Category Archives: Wine Education

When in doubt, drink Tequila

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The view from the balcony was breathtaking – the sand, the sea and the sun all conspired to produce an amazing tableau. Sitting on the balcony every day, we never grew bored with the sight.

Situated in the heart of Cancun, Mexico, we settled into a rhythm for our vacation, foreswearing our usual wine for a week filled with Margaritas. Our visit to the downtown Walmart had yielded an inexpensive, but reasonably nice quality, bottle of Tequila, along with the ubiquitous Jose Cuervo Margarita mix. It wasn’t fancy, but the duo did the trick and kept us awash in cocktails for the week.

Admittedly, a true Margarita should be made with Triple Sec and lime juice (instead of the mix), but we took the lazy journey to Margaritaville.

During our trip, we had the pleasure of visiting the Hacienda Tequila where we were given a brief tutorial on how tequila is made and were reminded on just what it is that makes tequila, well, tequila.

Tequila is part of the larger class of spirits called Mezcal, which are produced from the agave plant. Tequila hails from a delimited area within Mexico, centered around the state of Jalisco, but with differences in aromas and flavors stemming from the various terroirs. In addition, it must be made with 100% blue agave, which is considered to be a superior variety of agave. While these plants resemble cacti, they are actually related to the Amaryllis family.

Jimadors (field workers) harvest the core of the blue agave when the plant is between 6 and 8 years of age. The cores are cooked with direct heat for 36-48 hours and then left in the ovens with residual heat for an additional 24-36 hours. This cooking process is necessary in order to convert the starchy core into a fermentatble sugar. After cooking, the cores are milled to extract the  sugary liquid and remove the extensive fiber. This liquid is fermented into an alcoholic liquid, which is then distilled in pot stills, generally with two distillations.

Depending upon the maturation and ageing, tequilas are labeled as follows:
*Gold or Joven – unaged, with the addition of coloring agents (mostly caramel)
*White or Blanco – unaged or rested a maximum of two months
*Reposado – minimum of two months aging in wood
*Anejo – minimum of one year aging in wood
*Extra Anejo – minimum of three years aging in wood

We tasted through a number of tequilas at Hacienda Tequila, most of which were sipping tequilas — too good to be adultered with margarita mix. One of our favorites was the Casa Azul Reposado, which we purchased in the airport’s duty free shop on the way home. We also loved the Casa Azul Anejo, but it was pricier than we preferred to spend. Now, all we need to do is pour some tequila, close our eyes and be transported back to our Cancun balcony.

Captain, My Captain

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Each year, the American Wine Society (AWS) sponsors two wine competitions recognizing both amateur and commercial winemaking. The wines are judged in Pittsburgh with extra bottles of wine sent to be informally evaluated at the annual conference in a mock competition. At conference, tables are staffed by volunteers who are wine judges, graduates of the Wine Judging Training Program (WJTP) and/or those currently in the program. These table captains are to lead their table members in an evaluation of the wines. Since I had just began the WJTP, I volunteered to be a table captain.

Called up to the front of the room, each table captain had to grab an unmarked box of wine and returned to his/her table. Mine was a flight of Chardonnays. After carefully reading the instructions, and opening the wines, I waited until the participants entered the room and my table was filled. In all, there were five of us at my table, representing one of about 20 tables altogether.

I welcomed the group and explained how a wine competition was run and what they should do this afternoon. Once everyone was fully briefed, we began to pour samples of the first five wines into our glasses, passing each bottle onto the next person. The next step was to begin tasting/evaluating and scoring using the AWS 20-point format. After everyone had completed this process, I asked each person for the total score on each wine, before we discussed each wine on its own. The first wine’s scores ranged from 10 to 16. One person continued to be an outlier at the low end throughout the scoring process. The following bottle seemed to be flawed and our scores reflected it. We continued to taste through bottles 3, 4 and 5 in the same manner. Dumping out wines 1 through 5 (we only had 5 glasses each), we then poured and tasted wines 6 and 7, following the same procedures. We agreed that our bottle of wine 6 was faulted and chose not to score it. At the end, the official scores were unearthed from the envelope and we compared our average scores with the judges.

