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Bursick’s first J vintage a delight
HEALDSBURG, Cal. — There’s something special about meeting someone you’ve always admired from a distance, and so it was in early 2006 when George Bursick, the Sonoma County native who has become a winemaking legend in his own time, was introduced to me at at J Winery.
This was a spring-time press tour, a small one but still the sort of thing where wineries go out of their way to impress the visitors. We saw a winemaker saber a bottle of American methode champenoise sparkling wine, which was pretty entertaining (it’s not that hard if you know a couple of key secrets), tasted some fine wines from new French barrels and even played bocce under a canopy of century-old olive trees.
George Bursick at J Winery, photo by Dave Lansing
Mostly we met some great people who, since it was spring and bud break still was a week or more away, had plenty of time to talk nosy reporters and share a tale and a glass of wine.
So it was at J, where the effervescent Judy Jordan took a couple minutes from her hectic schedule to introduce Bursick, whom she had recently lured out of retirement (or away from Ferrari-Carrano Winery, depending on which story you chose to believe).
Bursick spent 21 years as winemaker at Ferrari-Carrano where he made great white wines and really proved that Sangiovese can make a great California varietal. But it’s Pinot Noir that Bursick is making at J, a varietal that he said excites him because “no one owns it.”
Bursick was upfront and candid during the formal interview and even more so when he guided us on a quick tour of one of Judy Jordan’s vineyards, on a ridge above a sweeping bend of the Russian River.
Noting he spent several years making Pinot Noirs at Ferrari-Carrano, Bursick said, “The grape and the wine are not a mystery to me. I’ve already made all the mistakes.”
A winemaker knows for his attention to detail, he said one reason he was attracted to Jordan’s sophisticated winemaking facilities was because of Judy Jordan’s desire to produce world-class wines.
In an interview last July with Thom Elker of Appellation America, Bursick said, “You can’t lower your standards. That’s my whole approach. Break everything down into the details, and get every detail right.”
He just released his first vintage under the J label and the initial impression is that Bursick nailed every detail. His emphasis on a small-production, single-vineyard Pinot Noir resulted in six different labelings.
I tried the J Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, at $38 the least-expensive of the six (but still well up in the premium price range) and found it full of bright red fruit with a luscious mouthfeel and layers of flavor. At a time when Pinot Noirs are suffering from their popularity, becoming terribly overpriced and under-made and sometimes tasting very un-pinot-like, this is a delicious, well-made wine.
I’m lingering over the bottom of the glass, sorry to see it go. Even I would pay $38 for this.
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World of wine gets smaller
I was wandering the aisles of a local wine store last week when I overheard someone complaining about the difficulties of finding Colorado wines in Front Range liquor stores.
That’s not surprising, given the number of liquor stores along the wrong side of the Continental Divide and how long it would take someone to forge their way through all those wine aisles to find what invariably will be a limited selection.
Several reasons are at the root of this lack of visibility for Colorado wines. Most of the wines are in short supply — Plum Creek Winery is the state’s largest winery and they produce about 10,000 cases a year, about an hour’s worth of production from Gallo.
Other wineries produce much less but everyone has to decide how to split their production among which vendors. Retailers may take a case or two but that’s usually hidden among all the facings on the shelf.
Distribution might be the key problem. The state’s three-tier distribution laws add another cost to a producer trying to find a retail outlet, so many Colorado winemakers do their own distribution.
On any given day you might find Nancy Janes of Whitewater Hill Vineyards, Bennett Price of DeBeque Canyon Winery and numerous other West Slope winemakers schlepping their cases of wine to Front Range retailers.
It’s time and energy consuming but to these producers worth all that time and energy. Few big retailers are going to hand-sell small-production wines, unless you’ve won some spectacular award, with the same energy they give the major producers. Distributors make money on turn over, and understandably they’ll push 1,000 cases of Yellowtail shiraz, where the profit margin might be bigger, with more vigor than five cases of DeBeque Canyon wine.
Another drawback for small producers simply is getting lost in the big wine lists carried by major distributors. And now it’s just going to get worse.
A recent article on WineBusiness.com notes the merger of two of the country’s largest distributors of wine and spirits, Southern Wine & Spirits of America, Inc. of Miami, and and Glazer’s Distributors of Dallas. The new company, Southern/Glazer’s Distributors of America, will be the Octopus about which Frank Norris wrote, its tentacles covering 38 states representing more than 80 percent of the total wine and spirits sales in the U.S.
As was noted by Terry Hughes of the blog site Mondasapore , it will be harder for small wineries to compete in the vast ocean of wines for the attention of an over-worked sales force.
“(Y)et, again and again, he brought up against the railroad, that stubborn iron barrier against which his romance shattered itself to froth and disintegrated, flying spume. His heart went out to the people, and his groping hand met that of a slovenly little Dutchman, whom it was impossible to consider seriously. He searched for the True Romance, and, in the end, found grain rates and unjust freight tariffs.” — Frank Norris, “The Octopus”
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No getting past the awards
A recent comment from reader Bob about my column on Dolce Vita getting an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine got me to thinking about wine awards, wine lists in this town and what both of them mean to the casual wine drinker.
Bob’s contention is that the Wine Spectator award ain’t no big deal because anyone who sends in the money can get that award.
There’s more to it than that, of course, including having a comprehensive and imaginative wine list that pairs with your food. But there is a fee, and if you want your photo accompanying your listing in the magazine, that’s a little extra.
Bob also makes the point there are other great wine lists in this town and evidently those establishments didn’t think it necessary to reach out for the Wine Spectator recognition.
But getting a WS award is more than simply having something to hang on the wall. Along with the recognition there is an economic benefit. Several other WS winners have noted that customers come from out of town to try an Award of Excellence winner. And some travelers make it a point to stop at WS winners, so along with new business there’s the chance of some valuable word-of-mouth advertising.
