The Corkdork - Wine and Food Musing

Indian Smashed Potatoes

Just a quick recipe I made a few weeks ago that is a great side dish. I served it with a simple grilled steak. 

1 tsp. Coriander Seed

1/2 tsp. Cumin Seed

1/2 tsp. Fennel Seed

1# Red or Yukon Gold New Potatoes

1/2 Tbsp. Butter

1/2 Tbsp. oil

1/4 cup chopped Cilantro

Salt

Pepper

1/4 tsp. Garam Masala

 

Steam potatoes for 20-25 min until soft enough to smash. Let rest while you make the Tadka (spice and oil mix)

 

Heat oil and add Coriander, Cumin, Fennel seeds and sauté until fragrant, about 15 seconds.

Add butter

 

With the palm of your hand, gently smash down the potatoes on a cutting board and place each in the pan carefully.

Toss gently with the spicy butter mixture

Cook one side until lightly browned

flip to other side and brown lightly

Toss with Cilantro and Garam Masala

Salt, pepper, to taste

Off to Willamette!

Super psyched to be heading up to Willamette this week and have 2 days set aside for tasting. Looking forward to sharing some new discoveries. There are so many wines I love from the area it's going to be hard to try new places instead of revisiting my old favorites, (with the exception of visiting one of my favorite people, Kelley Fox to taste her exceptional wines. 

Hopefully my list will include a subset of these favorites:

Purple Hands

Four Graces

Stoller

Tori Mor

Domaine Serene

Keeler

J.K. Carrierre

Kelley Fox Wines

St. Innocent

Belle Pente 

Ken Wright Cellars

Lemelson

Bergstrom

Beaux Frères

Shea

Saffron Fields

Willamette Valley Vineyards

Brooks

Mosel 2018 Pt. 1: Bernkastel-Kues and the Middle Mosel Wine Festival

This photo was taken from where I was  writing. Somehow, I found an impossibly quiet bench on the bank of the Mosel, opposite the impossibly steep hillside vineyards, bursting with Riesling grapes, ready to be picked in a couple of weeks. The beauty of both the surroundings and the kaleidoscopic wines of the Mosel have drawn me back a second year in a row to the Middle Mosel Wine Festival for a couple of days, and a couple of additional tasting days, which I’m looking forward to greatly. (This includes a re-visit to Weingut Willi Schaefer to taste this year’s releases. - more later)

My second extended stay in Germany gives me much the same feeling as last year; coming from Berlin and Munich, where no one seems to be drinking fine wine, this part of the German wine world is an oasis for wine lovers like me. To see more than a hundred-thousand wine lovers quaffing Riesling is an amazing thing to behold. 

Saturday night is the big night here at the Festival, where people start drinking Riesling at mid-day and by the time fireworks get started at 9 p.m., people are in a pretty spirited mood! Thousands of festival goers come on to the bridge across the Mosel to watch the fireworks, then slowly crush back over the bridge, back to the area marked the Weinstrasse to drink more Riesling. While most festival goers are here with a group of friends or family, some camping on the banks of the Mosel, getting their Riesling on the thrifty way, by-the-bottle, (lots of great choices for less than 15 euros at the kiosks,) I’m the outcast seeking out the best quality wines and tasting by the glass. Glasses are poured at 100 ml or a bit more, and range from 1.2 euros to the extreme-outlier, 8 euros (for Beernauslese or Trokenbeernauslese). This year's parade was a lot more fun than last year as I knew to sit on the bridge at the end of the parade route --glass in hand waiting for the refills!

 

On my first two days/nights of tasting, the obvious pops out —any wine marked V.D.P. is going to blow everything else away most of the time. The strict rules of German quality labeling are there to serve the wine consumer, so if you’re puzzled about how to pick a great German bottle from the shelf or wine list, a wine from a member of the V.D.P will immediately reward you with more of everything —freshness, aroma, body, regional identity, and ultimately, drinking pleasure. Here at the festival, the V.D.P wines are usually about 3.5 euros by-the-glass, which is an incredible value. I had some stunning wines. In the Bernkastel region, there is another quality assurance body, the “Bernkasteler Ring” which uses some of the same terms as the V.D.P. (Gross Gewachs, Grosse Lage, Erste Lage) which are also the wines that separate themselves from the pack.

Here are a few to look out for, a couple of which, I don’t know their availability outside of Germany.

Franz-Friedrich Kern
2017 Riesling Sekt Wehlener Sonnenuhr

After trying a few sparklers (Sekt) this one popped out of the glass. Kern is a great new discovery for me. His booth is tucked away at the very end of the Weinstrasse at the festival, and ignored by too many. They make some serious wines. Sekt can be tooth-achingly acidic, and flat on the nose, but this one hits all the high notes. It smells like flowers and peaches, has great balance, nice mouth feel with a good mousse...and it tastes like Riesling.

Kerpen
Grosses Gewachs 2016 Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling:

(Bernkasteler Ring) This is by far the best Troken I have had so far. None of the ripping acidity that a lot of Trokens out there and the GG designation means more aromatics and high quality. Great scents of dried apricots and peaches, perfectly balanced acidity, an amazing value at 16.5 euros. I hope I can find some in California.