Here is how our scores compared:
Wine 1 – 13.7 (Us) vs. 14.0 (official judges)
Wine 2 – 10.3 vs. 14.17
Wine 3 – 11.7 vs.12.0
Wine 4 – 12.3 vs.11.83
Wine 5 – 14.2 vs.12.67
Wine 6 – Not scored vs. 8.67
Wine 7 – 14.7 vs.16.0

As evidenced from the above comparison, while our scores didn’t fully match the official judging, we were relatively close with the exception of Wine 2, for which there may have been a problem with our bottle since we felt it was flawed. 

All in all, I thought it was a very interesting and instructive exercise and look forward to volunteering again in November 2010.

Building my strengths in the American Wine Society Wine Judging Training Program

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As an educator, it is important to recognize your strengths and weaknesses. While strong on wine knowledge, my blind tasting skills are my weakest area. Therefore, I enrolled in the American Wine Society (AWS)’s Wine Judging Training Program (WJTP) as a way to discipline myself to keep my skills sharp. Presently, this three- year program is only offered in conjunction with the society’s annual conference, held in various locales. I began the program in November 2009, with the conference held at the Grand Sandestin Resort in Destin, Florida.

In advance of the conference, program participants are provided with a required reading list, syllabus and learning objectives and are instructed to arrive prepared for an exam – written and practical. As to be expected, all instructors in the program are graduates of it themselves.

We spent the morning reviewing important aspects of a wine’s appearance, paying attention to clarity, color and depth, led by Ken Brewer. Ken also spent considerable time discussing wine judging in general and the characteristics of being a good wine judge. Above all is the need to be objective in your evaluation, regardless of whether you absolutely adore a wine or positively hate it. 

Next, Richard Ulsh, a chemistry professor at the University of Pittsburgh, spent considerable time explaining the nuts and bolts of our sense of smell. Given that evaluation of a wine is heavily focused on its nose for both aromas and flavors, understanding this process was especially helpful. Rich then shifted from how to what by explaining all of the various faults one might find in a given wine and the reason for their presence. Participants also had an opportunity to smell through a line up of wine glasses, each of which contained one of the aroma faults we had just reviewed.

For the last presentation of the morning, Betty Nettles led us through an insightful set of tasting exercises where we experienced various components both separate and then in tandem to see how they interacted with one another. More specifically, we tasted through multiple component flights — ethanol on its own in varying proportions; synergy of alcohol and sugar; synergy of alcohol and acidity; synergy of sugar and acidity; and the eynergy of sugar and tannin. The final flight illustrated how alcohol, acid, sugar and tannin can come together to create a balanced wine.

At the conclusion of the day, we were presented with five samples wines for which we were to write an evaluative note and assign a score based on the AWS 20-point scoring system. Our last assignment was to identify which, if any, faults or imbalances were present in 10 samples. After which, we were done with Year 1. The results were posted the next day (5 Passes, 1 Conditional and 6 Fails — this is not an easy program) and I was pleased to find that I had passed, ensuring my promotion to the second year.

I am now preparing for Year 2 of the program, which will be offered in Cincinnati this November. I will also present two sessions at the conference — one on Italian sparkling wines and another on South African wines.

Wine Shopping in NYC: Behind the scenes at Wine Portfolio

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Television show, Wine Portfolio, hosted by Owner/Executive Chef of Wild Fire Steakhouse and wine enthusiast, Jody Ness, takes people around the worlds of wine and food and around the world. As Jody says, “Life is my passion, people my inspiration, and wine my muse…Life is meant to be enjoyed, a great glass of wine is made to be shared, so we created Wine Portfiolio: The world of wine uncorked.”

Among Jody’s travels, an upcoming episode will feature the wide range of wine shopping choices available to shoppers in New York City, along with tips and tricks for all wine lovers on how to shop for wine. I was asked to join Jody and his team (Kevin Fox, Michelle Lin and Norm Ness), with segments filmed at three very different retail stores in Manhattan.

The first stop was Sherry-Lehmann, a 76-year-old store launched in the months just after that experiment gone wrong (aka Prohibition) was lifted. With nearly 7,000 different wines available, the store has both breadth and depth in its selection. Long-time strengths continue to be France, especially Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne. Our visit to Sherry-Lehmann was hosted by long-time friend and colleague, Robin Kelley-O’Connor, Sherry-Lehmann’s Director of Sales and Education. Robin shared a bottle of the Lafite Reserve Speciale 2006 (Medoc) from Baron Eric de Rothschild with us while we toured the store, a great bargain at under $20.00/bottle.

