The Corkdork - Wine and Food Musing

Riedel Comparative Wine Glass Workshop at SFMOMA

Finally got to one of the Riedel family's famous glass tastings on Feb 2, 2011 at SFMOMA. As part of the Architecture and Design Forum's "How Wine Became Modern" Design + Wine 1976 to Now installation (now until April 17), sponsor Riedel (pronounced Ree-del) offered up a deeply discounted tasting for 100 lucky people, including me. This fee amazlingly included 3 top Sommelier-series glasses as souvieners, The Montrachet, the Burgundy Grand Cru, and the Bordeaux. These are stunning glasses in appearance, no argument from anyone about that. The point of this tasting is to convince the taster that the shape of the glass enhances the nose and where it physically hits your palate, thereby enhancing the wine. Yes, you leave convinced and want to rush out and get more of these beautiful glasses, and Maximillan Riedel, the 11th generation of glass makers, is a master presenter. His performance alone is worth the price of this tasting, as his presentation is charming, funny, and ultimately convincing.

While I certainly was impressed by the enhancements to the nose compared to the universal tasting glass and the neutral plastic cup, I am not a good candidate to speak to the shape. The idea is that the shape forces the tannins to the right part of your tongue. I noticed during this tasting that I generally don't let the wine bathe my tongue the way the glass is intended, but I tend to curl my tongue up as the wine hits my mouth, trapping it for the full-on swish-it-all-around-and-slurp-style tasting. I'm not saying the glass doesn't work, I'm just saying maybe not for everyone.

My favorite is the Grand Cru Burgundy, which I have used at friends' houses as well. This is a great Pinot glass, and yes, I'm going to order at least one more. ($125 each). I also loved the way the Bordeaux glass made the young Mondavi Cab come alive. I may just have to get one more of them too...The balloon-shaped Montrachet glass was the most unusual for me. I have Baccarat versions of these and have always favored them for red wine. Next time, though, I'll pour a nice Chassagne in the Riedel and my Baccarats and have a little taste test of my own.

Go see the exhibit as well. I was in a hurry and haven't gotten the whole experience yet, but I plan on it soon.

Cellar Design

A lot of people ask me where they can find a high-end cellar designer in the Bay Area and I met a good one the other day. Thomas Warner does some nice work and I thought I would put up his contact information if you're looking. He doesn't have a website published on his card, so here are some examples of his work. Rumor has it that he is going to be building some showcase cellars in San Francisco. Stay tuned.

Tell him the Corkdork sent you!

Thomas E. Warner
Wine Cellar Company, Inc.
winebizman (at symbol) earthlink.net

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Tasting and Touring the San Francisco Wine Center

This evening I got a sneak preview of the newly opened San Francisco Wine Center, SOMA's unique combination of wine storage, tasting center, wine distribution center, and clubhouse. Owners Brian McGonigle and Paolo Mancini are industry insiders that are trying to create something different in San Francisco: a gathering place for the serious wine collector and the newbie. With two areas that will be used for formal tastings and informal open-a-bottle-with-friends gatherings, they hope it will allow lots of local wine geeks to mingle. Tastings will be largely like the one I was treated to today: wines that Indie Wines, the distribution wing, carry, hopefully along with the winemakers themselves. This will give an opportunity to learn first hand from the winemakers from as far away (like the upcoming event with Eben Sadie from South Africa) and get first crack at their wares. The storage area is like the one you are keeping those LPs that you can't seem to throw away (guilty as charged!) --only much colder! Check out their website for all the pricing details. Like any storage facility they have lots of different options and incentives.

As for Indie Wines, they are bringing in some good stuff to the picture as well. I had a chance to taste a few wines with them this evening. Here are my favorites.

2006 Greenwood Ridge Sauvignon Blanc, Mendocino County
This has so much Semillon in it that you might think it's not SB at all. It has the floral character of a cold-weather Viognier with  lime-tinged roundness in the mouth. This is not the wine to grab when you want a grassy Cloudy Bay knockoff, it's just a different, but very delicious beast altogether.

2005 J. K. Carriere Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon
Lots of bright cherry fruit and forest floor on the nose, bright on the nose, but brooding on the tongue. Delicious but I'm looking forward to this with a couple more years on the bottle.

2003 Temple Bruer Shiraz/Malbec blend, Langhorn Creek, Australia
Something completely different than your garden variety Aussie glug. The heavy dose of Malbec makes this a pretty wild-smelling wine. Plenty of wood going on as well. The vineyards have long been organic and sustainable and the result is clean and complex with good grip.