S.A. Prüm
2017 Kabinett V.D.P. Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling:

Another 16.5 euro wonder. This is a really juicy Kabinett with typical dried stone fruit aromas. This is one to drink all night, just delicious, with an obvious hit of sweetness, but by no means too sweet for the dinner table. It would be a great foil to a roast pork, or certainly schnitzel (at home we make schnitzel from pounded chicken breasts or turkey breasts and serve with salad.)

Joh. Joh Prüm
2011 V.D.P. Auslese Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling:

Wow. This is a great vintage for long-lasting Riesling, and this is a stunning example. The sweetness level is dead-center of the Auslese range, and it has simply stunning aromas. First, a whiff of petrol hits, then comes the intense peachy/apricot scents that give way to hints of the tropics. Caramel, herbs, and cool wet slate at the finish. At 35 euros, it’s one of the more expensive choices at the festival, (6 euros for a very precisely measured pour) but a steal none the less.

Peter Loosen
2010 Urziger Wurzgarten Beerauslese 

Only a distant ancient cousin of the other Loosen, I'm told.  Mouth-coating and very sweet. Ultimately a pretty simple BA, but delicious none-the-less. Lots of dried apricot flavors and at an incredible price of 35 Euros per 375 ml.

 

Keep your eye on the Corkdork blog. I will be posting more notes soon and updated links.

Preview: Middle Mosel Wine Festival - Bernkastel-Kues 2018

The Middle Mosel Wine Festival, which happens on the first weekend of September is simply like nothing I've ever experienced. Bernkastel-Kues is a picture-perfect German wine town,which bursts at the seams with happy crowds, fueled by Riesling from the grape's ancestral home. Friday night and Saturday, the streets are set up along the Mosel with pavillionsto taste from each of the neighborhoods in the Middle Mosel, like Graacher-Himmelreich, Uziger Wurzgarten, etc.  and amazing food stalls with Salmon roasting on planks over an open fire, apple fritters, flammkuchen (German Pizza) and lots of great wursts, pretzels, and pastries. Each wine stall has a number of winemaker representatives, or the winemakers themselves, pouring killer rieslings for around 1.50 to 2 Euros a glass. Higher end wines tend to be a bit more, but none more than about 6 Euros a glass --and that was for Beerenauslese! Saturday night has fireworks over the Schloss (Castle) on the hill overlooking the town, and everyone gathers on the bridge over the Mosel to watch. 

Sunday is parade day where winemakers are celebrated with bands and floats --each float with a crew pouring Riesling to the crowds. Hold out your glass, it gets filled up with Riesling! 

I'm heading to the festival again this year and will post more from the event. I'm also tasting for a couple of days after the festival in the Mosel and Nahe. Stay tuned.

Exciting New Champagnes at Wine Wise Tasting

I attended an excellent trade tasting featuring the Wine Wise portfolio at SF's best Mexican restaurant, Cala on September 25, 2017.

I promised to share my top picks, so I"ll get right to it. 

The Greeting
The wine that greeted the crowd was a stunning 1990 R. Renaudin "Reserve Spéciale Brut" decanted from an enormous Methusala (6L) bottle. Serious and mature, on the bready style, was impressive and this would be an amazing bottle at a wedding! The wine comes from Moussy, just outside of Épernay. 

My Picks: (Champagnes first, then Sparklers and Others). - all are recommended.

Champagnes

Laurent Lequart NV "L'Héritière" Extra Brut - This was one of my favs, full of cocoa overtones. Loved it
Laurent Lequart 2008 Brut Millésimé - A little smack of saline/alkaline notes; would be fun with food

Léguillette-Romelot 2012 "Opus No. 12" Brut - has a lovely freshness, light in body but complex in every way
Léguillette-Romelot 2008 "Notes Noires" Brut - very heady floral perfume nose, round, fresh, lovely

Dehours et Fils NV "Terre de Meunier" Extra Brut - Love the earthiness of this all Meunier Champagne
Dehours et Fils 2009 "Maisoncelle" Extra Brut Pinot Noir - Great nose and very round, despite very low dosage. Bracing

R. Renaudin 2008 "Réserve" Brut - very high recommendation on this, with a generous dosage, so it's gently sweet. Love this one.

Forest-Marié NV Rosé Brut - Very big and dense with a dark core. Serious and yummy 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Meunier

Labruyère 2012 "Prologue" Grand Cru Extra Brut - loved the big Pinot overtones of this. Perfect Valentine's Day wine!