Heading downtown and a bit west, we arrived at Tom Geniesse’s Bottle Rocket. Tom was out of town on a much-deserved vacation and he left us in the capable hands of manager, Gary Itkin. Bottle Rocket’s unique approach to wine sales groups their carefully curated collection (365 bottles) by type (whites, reds, dessert), food categories (seafood, meat, take-out) and gifts (boss, friend, date), making it easy for a novice to pick out a wine with confidence. Jody was intrigued by Jam Jar Shiraz with its bottle designed to mimic a jar of jam, and treated us to a taste of this fruity, off-dry red before we departed for our third location.

To beat the heat, we took a taxi the few blocks necessary to get to Chelsea Market where we visited with David Hunter, general manager and wine buyer for Chelsea Wine Vault. A pioneer of the Market, Chelsea Wine Vault has been there since 1997. The store caters to a collection of tourists and locals alike, with wines arranged by country and region. All of the wines are selected by David who tastes hundreds of wines each month, in his search for the best set of wines for the store. Below the retail floor, a temperature-controlled storage facility, run as a separate venture, is available for customers to correctly store their wines.

After filming at all three stores, the team stopped for some lunch and then proceeded to the High Line for some final shots, including an interview with Jody and me.

All photos courtesy of Michelle Lin, Re:Source Media

 

 

Chablis 2008 shines at Drouhin’s Domaine de Vaudon

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Laurent Drouhin, of Maison Joseph Drouhin, wants consumers  to know a few things about Burgundy. The first is that they don’t make Chardonnay or Pinot Noir. Rather, they make Chassagne-Montrachet, Chambolle-Musigny, Pommard, etc. In his view, the grapes, which are in fact Chardonnay for the whites and Pinot Noir for the reds, are merely a conduit through which the terroir can speak.

Another thing that Laurent would like folks to know is that Chablis, a very special terroir for white wines, is also in Burgundy.

And, finally, while he is proud of his family’s heritage as a negociant (a firm which purchases grapes from multiple growers to make wine), they are equally proud of their status as a land owner and producer, particularly in Chablis.

A recent tasting of the 2008 vintage from Drouhin’s Domaine de Vaudon proves that his pride is justly deserved.

The district level Chablis ($24.50) showed some complexity on the nose with  minerality and citrus fruit, both of which persisted on the palate along with the addition of green apple. The Reserve wine ($29.00), while similar in aromas and flavors, had a more pronounced nose and longer length on the palate.

Moving up in quality, the three Premier Cru wines (from grapes grown on highly rated vineyard land) all presented vibrant acidity, full body and citrus notes. The Premier Cru Montmains ($38.25) seemed to be the most complex of the three, with notes of apple, lime, earth and minerality.

However, it was the jump to the Grand Cru wines (those hailing from one of the seven best vineyards in Chablis) that really showed what world class Chablis is all about. The Grand Cru Bougros ($72.00) – incidently, Laurent pronounces the final “s” – had pronounced minerality, damp earth, bruised apple and a slight woody note on the nose, all of which re-appeared on the palate and remained throughout the exceedingly long finish. Slightly richer, with the perception of riper fruit on the nose and palate, the Grand Cru Vaudesir ($72.00) was slightly fuller and seemed to show a little more of the oak influence on the palate, although the use of oak was still restrained and elegant.

These latter wines were showing beautifully now, but indicated the ability to evolve and gain further complexity with age.

So, whether you drink them young or in time, enjoy these wines to the fullest. Just don’t call them Chardonnay.

Rom: A high point in the Golan Heights

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Courtesy Yarden Rom

A graduate of UC Davis, Victor Schoenfeld has been the winemaker for Golan Heights Winery in Israel since 1992. Zelma Long, who needs no introduction in certain circles, began her career at Robert Mondavi Winery and later moved to Simi Winery before pursuing her own interests. In 2002, the two well-regarded winemakers first came together with the goal of better understanding what limited and promoted quality among nine high quality blocks of vines at Golan Heights.

