietor, Bob Sprentall, and B-21’s Italy Correspondent, Steve Rayman. He also took the time to sign all of the Frescobaldi wines on our shelves. Yes, even the 2004 Frescobaldi Castelgiocondo which incidentally is #15 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines of 2009. Other bottles he signed include the 2006 Frescobaldi Giramonte Super Tuscan ($99.99), 2006 Frescobaldi Mormoreto Toscana ($59.99) and the 2006 Frescobaldi Nipozzano Chianti Rufina Riserva ($19.99).
The Frescobaldi family has a 700-year history as wine merchants and growers in Tuscany. Thirty generations have dedicated themselves to the production of great Tuscan wines, with over 1,000 hectares of estate vineyards and nine estates and an unwavering commitment to quality. As one would suspect a wide range of wines are available from an estate of this size. Nippozzano is one of my favorites, what is one of yours?
BTW – 1st come, 1st serve on the bottles he signed today! To make sure you get the signed bottles, give us a call to order, or stop on by the store! (1-888-221-9463)
Hugh shouldn’t have dismissed the southern Rhones…
Freddy Mattson of Vineyard Brands walking us through 2007 Perrins
Freddy Mattson of Vineyard brands opened a presentation of the Perrin wines with a 1983 declamation from Hugh Johnson dismissing southern Rhones and their rusticity and high strength. In 1983 his eminence insisted that common grapes could only make common wines.
On a day with wonderful Grenache/Garnacha from Spain and Australia as well as from the Perrins, Mr. Johnson would have been more embarrassed than the southern Rhone.
Where- or what, is Coudolet anyhow? Coudolet de Beaucastel 2007 is a bargain and a great property of the Perrins on the wrong side of the tracks, in this case, the A-2 from Chateauneuf du Pape. Actually, it was in CdP at the beginning of the century, but planners laid the monster highway smack through the district. That left a chunk of vineyards on the east that big shots excluded from a redrawn Chateauneuf du Pape, and dumped into Cotes du Rhone; that became Coudolet ($29.99). Made of the same terroir and the four major grapes, largely Grenache and a big helping of devlish Mourvedre.
No crying over spilt politics now. We’ll laugh all the way to the wine cellar, tucking away a Coudolet full of black fruit and black candies, better than many CdPs but $50 less for a few kilometers.
#24 on Wine Spectator’s Top 100 is Here
2005 Penfolds St. Henri Shiraz ($54.99) - #24 on Wine Spectators Top 100 Wines of 2009
Heads Up! Many of the Top 100 Wines are here at B-21, and even more are arriving. #24 just came in.
For 50 years, Penfold’s has set the standard for Australian wine with more than Grange. A second iconic wine, St. Henri, shapes Shiraz in a way that is stunningly different, and perhaps, more luscious and sexy. This luxury red was long overshadowed and often just called Penfold’s Claret. That didn’t do it justice; it’s not close to a bland 15-pound red in a Brit wine bar.
The St. Henri style stands alone. It is an exceptional Shiraz with a slender Cabernet-like backbone, matured in large old barrels for smooth silky, early drinking without a hint of oak. The grapes are the best from Barossa, Clare and McLaren Vale. Why not? 2005 was the best in a decade all over South Australia. It’ll take many more years and dollars before you can taste Grange this good. Only 1,000 cases came into the US but we’ve got it, and at $54.99 (ten bucks under the expected tab).
Holiday tasting rings in the new – and old
Mr. B-Blog enjoying a glass of 2005 Sierra Salinas Mira
It’s been the big tasting of the year since the days when B-21 hid limited allocation bottles around the store during a Thanksgiving scavenger hunt.
The 2009 edition was as much fun, with 128 wines up for pouring and even more at four brilliant seminars. The challenge was picking the best of a remarkably rich selection. Not a dog in the bunch, and many had a classier pedigree than I do.
Listening to the buzz, I found two consistent trails, new and old.
Mike Mattiace and many others sent me to the Spanish table for Mira from Sierra Salinas, What a lush easy drink, two 93s from no less than Parker and B-21’s own Spain Advocate, Summer Martin ($18.99). Other fingers and signals pointed to the Southern Cone, where Argentina wowed me with two great Malbecs, Susana Balbo’s new 2007 Signature and the 2006 Tikal Patriota Altos de Mendoza.
I also hung out in the exclusive chill of Area 21, where the winemeisters revealed much wine lore in secret seminars that I will reveal in postings to come.
Want to see pictures from the Grand Holiday Tasting! Check out these smiles and purple teeth!