Jérôme Coessens 2009 "Les Sens Boisés Brut - all Pinot Noir, very clean, elegant and refined

Sparkeling WInes

Castell d'Age (Penedès, Spain) NV "Anne Marie" Cava Brut Nature Reserva - very serious, for serious meals!
Domaine Fouet (Saumur, Loire, France) NV Crémant de Loire Brut Rosé - very nice, beautiful color and fruitiness
Boeckel (Alsace) 2014 Crément d'Alsace Brut Rosé - beautiful Pinot sparkler 
Vins Gigou (Loire, France) NV "La Bulle Sarthoise Rosé Brut - Unusual as it's all Pineau d'Aunis, very tasty, and incredible price
Karanika (Amyndeon, Greece) Cuvée Spécial - a legit Greek sparkler! From Ximomavro grapes and will be priced very well. 
Nigl (Kremstal, Austria) 2014 Sekt Brut de Brut - a dense treat of Pinot Noir, Zweigelt, and Chardonnay from Austria. Very fine
Exton Park (Hampshire, England) NV Blanc de Noirs Brut - Massive mouth-filling mousse on this with good Pinot aromas. Would be good intro to English fizz

Still Wines:

2016 Burg Ravensburg Riesling troken - Sulzfeld (Baden, Germany) - yummy dry Riesling. I'll be looking for this one for sure
2015 Burg Ravensburg Pinot Noir (red) Sultzfeld (Baden, Germany) - Love this juicy Pinot. Has lifted Central Coast kind of feel to it. A bargain!
2015 Burg Ravensburg Blaufränkisch (red) Sultzfeld (Baden, Germany) - this is an excellent, light-bodied Blaufränkisch for when you want light but peppery. Yum.

 

 

The Wonderful Wines or Die Wunderbaren Weine von Weingut Willi Schaefer - Grace an der Mosel

In Graach

I found myself in the Mosel last month and I'm still reeling from an auspicious beginning: a visit with
Christoph Scheafer of Weingut Willi Schaefer followed by the first night of Die Weinfest der Mittlemosel (the Wine Festival of the Middle Mosel) in Bernkastel. On Sunday morning I awoke to a town sleeping off it's collective hangover. At breakfast, only the over 50 crowd was in attendance, hopefully some of whom went to bed early with earplugs in like me!

Going to Bernkastel reminds me of some of the first visits I made to Europe as a touring musician back in the 80s and 90s, before everyone had a GPS in their pocket, and someone's opinion of everything at their fingertips. I got to Graach, where Weingut Willi Schaefer is located and my phone's GPS put me off track a few blocks. So I parked and did it the old fashioned way...asked someone for directions --and I got to the appointed hour on-time to meet Christoph. Graach an der Mosel is a tiny village with the impossibly steep vineyards of Graacher Himmelreich and Graacher Domprost looming over the town, just before you get to Berkastel on the drive from Frankfurt. 

The wines of Willi Schaefer are my favorite Mosel wines and my visit further clarified what makes these wines resonate for me. Every wine has a thread of acidity running down the middle that always thrills and the magical vineyards yield a myriad of different tastes and aromas that they make you fall in love with Mosel wines over and over again. 

A visit to the cellar revealed a lot. The wines of Weingut Willi Schaefer have a crystalline clarity without the common puff of sulfur that often hits, especially on the sweetest wines. When I asked Christoph to explain, he pointed to his immersion water chillers, which can quickly cool down the fermentation process to a near halt, limiting the need for more sulfur. To be clear, these are not un-sulfured wines, but wines treated with a minimal touch. 

The wines come from 3 non-contiguous parcels surrounding Graacher am del Mosel, Graacher Himmelreich, Graacher Domprobst,and Wehlener Sonnenuhr  - all slate dominated solis, which help give the wines such layered minerality.  Quantities are tiny, just 2900 cases from 4 Ha of vineyards.

The Numbers:

Willi Schaefer uses a unique numbering system, which the collector or enthusiast should understand when choosing tonight's Riesling. For the Auslese wines brought into the U.S. by Skurnick/Theise, you will generally find bottles marked #11 or #14, usually on the back of the bottle. These are indications of different styles of Riesling, so wines from the same vineyard, but different styles, can be combined and bottled together. For Spatlese wines, you will generally find #10 and #5. Here's the decoder I got from Christoph:

No.11 - Classic Auslese. From intense yellow berries, but very little botrytis.
Späteses:
No.10 - Classic purity and moderate sweetness levels
No.5 - More textured wines that push sweetness towards Auslese levels. I recommend seeking these out.

Beerenausleses are made only when the weather gods smile on the hills, usually about every 3 years. There was a 2015 Beerenauslese released that can be found in specialty shops.

Tasting Notes: 

2016 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Kabinett
First hits the freshness and levity of this wine. It has plenty of minerals, but what hits you is the charm and openness with wildflower overtones. An astonishing value if you can find it. 

2016 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Kabinett
Immediately one feels the power of Domprobst. It's more closed and restrained in its youth than the Himmelreich. Has more of everything: acidity, mineralogy, body. Hints of tangerine peel.

2016 Graacher Himmelreich Riesling Spätlese
With a touch more sweetness, a more rounded wine emerges. This wine still has the grace and light hearted spirit of Himmelreich. Juicy, clean, fruity, and very polished. So delicious!

2016 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese #10
The most minerals of the Spätleses from the wild yeasts.Less floral, more density and seriousness. Starting to get a touch of petrol on the nose (which I personally love).

2016 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese #5
More tongue coating and heavier bodied, Surprising amounts of wildflower scents. 

2016 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese #11
Huge perfume of honey, raisins, and plums. Clean fruitless with perfect acidity/sweetness balance. Amazing. 