Bob’s point are well-taken but in my opinion, for someone looking for a wine list that might hold a few surprises (go ahead, be adventurous), a WS Award of Excellence winner is a great place to start. Particularly if you don’t know much about this or any city’s restaurants and are looking for a place to start.
Does this award mean Rick Crippen at Dolce Vita has collected the city’s best wine list? Maybe. Or maybe not, since selecting a “best” wine list would be as subjective as liking every one of the wines Crippen has gathered.
Is there a “best wine list” in Grand Junction? Hard to say, since there are several restaurants with extensive lists and each one is unique. But it sure would be fun to tackle the challenge, wouldn’t it?
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Wine shop brightens downtown
I received a few comments this week about Dolce Vita restaurant earning an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator magazine and those comments simply substantiated what the award recognized. Rick and Sue Crippen have one of the city’s best wine bars in town thanks in great part to Rick’s never-ending curious nature about wines and to his desire to offer great wines at affordable prices.
A few doors upstream at 420 Main St., Mike Chariton recently opened Planet Wines, the city’s first wine shop. Chariton said he’s been interested in wines for years and about two years ago decided to find a way to blend that personal interest with making a living. Investing all your savings along with some home equity is about as serious as a person can get about melding two diverse worlds, but Chariton seems quite excited about the future of his shop and the sophistication of local wine drinkers.
*Mike Chariton of Planet Wines
“I’ve seen the sophistication level change over the past few years and I really think there’s a place for my store,” said Chariton recently. He said he purposely put his store downtown because of the atmosphere of the downtown and its continuing development.
“I wanted a real neighborhood for the store and I think downtown is about the only real neighborhood we have,” Chariton said. “And with the new construction being planned, we’ll have more restaurants and shops and hopefully that will bring more people downtown.”
Planet Wines (Chariton said the name came to him while he on one of his frequent long-distance runs through the desert) features more than 1,000 selections and each week Chariton offers a special on a country or wine.
“Also, wine is a worldwide phenomena and I want bring some of those great wines to Grand Junction,” Chariton said. The store’s specialty is personalized service, Chariton said.
“I want people to tell me what they want us to carry,” Chariton said. “I think it’s great to explore new wines and try something adventurous.”
Planet Wine hours are 10 a.m.-8 p.m Monday through Wednesday and 10a.m-9 p.m Thursday through Saturday.
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Award sweetens Dolce Vita’s appeal
Say what you like (or dislike) about the tentacles of Wine Spectator magazine stretching into every corner of the wine arena but until some better way comes along of recognizing the efforts of restaurateurs serious about wine, the Spectator’s annual listing of restaurant awards is a good tool for the wine-lover’s toolbox.
Those readers living in large cities with numerous WS award winners will yawn at one or two more restaurants being added to the list. But those of us who spend most of our waking hours in small cities, where fine dining means not having to answer “Y’all want fries with that?” and the wine with dinner comes in crystal stemware not plastic cups, are happy to discover a place where the owner has put some thought into his/her wine list and the pairings that make a meal so much more enjoyable.
The love of all things Italian has been sweeping the U.S. for several decades and this year one of Grand Junction’s more-popular Italian places, Dolce Vita, was honored with the Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence.
The always enthusiastic Rick Crippen of Dolce Vita
Owners Rick and Sue Crippen have worked hard making Dolce Vita, 336 Main St., one of western Colorado’s busiest wine scenes and wine reps tell me that Dolce Vita is at or near the top in wine sales in western Colorado, which includes such deep-pocketed resorts as Telluride, Aspen and Vail.
Dolce Vita’s wine list includes 315 bottles and 41 wines by the glass, priced from $5-$15. Rick wants to make wine affordable, and while you can spend into the three-digits for a bottle, he keeps the mark-ups surprisingly low, which helps his wine sales.
“I want to infuse enthusiasm into the community to worldly wines at reasonable prices,” said Rick, who somehow maintains his warm smile even when the work days stretch into 12 and 14 hours. “I just want to pay my bills and introduce people to what’s out there.”
For instance, an Alfred Eames 2005 Pinot Noir, which retails for $22 at a nearby wine shop, is listed at $29 at Dolce Vita, an almost unheard-of low markup for a terrific wine.
Crippen also has an ongoing education program for his staff, which includes regular classes on service and lots of tasting. He personally prefers Old World-style wines and counts among his favorites the 1997 and 2001 vintages of Barolo. His menu, fitting for a restaurant specializing in northern Italian fare, has a three-page section devoted to Italian wines.
He also offers 25 Colorado wines (featuring Ken Dunn’s Hermosa Vineyards) and lengthy offerings from California and around the world, many available in the popular half-bottle (375 ml) format.
“I’d love to get some wines from India, I’ve heard they’re pretty good,” said Rick. “Wouldn’t that be great to turn people on to?”
Dolce Vita is the only Grand Junction restaurant on the WS list, which is unfortunate but not surprising given this town’s blue-collar background. Appearing on the Spectator’s list can be a big draw. Several years ago, the now-closed Chef’s restaurant became the first local restaurant to make the WS list and owner Dave Dame discovered people coming from Aspen, Vail and other resorts simply because they saw his name in the Spectator.
“I’ve been watching this gradual change in the valley’s clientele,” said Rick, “and this was a goal I’ve had in mind for two years. Now, it’s a matter of education and exposing, exposing, exposing people to great wine.”
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Cherries and wine, separately
The view from Terror Creek Winery takes in much of the North Fork Valley. Some of the vines you see are more than 35 years old.
