The Corkdork - Wine and Food Musing

The Billionaire's Vinegar: Quick reivew and personal appearance notice

I've been reading an advance copy of Benjamin Wallace's The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine and I have really been enjoying this. Though I'm not quite done with it, I wanted to make sure to put up a quick post as the author is appearing in San Francisco this week at the Mechanic's Institute on Wednesday, June 4th at 6:00 p.m. Members of the Institute can attend free, others pay $10.

The Billionaire's Vinegar is written in a tension-building style that always seems to be holding back a little something of a punch-line for later, and it keeps you turning page after page. Anyone who keeps up with the wine trade will love the not-so-gentle jabs at the likes of Marvin Shanken from the Wine Spectator and the bumbling dilettanteism of Malcom Forbes. The descriptions of the uber-tasting sessions of 18th and 19th Century wines will take your breath away and the cast of wine archeologists, dealers, swindlers, and stuffy English writers will make you howl.

Recommended and just released. Go see Mr. Wallace speak if you can.

Willamette Tour 2008 Part Two

Back to blogging. I got busy. Though it's now not day-and-date coverage, there are still some wonderful things I was turned onto and new friends made in Oregon and I have to share them.

The first evening, we did a little grazing for dinner, first stopping for some tapas at:
Toro Bravo
120 NE Russell St. Portland, OR 97212
503.281.4464 fax: 503.281.4700

Most were the usual fare, but the last plate we got was some simple morels in a sherry-tinged cream sauce with some perfect grilled bread. Heaven. Go there now during morel season while the gettin's good.

Next stop was
Ken's Artisan Pizza
304 SE 28th Ave (at corner of Pine St.)
Portland, Oregon 97209
503.517.9951
Genius pizza. Order anything seasonal and it will come with a perfect open pizza-fire char on the edge. We had a young stunner with our pizza, Cristom's Eola-Amity Hills Marjorie Vineyard Pinot Noir 2005.

Morning came and with it more wine appointments and some surprises. The first appointment of the day was at Belle Pente (rhymes with shell font) where Brian O'Donnell poured some spectacular whites from the Yamhill-Carlton District and then some lovely Pinots. He has a light touch on the earth, with most wines either organic or bio-dynamic. I liked pretty much everything he poured, and had him ship a case back to me right away. Here's the rundown:

2006 Belle Pente Willamette Valley Muscat- bright apricot pit. Flinty and mineral notes, special for a Muscat. 80% Muscat Ottonel and 20% Early Muscat. Refreshing and delicious. Recommended.

2006 Belle Pente Reserve Pinot Gris - This lovely off-dry Alsace-style Pinot Gris is oily and floral. Earthy and dense flavors. Recommended.

2005 Belle Pente Willamette Valley Riesling - The low yield, steel tank fermentation, and neutral barrels made for a very lean, dry, austere wine. Floral with a classic touch of petrol.

2006 Belle PenteWillamette Valley Riesling - Much riper than the '05, round and lush with a touch of botrytis.

2005 Belle Pente Willamette Valley Gewurztraminer - From an old plot, this is another slightly oily model of austerity.

2006 Belle Pente Cuvee Contraire - Rosé-Style blend of Gamay Noir and Pinot Noir - round and ripe thanks to a touch of residual malo. A serious pink.

2006 Belle Pente Yamhill-Carlton District Pinot Noir - Lively cherry, light in color but heady. From young vines in a year with an early harvest.

2005 Belle Pente Estate Reserve Pinot Noir - From vines planted in '94, this lovely Pinot has scents of lavender , spice, basil, and smoke. Recommended.

2006 Belle Pente Vineyard Pinot Noir (tank sample) - very bright cherry notes with a lot of spice. Medium-round body.

2006 Belle Pente Estate Reserve Pinot Noir (tank sample) Kirschwasser and cassis notes. Has a dense darkness to the mid-palate. Very grand structure to this wine. Look for this next year and buy it. Recommended.

Willamette Tour 2008: Day one: Ponzi & J.K. Carriere Wines

As a preface to this next series of posts, I'll start by saying when I cooked up this trip with my tasting buddy, O, I had only an inkling of how food focused Portland is, and how many new wines were waiting to be discovered in Willamette Valley. We had some pretty spectacular meals, hit all the foodie hotspots, and even cooked for 14 at a blowout dinner party.