2006 Schild Estate Barossa Shiraz
Very spicy and young, bright and ready to be put down for a few years of rest. Very new world with deft dose of oak. Nice and well priced.

2004 Columella, Sadie Family, Swartland, South Africa
The best of the flight, especially after an hour of so in the decanter. It is a Syrah dominated blend but the rest of the components are a mystery that maybe Eben can reveal himself when he visits. Huge mouthfeel and filled with ripe New World fruit, the blend of 25 parcels of grapes is extremely artful. My comment at the event was that I would like to see this wine in a few years when the makeup fades a bit. Recommended.

2001 Tom Eddy Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
This is a blend of several Napa parcels and the result is very pleasurable indeed. There is a touch of bramble, tobacco and cocoa on the nose with a very big, classy mouthfeel. Slick and drinkable now. Recommended

Book Brief: Hip Tastes by Courtney Cochran

If you're reading this blog with any regularity, you probably don't need this book yourself, but know someone for whom it would be a perfect gift. How many times do you get asked a wine question that is so broad that an answer would fill a whole book? Well, this is the book.

Courtney Cochran is a certified sommelier and has a business called "Your Personal Sommelier" and holds events under the "Hip Tastes" brand in San Francisco. She has put together what looks on the surface a very basic book about how to get started learning about wine, but a deeper look into the book reveals some extremely thoughtful touches: a good pronunciation guide of essential terms, a wine place-names appendix with a good sampling of which grapes are associated with which region in Europe, and another appendix with world wine regions, sub-regions, recommended producers, and recent top vintages. She's also included a guide to yearly wine festivals around the U.S., and some good wine tourism web addresses.

But beyond the resources in the back of the book, there are some other excellent topics I haven't seen many other places, like winery etiquette and how many wineries one should hit for the non-spitting crowd. Wine pairings are pretty basic, but a good beginning for someone trying to make sense out of a new wine list.

Really, the most remarkable thing about this book is that she avoids the endless name dropping that is so easy to do when writing a basic wine book. Instead, she focuses on elemental knowledge and does it in a fun,  Generation-Y kind of writing style. The shape of the book looks like it's intended to live next to the Food & Wine guides, or Oz Clark's guides, or in the supermarket checkout line where it would work well for the female wine buyer market. (BTW, women buy LOTS of wine, both supermarket and boutique wines.)

So, if you have someone who really wants a "Cliff Notes" starter book for wine, don't have them begin with the Wine Bible, but rather with something like  Hip Tastes. 

Full disclosure: this was a press sample.

Two-day Old Champagne? It's OK with the Metrokane Wine Stopper

We've had this gadget since Christmas, and honestly, I never thought we would use it. Saturday night, we had enough Champagne that we actually had leftovers!  And two days later, the Piper was a little pooped out, but WAY better than I expected.

The Metrokane Wine Stopper has to be one of the best $7 gizmos ever. You pop it on and screw down the top section. If you do it early enough into the night, and while there is about a half-bottle left, it actually does the trick.

You can buy one  on their website. This was a better stocking stuffer than I imagined!

Wine cork recycling in the US

Ever wondered what to do with all those pulled corks? Yemm & Hart, a green materials company is looking for a half-ton of corks to begin manufacturing coasters, clipboards, and flooring. Do the right thing and send your corks by USPS or UPS to:

Wine Cork Recycling
Yemm & Hart Ltd
1417 Madison 308
Marquand  MO  63655-9153

I'm starting a pile today. I hope you do too.

Canard Rouge Tire Bouchon (Corkscrew)

Oooh. I was so excited to actually have someone out there, from France no less, contact me for a product announcement! I got a nice note from the producer of these lovely corkscrews and he was hoping for me to put in a kind word. Since I'm not a commercial blogger, I thought it best that I buy one via PayPal and give it a test before putting out the word.

This is a substantial piece of machined metal that feels great in your hand, and has enough heft that it feels like it won't break,  but isn't too heavy in your pocket for that hike in the Italian Alps. As it has no leverage to speak of, it delivers a mega-pop of the cork when you pull it...most satisfying. If you have a gift to buy for an oenophile, check out their website and order one. I think I also spied it at the Ferry Building wine shop...

Wine bottle scanner

This just in from a friend...a barcode reader/database program for Windows and OSX that inputs data into your computer automatically when you scan the label. The software is supposed to tell you when your wine's  ready to drink -"It's peaking, it's peaking!" Anyone out there tried it yet? I'm pretty dubious...