2004 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese auction wine
Somewhere between the characteristics of a #11 and #14, pushing levels of kerosene, lemon peel, honey, flowers, white peach peel. At 13 years old, this still is youthful. '04 was a classic year so this was a huge treat. (Christoph says the '03 was a particularly opulent year for this wine)

2006 Graacher Domprobst Riesling Auslese #14
This gave me memories of my grandmother's fruitcake and with the whiff of kerosene in the glass, made me wish I was drinking this at our long-gone family retreat in the Adirondacks where all the lighting was by kerosene lamps. This is a near-perfect wine with dried apricot and citron flavors that go on and on. I am so grateful to have been able to taste it.

The Future and 1997

Since the demise of the pyramid-scheming Premier Cru, there have been plenty of cautionary tales about buying wine "pre-arrival". I have friends who lost a great deal of their money, drawn in by the siren's song of a great wine deal, only to be swindled in the end. Most of my readers know that I'm not a wine investor, but rather a collector of wines to drink, preferably with something I cook for my family and friends. But all wine deal-hunting is an investment of sorts, with risks and benefits --the risk of cork taint, the risk of premature oxidation or just a lousy, overpriced bottle. But oh the benefits! There is huge satisfaction opening something amazing that you know you got at a great price. 

 

And then there the pre-arrival. I don't have a lot invested in pre-arrival wines, but I have been steadily buying wines as Futures (wines purchased directly from the winemaker after tasting in the barrel, at a significant discount) and Pre-Arrival for more than 20 years and have had great luck. This is probably due to being more careful, or better prepared about the wines I buy as pre-arrival --and like any good investment, never getting uncomfortably too far out on margin.  

 

I tasted Fred Scherrer's 1997 "Old and Mature Vines" Zinfandel in barrel and bought it as Futures. It gave me great pleasure 20 years ago (and continues to nearly every year since with Scherrer), to hear from Fred what the harvest brought, how he sees the wine, and to help grow his business by giving him money he needs, in advance, for bottling, labeling, shipping, etc. It has always paid off in stocking my cellar with superb, versatile wines, every year. Usually, I finish off the majority of his wines in the first 5 years or so after bottling, but I like to stash a bottle or two behind to see how it ages, which is what I did with the '97 (and a couple earlier years too). 

 

I was rewarded exponentially when I opened the 1997 Scherrer OMV for my friend's 60th birthday celebration this weekend. I wanted to open only 97s and 07s to get a feeling for his 40th and 50th years. The wine is clearly mature, and I would say at it's peak now with a couple more years of life in it. The ripe fruit has now been edged gently aside by mature zin's acidic backbone and has hit a lovely harmonic note. It still has a pinch of that Alexander Valley green flavor, but it's down in the noise being made by the lovely black fruits and terrific aromas. Highly recommended if you can ever find a bottle!

 

So I'm not telling you to run out and risk your hard earned money on sketchy pre-arrival wines, but again, I've been lucky. I continue to buy a good percentage of my wine from Garagiste and, while I don't get over-extended, I have rarely been disappointed by any of the wines, nor have I ever had any issue with not receiving something I paid for. For sure, I'm telling you that finding a winemaker like Fred Scherrer, whose wines you love, is worth supporting with futures. If you're lucky, waiting for the future may pay off in earnest at table.

Copia at CIA reopens!

I stumbled into the grand opening of the food and wine center, Copia yesterday, in Napa. The property was purchased by the Culinary Arts Institute and it promises to be a great center for wine tastings, food pairing classes, cooking, and food-museum visits. There will be 7 rotating wine tasting tables in the foyer for which you buy tokens, very inexpensively. I hope all my readers take some time to visit. Lots of great food and shopping to do for the foodie in your life next door at Oxbow Public Market as well!

Wine with Pumpkin Pie: 20 Year Tawny in the Sweet Spot

Here in America, it's time to start thinking about what wines to serve with all your favorite Thanksgiving desserts, like pumpkin pie and apple pie. My family usually has some lovely sweet wine accompaniment, and this year it is going to be 20 year Tawny Port. 20 year Tawny is the sweet-spot (pardon the pun) and when you taste with the producers in Porto, it's clear that each house compares itself to others with the quality of their 20. For holiday time, it's the perfect wine if you are looking for something that is sweet and seriously delicious. If you are serving anything that would benefit from a touch of caramel, look past the 10 year Tawnys on the shelf, and grab a 20. If you don't finish it, don't fret, as they last 3-4 weeks in the fridge so you can have a sip on the eve of your next big holiday.

Through the generosity of The Institute of Douro and Port Wines, The Association of Port Wine Companies, and many of their producers, I have tasted a lot of Port Wine in the last 2 months! When I was in Porto in September, it occurred to me that I should publish an overview of the 20s in time for holiday buying. Alas, some of these are very hard to find in the U.S., but may be easier for my European readers to look out for. My favorites are in RED. November 12, 2016 I invited several friends and wine colleagues to taste several of the wines easily available in the US. Top marks went to Dow's, Graham's, Smith-Woodhouse, and Churchill's. In my previous tastings, my favorites included Bulas, Kopke, Blackett, Poças Junior, Barros, Ramos PIntos, and Andresen.

Dow 20 year Tawny Port

Dense caramel, Powerful and aristocratic. Serious, clean, lifted caramel, lemon/orange, Great finish. Drier and more complex due to being fermented a bit longer. A tad hotter on the palate and more concentrated.