Up at 4:30 PST for me, and 4:00 EST for O, we got to Portland before 10 PST and got right to it. First stop, the first of many cups of perfect joe we were to enjoy through our 4 day stay, at the Albina Press at 4037 North Albina. They make a capuccino that rivals Blue Bottle in the Bay Area (without the sometimes hellacious wait), and is a must stop for any serious coffee freak. Billy Wilson pulls a perfect shot and the milk is somehow the perfect temperature for the quick gulp. No Starbucks-tongue-scald here.

Then off to the Bijou Cafe for breakfast at 132 SW 3rd Ave. Stay clear of the weird roast-beef-hash and eggs. It is as it sounds, like leftovers. Stick with their best-ever scrambled eggs, local bacon, and Pearl's baguette.

First tasting of the day was a Ponzi. I had met Dick and Nancy Ponzi at the Bay Wolf Anniversary Party last year and was looking forward to meeting more of the family.  Unfortunately, there was a home emergency that had to be attended to, so we got a nice private tour, but only got to taste the normal tasting room fare. I tend to like the wines with less oak, so the reserves were not the standouts for me. Of the wines we had, my favorites were:

2007 Ponzi Pinot Gris - nice honeysuckle and pear aromas, very clean. Good value.
2006 Ponzi Pinot Noir Tavola - licorice and smoke. Another good value.
2006 Ponzi Vino Gelato -  Orange muscat and older-vine Riesling, this is a very clean and delicious desert wine. Plenty of acid and nice balance.

Next stop: J.K. Carrierre Wines

I was already familiar with one of Jim Prosser's wines, the 2005 J.K. Carriere Pinot that I had at the S.F. Wine Center, and knew we were in for the kind of winemaker hang worth getting up at 4:30 for. When we first were shown in to the 105 year old barn the winery occupies for now (while they build a few miles away) we were brought up to the attic where a huge kinetic sculpture where the oars a long viking war boat swing gently back and forth. It's great when art and wine collide. Jim's first vintage was 1999 and he has good contracts with some of the best vineyards around: Corral Creek, Shea, Anderson Family, Temperance Hill, Momtazi, Gemini, Brick House, Eola Hills, and Stony Mountain. He trained in Oregon, Burgundy, and Australia and clearly his vintification techniques come mostly from his Burgundian experiences.

The first thing I tasted was his famous 2007 Glass White Pinot Noir. This is a blush colored wine that if you close your eyes, tastes like a flat pinot-based champagne and it's a fascinating wine. It has great acidity and a smokiness like a Pouilly-Fumé, but a round leesy mid-palate. It's made by adding back chardonnay lees from another winery through the bung, which is a tricky procedure. Recommended.

Barrel tasting several elemental Pinots from the 07 vintage showed great signs of next year's releases. Jim is meticulous about the fruit he uses and selects different clonal characteristics to suit each final blend. The Eola Hills  has an earthy cola taste to it, the Temperance Hills (27 year vines) is a little rounder and has lots of raspberries to it. The Shea has nice spice from the 777 clone.

2006 Provocateur Pinot Noir - (Provocateur is French for troublemaker) and this release is Jim's bigger-volume Pinot.  2006 was the second warmest on record, so it's a pretty big wine but approachable now. I don't know many other Pinots in this price range (around US$24) that have the sense of place and structure of this wine. Recommended.

2001 J. K. Carriere Pinot Noir Willamette Valley - Jim does make some single estate Pinots, but asked if we wanted to taste one of those or something with some age on it --I voted for age. I really wanted to see how his wines developed over time. The 2001 was stunning. Lighter in color than the 2005 or 2006 and beginning its light rustiness around the edges, the nose was of black raspberries and dusty charcoal. Highly recommended.

Wine Skin: Why didn't I think of this?

While I was in Willamette Valley this week, I stopped in to the Carlton Winemaker's Studio to see what producers they were featuring, and on my way out, Wine Skins caught my eye and I had to buy 5 of them. (US $10) These clever packages are leak-proof bubblewrap bottle envelopes for putting wine in your suitcase. I had a bunch of wine to bring home, and tried it out.

There is basically an inner bag of bubble wrap, and then 2 different seal points, one on the inside, then another when you close the end flap. None of my wine bottles were broken in transit, so I can't attest as to they're being perfectly leak-proof, but these are well made and would make an excellent gift for any wine lover that travels. Recommended.

