The Corkdork - Wine and Food Musing

Family Winemakers of California Tasting 2006

On Sunday  August 20th 2006, me and 5000 friends or so attended the annual Fort Mason tasting of the Family Winemakers organization.  This is always one of my favorite tastings as many of the best small producers from around California turn out to show the current offerings. Often, the winemakers themselves, or the winery owners are pouring and I find many of my favorites are suprisingly not crowded.

Instead of giving notes on everything I tasted, which was well over a hundred wines, (yes, I spit almost everything) I'm going to pick out my favorites, surprises, and bargains as special call-outs. I just can't deal with that much information. I think most of my readers will appreciate just the special mentions of the wines I feel one should be on the lookout for.

But first, a short rant!  I know not everyone takes these events as seriously as I do, but  I spent a  lot of my time running away from people with perfume and cologne on. It's hard enough to try to parse that much sensory overload, of the buds and ears, without being bombarded with the scent of thirty-somethings trolling for mates. If you're there to smell and taste wine, don't wear any scent. OK, enough of that, on to the wines...

Desert Juniper Gin

Desert Juniper Gin
Bend, OR

My dear neighbors just brought this back from their recent trip to Sun River, Oregon. (I'll take care of their cat, Winnie, anytime!)  This artisan gin is made in Oregon with more wild juniper and less filler aromatics than most big brand gins. This one is 82 Proof as opposed to the 95 Proof Cascade Mountain Gin that the Bend distillery also makes. This is a gin to serve in a way that showcases the intense flavors, not masks it with mixers.

It has a really clean, strong juniper flavor, which I love. It also is more herbal than lemony, which I also prefer. It has no heady almond-extract aromas as some do (Bombay Sapphire) and has a lovely golden tequila-like hue.

This is extremely flavorful and perfect on its own for a standard in-and-out Martini. What's that? Can you get one at In-n-Out burger? (no). In a former life, I was a bartender and I think this is the perfect way to make a standard Martini that is very dry and shows off your best Gins.

In and Out Martini
First thing is to get your glasses cold by putting filling them with ice as you work on the cocktails. Next, fill a shaker with ice, and put a generous helping of Vermouth. (I prefer Boissiere, but Cinzano or Martini and Rossi will do. Artisan vermouths are too much for a good Martini. The fresh herbal quality of Boissiere is perfect). Next, give the ice and vermouth a good shake to coat the ice. Then pour out all the vermouth from the shaker. Add the appropriate amount of gin for your cocktails, give a few shakes, and strain into your Martini glasses after dumping out the chilling ice. Twist of Olive is up to you. A really fine gin needs an olive or two, no twist. Save your twists for Tanquerey or No.10 martinis as they already have a lemony nose to them.

Txakoli Xarmant 2005 - That's a mouthful!

Txakoli Xarmant 2005

First of all, the brand is Xarmant (which means Charming in Basque) and the wine region is Txakoli in Spain.  At Prima, where I bought it, they pronounced it "Chakoli" and some more searching found that it is made from the local grape Hondarribi Zuri and fermented in steel. (Zuri means white in Basque). This is a good example of the kind of modernization of a lot of older Spanish regions are going for.

I had to put this up on the blog because it's a steal at around $13.50 and is really very quaff-able summer white. It has more roundness than the average grass-bomb sauvignon blanc, but shares a lot of the flavor profile: Tangy tropical juicyness with a touch of lime peel.

The color is slightly green at the edges and it has a tiny bit of spritz that is great on a summer evening with a piece of grilled fish or chicken. We served it with greek-style chicken with feta, tomatoes, and cucumber salad.

If you see this around, don't fear the Basque language on the bottle, but bring a bunch of it to the counter.

Unti Vineyards: Current releases and a Library taste

Unti Vineyards
On Aug. 04, 2006 visited the Unti tasting room on Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg, Sonoma, which I have been visiting for years. I was particularly interested in stopping by this time because I had recently opened a 2000 Syrah from Unti, and was surprised that with some maturation, the wild Unti beast can be tamed.

Unti Vineyards
4202 Dry Creek Road
Healdsburg, CA 95448
707-433-5590

Unti wines, especially the Syrahs and the Sangioveses, tend to have a brash combination of hugely extracted fruit, with a dark and dusty mid-palate, mixed with very pronounced acidity. I know that doesn't necessarily add up to a pleasurable wine, but with a little patience, these can be quite interesting. The difficulty lies in the immediate in-approachability of these wines. I found the current offerings very difficult to get a handle on. They all had a wildness I certainly wouldn't want to put on the table now, but the gripping acids and dense charcoal-driven mid-palate may tame with age (see 2000 Syrah notes below).

Tasting Notes:
Unti Grenache 2004
Down under, this would be called a GSM, Grenache, Syrah, Mouvedre, but because there is 77% Grenache, Unti has decided to use the varietal name. It has 16% Syrah and 7% Mouvedre and the Grenache flavor is dominant. This is a gamey and spicy wine and tastes like a young Cotes du Rhone or Chateauneuf du Pape out of the barrel. This was the least complex of the wines tasted that day at Unti, and on reflection, the 2nd best of the current offering.

Unti Sangiovese 2004
Dark, smokey, and intense, this is not really my favorite style of California Sangiovese. Too big and too wild, with a rawness that I can't predict will mellow with time.

Unti Zinfandel 2003
Such a jammy wine from Sonoma. Usually this kind of blackberry bramble comes from hotter areas like Lodi or Paso Robles. This type of unctuous zin, again, is not my favorite style. In general, i've been a little disappointed with a lot of the 2003s.

Unti Syrah 2003
This was a tad off, really. Puckery green flavors dominated. Even the guy pouring in the tasting room admitted it was going through something weird in the bottle. I would say this is one to avoid.

