The Corkdork - Wine and Food Musing

WBW#17 Reminder and Links

I hope everyone is excited about the NZ Red category, which I know seems broad, but the availability of NZ Red Wine has some of our non-big-city dwellers having a tougher go at it. I also have heard from someone in Spain that has no access to NZ wine at all.

Nonetheless, I expect some great choices, as usual from our tenacious Wine Blog Wednesday crew. My personal goal is to learn a lot more about winemaking in the land of the Kiwi, and to taste something great and write about it. I have access to a broad range of NZ tastes, being near San Francisco.

Here are some great resources for both information and wine purchasing that I've come across.

Southern Latitude Wines in Carmel: Only down under, S. Africa, Chile, NZ...
Jug Shop: Chuck even has an Australian and NZ newsletter you can sign up for.
NZ Wines: Great source of information

I've already begun getting in some blog URLs, so look for a round up after Jan. 4, 2006.

Happy New Year!

Flikr Account made for WBW#17

I thought Derrick at An Obsssion with Food (and wine)'s idea to put group photos up on Flikr was brilliant, so of course, I copied it!
You can upload your WBW#17 photos to share with the group here.

S. Anderson 2001 Pinot Noir Carneros

S. Anderson 2001 Pinot Noir
Carneros

S. Anderson is by now a familiar name to those who like California Sparklers. Their Blanc de Noirs and Bruts have always been welcome at my table. The S. Anderson brand lives on in the sparkling wine market but after the 2002 acquisition of the estate by Cliff Lede, a Canadian businessman, the still wines are now branded under the Cliff Lede moniker. There is also now a reserve brand, Poetry. The temptation to re-brand is high when you acquire a property, I know, but the names Cliff Lede and Poetry aren't going to bump Yellowtail Shiraz off the shelf any time soon.

I visited the winery two years ago and was impressed with this one, but it needed a couple years to mellow out. I was given some line-caught Alaskan salmon from my neighbor and decided it was time to crack it open.

Color: Lighter than I expected.
Nose: This wine was too cold and closed down when I first opened it (about an hour before dinner) that I decanted it, which helped a lot. It opened up to reveal aromas of Kierch, fresh cherries, lavender and spice.
Taste: Huge and so fresh! This is what New World pinot is all about. The flavors were layered and long-lingering. A perfect accompaniment to my salmon.
Repeat buy? I'll try to find some more of this, and despite the lame new name, I'll seek out some of the new Cliff Lede releases. Perhaps it's time for a visit to the winery again to check out the new brand releases.

Announcing WBW#17 "Red Kiwis"

Announcing Wine Blog Wednesday #17 "Red Kiwis" January 4, 2006.
Hosted by www.corkdork.typepad.com.

When you think of New Zealand wines, are you including it's noble reds as well as the ubiquitous sauvignon blancs of Marlborough? New Zealand has indeed changed the way we think of sauvingon blancs but it's red wines are emerging as a new world force on their own. For this month's tasting, I want you, gentle reader, to spend a little time learning about the Pinot Noirs of Central Otago in the South Island and Marlborough or  the rich Bordeaux-style blends of Hawkes Bay.

Grapes have been planted in NZ since the 1870s, and while it suffers from the same over-irrigated big volume temptations as Australia, there are some great smaller producers to seek out.

With those Holiday parties and meals coming up, I urge you to try some nice NZ pinot with that bird, or cabernet-merlot blend with your beast.

There are lots of great resources for learning about New Zealand wines, and I'll be uploading a set of links to help guide you in the coming few days.

Taste your pick, upload your comments to your site and email me to be included.

Look for a round-up after Wednesday, January 4th, 2006.

Thanks of course, to our founder, Lenn at Lendevours for letting me host.

WBW#16: Judge a Bottle by it's Cover

Trevor Jones Dry Farmed Barossa Valley Shiraz 2000.

This month's theme is really about the art of wine marketing -- discovering what it is about a label or bottle design that makes us pick it up and buy it, sometimes without  knowing anything about the contents within.

It reminds me of a day back in 1981 when I picked up an LP in a NYC import record shop, called LC by Durutti Column. The album art was minimal and striking, with a beautiful texture to it. I had to buy it, though I knew nothing about the music, other than it was on Factory Records, home to Joy Division.  It's still a favorite and  here I am almost 25 years later, still a Durutti Column fan. I took a chance on that first record, and have since bought about 14 more.

What drew me to this label was the simplicity of the design, with the worker's boots by the door, framed beautifully by the mottled lacquered  design surrounding it. This along with the classic Aussie way of setting the type on the name of the wine on a small paper strip at the bottom. Very distinctive and a great piece of design.

Once I did some web research on Trevor Jones, I soon discovered the root of this great design. Ralph Jones, the owner, was the National Marketing manager for Orlando wines, who distribute Jacob's Creek, one of the biggest Aussie sellers. After leaving Orlando, Ralph and his wife Val wanted to make a smaller scale boutique products. Turns out they got two wines with 100 pts. from Parker as well --dessert wines. He certainly has access to great designers and knows how to market a wine.

This wine is fabulous, and I'm an instant fan. It has a classic Hermitage bouquet to it, full of blackberry bramble, blueberries, menthol and cigar box. The flavors are super ripe fresh red cassis berries and blue berries. It has a round mouth feel and a tremendous long finish. At $30 it doesn't come cheap, but is a worthwhile seek.