Describing the Golan Heights as a Mediterranean climate in an historical landscape, for Long, her visit “…felt like [she] was in this mythical land.” She saw its unique personality – wines that reflect the area with an extremely unusual diversity of climates within a small area (50 miles x 40 miles). Calling the wines fruit expressive with soft tannins, Zelma likens the wines to a cross between California fruitiness and Bordeaux restraint. She added that they are wines of complex character and concentration.

After working on the initial project together for several years, the two decided that a natural progression was to collaborate on the creation of a new wine. They recognized that blending wine was a very personal and intimate process, one that is not always easy to share with someone, but, their experience has been positive. Their vision for the wine, ROM, was power/intensity, which comes from the grapes and gives the wine potential for longevity; finesse/balance, which reflects winemaking and is also important for ageing; and flavor/complexity, which is enhanced in the winery through blending and ageing. Overall, they sought a wine of both access and ageing.

Ultimately, they sought out a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah, with each variety bringing a distinctive set of aromas and flavor profiles to the final blend. The Cabernet Sauvignon from cooler vineyards brings black cherry and ripe plum, while grapes from the warmer vineyards result in olive and dried herb aromas. Together, these grapes provide solid, consistent foundation to the wine, which is enhanced by Syrah’s darker fruit, savory qualities and roundness, depth and richness. The Merlot adds fresher notes of raspberry, fresh herbs and orange zest and is responsible for lift and fleshing out the mid-palate. From the Hebrew word for a high place, the name Rom symbolizes Victor and Zelma’s pursuit in creating a wine of the highest quality.  [See the graphs below.]

Members of the press had the opportunity to taste through barrel samples of the component wines from the 2008 vintage: Merlot from Odem, Syrah from Tel Phares and Cabernet Sauvignon from El Rom. This exercise provided a glimpse of how the individual grapes came together to create a gestalt, especially when compared with the Rom 2008 barrel sample.

The first wine to be launched, the Yarden Rom 2006, showed beautifully with aromas of plum, blueberry and blackberry. The well-balanced palate offered very concentrated, rich fruit flavors with a hint of herbal notes and firm tannins. The 2007 had brighter red fruit on the nose and was a bit more structured, while the 2008 (barrel sample) was not as integrated, with the wood notes more obvious on the palate, indicating that this is a wine that will improve with time. A limited edition of 6,000 bottles was produced for the 2006 vintage, with an SRP of $160.00.

Courtesy - Yarden Rom

Courtesy - Yarden Rom

Madeira: Perhaps a true desert island wine

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Courtesy Vinho Madeira - IVBAM

 

OK, yes, I wrote about desert island wines previously, but what if you were truly stranded on a desert island? You certainly wouldn’t have temperature-controlled wine storage available to you and eventually your wines would spoil in the heat. But what about a wine that was designed to withstand the heat and would even continue to improve on the voyage to said desert island? Madeira — a wine created to survive the long sea voyage from Europe to the New World– would be the perfect wine for such circumstances. 

Madeira is a volcanic island off the coast of Portugal and is the home of Madeira wine. Here, Tinta Negra Mole, Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and Malmsey (aka Malvasia) are grown on the steep slopes of the island. All, but the Tinta Negra, are white grape varieties.  The wine itself owes its taste and character to its fortification (through the addition of a neutral grape-based spirit similar to Port or Sherry) and its prolonged exposure to the heat. The fortification interrupts the fermentation process and, depending upon when it occurs, generally prevents some of the sugar from being converted into alcohol, thereby creating a wine with some sweetness. 

Four styles of wine — dry, semi-dry, semi-sweet and sweet — are produced, corresponding to the grape variety used. Sercial is the driest style, followed by Verdelho and Bual, with Malmsey being the sweetest. However, despite being labeled as “sweet”, these wines are drier than you might think and can actually pair nicely with savory foods, such as cheeses, wild game and nuts, as well as, if not better than, desserts. 

After the fortification, the wine is subjected to high temperatures in either a heated, concrete vat (an estufa) for several months or through prolonged storage in oak casks in naturally warm rooms (canteiros) over several years, recreating the conditions found when the wine was shipped over lengthy distances. Given the slow and steady process, the Canteiro method is considered to be of higher quality and thus generally reserved for the Sercial, Verdelho, Bual and Malmsey grapes, while Tinta Negra Mole are most often heated in Estufagem. A minimum of 85% of the grapes must be from the named grape variety if it is stated on the label. 

