WINO 101

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome to another Carpe Vinum Newsletter and Tasting Alert Alert! This week we’re wrapping up the month of March with your favorite and mine, the ultra-powerful Zinfandel! Time slips by us quickly, and I hadn’t realized that the last Zin tasting we had was back in September! Can you believe it? So I thought the time was ripe. The wines are ripe. The fruit was ripe before being made into the wine that is now ripe. And so on.. here we go!

So. . .Zinfandel. If ever there was a wine for the wine geek like me, the Zinfandel is it! For any newcomers to the class, I’ll review what we’ve learned so far. Zinfandel is a grape that originated on the Dalmatian Coast of Croatia, where it is known as Crljenak Kastelanski. From its home in Croatia, it made its way to the New World. (Not on its own, mind you. I’m sure it was carried by a ship with people on it. . .and more specifically, by the people on the ship. I mean, sure, it might be possible for a grapevine to be accidentally washed out to sea only to drift across the water to the shores of a new land and to plant itself on the beach and propagate its existence on the land of its new home. I’ll wager it’s probably the boat thing, though.)

There is some speculation about how Zinfandel made its way to the United States from Croatia. (By which route, I mean. We’ve already figured it’s probably the boat.) Once people realized that Zinfandel was actually the same grape as the Italian Primitivo, the question arose about the fact that Zinfandel was planted in the United States earlier than the oldest plantings in Italy, so it obviously didn’t come from Italy. The most supported theory is the vine clippings were taken from Croatia to the Vienna Palace gardens, and they made their way to both destinations from there.

So do they grow Zinfandel in Vienna? No one but the Viennese knows. But I would assume it’s probably too cold there. Zin is a warm-climate grape, and nowhere does it perform like in California. The places where Zinfandel is planted are growing (In numbers, that is. Number of places where it is growing. Well. . .and the grapevines themselves are growing, of course.) and we can now find Zinfandel in Oregon, Washington, Italy and Australia. Someday I’d like to see if there could be a Croatian bottling of pure Crljenak Kastelanski, although it’s apparently almost extinct there, and there isn’t enough growing for such a project. Ah, but a wine geek can dream, hey?

Oh, and as a point of interest, I just found in a book that Zinfandel has also gone by the names “Zagarese” and “Zingarello”, although no one ever calls it that, as far as I can tell. Nobody calls it Crljenak Kastelanski either, but mostly because you could sprain your tongue trying to pronounce it.

So Friday, March 31st, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Crljenak Kastelanski!!
Shooting Star 2003 Zinfandel, Lake County, California
Artezin 2004 Zinfandel, Mendocino, Sonoma, and Amador Counties, California
Kangarilla Road 2003 Zinfandel, Langhorne Creek, Australia
Marietta 2003 Zinfandel, Alexander and Dry Creek Valleys, California
Green & Red 2004 Zinfandel, Chiles Canyon, Napa Valley, California

Zin!! Zin!! Zin!!
Dashe 2003 Zinfandel, Dry Creek Valley, California
Seghesio 2003 Old Vine Zinfandel, Sonoma County, California

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

Next Friday tasting Argentina!

M

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome to another edition of the Carpe Vinum Heads-Up Newsletter Thing! It’s another super-special week, as we’re heading to Oregon to taste some wines! We’re here already? Good. . that’ll save some time. For those of you not lucky enough to be here, I’m working on the Carpe Vinum Oregon Wine Tasting Home Game, so someday you can all follow along. But for now, you’ll just have to use your imagination as we taste through all these wonderful wines. Maybe you could draw some pictures too. Doesn’t matter.

It would be harmful to the Oregon wine industry to not mention the noble Pinot Noir grape. It’s the grape that made Burgundy famous! That’s Burgundy, the region of France, not “Burgundy” the jug wine that I used in college to unclog the sink. Burgundy, to many, is one of the noblest wines in the world. And it is that to which Oregon wineries aspire with their exquisite Pinot Noirs. And to some point they do, although they tend to be so expensive that even the Bergundians (residents of Burgundy) are claiming “Sacre Bleu!”. I still don’t know what that means, but in this instance I think it means “How can zey charge zo much for zis?”

And they’re right. Oregon Pinot is good. But when the average is about $40-$50 per bottle, we have to wonder whether anyone is considering their demographics. But that’s okay. You can only go so far on a Pinot binge, anyway. Also considering the winery reports, we aren’t going to be seeing very much inexpensive Pinot Noir coming from Oregon for a little while. But let us not forget what else we have out here, eh?