New Restaurant Etiquette: Playing Cards During Dinner

Last night a group of us had a very good meal at Paley's in Portland, which would be called fine dining by anyone's standards. Early in the meal, while we were waiting for nettle pastas and escargots with marrow bones, we looked over at the four-top opposite us and they were playing a busy game of cards between courses! And then when their main course came, they didn't put the cards down, but continued to play. The only thing that interrupted their game play was a brief bit of their singing together every once in a while. While it was endless entertainment for us, it was distracting. All of us had been to hundreds and hundreds of fine restaurants and have never seen such behavior. I know Portland is a different kind of town, but this was a new one. The waiter said he has seen it before. From a thread about this over at Chowhound, it appears that in many states this can be construed as gambling and is actually illegal and can jeopardize the restaurant's liquor license. Have any readers out there ever seen this? Comments please!

Wine Blogging Wednesday #45 Old World Riesling

An excellent theme for this month's WBW, Old World Riesling, from one of the grand poobahs of the WBW, our own Tim Elliot from the Winecast. Thanks for hosting, Tim!

Riesling is a grape of the ancients, dating back to Roman times, but why has its universal appeal continued? I imagine what it must have been like to sit at a fine table five hundred years ago and why riesling was so attractive. I suspect the high-toned floral component and spice aromas,  along with a sweet muskiness,  must have been welcome amongst the other less savory smells that must have all around in those days. The onslaught of too-ripe meats and too-ripe people must have been pretty overwhelming, so a fragrant white wine would have been a fine thing to bury ones nose in to get away from it all.

Another miracle within the Riesling vine is the ability to grow in the harshest of winter climates. Riesling is grown in most northerly region that fine wine grapes can grow, which fosters great acidity. All the best grapes are grown on a south facing slope to suck in every last ray of sunshine. Terry Theise describes the slopes of Domprobst as impossibly steep. In fact, some vineyards are so steep they need small monorail trams to help workers move grapes down the hillside to the sorting table.

Picking German Wine

I'm the first to admit that picking a great German wine is pretty daunting. For me, I find the vineyard names difficult to memorize and like a lot of fine wines, the devils and the angels are in the details --in those vineyard names. A lot of producers make thousands of bottles of their lesser table wines and only a few hundred cases of their special small vineyard designates. To make matters worse, even the most famous of German vineyards, Piesporter and Bernkastel for instance, were synonymous with both greatness and cheap plonk for many years, especially the wines exported to the U.S. so it was only those in the know who were the dependable producers.  Fortunately, quality has improved greatly in the export market and we're now able to get even more spectacular wines from Germany.

If you're new to German wines, I recommend highly the section in the Karen MacNeil's Wine Bible on all things German. According to Karen MacNeil, the new stars of Germany include: Müller-Catoir, Fritz Haag, Willi Schafer, Lingenfelder, Gunderloch, Karlsmühle, and Dönnhoff. Certainly don't overlook Dr. Loosen, Egon Müller, Joh. Jos. Prüm, and Selbach-Oster.

On to Tasting Notes: 2006 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Kabinett Riesling

Extravagant nose with lots of earthy honey, challah/brioche, orange blossom and a touch of petrol. Perhaps a bit of green mint. The quivering acidity makes your tongue come alive and then it's soothed by the off-dry luscious coating. This is a wine that you can drink all night, and at 8.5 % alcohol, you might as well. Absolutely recommended. I immediately bought more of this, and the Auslese #14 after tasting this.

How to Read This German Wine Label:

1. Region: In this case the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer

2. Producer: In this case, one of the best producers in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer

3. Year: 2006 was a difficult year for weather in Mosel, but in the hands of a good producer, results were excellent

4. Vineyard designation: In this case, the Graacher Domprobst is the main vineyard holdings of Willi Schaefer estate.

5. Sweetness level: Kabinett is the next to driest level of sweetness, so expect off-dry but not sweet.

6. Grape: Riesling
7. QmP designation showing this is a "quality wine with special attributes."

8. Alcohol: in this case, 8.5% which is 50% of the strength of that Paso zinfandel, and the equivelant of 2 strong Belgian beers.

South African Maverick: Eben Sadie of Sadie Family Wines

Last night, at the SF Wine Center,  I had a chance to meet a very special bi-hemispherical winemaker, Eben Sadie from Sadie Family Wines (pending website) who makes world-class wines both  in South Africa and in Priorat (Spain). His first love is South Africa, where he grew up and has access to long term leases on many tiny parcels of prime grapes. When I asked him if he owned these, he said in South Africa there are laws that prevent anyone from buying land that can not be deemed financially self-sustaining. In real terms, this means that while Eben can make enough wine from a single parcel of a hectare or two, it's only because his wines command high prices. The South African government is thinking in terms of regular agriculture, like wheat, where a parcel that small isn't financially significant.  This odd arrangement makes it easier for the mega producers to acquire land in big parcels. His African Home base is the Swartland region which stretches north of Cape Town, between Durbanville and Piketberg, inland from the Atlantic Ocean, centred on the town of Malmesbury.

