WINO 101

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome to the Third Annual Carpe Vinum Spoooky Halloween Selection! That’s right! That SPOOOKIEST of holidays is right around the corner (literally if you’re looking at the calendar and consider the end of the week the “corner”. . y’know. . because of the squarish corner-shape of the boxes that show the days? Too esoteric? Probably. . .but I digress. . .) Halloween is one of the most fun holidays since it’s a chance to dress up, eat bits of candy and get a little Wild! And that’s the theme this year, a “Where the Wild Things Are!” selection! And where are these Wild Things? Tomorrow they’re here!

Of course we all remember everyone’s favorite children’s book! We also remember that famous “Wild Thing” song that has been played ad-nauseum for about the last 40 years. So I’ve collected a few “Wild Things” to taste here tomorrow, since I saw the fascination with wildness in life and the Jekyll and Hyde elixir that we know as wine!

First off we have the Chateau Routas “Cabernet That Wild Boars Prefer” which gets its name from the wild boars that roam the properties at Chateau Routas, feasting on the Cabernet grapes at night. At least, they apparently prefer the Cabernet grapes. At least we can infer that from the name. At any rate. . .Wild Boars!

Next up it’s the Rabid Red, brought to you by the same folks as the Cartlidge & Brown wines. It’s a tremendous blend of quite a few things. Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Viognier. Viognier? That’s pretty Wild, eh? Think “Rabid” is a stretch for “Wild”? It seems pretty wild to me. . .many wild animals are Rabid as well. . .perhaps a thesaurus might tell.

Wild Horses bring us the next wild Zinfandel. Wild horses couldn’t drag me away from this wine! Mainly because I’m allergic to horses, and I would be more driven away by the sneezing.

Next up is for the Monster in all of us! It’s Norman Vineyards “The Monster” Zinfandel. Many Zinfandels are described as Monsters. This one is appropriately named so. Can Monsters be Wild? Of course! Can Monsters be tamed? Maybe. . .they’d still be pretty wild, though.

Rounding out the fifth position is the Murphy-Goode “Wild Card” Claret. A Claret, at least in this instance, is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. The Wild part of it is the Card part. What exactly would that be? Well it seems that the folks at Murphy Goode have a gambling problem, what with the “Wild Card” Claret, the “Liars Dice” Zinfandel, “Snake Eyes” Zinfandel, and “The Deuce” Sauvignon Blanc.

For the final two we have, even more specifically, a couple “Wild Things”. First up from California is Carol Shelton’s “Wild Thing” Zinfandel. Is it any wonder why Zinfandels like this are referred to as Wild or Monstrous? It makes sense to me. Closely following that “Wild Thing” is the Zerba Cellars “Wild Thing” Red Blend from Walla Walla. It’s a wild blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc. And I’ve had it before. It’s pretty wild, after all. And it has a wild Zebra on the label. Zerba, Zebra. Yep! You got it!

So on this one Holiday of the year, we can dress in our different costumes, and the wines can as well. But underneath it all we know that it’s just our wild side trying to come out. Sometimes a little wine can help, as well! And a little Wild wine can help Wildly!

So Friday, October 28th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Feeling Wild?!
Chateau Routas 2002 Cabernet That Wild Boars Prefer, Provence, France
Rabid Red 2003 Red Blend, California
Wild Horses 2002 Zinfandel, Paso Robles, California
Norman Vineyards 2002 The Monster Zinfandel, Paso Robles, California
Murphy Goode 2002 Wild Card Claret, Alexander Valley, California

More Wild Things!!
Carol Shelton 2003 Wild Thing Zinfandel, Mendocino, California
Zerba Cellars 2003 Wild Thing, Walla Walla, Washington

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, and $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours
Hope to see you here!
Seize the Wine!

And in a small end-of-the-newsletter-shameless-self-promotion, considering I am a musician as well as a wine guy, I will be playing a gig just after the tasting at Sabala’s at Mt. Tabor, straight over on Hawthorne. I’ll be playing bass with the guys I’ve been playing with for years under the name Sylvias Ghost (Spooooky!), however, tomorrow we’ll be playing under the name Floating Pointe. We’ll be on early-ish, around 9:30 or 10:00. For a little preview, check out: http://www.floatingpointemusic.com/

Next Friday tasting is Oregon Wines!

M

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome, again, to the Carpe Vinum Friday Flights Announcement and Weekly Newsletter! And it’s a fine time for it! This week we’re serving up flights of the French Rhone! Last year we (as in the whole world version of “we”) had a slight deficiency in decent Rhone wines. But this year, it’s a good time to be alive. . .and drinking wine! So here we go!