In this sea of pricey Pinot, I can still get my wine geek fix with a number of different “They grow WHAT out here?” varietals. In the lineup I found an Auxerrois, a delicious white wine varietal from the Alsace region of France, as well as an Italian varietal Dolcetto grown in our own Willamette Valley. To make things more interesting, Abacela, one of the most adventurous wineries in Oregon now has a Malbec. The rest are other reds that have impressed me recently: A Syrah from the Del Rio Vineyard (which I believe is larger than some European nations), and a wonderful Red Blend from out in the Gorge. There . . . I think I have it all covered!

Okay, okay. . .I’ll put a Pinot in there. But just because I found one for under $15!

So Friday, March 24th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Taste of Oregon!!
Adelsheim 2004 Auxerrois, Willamette Valley
Wine By Joe 2004 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley
Chehalem 2003 Cerise (Pinot Noir, Gamay Noir), Willamette Valley
Sylvan Ridge 2003 Del Rio Vineyard Syrah, Rogue Valley
The Pines 2004 Big Red, (Zin, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet), Columbia Valley

And A Couple Oddballs!
Ponzi 2003 Dolcetto, Willamette Valley
Abacela 2003 Malbec, Southern Oregon

Next Friday tasting Zinfandel!

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome to another edition of the Super-Special, Often-Informative, and Occasionally-Amusing Carpe Vinum Weekly Newsletter and Tasting Announcement! This week we have extra hyphens (-) and we’re having another tasting dedicated to the wine geek in all of us: It’s the Barbera grape! More specifically, it’s 7 different wines made from the Barbera grape! What the heck is a Barbera? I’m glad you asked! Read on!

Barbera is a grape. It’s not to be confused with Barbara, which is a different name. . . as in Barbara Streisand. Who, like Barbera the grape, has a prolific nose, is medium-bodied, and makes a memorable whine! Ha! (Sorry. . .) Okay, kidding aside. . .Barbera is an Italian varietal from the Piedmont (region of NW Italy) where it’s one of two dominant black-grape varietals, right alongside Nebbiolo, the grape famous for the legendary red: Barolo. Barbera is notable in the appropriately named Barbera d’Asti and Barbera d’Alba, but not, as you might expect, in the Barbaresco. That’s actually a Nebbiolo wine.

Barbera in the New World, for the most part, is a fairly new thing (Besides Seghesio, where it was planted in the late 1800s). Many producers in Washington are starting to experiment with Italian varietals: Barbera, Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Dolcetto and others. I got turned on to the New World Barberas by trying the Mystic Barbera last year (Oregon winery, Washington fruit). It was one of my favorite wines of the entire year.

So I scoured the market to find some other fine examples of this Italian varietal. It turned up at a few Washington wineries, quite a few California wineries, and as you might expect, thousands upon thousands of Italian wineries. But as there are only 7 slots in the tasting available, we’re going for the cross-section. Two Washington, two California, and three from the Italian portfolio: Barbera d’Asti, Barbera d’Alba, and Barbera Monleale.

It’ll be good one or my name isn’t Barbara!

Uh. . .no, wait. It’ll be good AND my name isn’t Barbara!

So Friday, March 17th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Barberic Barbera!!
Il Cuore 2003 Barbera, Mendocino County, California
Columbia Winery 2002 Barbera, Alder Ridge Vineyard, Columbia Valley, Washington
Cascina Castlet 2003 “Litina” Barbera d’Asti. Piedmont, Italy
Baroli 2004 Barbera d’Alba, Piedmont, Italy
Vigneti Massa 2002 Barbera Monreale, Piedmont, Italy

By Any Other Name: Babs?
Seghesio 2003 Barbera, Sonoma County, California
Cascade Cliffs 2002 Estate Barbera, Columbia Valley, Washington

Next Friday tasting Oregon Wines!

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome to another Carpe Vinum Newsletter and Tasting Announcement! It’s been snowing outside, if you hadn’t noticed. That’s always a bit exciting around here since it doesn’t happen that often. And what makes it so exciting? It’s the fact that the whole town falls into utter chaos! Everyone starts hoarding the water and batteries and duct tape! The big dump is upon us!

Alright. So that didn’t happen. . .THIS time. The snow didn’t stick. But the fact that we saw some fluffy flakes was kind of nice. Just when we thought spring was upon us. We’re not quite there yet! However . . . you know where there’s a place where there is no snow? It’s the featured region of the week: Australia!

Okay, okay. I did some online searching, and found some Aussie ski resorts, so apparently they do have snow, although most of the continent is tropical or high arid desert. However, they don’t have snow right now, since it’s summer there. And that means the Aussie grapes are lazily basking in the sun, gathering the power and flavor that comes out in the wines. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve had an Australian wine that I didn’t like to some degree, and that brings me my next topic: The Australian labels.