With its ability to withstand the heat, Madeira would do well in the sans-refrigerator environment of the desert island. For those of us on Manhattan island (hot right now, but fortunately, not under desert conditions) as well as elsewhere in the United States, Madeira is a perfect wine to enjoy now. And, as some of my colleague, Rebecca Chapa, has pointed out, it is timely too, as George Washington toasted the first Independence Day back in 1776 with a glass of Madeira. 

A June tasting, sponsored by the Madeira Wine, Embroidery and Handcraft Institute (IVBAM), showcased some of the top Madeira producers, including Blandy’s, Broadbent, Henriques & Henriques, Justino’s, Pereira d’Oliveira and Vinhos Barbeito. Here are a few tasting notes from that event: 

Henriques & Henriques 10 Years Old Verdelho, Portugal
Dating back to 1850, Henriques & Henriques is the largest independent producer and shipper of Madeira. Medium mahoghany in color with aromas of honey, burnt orange and oxidation, this wine is off-dry with rich flavors of orange peel, honey and raisin that linger in its long length.  

Vinhos Berbeito Historic Series Malmsey New York Special Reserve, Portugal
Established in 1946 by Mario Barbeito, this Madeira producer has a shorter history than many other firms, but has created an historic series based on the styles of wine preferred by various colonial cities. Colonial New Yorkers preferred a richer style of wine compared to their colleagues in Charleston and Savannah, with coffee, toffee and raisin notes on the nose and medium-sweet palate, culminating in long length. 

Broadbent Madeira Malmsey 10 Years Old, Portugal
Bartholemew Broadbent imports Madeira wines under his own label. This sweet wine has aromas of burnt sugar, oxidation and dried oranges, with flavors of spice, dried fruits and dried herbs on the palate. 

D’Oliveira Reserve Sercial 1969, Portugal
A small producer, Pereira d’Oliveira is known for its large stocks of old and rare wines. This older vintage is still showing some color with notes of burnt sugar and honey. It is dry with oxidized notes, honey and spice on the palate. 

Blandy’s Madeira Vintage Bual 1968, Portugal
Blandy’s was named for a soldier who landed on Madeira in 1808 and eventually settled on the island as a general trader in 1811.  This vintage wine is pale in color, but still shows hues of mahoghany. The nose is rich and deep with notes of caramel and burnt sugar. On the palate, it is medium-sweet, with a hint of oxidation, caramel, burnt orange and treacle flavors that persist.

Grand Cru Grapevine: For the Cellar (June 2010)

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Season has arrived, keeping us busy with public classes, private group tastings and lots of fun wine events. Some recent highlights included a presentation on Long Island wines to wine club, It Was a Good Year, based in Poughkeepsie, NY; a presentation of our From Vine to Wine class held in conjunction with the Town of Riverhead’s Department of Recreation; and a jaunt “Around the Wine World in Six Glasses” for a bachelorette party in East Hampton. We return to the Hamptons for another bachelorette party this month. 

We also had the good fortune to visit to the Finger Lakes wine region in early May as part of Lenn Thompson’s TasteCamp East. This three-day extravaganza provided us with a fast and furious overview of this great wine region, which neither of us had truly visited despite Tracy having gone to Cornell University for school. If you get a chance to visit yourself, we highly recommend the trip. 

Of course, for most of you, a much shorter trip will bring you to the haven that is the East End of Long Island, which has ramped up for 2010 and welcomes your visit. If you do head out our way, be sure to stop by to visit our vineyard and take a wine class. We will also be delighted to show you our new solar array, which is our latest step in going off the grid and being green.

Coming with a group? We can customize a private class or event for you to enhance your visit to the region – choose from our regular wine tasting classes or add a cheese tasting component to broaden your knowledge even further. We await you… 

Drink wisely and well,
Tracy Ellen Kamens, Ed.D., DWS, CWE
CEO: Chief Education Officer
       and
Jared Michael Skolnick
COO: Cork Opening Officer  

FOR THE CELLAR
While most wine is consumed within 48 hours of purchase, there are good reasons to cellar your wine. No, that New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc likely won’t improve with age, but, many other wines will continue to develop in the bottle, revealing even more nuances and complexity upon opening. As they say, patience is a virtue, and truly, a well-aged wine can be a rewarding experience.  