 

Graham's 20 year Tawny Port

Great blend between the mature style and sweet style, super clean finish, a group favorite. Lush and citrusy. Very elegant. Great scotch bottle for the high roller.

 

Churchill's 20 year Tawny Port

Very fruity. Little citrus. Light caramel. Fresh style and easy going. Classy.

 

Smith-Woodhouse 20 year Tawny Port

Beautiful amber/rose color, Has the power of Dow's but Elegant and smooth. A top pick and available in the US.  

 

Bulas Family Estate 20 year Tawny Port:

Long and quite syrupy. Sweet and unctuous.  Noted lots of fresh apricot scents on both recent tastings. Young feeling.

 

Kopke 20 year Tawny

Very fruity with hints or orange/citrus. One of my favorites.

 

Ramos Pintos Quinta do Bom Retiro 20 year Tawny Port

Unique in the world of Port, a single Quinta multi-vintage blend, from Quinta do Bom Retiro. Lots of molasses and a serious old nose to it, as lots of 1880 and 1890 vintages are in this 50-vintage blend. Elegant, long and big.  Joge Rosas, General Director of Ramos Pinto said to me “wine my great-great Grandfather is in that glass!” Because it’s a single Quinta blend, it really does have distinct aromas and flavors that stand out in a big tasting. Great.

 

Sandeman 20 year Tawny Port

A sweeter style, you can smell some older stock, much more caramel aromas. A little cloying. 

 

Quinta das Carvalhas 20 year Tawny Port

Rose petal, animal, very viscous, sweet style, dense herbal wood. 

  

Offley 20 year Tawny Port
Old style, thin body, very dense caramel, nice balance between sweet and dried fruits

  

Cockburn's 20 year Tawny Port

A bit hot. Quite sweet. Perfumy and flowery. Wood resin. Fruitcake fruits, 

 

 

Blackett 20-Year Tawny Port

Tons of old spirit in the glass. Blackett has quite a bit of older stock and it shows in their 20. Dried fruit and caramel. A bit of cigar-box maturity shows. 4.65 g/dm3 total sugar.

 

Poças Junior 20-Year Tawny Port

Very earthy style, not terribly sweet, more on the toasted caramel side. 

 

Reccua 20-Year Tawny

Very old spirit in this wine. Shows a bit of cigar box aromas and quite spicy, very distinctly honeyed.

 

Kopke 20 year Tawny Port

Quite woody on the nose. Leans much more toward the stone fruit side, dried apricots and peach. 

 

Barros 20 year Tawny Port

The Barros house style is velvety, round, and smooth. On the sweeter side with less acidity and tamed aggressive notes.

 

Sandeman 20-Year Tawny

Smooth and sweet, very balance and leans towards the young, fresh style. 

 

 

 

 

Andresen 20 year Tawny Port
Delicious and very worthwhile seeking out. Nice balance between old and new wines. 

 

 

Warre's Otima 20 year Tawny Port

Feminine,  elegant, floral. Picked later. Fresh herbs, delicate pear, apricot jam, more red wine freshness.

Port Wine Day 2016: Day 1: Douro Valley at Symington Family Estates

And we're off!

As the starting point of last month's Port Wine Day 2016 festivities, our group of journalists invited from all over the world, were divided up into small groups and sent off with a host from one of the amazing Port houses to their respective Quintas to tour, taste, and lunch. I was scheduled originally to go to another, smaller Quinta, and was secretly hoping I would end up at the Symington Family Estates...and I got the golden ticket! My group's host was Euan Mackay, sales director for Symington Family Estates. We were off to Quinta do Bomfim in the Upper Douro, situated on the bank of the river near the village of Pinhão. 

The group took a bus from our hotel in Porto to the Museu do Douro to meet up with our hosts. There is a point where the highway came through the famous 6 km tunnel, the Túnel do Marão, where the mountains suddenly open up to reveal the most beautiful wine country I have ever seen. The Douro Valley is covered with ancient grape terraces, some carved out hundreds of years ago in horizontal, vertical, and honeycomb-like rows in the hillsides. 

Arrival

No museum visits for us! It was all business (on my agenda for next time). We were quickly divided up and were personally driven to our host's Quintas. In Euan's car on our way to Quinta do Bomfim, we were treated to a detailed insider's guide to the history of the Symingtons and their place in the world of Port. Especially interesting was Euan's perspective on the acquisition of Cockburn's in 2006 and the subsequent rebirth of Cockburn's Special Reserve to award winning status in 2011 after years of mishandling. While the actual viticulture feeding the Cockburn's brand remained top-notch during the years Cockburn's was owned by Allied Domecq(owners of such brands as Harvey's Bristol Cream and Maker's Mark) the wine was cold-filtered for stabilization and subsequently lost it's soul. Glad to hear the Symington group was able to give Cockburn's its mojo back.

Go! Visit Porto and the Douro Valley!

Over the last 150 years, there has been a lot of consolidation in the world of Port, and while I can't profess to be an expert after one visit to the region, I can say with confidence that if you have limited time to visit the valley, it's a good idea to visit one of the visitors centers associated with a group of Port producers. The Symington group owns Graham's, Cockburn's, Dow's, Warre's, Quinta do Vesuvio, Altano, and Pratt & Symingon. Their multi-brand tasting room is a great place to learn both a lot about the history of the region as well. 