PAONIA— I spent the holiday weekend camping along a small creek near here and on my way home (the bugs got so bad on the last day I left camp without rolling up my tent, just crammed it in the car and sped away) stopped at a couple wineries in the fruit-rich North Fork Valley.
My first stop was Black Bridge Winery. It really wasn’t for wine but for their sweet cherries, which are now in the prime of their season. Owner Lee Bradley was sitting just inside the door and warned me they were all out of cherries in the store.
“But we’re picking Rainiers right now and if you want to pick your own, they’re really good,” he said with his familiar smile.
So I did and brought home six pounds of Rainier cherries, which cost me about 15 minutes of picking and $2 a pound. In the local grocery, those Rainiers sell for close to $7 a pound, which means I got a pretty good deal on some delightful cherries. I’ll go back next week when the Bing cherries are ready.
I stopped at a hardware store and bought a $20 cherry pitter, which worked well enough I froze four pounds of pitted cherries.
I also spent 30 minutes or so at Terror Creek Winery, where Joan and John Mathewson make elegant Swiss-style wines. Joan is a Swiss-trained enologist (for years she was the only certifiably trained enologist in the area) and just to hear her French I asked her to read her diploma.
She laughed and did so, but insisted we try her newest offering, Chalet, a blend of gamay and pinot noir. It’s a light-bodied red that’s delightfully dry and served chilled makes a great sipper on hot afternoons, of which we’ve had plenty.
Gamay, remember, is the grape of Beaujolais, and Joan adds 25 percent pinot noir for a little more body and structure. She also produces a chardonnay, riesling, Gewurtztraminer and pinot noir.
The gamay/pinot noir blend is popular in Switzerland and France but is rarely seen in the U.S. because the Swiss and French drink most of it. When the blend is mostly pinot it’s called Dole (with a little tent accent over the ‘o’) and when it’s mostly gamay it’s called Goron.
“I’ve wanted to make this wine for years but had to wait for my gamay grapes to produce,” Joan said. “I planted them a few years ago and this was the first vintage I got from them.”
As you can see, the view of the North Fork Valley from Joan’s winery, which sits at 6,400 feet, is spectacular. No Web site but information here.
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Paonia wine festival a relief, a delight
I wrote in today’s newspaper column about the Mountain Vineyard Wine Festival held Saturday at Orchard Valley Farms and Black Bridge Winery in Paonia.
I’ll repeat myself a bit here but it’s unavoidable, given the readers of this blog might not read the paper. My column appears here on the The Daily Sentinel Web site.
After spending three days at the chi-chi Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen, heading to Paonia for an afternoon of cool jazz, good food and some pretty nice Colorado wines was a wonderful relief.
*Kathy Bradley of Black Bridge Winery pours a 2005 Pinot Noir. The unique label was designed by her husband, Lee.
Don’t get me wrong. The Food & Wine Classic is loads of fun, very educational and you meet some really famous food-and-wine people along with some not-so-famous-but-deserving type of folks.
I’ve almost never had a bad time at the Classic, although it’s getting more and more difficult to snag invitations to the hottest parties simply due to the demand for those tickets and the relative size of the facilities.
You can’t make a party better by cramming 250 people into a space designed for 175, I know, I’ve seen it happen.
The Paonia wine festival, on the other hand, attracted only about 200 people who paid $50 apiece for a lovely afternoon sampling local wines and local food.
If you’re unfamiliar with western Colorado, Paonia is a farming/ranching town about 90 miles southwest of Grand Junction and near the head of the fertile North Fork Valley, one of epicenters of the state’s organic, locavore movement.
The wine festival featured 11 Delta County wineries, most of which are in the West Elk American Viticultural Area (information here and here). One thing I found is the Delta County winemakers aren’t lacking in ability. They just need to get out the word about their wines.
The offerings Saturday ranged from a youthful but approachable syrah/cabernet sauvignon blend from Bill Musgnung (Bethlehem Cellars) to the elegant pinot noirs of Lee and Kathy Bradley (Black Bridge Winery), Steve Rhodes and Alfred Eames.
Rosés, always welcome on a hot summer day, also were popular. John Mathewson of Terror Creek Winery, one of the highest commercial vineyards in the world (6,400 feet), was pouring their newest wine, Chalet, a rosé blend of pinot noir and gamay while Anna Hanson of the organic Jack Rabbit Hill winery was presenting her 2007 Wild Rose rosé, a delightful Bandol-type rosé made of 100 percent Foch grapes.
I’ve thought for several years that pinot noir might be the signature red grape of the North Fork Valley, although both Rhodes and Eames Petersen remarked about the difficulty of consistently getting a good crop from that finicky grape.
There were wonderful vintages in 2005 and 2006 but the entire 2007 crop was lost due to a 2006 late fall and early 2007 spring frosts. It’s just like farming, and the romance of being a winemaker disappears quickly when you have no wine.
I’ll write more about the Mountain Vineyard Wine Festival in my next post.
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Sherry enjoys a rejuvenation
ASPEN — What’s old is new again, as a sage once offered, and that’s certainly true in regards to Sherry.
You remember Sherry, that Spanish fortified wine that originated in Jerez (the proper pronunciation isn’t as easy as it looks but that’s where the Sherry name derived). Sherry enjoyed a long run but when tastes and drinking styles changes, it unfortunately was relegated to the kitchen cabinet.
Ah, but now the merry-go-round turns and Sherry comes to the fore. By the way, the name Sherry, like Bordeaux and Burgundy and Champagne, is protected by law and capitalized because it refers to an actual region. More information about Sherry is available here and here.
Sherry comes in various levels of dryness, but since all Sherry is fermented dry and then fortified with brandy, the sweetness level is controlled after fermentation. In regular wine-making, the sweetness (or hints of sweetness) are controlled by stopping fermentation before the yeast bugs eat all the sugar.