Which wines will age?
First, know that a vintage date is not akin to a freshness date – buying wine is very different from buying milk. An older wine is not necessarily a bad thing and in fact can be even better for having aged. That being said, wines that are intended to be enjoyed for their crisp acidity and fresh fruit flavors are best enjoyed young and should not be aged. Accordingly, keep tabs on your fresh, aromatic whites, roses and fruity reds and plan to drink them within three years of release.

Similarly, most white wines are meant to be enjoyed in their youth. However, high quality Chardonnays, Rieslings, Semillons and Chenin Blancs can develop nutty, toasty, honey and other more developed aromas and flavors that come through after the fresh fruit has faded.  Red wines with good tannins are likely to be ageworthy due to their structure and, in fact, highly tannic wines generally require some ageing for the tannins to soften and become more enjoyable on the palate. As with their white counterparts, vibrant fruit will become more subdued as secondary and tertiary flavors come to the fore with dried fruits, earthy and herbal notes taking their place. In general, a wine with ageing potential will have enough fruit, acidity and structure. If these elements aren’t sufficiently present in the beginning, they will fade too quickly as the wine ages and the aged wine will be lacking on the palate. In addition, sugar and alcohol are great preservatives, so wines with high sugar contents and fortified wines can age beautifully such as Sauternes; Ports; and Auslese, Beerenauslese and Trockenberenauslese Rieslings. 

Proper storage conditions
If you are laying down your own wines, be sure to store them under proper cellar conditions. Wines should be stored in consistent temperature between 50oF-70oF with some humidity to keep the corks moist in an area that is free from vibration and not exposed to light. Bottles with corks should be laid horizontally, to further aid in keeping the corks moist. If buying older vintages at an auction or retail, it is important to consider the storage conditions under which the wine has been since its departure from the winery. Whether ageing them yourself or buying aged wines, well-stored wines, with good providence, are more likely to be sound, although even under the best circumstances, there are no guarantees. 

When to drink your aged wines
Deciding when to drink your aged wines is both an art and a science. Typically, if you have a case of a particular wine, you will likely drink a few bottles too soon and a few bottles too late and the remainder during the wine’s peak. It’s a  good idea to check out vintage charts to see when wine experts, who are often tasting wines throughout the ageing process, think they are ready to drink (or if they think they are too young or too mature).

Serving older wines 
Once you have selected to drink an older wine you should expect a few things such as sediment. The tannins and pigments will precipitate out of solution, falling to the bottom of the wine. Accordingly, older wines frequently need to be decanted. In addition, like leaving an apple slice on the counter, wines (especially white wines) will oxidize a bit with time and thus will change color. White wines will become darker, heading toward brown while red wines will lose color, shifting toward brick and orange tones. Finally, corks on older wines may be very fragile, thus, an Ah-So opener might be a better way to go than the usual cork screw. 

Whether you prefer the vibrancy of newly released wines or the complexity of aged wines, open a great bottle and enjoy! 

 Tasting Notes 

  To further illustrate the discussion above, this month’s tasting notes include several of the same wines from different vintages, highlighting the changes that come with age. 

Bott-Geyl, Pinot d’Alsace 2005, Alsace, France, $16.00
We featured this traditional blend of Pinot Auxerois, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir in our December 2008 newsletter. Now at five years old, it is showing some beautiful aged characteristics with the citrus and floral notes have given way to honey and toast. However, the wine’s richness and acidity are still very present.

Anthony Road Winery, Semi-Dry Riesling 2008, Finger Lakes (NY), USA, $15.00
This is their off-dry Riesling offering with approximately 21-25 g/l of residual sugar. Floral aromas dominate the nose while the off-dry palate provides vibrant acidity and peach/stone fruit flavors that linger throughout the wine’s long length.  

Anthony Road Winery, Semi-Dry Riesling 2001, Finger Lakes (NY), USA
The same wine as the Riesling 2008, but with seven years of bottle ageing, the wine shows developing aromas of petrol. The palate is now drier and the ripe fruit has faded into notes of honey, toast and lime. The long length persists. 