Symington 20 year Tawnys

We had a unique opportunity to taste in their stunning new tasting room overlooking the Douro, focusing on gaining an understanding of the "house style" of  Dow's, Warre's, and Graham's by comparing their respective 20 Year Tawnys. 

Euan MacKay's quote of the day will always stay with me: "10 year Tawny is on the way somewhere. 20 year Tawny is where it's going". 

I would add that 30 and 40 year Tawny shows deeper and deeper into the past, with sometimes ancient vintages being added to the 30 and 40 year offerings. 

We started in the museum, which traces the history of both the Quinta and the Symington family back 14 generations, then off to see where Dow's is made. Lots of Portuguese grapes are still crushed by foot in wide concrete lagars, including some of the best Symington wines like Quinto do Vesuvio, but finding enough experienced grape trodders is getting more and more difficult, and like all wine, timing is everything. So at Dow's Quinta do Bomfim, they use a mechanical robotic lagar made of stainless steel, with neoprene "feet" that squash the grapes with the same pace and pressure as human feet. Fermentation is calculated to the minute, and at the right time, the side of the steel lagar lifts up and pours the must over the side of the lagar to awaiting containers below --truly an engineering marvel. In traditional lagars, the must has to be removed by hand --backbreaking work. Several of the Symington houses use these awesome mechanical lagars. 

Another great step forward is that the Symington group has 126 hectacres of organic vineyards, primarily at Quinta do Ataide. On land where the schist is so dense, organic farming is challenging, but they are committed to the practice where it's practical. 

The Tasting

Our tasting started with some un-fortified wines from the Doruro, all of which are worth seeking out.

2012 Altano from Quinta do Ataide
Has a bit of American oak. Dusty tannins are tamed a bit by black pluminess. '12 was not a super-ripe year so though the wine has a plush style, it's still has a lovely lift to it. Lots of fresh red fruits(cherries/currants).  

2014 Post Scriptum 
'14 is also lighter than '11 or '13. Post Scriptum is the second label of the famous Chryseia label and is a great thing to look out for in restaurants around Portugal for about 25 euros. This has a bit of salinity to it but lovely fruit to compliment.

2012 Quinta do Vesuvio
Clearly the most serious wine of the bunch, Vesuvio was bought in 1989 and home to some great Port as well. Euan's description of this was "Tweed, but not Herringbone." Serious, but not precious. Round and full of amazing cocoa scents. Screaming for a nice piece of beef.

On to the Tawny Ports

20 Year Tawny is the perfect way to compare styles. And think about what it must be like as the Symington Family, trying to maintain many different historical styles and marketing to different audiences, it is a real study in brand management. Each brand needs to carry with it a marketing personality which fits the wine. 

Warre's Otima 20
(Profile: Feminine), elegant, floral.Picked later. Fresh herbs, delicate pear, apricot jam, more red wine freshness.

Dow's 20 year Tawny
(Profile: Powerful) Drier, more complex, Serious. Fermented 30 minutes longer, more complex than the Warre's. A bit hotter on the palate and more concentrated.

Graham's 20 year Tawny
(Profile: High roller. Note the new scotch whiskey bottle shape (no accident) 
Lush and citrusy. Very elegant. My favorite of the three. 

Single Quintas

Next came single Qunita Ports, which may be new to most readers. These wines are treated like vintage ports, held only briefly in cask before bottling, in mostly non-declared years. These wines are meant to drink a bit earlier usually, and give you a sense of the single property where the grapes were grown. Keep your eyes out for all of these special ports! They are terrific values. 

2005 Quinta do Bomfim Vintage Port
Racy freshness on the nose, lots of black fruit, menthol/camphor, fresh tannins. 

2004 Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port
Clean red fruits, more fresh grapes come through on this and it feels a little sweeter than the Bomfim. Balanced and rich. 

2001 Warre's Quinta da Cavadinha Vintage Port
Delicate floral aromas, great texture, plums and blackberries. A steal at less than $40US if you can find it. 

The Good Life

When it was time to retire to lunch in the Victorian-era family house's lovely terrace, we had delicious Porto Tonicos made with Dow's White Port. We then spent the rest of the afternoon slowly dining on delicious Portuguese dishes of rice and pork with a fine salad paired first with Altana White Douro wine, then more Graham's 20 with superb Portuguese farm cheeses. Taking in the spectacular view, snacking on cheese, sipping Port, I was reminding myself how fortunate I am to have these kinds of experiences. I hope you readers make the effort to get to Portugal, get out to the Douro Valley, and take it all in yourself.

Huge thanks to Euan Mackay of Symington Family Estates and of course, the I.V.D.P. for the opportunity to attend this excellent weekend celebrating the 260th anniversary of the region's demarcation. 

 

 

Rethinking Port Wine at Churchill’s: This is your brain on Port Wine

There was a  prevailing theme at Port Wine Day 2016 in Porto this year —how do we influence younger wine drinkers to want to drink Port wines? Johnny Graham, owner of the dynamic Churchill’s Port, wants us to rethink port wine and got literal!