Sherry styles range from fino, the driest, to sweet (or cream) Sherry.
What makes Sherry particularly unique is the solera system of aging. Here, large casks filled with younger wines gradually feed into smaller casks, sharing the attributes of many vintages, allowing the wine to ages until it’s a tawny liquid exploding with flavor.
The term “dry sack,” which refers to the solera method of aging, sometimes is used generically for Sherry but today that’s a line of fine Sherry imported by Kindred Spirits of Miami, Fla.
As it is with other fine wines, aging brings a depth and range of flavors to Sherry under-appreciated by someone unfamiliar with Sherry’s finer qualities.
“Sherry is coming back into their own,” offered Abbey Glazer of Kindred Spirits. “”It’s all about education, because many people still don’t understand how good Sherry can be.”
A medium-dry Sherry, such as an oloroso, is a delightful aperitif served chilled, something to be savored when the day ends and dinner comes to mind.
Two week we sampled two Sherry, Dry Sack (a blend of Palomino and Pedro Ximenez grapes) and Dry Sack 15, the more-sophisticated older brother blend of Oloroso and Pedro Ximenez that sees at least 15 years in oak casks and is promoted as a dessert wine and after-dinner drink.
Smooth, dark, intense, Dry Sack 15 was a lively palate pleaser even at 10 a.m. with a full day of tasting ahead. It was full of roasted nuts, dark raisins and figs, with hints of vanilla and black flowers, as a friend offered.
Dry Sack is produced by Williams and Humbert, owners of the largest (1,200 acres) bodega in Spain. Dry Sack 15 retails for around $30 for a 750-ml bottle.
**Dry Sack Sherry, imported by Kindred Spirits of Miami, Fla., was featured at the Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen.
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Wine fest offers taste of West Elks
It’s not too late to add the fourth annual Mountain Vineyard Wine Festival to your must-do list on Saturday.
The festival, which benefits the oncology department at the Delta County Memorial Hospital, is at Orchard Valley Farms in Paonia. The event runs 2 p.m. until 6 p.m. and features 11 wineries from the West Elks AVA and Delta County.
Colorado wines have received some good exposure recently, including a booth at the recent Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Denver and a story today in The Denver Post.
The Mountain Vineyard Wine Festival offers the opportunity to sample some of western Colorado’s best wines in a friendly, unhurried atmosphere (Paonia isn’t Aspen, after all) and to talk with the people who nurtured the grapes from seedlings to bottlings.
Tickets are $50 each and are tax-deductible. Tickets are available at 874-6411 and via e-mail to cconiglio@deltahospital.org.
*Lee Bradley of Orchard Valley Farms and Black Bridge Winery in Paonia will be among the winemakers featured Saturday at the Mountain Vineyard Wine Festival.
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Day 3, Aspen: Colorado’s lack of consistency no exception
ASPEN - Colorado wines didn’t play much of a presence during the 26th annual Food & Wine Magazine Classic here. Not that they were expected to, since the Classic shows off an awful lot of competition from the world’s top wine regions.
But several remarks over the course of the weekend reminded me that while there’s a future for Colorado wine, the road ahead still has some bumps.
Even most Colorado residents pay little heed to this state’s wines. It’s the same old saw: Try something once, if it’s not exactly what you want, never return.
In spite of their improvements in quality over the last decade or so, Colorado wines continue to be ignored by wine drinkers who maybe had a bad bottle 15 years ago, can’t get over it and still refuse to give Colorado wines a try.
It’s hard to find a selection of Colorado wines in most restaurants, even in Grand Junction. When fellow blogger Jeremy Parzen spent the night in Grand Junction prior to going to Aspen for the Classic, he was disappointed to find only two Colorado wines at the restaurant he chose.
(Restaurant selection on a Sunday night in Grand Junction is another topic.)
He didn’t try either because they didn’t fit with his meal. Pairing is kind of tough when you have only two wines, one available only by the glass, from which to choose.
While listening Sunday to Richard Nalley talk about wines from South Africa, the veteran food-and-wine writer punched into what he calls the “Law of Exception.”
Tightly wrapped, the law says that if one wine producer from a region can make an outstanding wine, other producers in that region can do it, too.
If anything hurts any wine region in establishing a reputation, it’s inconsistency in its product. Colorado, which certainly isn’t alone in this dilemma, has yet to develop consistency across the range of its wines.
Some wine makers you can count on, vintage after vintage, to offer something drinkable. Other winemakers can’t reach that bar and sometimes make wines that shouldn’t be released but are because it’s a business and there are bills to be paid.
It’s true in Colorado, it’s true in Texas and California and Virginia, it’s true in Italy and France and Spain and everywhere.
Developing consistency will make a wine region’s reputation. Why can’t wines in the Grand Valley AVA or the West Elks AVA be consistently good?
We’re not talking great, necessarily, just harmonious, balanced, good-drinking wines that you are proud to share with a friend from Napa or anyplace. It’s an interesting topic we’ll pursue.
And it’s doubly hard to judge a wine region’s consistency when restaurants and liquor stores are afraid to offer a selection.
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More from Day Two at Aspen
ASPEN - I first met David Lynch through his 2004 book “Vino Italiano: The Regional Wines of Italy”, although earlier I had heard his name after Lynch snagged a James Beard Award for wine writing while at Wine & Spirits magazine.
But it was Vino Italiano, which he co-authored with restaurateur Joseph Bastianich, that helped open the doors to the multitude of wines offered from Italy, with its 300 official growing areas, more than 360 authorized grape varieties and literally thousands of wine producers.
Actually, Lynch’s book covers “only” 200 of what he considers this amazing country’s top wine producers, but that was plenty for one book.