Beronia Gran Reserva 2001, Rioja, Spain, $22.00
Produced from 88% Tempranillo, 8% Graciano and 4% Mazuelo, the wine was aged for a minimum of 24-36 months in oak plus an additional 36 months in bottle to quality for the Gran Reserva label. Aromas of smoke, spice, herbal and bright berry greet the nose. The palate provides red fruit and leafy flavors and good, tannic structure.Nearly the same wine as the one above, this wine was produced from 100% Tempranillo. Its nose reveals dried fruits and herbal aromas, while the palate is dry with medium+ acidity. Flavors of herbs, red fruit and spice are beautifully developed.Another 100% Tempranillo wine, this is a good (or rather bad) example of what happens when you wait too long to drink your wines. Tasted right after the 1982 Gran Reserva, it was clear that this wine was past its prime with limited fruit and bitter notes on the palate. In contrast, the 1982 had a slightly oxidized nose, but still showed some flavors of bright fruit, dried herbs and dried flowers.

Beronia Gran Reserva 1994, Rioja, Spain, $53.00

Beronia Gran Reserva 1981, Rioja, Spain, $55.00

White & Red from the Med

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I’ve been travelling around the Mediterranean lately, all without leaving home. Recent wine events took me from Israel and Turkey to Greece. While these aren’t the first places that come to mind when thinking about wine-producing countries, they each have a long history of viticulture and vinification and I was impressed with both the producers I met and the wines I tasted.

I kicked off the tour at a seminar debuting ROM from Israel. This wine is a joint project between Yarden’s winemaker Victor Schoenfeld and Zelma Long. Zelma was initially brought in to help with viticultural issues, but as she and Victor got to know each other better, a wine collaboration seemed to be a natural progression. This new wine is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Participants at the event had the opportunity to first taste through barrel samples of the individual wines, which truly illustrated how the three grapes come together to create a much greater whole. We next tasted three different vintages of the wine — 2006, 2007, and 2008, which highlighted the evolution of the wine in bottle. With limited production and its association with Zelma Long, this wine is likely to achieve a strong following.

Skipping across town instead of across the sea, I dined at Le Cirque with producers from Kavaklidere, Turkey’s largest winery, along with Mehmet Yorukoglu, president of House of Burgundy, the winery’s importer. Showcasing both indigenous and international varieties, the wines included a nice, crisp rose (Egeo Rose 2009) produced from Cal Karasi, Syrah and Grenache, with whites featuring Sauvignon Blanc, Narince and Chardonnay and reds made from Kalecik Karasi, Okuzgozu and Bogazkere. Working with French oenologist, Stephen Derencourt, the winery has seen significant growth and, more importantly, a signficant focus on quality, over the past several years. The wines were impressive, with a nice range of aromas and flavors distinguishing each wine.

The final stop on my tour was northern Greece with lunch at Marea with Evripidis Katsaros from Katsaros Estate; Thrassos Giantsidis, export manager from Estate Gerovassiliou; and Annegret Stamos, export manager from Biblia Chora. This dry and windy area produces mostly whites, but, over lunch, attendees tasted a wide range of both white and red wines. With training in Bordeaux, Gerovassiliou’s winemaker Evangelos Gerovassiliou has applied French winemaking techniques to indigenous grape varieties; similarly Katsaros has experience in Burgundy. Wines produced in this region have good acidity, but less so than the same grape, such as Assyrtiko, grown in Santorini. While import markets clambor for Greek varieties, the local market wants the diversity of international varieties as well, which accounts for the use of both in these wines.

Another misstep for Yellow Tail?

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Back in February, [yellow tail] made news when it announced that it would be making a sizeable donation to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). Unfortunately, it wasn’t the kind of publicity they were hoping for. Instead of being seen as a charitable act, many in the agricultural community were outraged by this decision and called for people to boycott Yellow Tail. The problem was that the HSUS was not the pet-loving, animal shelter organization that Yellow Tail thought it to be. Rather, the HSUS has taken a firm stand on ending “factory farming” which is why the ranchers were so up in arms when they heard the announcement. After a contentious war waged on the social media battlegrounds, Yellow Tail backed down and withdrew the remaining balance due on its pledge, lesson learned.