Clearly a man that needs to stay moving all year round, he has set up a winery in Spain and is now starting to release single-vineyard Priorat wines bursting with old world charm and terroir --and fetching world-class prices for Spanish wines. He has acquired both land and leases for very old-vine Grenacha and Carignane plots and because of his experience in South Africa with Rhône grapes, he has a midas touch.

The majority of his wines are either organic or biodynamic but that's not enough for Eben. His dream is to make wines with as little mechanical intervention as possible in the future. He would like to be crushing en pied, pressing only in basket presses, and is already using gravity to move grapes and juice around the facility.  It will be interesting to see if he can balance this romantic vision of the ancient Roman winemaker with the market pressures to create more bottles. All of his wine is pre-sold in allocation as it is.

As usual, I'll only be commenting about the wines I really enjoyed, which in this case is all of them! Eben was kind enough to provide some technical data on some of the current releases.

Tasting and Technical Notes:

Palladius 2006 (White)
This was the first wine in the line-up and the moment I put the rim to my nose, I already judged it the best South African white I had ever had. Round and viscous with Chenin giving structure and the vioginer the high perfumes. Very delicious and recommended.
Vineyards: Swartland Paardeberg Mountain
Grapes : Chenin blanc 30%; Viognier 30%; Grenache Blanc 20%; Chardonnay 20%
Soils: Various – Granite & Gravel

Sequillo White 2006
This has an old world oiliness to it, probably from the Rousanne,  with a hint of Condrieu uncuousness, even though the very ripe Viognier is only 10% of the blend. Eben Sadie is very proud of this wine, but the 2007 is more what he's aiming for. I still really liked it.
Vineyards: Swartland Paardeberg Mountain
Grapes : Chenin blanc 65%; Grenache Blanc 15%; 10% Viognier,
10% Roussanne
Soils: Various – Granite & Gravel

Sequillo White 2007
The 2007 version of the Sequillo white has all the fruit of the 2006, but the early pick of the viognier brought the wine to a steel-edge focus. A remarkable balance, and another stunner S.A. White. Recommended.
Vineyards: Swartland Paardeberg Mountain
Grapes : Chenin blanc 65%; Grenache Blanc 15%; 10% Viognier,
10% Roussanne
Soils: Various – Granite & Gravel

Pinot Noir 2006
Vineyards: Elgin/Stellenbosch
Very dense cherry, drier fruit in the dark mid-palate. Light in color but is lovely and densely flavored. From 18 year old vines.

Sequillo Red 2004
Ripe and round but very pretty. Medium body with lots of Gigondas-like forest floor aromas.
Vineyards: Swartland Area
Grapes : Syrah 60%; Mourvedre 30%; Grenache 10%
Soils: Various – Granite & Gravel & Slate & Clay

Sequillo Red 2005
A bit spicier with a lot more grip. The first smells are that of a bright and herbaceous, with a hint of tarragon and mint. This was a big year, so the tannins and chewiness will do well with several years age.
Vineyards: Swartland Area
Grapes : Syrah 60%; Mourvedre 30%; Grenache 10%
Soils: Various – Granite & Gravel & Slate & Clay

Columella 2004 and 2005
In my first review of the 2004, I was really impressed with the 2004. The 2005 has more grip, even more blackberry bramble and lots of backbone. Though it's a bit backward now, up to 10 years will make this a stunner. Recommended.
Vineyards: Swartland Mountain Areas
Grapes : Syrah (80%) & Mourvèdre (20%)
Soils: Various – Granite – Slate – Clay – Gravel

Sadie Family Spain

The new releases of Priorat wines from Eben Sadie are amazing wines, indeed. The retail prices range from $87 to $140 US retail so they are at the high end of the range most Americans are used to paying for Spanish wines, so it should be interesting to see how they sell. Early word is they are a hit with restaurant wine buyers. Look for these to hit our shores in June 2008.

Terroir al Limit 2005
Very rich and ripe old vine Grenacha. Only 2000 bottles made. Tight now, but patience will pay off. Delicious.

Arbossar 2004
This is 80% Grenacha and 20% Cariagne from a high northern slope vineyard. Very distinctive aromas of Priorat rhone grapes, exploding with perfume on the nose. Tart and tight. My favorite of the three and highly recommended.

Dits del Terra 2004
This is very tight at this point and it had some chocolate aromas and a bit of spice. This I would like to re-taste in five or six  years.