I mention this because today I enjoyed Lynch’s afternoon tasting seminar on Italian wines during the 26th annual Food & Wine Classic here in Glamour Gulch.
Even though the seminar took place about 10 minutes (walking) from the heart of the Food & Wine Classic, there were few empty seats. And Lynch, a delightful and entertaining public speaker, didn’t disappoint us, telling stories about his trips to Italy’s wine regions while poking fun at wine snobs and those who can’t get past the Big Three varietals.
The seminar was titled “Insider’s Guide to Italian Wines,” and Lynch steadily emphasized the role of what’s called “ambiente” In italy. That translates to, well, Dottore Jeremy Parzen is much better at this than I, but environment is close, although it means so much more than simply terroir.
It’s about the how wine is key to Italian culture, and Lynch brought this home, taking us from Apuglia in Italy’s “boot” to Sicily and all the way north to the Valle d’Aosta, where it’s still not cool to taunt the border guards.
“One night we drove to dinner and had to go miles around and around these small roads because the border was closed,” Lynch told the packed room. “And we could almost see where were going from our starting point.”
Lynch’s secret favorites? They include a 2007 Les Cretes Petit Arvine from Valle d’Aosta; 2004 Nino Negri Valtelina Superiore “Le Tense” (Lombardia); 2004 Benanti Etna Rosso “Serre Della Contessa” (Sicilia); 2004 Contini Cannonau de Sardegna “Inu” (Sardegna); 2003 Tormaresca Salento Negroamero “Masserie Maime,” (Apulia); and the 2002 Feudi di San Gregorio Vigne de Mezzo Aglianico del Vulture “Efesto” (Basilicata).
And yes, the vulture in del Vulture refers to just what you think. But the wine isn’t dead, it’s very much alive. Smoky and dark, almost ink-like in color, “a wine not to be trifled with,” as Lynch put it.
And at $30 retail, a wine we all can enjoy. More about the Food & Wine Classic soon.
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Pepins make fast food easy
ASPEN - Early morning on Day Two of the Food and Wine Magazine Classic finds the father/daughter team of Jacques and Claudine Pepin teasing and sparring over techniques and cookery as they prepare for their demonstration titled “Fast Food Our Way.”
As you might expect, this isn’t fast food you “Biggie size” but food that’s seemingly complicated at first but surprisingly quick, tasty and good for you. In 42 minutes, three fewer than the time slot allotted, the Pepins teams to make chocolate mousse, sauteed quail with raita (a Greek yogurt and cucumber-based dip or spread) and shrimp-and-scallop pillows (using won ton wrappers) on a Boston lettuce salad.
Their continuous offerings of cooking tips (separating egg yolks by hand gives more of the white) and repartee (“My father, the human mandolin,” quipped Claudine after Jacques sliced a cucumber with eye-blurring speed) produced the expected outbursts of applause and “wows” from the adoring audience.
Paula Norton of Atlanta, who was watching the Pepins while her husband George took in Laura Werlin’s course in “American Raw Milk Cheeses,” said the Pepins were one reason the Nortons were attending their second Food & Wine Classic.
“The first time was, when, ‘94?” thought Paula. “It was the same time they were chasing OJ down the highway.”
For the record, OJ Simpson’s long and slow evasion of the Los Angeles police force happened June 17, 1994.
Showing off the plates of their creative skills, and to everyone’s agreement, Jacques reminded us, “Eating well is easy, you just make the decision to do so.”
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Rose sparkling wines brighten Aspen Classic opener
ASPEN - It’s Friday the 13th and nothing but good luck for the 5,000 foodies descending on Glamour Gulch for the first day of the 26th annual Food & Wine Magazine Classic.
What a place.Uncork your skiing technique in the morning and uncork a few classic wines in the afternoon. That, at least, is what Kelly Hayes of Aspen was doing when I ran into him during a lunch sponsored by Boston Brewing Co., the company that makes Sam Adams Boston Lager, among other delights.
Aspen Skiing Co. re-opened some of the upper slopes on Ajax Friday (and today and Sunday) and Hayes was among the die-hards who just couldn’t resist a few runs on a mid-June snow pack.
“I had six good runs and 1,000 grins,”Hayes said, summing up the feelings everyone (including moi) was feeling after adding to their skier days in the winter of 2007-2008.
The first sprint through the Grand Tasting tent and the 300 or so wine producers revealed several pleasant surprises, including a line of Spanish Sherries imported by Kindred Spirits of Miami and a handful of wonderfully crisp, bright-fruit rose sparkling wines.
Dry rose sparkling wines are perfect for these hot summer days. Friday’s best was the Torre Oria Cava Rosado, the color of raspberries with the flavor of strawberries, raspberries and tree-ripe cherries. All of Torre Oria’s cava are made methode champenoise, bottle fermented and hand-riddled. And affordable, around $10.
Two other roses to look for include Segura Viuda’s Aria, a pinot noir rose, and the Nicholas Feuillate rose Champagne, a blend of pinot noir, pinot meunier and chardonnay.
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Utah’s liquor law may change
With the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen just two days away (be still, my beating heart) there is wine news all around us, from the Beehive State to the land of Sherry and artisanal wine producers in Italia. So here goes.
According to a story filed this week by reporter Dawn House in the Salt Lake City Tribune, that state is perched on the precipice of major changes in its antiquated and little-understood liquor laws.
There is a push on to do away with Utah’s confusing 1960s-era private club system that requires you to join a club (basically paying a cover charge) in order to have a glass of wine or a drink without also buying a meal.
The system has its roots in the opposition to drinks-by-the-glass from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which still has an overriding influence on all things political and economic in Utah.
But an alliance of hospitality and economic interests sees some opportunity with recent changes in the state Alcohol Control Board and a general moderation in some of the state’s leaders.