Beyond Yellow Tail’s specific actions, it appears that familiarity breeds contempt. Yellow Tail’s success as a top wine brand has made it a ubiquitous target for wine writers and others. Many of the articles covering the debate about Governor Patterson’s proposal to permit grocery stores in New York state to sell wine lament that such a move would result in a lowest common denominator selection of wine on the shelves, chief among them, Yellow Tail. The backlash is further emphasized in other contexts, as readers of various wine columns are admonished to drink ABY…anything but Yellow Tail… and are urged to think outside the big Australian bottle.

But, is this criticism fair? Does Yellow Tail deserve this treatment? Clearly, some consumers must like drinking Yellow Tail or it wouldn’t have grown to become the big brand it is known to be. In fact, accoring to Beverage World’s April 2010 issue, Yellow Tail ranked #2 in Top 10 U.S. Wine Brands based on U.S. dollar sales for 2009.

Obviously, a lot of people are buying Yellow Tail wines, but how does Yellow Tail do when tasted blindly against other wines? This is precisely the question posed at a recent Yellow Tail event. Last week, Doug Frost, MS, MW presided over a blind tasting in which Yellow Tail Reserve wines were tasted in blind flights with a competitive set of wines. The invitation, sent to a select audience of sommeliers and wine writers, asked invitees if they could spot which wine was the Yellow Tail wine among a photo of paperbag-wrapped bottles.

The small-scale events were held in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York, with John Casella, Managing Director for Yellow Tail, in attendance as well. So what happened? How did the wines fare in this context? Unfortunately, I wasn’t there to find out first hand, but early reports indicate that it may not have been the slam dunk that Yellow Tail had hoped it would be.

On May 10, Bottlenotes’ The Daily Sip hit my in-box and suggested that I, “Try This Wine at Home–If You Dare,” with the additional headline, “The scariest blind tasting ever?” Author Bayard Collins explained that he and the other participants had, “sip[ped], spit [and] cringe[d]” during the tasting and further noted that although no official score was kept, the Yellow Tail wines were the least favorites with one exception — the Mollydooker Maitre’d Cabernet Sauvignon. Bayard admitted that some of the tasters did like the Yellow Tail wines and advised that some of his readers might like it too, yet added the snide comment that liking Yellow Tail “wasn’t “a crime (that we know of).”

Another participant, Marisa D’Vari of A Wine Story, also wrote of her experience at the tasting. While Marisa wrote favorably about the event, it is what she didn’t say that is more revealing than what she did. The only reference to the actual tasting experience was her statement, “It was interesting to compare these (mostly) Australian wines in terms of style…” but she never fully states her own impressions of the wine,  merely noting that, “The wines were created to be great tasting wines that went well with many foods.”

Such results are unfortunate because Yellow Tail is not, as it would seem to be painted, inherently evil. While Bayard is certainly entitled to his opinion and preferences, his snarkiness may dissuede some of his readers from enjoying Yellow Tail. For wine writers and sommeliers who have the opportunity to taste a broader range of wines and at much higher price points (generally not on our own dimes), we can be a bit jaded, but for the majority of consumers with little to no wine knowledge, Yellow Tail and other wines might be perfect. With its size and access, it can create a consistent product from year to year. Yes, many wine lovers enjoy vintage variation, but my guess is that the majority of consumers like to know what to expect when they open a bottle of wine and, if they liked the wine last time, expect that it will taste the same the next time they buy it and this is an area where Yellow Tail delivers.

I was beginning to think that the blind tasting event might have been a total misstep for Yellow Tail when I received the following e-mail from one of the participants yesterday, “Thank you very much for the kind invite…Always discoveries and surprises.” The participant still leaves a lot of things unsaid, but as this was a brief thank you note, it will be interesting to see what he or she might say further in print or online. Moreover, there were quite a few others who have as yet been silent, but that may change. The full effect of the event  likely won’t be known for some time, but I applaud Yellow Tail’s efforts for making such a bold move. Misstep or not, they continue to walk forward, head held high.

NB: For the record, it should be stated that I consult for W.J. Deutsch & Sons, the company that imports Yellow Tail, on occasion, most recently working with Doug on the above event. However, the views expressed in this post are entirely my own and are not influenced by my connection with the company.