Turkey wine V: All-American zinfandel for feasts of fire
Patriotic pride alone make Zinfandel my favorite red for Thanksgiving. A wine of such mixed ancestry and stories (Italians, Croatians and Hungarians all play a part); it is best described as a uniquely American grape. Certainly it was a favorite of the Italian pioneers who planted much of northern California with hearty reds at a time when farming depended on human and animal muscle.
2007 Seghesio Zinfandel Rockpile Road ($29.99)
Zinfandel’s peasant heritage and its spicy brambly taste make it perfect for the adventurous table. If your turkey is grilled or smoked with a red pepper/garlic rub, or the bird is stuffed with cornbread fired up with spicy sausage, chipotle and onion, Zin’s your Vin. To me Zinfandel is a bright red square on almost any crazy quilt of Thanksgiving flavors.
Zin also lets you go high and low, light and heavy depending on the crowd. Following the three Rs, Ravenswood, Rosenblum and Ridge is a good start. Another R, Rockpile Road in Dry Creek Valley
2006 Rosenblum ($29.99) and 2007 Seghesio ($29.99), from a grand old family in Zin.
For a big crowd however, you can’t beat anything in the Cline and Bogle spectrum, starting at $9.99.
Turkey wine IV: Beaujolais nouveau’s timing is perfect
Mommessin Beaujolais Nouveau $7.99
No wine says, “thanks for the harvest” better than the first pressing of this year’s grapes. Opening a bottle of Beaujolais Nouveau is a Thanksgiving for the crop, the wine growers and the pickers. It even comes on a Thursday, a week ahead of Thanksgiving, so you can inspect it first.
I say ‘’mais, oui” to the 2009. Bojo always has the same modest body, smiling flavors and cherry and pepper notes that match a table crowded with family and fruity flavors. It lacks the earthy, smoky flavors of more complex Pinot Noirs – and their higher prices.
This is great stuff and directly tied to the land this very year.
My favorite so far is the Bouchard ($7.99), which has a full basket of berries and cherries. It is even a touch on the sweet side, perhaps a squeeze of marachino? But Aunt Isabelle and the kids will thank you. Label: Dancing peasants we’ve seen before.
Next comes the Drouhin ($8.99) , which delivers the cherries and blackberries with a round texture, but deeper flavor. Not so much a nouveaux, as it is an early taste of a grown-up Beaujolais. Label: Traditional.
For the more adult palate that wants more pucker with turkey go for the Duboeuf ($9.99). Georges makes a polished nouveau with more tart fruit. Label: Smart and classy, the flowers are stylized into redand gold medallions, like peonies in chinoiserie.
Mommessin ($7.99) was my least favorite, but it deserves a place on the table for sheer fun. Label: The best, a modernist collage including a pop cartoon a la Roy Lichetnstein; all it needs is a thought bubble saying “I left the giblets on the sofa.’’
Turkey Wine III: Gewurztraminer and pumpkin pie
2008 Ste. Michelle Gewurztraminer ($8.99)
Gewurz means “spice”, specifically all those fragrant cinnamons, cloves, coriander and more in the gingerbread end of the spice rack. Those are the flavors we haul out for pies and sweet potatoes this time of year. Without them a house doesn’t smell like the holidays.
The Germans put them in a bottle, and so did their Alsatian neighbors and a few nostalgic Americans up and down the coast. It’s wine everyone is afraid to pronounce but loves to have on the tip of their tongue. Nothing suits a big family grouping better.
Few other white wines match the circus of flavors in a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, and add their own daring ones as well. It’s a widely used food wine, as is the more noble Riesling, yet its time it had its own day – and that day is Thanksgiving.
P.J. Valckenberg makes an easy-going gewurz from the richly ripe 2006 vintage in Pfalz ($9.99). Northwest vintners in the Columbia Valley like Chateau Ste. Michelle make gewurz with a brighter citrus edge that helps with heavier dishes.
The most elaborate range however is in Alsace. Domaine Zind-Humbrecht treats gewurz with respect and dry refinement starting at its regional level with the tangy 2006 Alsace ($17.99). That’s just the start of a range of ZH vineyards and vintages B-21 stocks, including the late harvest 2005 Hengst ($79.99) which is a holiday feast on its own. Skip the turkey.
Turkey Wine II: For cranberries, it’s Pinot
Most Pinots are made for berries. With pepper to hit spice notes, they are tart enough to cut through heavy sides, and light-bodied enough for the whole family. The best Pinots have a range of earth and fire to match elaborate flavors of a smoked bird with wild mushroom gravy.