Rhone Wines! These are some of my favorite in the world. I know you hear me say that about a lot of wines, and that’s probably due to the fact that I don’t really talk about the wines I don’t like. Nobody likes a naysayer, yea? Seriously, though, the French Rhone is one of the best places to get decent value for amazing flavor. It’s a region of France that is still a bit underrated and if it stays that way, it’s fine by me. It keeps the prices down.

The region is in the Southeastern section of France, bordering on the Northern side of Provence and Languedoc (the regions bordering the Mediterranean Sea) and stretching North along the Rhone River to the Southern border of Burgundy. The Rhone is divided into Northern Rhone and Southern Rhone by, as far as I can tell, an imaginary line. The North grows predominantly Syrah grapes, is notable for regions like Cornas, Hermitage, Cote Rotie, and fairly enormous price tags to wines with these names. The Southern Rhone has more focus on wines made with Grenache, Carignane, Mourvedre, as well as Syrah (and some 30-or-so other varietals), with the more prestigious regions of Chateauneuf du Pape and Gigondas, and have a great deal more affordable wines. (Although the more premiere Chateauneufs could cost an arm-and-a-leg. . .and-possibly-half-the-other-leg-and-maybe-a-finger.)

Now what I was referring to earlier with the Rhone deficiency in the world was due to massive storms that ravaged the vineyards and the grape crops in 2002. Many producers didn’t even bother producing a wine because it was so bad, and the ones that did made wines that were sketchy at best. Vines were destroyed or drowned, and the grapes that “survived” the storms were battered and swollen from the massive rains. Now, however, it’s a whole new vintage being released, and the 2003 Rhones are amazing! So to get just a general idea of the overall vintage of the region, the First Five this time around are all Cotes du Rhone from 2003.

The Additional Two are some wonderful wines I found from more premium regions within the Rhone. It wouldn’t be a Rhone tasting without a Chateauneuf du Pape. And by the grace that is the chaotic Portland wine wholesale industry, I got quite a deal on it. The same goes for the next one which is a Northern Rhone wine from the Saint-Joseph region. And that’s always the perfect opportunity to get to try things otherwise falling into the luxury category. Or the losing-an-appendage category.

So Friday, October 21st, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Rhone. . .Cotes du Rhone!
Edmond Burle 2003 Cotes du Rhone
Domaine Lafond 2003 Cotes du Rhone “Roc Epine”
La Font du Vent 2003 Cotes du Rhone Villages “Notre Passion”
Andre Brunel 2003 Cotes du Rhone “Cuvee Sabrine”
Chateau les Amoureuses 2003 Cotes du Rhone “La Barbare”

Some of the Best of the North and the South!!
Roger Sabon 2000 Chateauneuf du Pape “Cuvee Reserve”
Louis Cheze 2000 Saint-Joseph “Cuvee Prestige de Caroline”

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, and $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours
Hope to see you here!
Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is A Spooky Halloween Selection!

M

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

It is time, once again, for the Wonderful Words of Wisdom that is the Carpe Vinum Newsletter and Friday Flights Announcement! This week we’re tasting a grape varietal that is quickly approaching the ranks of my favorites: Cabernet Franc!

“What is a Cabernet Franc?”, you may ask.

“Well,” I may respond, “It’s a grape!” I may continue. . .

Cabernet Franc is a grape famous in the French Bordeaux and a star player in the blends of that region. These Bordeaux blends are usually a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Carmenere and Petit Verdot. Sure, it may seem to be less of a substantial role in blends featuring so many grape varieties, but consider the fact that Cabernet Franc is one of the parent grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon. That’s something I learned this week: Cabernet Sauvignon is actually a hybrid of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc. And by the name, that actually makes sense!

Cabernet Franc is also the dominant grape in the French Loire, appearing in Chinon, Bourgueil, Anjou, and virtually in some part of all other Loire reds. It is also an important grape in Northeast Italy, as well as many New World locations. It tends to do better in cooler climates than its Cabernet Sauvignon offspring, and I’ve seen it popping up in the Northwest and even New Zealand. Furthermore, it is the most important grape in Northeast vineyards, such as in the Finger Lakes region in New York. After extensive searching for these New York wines, I’ve only found one of them: MD 20/20. Alas, although it may be delicious, it’s not a Cabernet Franc so it won’t fit into this tasting.