The Church hasn’t come out for or against the proposal to get rid of the club memberships, and everyone agrees that whichever way the Church goes, so will the state’s alcohol regulations.
Across the sea, there’s a movement to rediscover Sherry, reports Terry Hughes on his wryly informative, thought-provoking and mostly Italian wine oriented blog site Mondosapore.
Hughes quotes wine writer Jancis Robinson where Robinson lists some of the probable causes for sherry to lose its popularity over the years.
“One such cause is the all-too-effective marketing of sweet Sherry as typical of the type,” Hughes writes. He goes to quote Robinson as saying the old-favorite Harvey’s Bristol Cream Sherry “is as typical of sherry as Liebfraumilch is of great German Riesling.”
Robinson said a better future is ahead because, in part, low quality is being replaced by small producers striving to make a product that lives up to what Sherry can be and in doing so appeals to a higher-end market.
So it is, Hughes writes, in parts of Italy, where some regions are “re-awakening” and “shaking off their low-budget image.”
“These changes,” Hughes affirms, “are effected by visionaries who understand deeply their terrain and varieties and aren’t vainly chasing ‘the market.’’
A lovely thought for winemakers everywhere, no?
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It’s Classic time in Aspen
ASPEN — This week marks the 26th anniversary of the Food & Wine Magazine Classic in Aspen and as always there will be plenty of things to do and see. And taste, of course.
From the 90-plus food seminars and cooking demonstrations to the 50,000 or so bottles of wine being uncorked by the more than 300 producers, you’d be hard-pressed to say “Sono anoiato” (I’m bored) and get even a hint of sympathy from anyone here.
Everything kicks off Thursday (some pre-Classic get-togethers start today) with the wrap-up on Sunday with the popular Classic Cook-off where star chefs are given a bag of surprise ingredients and compete against each other and the clock.
I’ll be blogging from Aspen later this week but a quick trip Sunday to this chi-chi island of haute couture showed gas at $4.21 a gallon, every parking place taken and the expected plethora of foreign accents.
Aspen, long popular with the international set, should have no trouble continuing that attraction this summer due to the weak dollar.
Dinner last night was at Restaurant Six89 in Carbondale where some friends and I enjoyed a lovely 2006 pinot noir from Belle Pente Winery in the Yamhill-Carlton District of Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
According to the Belle Pente Web site, owners Jill and Brian O’Donnell are inspired by the wines of Burgundy and Alsace and include organic and biodynamic practices in their viticulture.
The wine was fresh and full of bright red fruits, perfect with the herb-roasted halibut and the accompanying carrot potato pancake. The wine is true Burgundian in style, and if you’ve been leery of trying an organic or biodynamic wine, this one will ease your mind and your palate.
And speaking of Burgundy and its wines, Eric Asimov of the New York Times recently wrote a terrific article about his weeklong trip through Burgundy.
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Time to make plans for Winefest
Just arrived in the mail is the brochure for the 2008 Colorado Mountain Winefest, set for Sept. 18-21 at Riverbend Park in Palisade. That means it’s “officially” time to look for seats at one of the very popular dinners with winemakers.
Seats are limited and this year might be fewer in number as some restaurants have cut back from two dinners to one. Although you’re not supposed to make reservations prior to the publication of the brochure (an attempt to make sure everyone has the same opportunity to secure a dinner) most of the restaurants already are close to being sold out.
Grab a brochure and call your favorite restaurant to check on seating, prices and which wines and winemakers will be present.
More than 40 Colorado wineries will be featured at this year’s Winefest and it’s a great opportunity to get to know some new-to-you wineries. Most Colorado wineries are quite small and their production is limited, which means you won’t see their wines in local stores. If you can’t make it around the state to visit wineries (that’s a great in-state vacation), you can let the wineries come to you at Winefest.
If you didn’t get a brochure in the mail, information and tickets for seminars and the festival are available at www.coloradowinefest.com. Tickets for this year’s Festival in the Park are $40 in advance, $50 at the gate. The First Class Pass, which includes close-in parking, a buffet, special seating near the Main Stage, concierge service and other goodies, is set at $175.
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Spoof or Consequences
Late last night, as I was heading home after a couple hours of tasting some wines that carried the deep flavors of local dirt and the devotion of an honest winemaker, I thought back on a tasting I had participated in just about a year ago this week.
I was with a small group of writers skirting through Napa and Sonoma, looking at some wineries a publicity agent had lined up for us, and on the second day we were at a fancy house just upstream from Oakville, smack in the middle of the Napa Valley where land might sell for $300,000 per acre, if anyone is selling.
The owner (not the winemaker, although he pretended he was) still commuted regularly to his big-money job in the Bay Area. He left most of the winemaking to someone else, although he impressed us with the fact he had the final say on what went into the bottle.
We tasted his wines, and they tasted like so many other over-blown California reds, blowsy and over-ripe and jammy with fruit that hung too long on the vine. Someone had added some designer tannins and bit of acid to balance the ripe fruit, an act that didn’t go unnoticed by another writer, who nodded and winked when I whispered, “Spoofed.”
We asked the winery owner, who seemed so sincere in his desire to “let the vineyards speak” in his bottlings why he tinkered with so much new oak and special yeasts and maybe even something to lock in the color, and he shrugged and said, “That’s what these wines need to be noticed.”
Later at dinner, a couple of bottles empty, he became more profusive and virtually admitted that “If we didn’t do these things, we’d never get high marks” and the wines would languish on the shelves.
And last night I finally figured out what that means: This guy was playing a vinous high-stakes version of the old game “Spoof or Consequences.” If he didn’t spoofilate his wines, the consequences are he’d never live in the fancy house with Italian marble floors and a century-old olive grove next to his bocce ball court.