A by Acacia Pinot Noir ($15.99)
Wine Spectator’s Laurie Woolever came up with a full case of American Pinot Noirs that would celebrate increased U.S. success with Pinot from Oregon, Russian River, and Central Coast, on down to Santa Barbara (save Burgundies for later). She included two of our great favorites for Pinot Noir with class and value:
2006 Bogle Russian River: Juicy, ripe and as complex as the table. $14.99 ($13.49 by the case)
2007 A by Acacia: California, silky in texture, earthy in taste. $15.99 ($14.39 by the case).
My choice: Invite Fred MacMurray ($15.99) to Thanksgiving. The 2006 Central Coast is full of cherries and berries and spices as friendly as its gentle founder.
Turkey Wine I: Lighten up
2007 Pacific Crest Chardonnay is a best bet to please Chard lovers at Thanksgiving. ($11.99)
The first question in any matching is which comes first, food or wine. On Thanksgiving, food is first and set. And what food it is: gamy and savory (from turkey, giblets and sage), fruity (with cranberries), sweet and creamy (with yams and pumpkin), and spicy (with cinnamon and cloves).
That’s just the classic homespun version, before you add green chilies or oysters. Almost any wine, be it Tempranillo, Dolcetto or Pinot Blanc, will pick up one of those flavors. I’d only rule out a monster Cabernet or knife-sharp Sauvignon Blanc.
Don’t forget the third element to food and wine “pairing”: the people. The company at Thanksgiving is large and diverse, from teenagers to Aunt Isabelle. Pick wines to share, not to brag about. If that’s Merlot ordinaire and a soft Chardonnay, so be it. More to follow…
The Results are in on the Wine Spectator Top 100. Do you agree?
- Wine Spectator’s Top 100 Wines
I don’t get it. On Thursday wine snobs sniffed at the foolish hubbub over the world; today they are rabidly chasing the Wine Spectator’s Top 100. The 2005 Columbia Crest Columbia Valley Reserve Cab is now harder to find than a robot hamster.
Well, I take both in a tolerant “all in fun’’ attitude. All the world loves lists, me included, if only to argue and analyze. A word of caution before the Cabbage Patch scavenger hunt begins: WS lists specific vintages but their panel could have tasted vintages on their way out or just coming in. At B-21, we were into the Columbia Crest and Numanthia Termes early but have gone through the 2005s and are on to the 2006. A year can make some difference, but great vineyards remain great.
Let the battle begin — and please join in. (Don’t have the list yet? Here’s a sneak peak!)
1) Cheap, cheap, cheap. Even Marvin Shanken knows we’re in a recession. Almost a quarter of the Top 100 are at $20 or less. That’s my normal budget but some of these are softballs. Would Brancott’s NZ Sauv Blanc (No. 28) make the list in a normal year? Yet they nailed some of my faves that deserve a boost like the poorman’s Super Tuscan from Monte Antico (No.61), the great Barossa Shiraz from Peter Lehman (No. 54) and D’Arenberg’s Stump Jump (no. 82). I’m glad someone points out that some $20 wines are worth more – from those that are simply cheap wore out great bargains
2) We’re over California. Go Huskies. Twenty years ago when Bob Betz was still with Chateau Ste. Michelle he pulled me aside to say “Washington is going to be known for great reds, not just crisp whites”, and poured me the promise. Glad to see WS now agrees. Cabs, Syrahs and Merlots from Columbia Valley, Canoe Ridge, Walla Walla and Red Mountain are on the 2009 list. All told, nine WA labels are on the list. If Columbia Crest’s 2005 isn’t the absolute best, the Columbia Valley Reserve and CSM’s 2006 Horse Heaven cab (No. 38) are rich proof of the sumptuous depth Washington delivers for just $30.
3) Get behind me, Cabernet. Like the rest if us, WS is enthralled with Shiraz/Syrah and all its Rhone kinfolk. Twenty-some Syrahs from France, Australia, USA and even Italy made the list, both rustic and regal. Their favorite was the 2007 la Crau CdP from Vieux Telegraph (No.3). B-21 has it in both 375 and 750. The Bordelaise only landed a dozen or so, and that’s giving credit for Malbecs and Carménère.
4) Learn Italian. At least more than Sassicaia. I counted almost 20 Italian labels on Top 100, starting with a great 2006 Chianti Classico from Barone Ricasoli (No.5) through the rest of Tuscany, the Piedmont and beyond, from 2004 through 2007. If the Top 100 is your guide for drinking in the next few months, focus on the Italian nominations for the most thrilling education.
What do you think? Does an $8 Washington Riesling (Barnard Griffin, No. 66) cheapen the list? Is the 2006 Chappellet Signature (No. 6) the best of California? Is there a wine you expected to see make the cut, but it didn’t? You tell me.