The Corkdork - Wine and Food Musing

Thanksgiving Wine of the Night: 2005 Scherrer Russian River Pinot Noir

As usual, our family and friends popped a lot of good bottles for Thanksgiving this year and Fred Scherrer's 2005 Russian River Pinot rose to the top of the list last night. I went to Fred's open house at the winery in Sebastapol near Graton last weekend and had Fred pick something that he liked and he found a magnum of this one. The way Fred put it, he liked the "place it was in right now", and I have to agree. It is showing really beautifully right now, bright and vivacious. This is a clean, balanced wine with all the best attributes of the Russian River Pinots. The nose is full of cherries with a touch of citrus peel, the perfect foil for a Thanksgiving feast. 

It was showing better than a couple other amazing Pinots, the 1997 Corton from Chateau Grancey and the 2003 St. Innocent Willamette Valley.

Dessert was an amazing array of pies and homemade ice creams so I opened a 2001 Chateau de Cosse Sauternes that was also in a good spot. The de Cosse is not the most complex of Sauternes, but it is also less heavily sulphured on the nose than a lot of other Sauternes.

This Holiday Season, Drink Farmer Fizz!

Last week I attended the annual Terry Theise Grower Champagne tasting (now my favorite tasting all year), and it really hit me. All my readers should be drinking Farmer Fizz. Why? I think most of my readership has found me through searches for lesser-known, small producer wines. My readers would rather drink wines that are hands-on expressions of soil and sun rather than industrial wines.

According to Terry, grower-Champagne now accounts for over 3% of the market, which leaves the other 97% to the big guys. How big, you ask? According to the Wall Street Journal, LVMH's six Champagne brands produce 50 Million bottles of bubbly each year. My favorites out of Terry's portfolio make between 1,200 and 13,000 cases each year in comparison. It's the difference between Kendell-Jackson and Harrington. While I can still enjoy that glass of Cliquot, it's an industrial product.

I was lucky enough to visit Champagne in May 2009, and one look at the Moet headquarters ( View this photo) in Epernay drove the idea home that this is old luxury, old money, and huge volume. Compare this to the beautiful but modest headquarters of Vilemart & cie in Rilly-la-montagne, View this photo

one of the leaders in the grower-Champagne movement.

Winemaker Laurent Champs at Vilmart makes only 8,700 cases of wine each year and I'm impressed with his wines every year. Look for his Grand Cellier Brut, Grand Cellier D'Or Brut, and Coeur de Cuvée wines and you can't go wrong. His wines are  always a standout at the Theise tasting each year.

I'm going to present my favorites in a bit of a different way this year, with call-outs on types and vintages, rather than just the producers.

N.V. Brut
Hébrart Cuveée de Réserve
Jean Lallement- N.V. Brut
Vilmart Grand Cellier
René Geoffroy N.V. Expression Brut
Pehu-Simonet N.V. Blanc de Blanc Grand Cru Brut

Vintage Blanc de Blanc Brut
Pierre Gimonnet 2004 Fleuron Blanc de Blancs Brut
Pierre Peters 2003 Millésimé Blanc de Blancs Brut
Pierre Peters 2000 Cuvée Speciale - Les Chetillons, Grand Cru, Le Mesnil
A. Margaine 1999 Blanc de Blancs Brut

Best of Vintage:
1997 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvée Brut
1999 A. Margaine Blanc de Blancs Brut
2000 Vilmart Coeur de Cuvée Brut
2002 Chartogne-Taillet Cuvée Fiacre Brut (2002 Vilmart was not at this tasting, but is stunning)
2003 Vilmart Grand Cellier d'Or - drinking a bit young, but excellent
2004 Pierre Gimonnet Fleuron Blanc de Blancs Brut

   

Agent for Change Zinfandel 2006: A Charitable Twist to your Table Wine

Here's another way for wine to make you feel good. Agent for Change is a portfolio of wines that donates a portion of the proceeds from each bottle to a worthy cause, this 2006 Paso Robles Zinfandel donating 50% to healthcare outreach and clinical care for vineyard workers.

This offering, produced by the Martelotto group,  has a nice balance of oak and holiday spice-box. It's round and agreeable. It has some of the typical Paso mint/menthol aromas that give it some zing and make it a perfect compliment to a nice barbecued briskit. And at 15 bucks, it's a deal. Only 500 cases of this were made, so why not buy a bunch of it knowing that you're helping get vineyard workers better healthcare?

Agent for Change can be bought direct from Big Hammer Wines. I received this as a sample.

Building a Wine Cellar? Buy this book: Living With Wine

 

The generous folks over at Random House sent me a copy of an amazing book, Living With Wine and if you're building an even moderately grand wine cellar, you would be crazy not to have this by your bedside while you dream. While I was sucked in and read it cover to cover by the thoughtful writing of Samantha Nestor and Alice Feiring, it still has enough pullouts accompanying the amazing photos by Andrew French to satisfy the casual reader. I particularly like the "cellar snapshot" feature at the end of each cellar profile. Each snapshot shows the capacity of each collection and a sample of the special bottles inside so you can get the gist of each collector's tastes.

Some cellars are drool-worthy in just what wines you can see in the photos, like the arch of Caymus Special Selections and drawers that hold 6 wooden cases each on special rollers, both on the cover photo. Note the cases of Grange and Lafite. How do I get an invite there? Other particular problems and solutions you can learn from include what to do with lots of big bottles, multiple rooms, and building wine showcases.

For the designer and decorator, there is a great "resources" section in the back with every cellar designer as well as where to find the furnishings in each photo. Highly recommended.