His team imagined what your brain might look like on Port and came up with an innovative way to show it. A team of neuroscientists, musicians, and visual artists collaborated on a brain-wave visualization and sonification program as the centerpiece of their pre-Opening party for Port Wine Day.

Churchill's visitors center is situated overlooking the river with terraced lawns and stunning views. What a great place for a party to kick off a wonderful wine weekend in Porto!

Guests lined up (of course, I did it!) to don a simple brain scanning apparatus that connected to the system. We then were given 3 blind tastes of Churchill’s Port in succession.
(White, 10-year Tawny, and Reserve Port) and our engagement was measured with EEG data which, in turn, was turned into sound with audio software. Data then was fed to the visual team who mapped projections in sync with the audio. How busy the audio and visuals was supposed to indicate your preference. For me, the wizard picked White Port, because my brain had more activity when I tried it. Pretty sure the Tawny was my real preference! 

 

No need to dissect the science. As an art piece, it was pretty successful and certainly a really fun way to spend the evening. 

 

Johnny Graham spent a good chunk of the evening with my lovely wife and me, chatting about his incredible family history and his place in the Port world as the “newest” Port on the block, founded in 1981 as the first new British Port house in 50 years. You certainly know his family name, Graham, as one of the finest Port houses, which his family sold to the Symington family back in 1970.

 

Churchill’s wants to be known as a company young at heart, using modern sustainability practices when they can, but want their wines to reflect both freshness and heritage, so they still produce wines in traditional lagares (granite or steel foot-treading crushing vessels) to get maximum skin/juice content and color extraction with our crushing the pips. Both ports and some great still wines (non-Ports) are produced at Quinta da Gricha – a 50 hectare (124 acres) Vineyard estate in the Cima Corgo sub-region. 

 

All of the wines were exceptional, but a few stood out. The White Port Aperitif is aged 10 years and is a great light cocktail-hour wine either straight or made into a Porto Tonico. The 20 Year Tawny and 30 Year Tawny wines are highly recommended, the 20 being a mature but still fresh and off-dry, the 30 showing more cigar-box scents and slightly dryer impression. Churchill's also makes Crusted Ports, currently offering the 2005. Crusted ports are often a blend of more than one vintage, aged a bit in wood, then aged in the bottle - unfiltered, so a crust develops on the side of the bottle, like a vintage port.

 

 

Great trip to LWC: Loring Wine Company

In all my trips to the SoCAL wine country, one winery has always intrigued me, but I never had the chance to visit: Loring Wine Company. You know LWC by the cool purple stenciled logo on what seems like an endless assortment of Pinots from the best vineyards in California...I had a chance to barrel taste the 2015 releases with Brian Loring just days before they were bottled.

I came to the winery expecting mostly Pinot, but when I first walked in and saw his small riddling machine, Brian and I went deep into our mutual love for Champagne. He started in retail, at Victor's in Hollywood back when a bottle of Pol Roger Churchill was a minor splurge and the rappers hadn't pushed Cristal prices through the roof. What he is making in California isn't trying to be Champagne. It's pure California juice and the bottle I took home and tried was remarkable. There was a peachy, pear, deep Chardonnay flavor and a ripe roundness that makes this a great aperitif.

LWC is a small, family run operation, most duties handed either by Brian or his sister, Kimberly. They have designed and built a custom winery that seems to be just the right size --no plans to start making ten times the volume he makes now, all the barrels on one level for easy tasting and topping. We tasted maybe 20 barrels, many wines in both new-ish and then neutral oak, which I love to do. It's a great education tasting the same juice in various ages of barrels, and picking winemaker's brains about their barrel choices. For Brian, it's a mix that includes mostly French, but many American barrels --judiciously used. 

Brian is sourcing from some of the best properties around in Santa Barbara County, Santa Lucia Highlands, Santa Rita Hills, and as far as the Russian River Valley (Brian's pal, Adam Lee at Siduri helps him deal with his long-distant fruit), so if you see LWC wines on your winemonger's shelf, grab it. My favs are the Sierra Mar Vineyard,  Rosella's Vineyard, Gary's Vineyard, and Clos Pepe. Check out his site for details on individual wines. He only makes a few Chardonnays, but they are terrific as well. The crisp Santa Lucia Highlands and the Sierra Mar Vineyards both really popped. If you run across his Russell Family Vineyard Mouvèdre, grab it! I was treated to a 2011 and it was unabashedly rich, earthy, leathery juice. Great with grilled sausages.

Key tidbits from my visit: Everything is destemmed. Brian's not crazy about green food and says he doesn't want green vegetal flavors in the Pinot either! As I toured and tasted in the area for the next 2 days, I had lots of other juice that was partially whole cluster and it is a very different beast. Brian's wines are intentionally clean and high-toned, brightly colored, fresh tasting wines. Highly Recommended.

I hope all my readers are coming to Pinot Days tomorrow! I'll be there. It's my favorite of the big tasting events in SF. New location this year in the Westfield Mall - easy BART/MUNI. http://www.pinotdays.com/home.asp

Portuguese Wine Dinner at Cockscomb

Every once in a while, the stars align, and I'm able to accept one of the wine dinner invites that come into my inbox. When the promise is some great Portuguese wines paired by a Portuguese wine expert with Chris Cosentino's creative food at Cockscomb, I clear my calendar! All the Portuguese tastings that I have attended have always had some well aged surprise in the mix, and this was no exception. This dinner was hosted by the Port and Douro Wines Institute. There was also a large scale trade tasting that I could not attend due to schedule conflicts.