I guess since I’ve never lived in a house with marble floors I don’t know what I’m missing. But I’d miss true, honest wine a lot more than I’d miss marble floors. I’d take the consequences of a wine that shows honest character and the convictions of the winemaker over one that is made to pay for a big house with marble floors.
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Honesty shows in the bottle
Earlier tonight I was sitting across from my pal Sal Sassano, sharing a bottle of his 2006 Cabernet Franc. You won’t find this wine in any store, since Sal is strictly small-time, a transplanted Sicilian with a love for the grape that must be DNA-connected.
It’s light-colored, as cab franc should be, with a delightful bit of acidity because Sal doesn’t over-ripen his grapes.
As typical in our get-togethers, we were chatting about wines and winemaking and the assorted truths and not-so-truths that accompany an endeavor of the heart and somehow (not surprising) we got into winemakers who “spoof” their wines, as described succinctly by my dear wine-blogging colleague Alice Feiring.
Feiring (as in come out ‘firing’) recently published her first book, “The Battle for Wine and Love, or How I saved the World from Parkerization.” This might prove to be THE book on identifying “spoofilated” wines. Winemakers who spoof their wines are trying so hard to get Parker points or to please someone else’s (anyone else’s!) palate they add such things as designer yeasts or need fancy machines (reverse osmosis or micro-oxygenation, anyone?) to achieve a result for which the grapes really weren’t suited.
In her book, Feiring write, “A winemaker needs tools. But I believe that technology, science and business had squelched the creativity, immediacy and urgency once inherent in winemaking.”
Instead of more scientists, Feiring says, winemaking needs more philosophers.
I mentioned this to Sal and he looked at me.
Then he nodded towards the vines growing a few feet outside his door and pointed at the bottle. “Honesty,” he said. And if he had said nothing else, I would have understood.
“That’s what you have here is honesty,” he continued. “I know what’s in this bottle and it’s no more than what that vineyard gave me. I don’t use fancy yeasts or those machines, I take the grapes and make the wine. That’s all I can do, that’s all I want to do.”
“My cousins (growing up in Sicily) couldn’t even write their names and they made great wine,”he said. “What does that say about winemaking? It’s here (he touched his chest) and out there in the vineyard. Honesty.”
That’s what a wine should be, a reflection of what the vineyard gave and the winemaker translated. Lucky for us who seek those wines, there still are winemakers who share our belief in the honesty of the grape.
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Passion about wine in literary form
This week’s open bottles include a Domus d’Uby Colombard/Ugni Blanc from the Cotes de Gascogne, a clean and refreshing white that my friends at the Boulder Wine Merchant describe as “pure, clean, lively and exhilarating … (A) stellar example of the difference modern winemaking technology has made in a formerly vinous backwater of France.”
Clean and bright, full of fresh tropical fruits, melon and peaches, it’s been perfect for these quite-suddenly hot spring nights. And at $9 a bottle, it’s a great price, too.
There also is a bottle of Nancy Janes’ (Whitewater Hill Vineyards) 2006 Cabernet Franc, ($15) which I tried last month and enjoyed so much I picked up another bottle today, and a 2006 Nebbiolo made and bottled by my friend Sal Sassano of Stonyhill Vineyards.
The last week or so I’ve been diving into Alice Feiring’s book, “The Battle for Wine and Love,” with its tantalizing subtitle “or How I Saved the World from Parkerization” (Harcourt, Inc., $23, hardbound, 270 pp.).
It matters little how you perceive of wine critic Robert Parker or if you agree or disagree with his well-known method of rating wines. With his assumed (or actual) sway in the world of wine, it’s become sort of a winous sport either to revile him or revere him.
Either way, Feiring’s book, which challenges Parker’s ratings and his palate and takes to task the wines of the world that apparently are made to please his palate and receive the high marks that mean high dollars, is a delightful and dare we say educational look at how wines are made today.
Not all wines, which makes good on Feiring’s premise that there still are some winemakers out there refusing to bow to what the critics want and remain true to their grape. (I wonder how she would respond to the assertion above about the benefits of “modern winemaking technology”? Not entirely in the positive, I’m afraid.)
Her arguments are strong, her passions equally so, her writing wry and sensitive and entertaining. The book has elicited a great deal of response both online and in print. We’ll leave the diatribes to others. From here, only praise.
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Tackling the wines still open
It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Wish I could say I’ve been away, say to Friuli or slipping along the Grand Canal in Venice but instead it’s only been time passing by. Don’t pay the ransom, I’ve escaped.
What do I have open at home? Let’s see, as I rummage through the fridge. A 2007 Grand Valley Riesling ($12) from Nancy Janes at Whitewater Hill Vineyards, crisp, clean, a beautiful white tasting of honey and flowers just right for afternoon sipping while wondering where I’m going to plant the herbs I picked up last weekend from Cheri’s Herbal Greenhouse on Orchard Mesa.
There also is a 2007 Pinot Gris ($20) from J Vineyards in Healdsburg, Cal. This tantalizing wine bursting with honeysuckle and peach is one of the first vintages brought forth for J by noted winemaker George Bursick, and it carries his signature of crisp acidity and open, mouth-filling fruit without being overbearing.
There’s an unlabeled bottle of 2005 Cabernet/Sangiovese (or is it Cabernet/Merlot? or maybe Cabernet/Nebbiolo) made by home winemaker Sal Sassano of Rocky Hill Vineyards in way, way north Grand Junction. No price but priceless nonetheless.
The wine has been laid down for the year or so since Sassano gave it me and it’s thrown enough sediment to plant those herbs. Heavy, dense, full of earth and terroir and the loving attention indicative of a one-man operation. A beautiful wine that most of my friends won’t like.