What is the flavor of Cabernet Franc? It’s a medium to full-bodied red that can have the floral qualities of violets. Sometimes it has the spicy qualities of chili peppers (the flavor qualities of the peppers, not the “Oh my God my head is on fire” type qualities.) Fruit-wise it can have flavors of strawberries, raspberries, plums and cherries. Some people have described earthier qualities as “shoe leather” which, although I’ve never been desperate enough to necessitate eating my shoes, I imagine Cabernet Franc would be a suitable food/wine pairing for that.

So the lineup this week is an excellent cross-section of Cabernet Franc single-varietal wines from around the world, touching on all the major regions that grow it. . .at least all the ones I could find. (If there are any other wines from New York available, other than the “MadDog”, I have not yet seen them in the Northwest. Not that we have a shortage of wine out here, or anything.) So here’s some stellar wines from the French Loire, Italy’s Friuli, Washington and California!

So Friday, October 14th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Cabernet Franc!
Writer’s Block 2002 Cabernet Franc, Lake County,California
Chinook 2003 Cabernet Franc, Yakima Valley, Washington
Thierry Germain 2003 Roches Neuves, Saumur Champigny, France
Chanteleuserie 2001 Cuvee Vielle Vignes, Bourgueil, France
Girolamo Dorigo 2002 Cabernet Franc, Friuli, Italy

More Cabernet Franc!!
Lang & Reed 2003 Cabernet Franc, Napa Valley, California
Zerba Cellars 2003 Cabernet Franc, Columbia Valley, Washington

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, and $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours
Hope to see you here!
Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is The French Rhone!

M

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

It’s almost Friday again, and you know what that means! It’s the Friday Tasting Announcement for Carpe Vinum’s Friday Tasting! (Just to be redundant.) And this week, what a week it is! It’s South American Wines! And by South America, really, I mean Chile and Argentina. Yes, there are other countries in South America, and a good number of them produce wine. In fact, Peru has the second-oldest vine plantings in the New World, just behind Mexico. There is also a burgeoning wine industry in Brazil and Uruguay, as South America’s 3rd and 4th largest wine producers, respectively. These guys, however they haven’t jumped on the exporting business quite yet. So, should these wines ever make an appearance up here, you know I’ll jump all over it, considering my love of weird and rare wines.

And speaking of weird, have you ever heard of Bonarda? In Argentina, the grape Bonarda is the widest planted grape in the country, just ahead of Malbec. So why haven’t we seen many of these Bonardas while there’s Malbec around every corner?

In three simple words: I don’t know.

In sixteen additional words: It probably has something to do with the marketability of Malbec, considering its origins in Bordeaux.

Bonarda, on the other hand, is a relatively unknown grape with origins in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is still planted in scant quantities in three different regions there, but is pretty hard to find elsewhere. Which brings up another point of interest on South American wines: Many different plantings in South America are varieties that were initially planted widely in Europe and imported to the New World. Over the years, however, the varieties in Europe had since fallen from favor in lieu of more popular varieties, or vineyards destroyed by disease. For example Carmenere and Malbec were both dominant in France’s Bordeaux region, but while the common vineyard pest Phylloxera destroyed the vineyards all over France, Chile remained untouched, and Argentina wasn’t touched much.

So what we end up with is wines in a different hemisphere that vaguely mirror the wine regions that gave them their birth. However, wine regions half a world away from each other certainly don’t have the same results. And that’s the fun part. I’ve selected, here, a handful of the different varietals and blends that have roots in the European wine legacy, but now over time, have become treasures of their own, as well as a partial vision into the past.

And see how I didn’t badmouth Chilean wines this time? Either I’ve been improving or the Chilean wines have been improving. I’d bet my money on the wines!

So Friday, September 30th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

South America! Well. . .Chile and Argentina, anyway!
Buena Ventura 2003 Syrah, Lontue Valley, Chile *Organic*
Mil Piedras 2003 Tempranillo, Mendoza, Argentina
De Martino 2003 Legado Carmenere, Maipo Valley, Chile
Joffre e Hijas 2003 Grand Malbec, Valle de Uco, Argentina
Vina Maquis 2003 Lien (Syrah, Carmenere, Petit Verdot, Malbec), Rapel & Maipo Valleys, Chile

A Couple More!!
Alvaro Espinosa 2003 Kuyen (Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon), Alta Jahuel, Chile
Tikal 2003 Patriota (Bonarda, Malbec), Mendoza, Argentina

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, and $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours
Hope to see you here!
Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is Cabernet Franc!

M