Rather than a bite-and-sip-by-sip account, I think it's more important to share a few key findings and a couple of top wines to look for. I was told that all these wines are available in the U.S.

 

Key Findings

 

1. ALL Porto is to be served chilled. Our host, Rui Falcao, said "There is no other way! In Portugal, if you serve Port warm, you will be shot!" And he's right. As we dug into the topic a bit more, it makes sense. Because Porto, in all its varieties, is fortified, so when it's warm, the first thing that hits your nose is not the wine, but the alcohol. If the wine is chilled (and the wines we had were chilled well below the 52 degrees our host suggested) the aromas of the wine come first, the deliciousness comes second, and the alcohol comes third. This was exemplified by having 2 chilled Tawny Portos, one fabulous 40 year S. Leonardo, and a Colhieta (vintage tawny) 1947 Feurheerd's. When I saw the condensation on the glass after pouring the 1947, I swallowed a little gasp, but sure enough, it was amazing chilled. As the evening goes on, and the wine warms up a bit, you are ready to deal with the alcohol on the nose. Revelatory.

 

2. Americans...get over your varietal fixation. Portuguese winemakers are masters of the blend. There are hundreds of different grape varieties in Portugal, and to make matters more complex, some have over 20 different regional names. Yes, there are some big famous grapes, like Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, but don't put the bottle back on the wine store shelf because you can't find the varietals listed on the label. Look instead for the region, producer, and the year. What's inside is a blend, and it's often a field blend. 

 

Field blends are a pretty foreign concept in the U.S. because our country is so young. In ancient wine country, fields of vines were developed both by natural selection --the vines would die off, or by the farmer would cull the vines that don't produce what they desire, or the government dictated what could be planted in each region. Because in Old Europe, they depend on rain, not irrigation, to make grapes grow, each region finds that different grapes thrive.  Winemakers get what the region provides. 

 

3. Portuguese whites can be very serious and exciting wines. Too many times, the whites are synonymous with simple summer quaffing in mind. Take another look, and see if you can find the two beauties below, for instance.

 

For more information on Portuguese wines, I recommend The Wines and Vineyards of Portugal, by Richard Mayson. 

 

My favorite wines of the evening:

 

Oscar's DouroWhite 2014, by Quevedo
This was our sipping wine as we arrived and it's freshness and mineral salinity was balanced by a lovely verbena aroma. Delicious and affordable.

 

Redoma Reserva Branco 2014, from Niepoort
The white of the night for me, and it was perfectly paired with the Quail Tetrazzini with mushrooms, foie gras, fideos, and creme rouge. Very serious, but still very lively and fresh. Matched the depth of the foie gras beautifully. This comes in around $40.00 here in the U.S. Recommended

 

Quinta do Crasto Douro Reserva Old Vines 2012
This is a concentrated, ristretto-kind of wine, very old vines and a field blend from 3 locations in the Douro. Around $40.00 U.S.

 

NV S. Leonardo Porto 40 year Tawny
I loved this 40-year! I have had several 40-year Tawnys in recent years and they have all seemed a tad dried out to me. This still has some great sweetness and didn't taste raisin-like. I will look for this one! A treasure at around $150.00 U.S. if you can find it. Delicious with dessert, a Banana cream pie.

 

Feuerheerd's Colhieta Porto 1947
The mind-blower of the night. Our hosted whispered to me that this was coming later, and I was anticipating this all evening. And it was worth the wait. Incredibly lively for a wine 69 years old! I was told it was bottled in 2014, which makes me even more surprised how vibrant this wine was. Aged tawny ports, marked Colhieta (Portuguese for Harvest), are always some of my favorite things. This bottle had heady caramel aromas and vivid acidity. Highly recommended. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kindred Wine Spirits at PRIMA

Just a quick post to thank my table neighbors last night at PRIMA in Walnut Creek who after ogling their tasting group spread, sent over a glass. Of what, you may ask? 

1982 Chateau Margaux
First of all, the wine was shockingly fresh and bright. The color had not an inkling of brown, cementing its place as a historically significant wine that will gracefully mature through the ages. I might even say the wine came through as not fully mature, stunning for a 34 year old wine. Insanely well balanced, with hints of menthol, smoke and cocoa --but hints, not hit-you-over-the-head aromas. Quite simply, the most finessed Margaux I have ever had. 

The rest of the story:

My family loves Prima, and feel it really is the best restaurant in Walnut Creek. I brought a nice 2008 Matthiasson Red Blend to go with our meal.
When the four guys sat next to us and pulled out 3 bottles of Margaux, 1982, 1983, and 1989 I quickly introduced myself! They also proceeded to pull out a 1989 Haut Brion after ordering a nice bottle of bubbly. After just a few pleasant back-and-forths, they sent over a glass of the '82. 

Thanks again, oh generous strangers! I'll be happy to join one of these evenings, guys! Sorry I didn't have one of my cards! Just ping my email!