And finally, there’s a 2007 Chardonnay from the inimitable Parker Carlson. Remember last time when I said there were two wines that really stood out during the first weekend of the Spring Barrel Tasting?
There was the 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from Jenne Baldwin-Eaton at Plum Creek Cellars (yet to be released) and there was Carlson’s new chardonnay. Here are my initial tasting notes on that blustery Saturday morning under the awning at Carlson’s winery:
“Wow. Crisp, lots of green apple with a hint of tropical fruits and even a bit of minerality. A real chardonnay, just like those from Friuli. Buy this one right now.”
I get paid to be nosy, so I quizzed Carlson about this new wine, and his answer was just what I wanted to hear.
“This is the kind of wine I’ve been trying to make for 10 years,” said Carlson, one of the great people of Colorado wine country. “I’ve been trying to get these flavors and finally think I’ve found out when to pick the fruit.”
For this wine, which went about 22.8 brix of sugar when picked on September 7 from Lola Brennan’s vineyard at 33 and C Road, Carlson actually picked the grapes a week or so early, trying to capture the fruit flavors without being overwhelmed by the sugars and acidity. The final wine is very lovely 12.5 percent alcohol. By comparison, the 2006 chardonnay from the same vineyard was picked at 24.2 brix and fermented out at 14.5 percent alcohol.
There’s absolutely no oak, which doesn’t surprise anyone familiar with Carlson’s predilection for purity in his wines (well, most of his wines, anyway. There’s always Sweet Baby Red for those who want a sugar rush along with the alcohol).
Avoiding oak, whether by barrel or chips, lets the wine reveal itself and the skill of the winemaker.
“I’m really proud of this wine, I think it might be the best I’ve done,” said Carlson, with evident self-satisfaction. The wine is priced at $12.49. I mean, the wine will be priced at $12.49. Carlson said it won’t be released until later this summer. Don’t ask how I got a bottle. That would be nosy.
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Spring takes early fling at wineries
Saturday and part of Sunday were spent traipsing around the sixth annual “Barrel into Spring” wine tasting sponsored by the eight member wineries in the Grand Valley Winery Association.
This year the event again has a second two weekends, with the next coming May 17-18. There might still be tickets ($65 each), call Two Rivers Winery at 255-1471. The event usually sells out, it’s capped at 380 attendees to keep numbers manageable for the sometimes cramped quarters where winemakers are doling out wine and information.
Last year, on what was almost a last-minute whim, the GVWA decided to add a second weekend to appease the long waiting list. Even without much advertising the event still drew close to 100 guests, said Davy Price, who along with husband Bennett owns and operates DeBeque Canyon Winery.
“We didn’t want to lose those people and decided to have a second weekend,” said Davy Price. “And I’m glad we did. This year, we’ve had a lot of interest in both weekends.”
The first weekend nearly sold out and it’s likely the second will come close, too. Saturday was a bit chilly early on, as an east wind, feeling as if it were blowing right off the snowfields on Grand Mesa, whipped the tents at Carlson’s Vineyards. But Sunday was near perfect, with little wind, lots of sun and blossoms everywhere you looked.
Except in the orchards. It’s been a late spring as far as grape buds are concerned, but that’s good from a winemakers standpoint since a late bud break protects the fruit from frost.
“This year is going to be huge,” promised Doug Phillips of Plum Creek Cellars. “We had a mild winter and as long as don’t get a late frost, we’re going to harvest a lot of grapes this year.”
Inside his recently expanded facility, which includes 500-pound white oak doors made from 200-year old lumber, winery worker Paula Butler was using a glass thief to offer samples of a new 2007 cabernet sauvignon that showed marvelously, something you can’t always say about wines still in the barrel.
The wine, still four months or so from bottling, was bright and fresh with soft tannins and full of blackberry and dark fruits, a lovely wine and one of my two favorites from the weekend.
“I’m getting some new barrels and I want to put the cab into that new oak for just a short time, like maybe only a month or so,” said winemaker Jenne Baldwin-Eaton. “That will give it some other nuances without overpowering the fruit.”
This is a cabernet sauvignon to save and serve, and at an estimated $17 a bottle I’ll be among the first in line when it’s released next fall.
The other “Barrel into Spring” participating wineries include Canyon Wind Cellars, Garfield Estates Winery, Grande River Vineyards, Graystone Vineyards and Two Rivers Winery.
I’ll get to my weekend’s other favorite next post.
**Plum Creek Cellars winemaker Jenne Baldwin-Eaton conducts a taste test during Saturday’s “Barrel into Spring” event.
Latest comments
So if it cost like advertising, talks like advertising, attracts clients like advertising, and works in media like advertising….
But has someone saying they looked it over for qualification; it is not advertising?
I agree Dave, that
... read the full comment by Bob | Comment on No getting past the awards Read No getting past the awards
Bob: While I appreciate your advice, there’s a bit more to the Wine Spectator award than “send in the money, you win.” According to the magazine, it rejected nearly 1/3 (319 of 982) of this year’s applicants, so it can’t only
... read the full comment by dave | Comment on Wine shop brightens downtown Read Wine shop brightens downtown
In case you don’t realize it, Wine Spectator awards are a lot like the “Who’s Who” books. You send in a list, the money and you have won!!!!!!!!!!
No money, no mention.
Just let that guide you when you are looking
... read the full comment by Bob | Comment on Wine shop brightens downtown Read Wine shop brightens downtown
Trix: Thanks for the nice words about Rick. One of the best things about him is he doesn’t inflict his wine knowledge on you but rather is eager to share the good stuff and makes learning about wine fun for everyone.
Ingrid: I’m facinated
... read the full comment by dave | Comment on Wine shop brightens downtown Read Wine shop brightens downtown