Unti Syrah Benchland Reserve  2003 had lots of the mid-palate toasty backbone, but had brighter fruit and better chance for an afterlife. The wine was a bit clamped down, but this one may turn out to be pretty nice. But at $35.00, I didn't think it worth the risk. Certainly the best of the bunch.

Home Tasting --Unti Syrah 2000

Cocoa, black pepper,  and toasted oak flavors dominate. Inky, but thinning at the edges now that it's had some time in the bottle. Took over an hour to soften up after opening. It still seems a tiny hot on the palate --not sure that will ever really fade, but I feel that finally, this wine has come into its own. It certainly has improved immensely in the 3 or 4 years or so I've held onto it.

Grapes Anatomy, or Tannin Musing Pt. 2

Yesterday, 8/4/06, I was up at the annual futures tasting party at Scherrer winery and took to opportunity to talk to Fred Scherrer about tasting tannins. Last time I wrote about tannins, I was struck by the thought of how grapes can be technically "ripe" without the tannins being ripe. I asked Fred how he figures this all out. He explained to me that the tannin structure of the grape is a combination of the skin, flesh, seed, and stem and each must be chewed separately to determine which elements will add up to the right combination of ripeness and astringency.

So he stands out in the field and peels grapes, picks them apart and chews each bit very intently. The stems, which Fred doesn't usually use at all, are chewed despite their bitter astringency in order to get the whole picture of tannin ripeness.

Next time you're appreciating Fred's 2005 Old and Mature Vines Zinfandel, which has a really perfect balance of fruit and acid, think of him out in the field with his lips puckered up, chewing up some bitter seeds and stems for your future benefit.

WBW #24 Loire Whites: Phillipe Portier Quincy 2005

In the world of white French wine, the Loire is known for two primary grapes, Chenin Blanc, and Sauvignon Blanc. I was planning to feature a particular Chenin Blanc, but discovered our host of WBW, Alder from Vinography was in fact planning to write about the very same wine from the very same vintage! (What are the chances?)  Alas, I live in the Bay Area, where at a moments notice, you can drum up some pretty darn interesting wines very fast when you need to. I marched into The Wine House during my lunch hour, and found a Bobby Kacher Selection Quincy that suited my fancy, my wallet, and my desire to write about one of the lesser-known Loire whites that I actually drink quite often --Quincy. Both the Wine House and Vino! have always carried a couple of Quincy wines as long as I have been shopping there.

Quincy is usually a pretty simple Sauvignon Blanc, and usually under $15, even in these times of the high Euro, but Phillipe Portier is making a more sophisticated, careful wine than you usually find. Oz Clarke says it usually has overwhelming gooseberry flavors, but frankly, it's been so long since I've had a fresh gooseberry, I really can't say that's true. My tasting notes are below. (No gooseberry fabrication notes here...)

These are Robert Kacher's comments on M. Portier's Quincy from his site: "One of the secrets to the quality of his stunning wines is modern viticultural techniques, such as leaf pulling and crop thinning. His forward thinking has led him to using skin-contact in order to extract more flavor and personality from the Sauvignon. The wines are all stainless-steel fermented." He is making a very modern style Sauvignon, and the combination of gravel and loam soils with plenty of sunshine give the berries a nice ripe presentation.

Thanks once again to both our founder, Lenn, and this month's host, Alder. Can you believe it's been two years since this tasting group started? Wow.

Tasting Notes: WBW #24 Loire Whites: Phillipe Portier Quincy 2005

Color: Pale straw color

Scents: classic green apple and unripe pear aromas, lemon, lime, white peach, and the fresh snap of the grape.

In the Mouth: Flavors are caramel (amazing, since it's all stainless tank fermentation), lemon, apples, with gripping acidity.

What to serve with it? We had it with some nice grilled tuna, but I think it would show better with a classic French sole poached with cream.

Repeat buy? You bet. $18.99

L'Uvaggio Di Gacomo "il Leopardo" 2000 California Nebbiolo

"If we have a Mediterranean climate, why not plant grapes that do well there?" So says Mel Knox, uber-seller of wine barrels and partner in L'Uvaggio Di Giacomo (with Jim Moore) and Ici La-bas (with Au Bon Climate's Jim Clenendon). This new venture, formed only in 1998, is specializing in Cal-Ital varietals, of both the "vini Pieimontesi" and "vini Toscani". Nebbiolo is of the former, known for the big Barolos and Barbarescos. Jim Moore is best known from his work at Mondavi, starting the La Familia di Robert Mondavi and Bocce lines of Cal-Itals. He also collaborated on the Luce and Lucente wines in Italy, so he's really a pioneer in the Cal-Ital world.

This is my first California Nebbiolo, though I have a 2001 Benjamin Silver in my cellar that I'm dying to try now. The grapes are from a vineyard with lean soils in the rolling hills west of Los Olivos, in the Santa Ynez Valley. I believe that is where the Silver is from as well.

Tasting Notes:
Color: Lovely browning age color around the sides of this 6 year old  wine.
Nose: Pure California fruit at first at cellar temperature, but revealed a whole lot more once it warmed up. Classic Barolo aromas of figs and flowers, deep and brooding dried cherry fruit.
Taste: Tar-ry tight tannins and espresso, slightly herbal overtones --but not flaws, very firm structure. I find this a wine with a split personality --bright with fruit, but dark and brooding like a young Barolo. The prune-raisin finish goes on for many minutes.

Overview: This is a welcome addition to any meal with some nice red meat to stand up to the tannins, or some strong Italian-style cheeses.

I am unsure of the price as I write this, but if I hear from Mel, I will revised this post. I think it is just a bit more than $20.

Disclaimer: I received this as a press sample.