Wine snobs everywhere, critics, professional tasters, columnists, sommeliers, stewards, and shop owners (the pretentious variety, mind you) have come down on the Aussie wines that often feature animals, or some other theme to have fun and keep things interesting. Some of this pretentious bunch discount the wines for just that reason. Who cares if the “Rabid Wallaby 2003 Shiraz” was sourced from the finest vineyards . . . the name alone (and possibly the frothing wallaby on the label) will keep it off the critics’ lists and reduce the score in the magazines. Well, as an unpretentious wine guy, I’m here to fight against such blatant discrimination.

Just for fun, I’ve assembled a group of Australian wines primarily by the way the names intrigued me. (Also, because I needed a theme.) So the first five of the wines are all named after people that you would go see if you needed something specific done for you. If you need some wood cut for you, you’d need a woodcutter (See Wine #1). If you needed some cleaning done, you’d need a custodian (See Wine #2). Even if you needed some sheep shorn. Or something ripped. Is that what a ripper does? Or does this wine refer to the “Jack the –” type of “Ripper”? Ah, whatever.

For the last two wines, I just liked the names. Part of this experiment is to prove that Australian wines are at such a consistent quality that a random selection can, indeed, yield all wonderful wines. It’s also just to show that you can’t judge a book by its cover, and sometimes it’s okay to choose a wine by the name. But not by the picture on the label. . .let’s not be silly!

So Friday, March 10th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Aussie Wines Named After One’s Occupation!!
Kaesler 2003 Woodcutter’s Semillon, Barossa Valley
D’Arenberg 2001 “The Custodian” Grenache, McLarren Vale
The Gatekeeper 2003 Shiraz, McLarren Vale
Hope Estate 2003 “The Ripper” Shiraz, Western Australia
Longwood 2004 “The Sheep Shearer” Shiraz, McLarren Vale

More Aussie Wines!!
Glaetzer 2003 Wallace, Barossa Valley
Coriole 2002 Lalla Rookh, McLarren Vale

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

Next Friday tasting Barbera!

***Rabid Wallaby is not a real wine. If it were, I’d still drink it.***

M

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome to another Carpe Vinum Newsletter and Tasting Announcement! This week we’re exploring again, and headed way South to South Africa to try a number of their fine wines. It’s fairly safe to say that most people in this country know little about South Africa and its wines. There are a number of historical occurrences contributing to and leading up to this apparent lack of knowledge. What these are remain unknown. Perhaps because it’s just so far away. Perhaps it’s because History taught in American schools is restricted to Ancient Rome and World War II. So let’s do South African History, with an emphasis on wine, in a nutshell.

South Africa is on the Southernmost tip of Africa, as the clever name “South Africa” might imply. Consequently, Africa is the continent which includes and lies to the North of South Africa. Still with me? Good! Africa was also the continent that Europeans would have to sail around to get to India and points East for spices that would make their food not-so-bland. Being appropriately situated at this Southern point of the continent, it made a good rest stop for trading companies that made that trek from the Indies back to Europe. The Dutch East India Company was one such company.

As the name might imply, the Dutch East India Company was a company from the Netherlands (Where the Dutch come from. Why aren’t they called Netherlanders?) Also as the name implies, the Dutch went to the East and to India. And they were a company, hence the name “company”. Being appropriately situated at this Southern point of the continent, The Cape in South Africa made a great resting spot for the Dutch on their trips East (And back West, of course. . .for the return trip).

Okay, this is already taking too long. Let’s speed things up a bit, eh?

In 1655 they Dutch that had settled there planted grapevines. They didn’t really know how to make wine, so the wines weren’t that good. Then the second governor of The Cape, Simon van der Stel, came to power in 1679 and knew a lot about winemaking. The wines got better. Then a bunch of French Huguenots moved there. They were French, and the French DO love their wine, so the wines improved again, however the wines still struggled to compete against the European wines.

Then England went to war with the Dutch, seized control of The Cape AND went to war with the French, subsequently boycotting French wines. But they still needed wine, so the South African wine industry flourished. Then England and France kissed and made-up and the English were buying French wines again. South African wines slumped again. To make things worse, that pesky louse Phylloxera wiped out the South African vineyards. To sum up the rest: Wars, wars, wars, wars, apartheid, apartheid ends, wine industry flourishes again.

At any rate, it’s more than I learned in High School about South Africa. And it includes wine.

So I’ve assembled a collection of South African wines, some of what they do best. Pinotage is in there, which is a South African exclusive, and some pretty powerful reds, old favorites, and wonderful values in there too!

So Friday, March 3rd, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

South Africa!!
Kumkani 2003 Pinotage, Coastal Region
Headbutt 2003 Merlot/Pinotage/Cinsault
Goats do Roam in Villages 2004 Red, Western Cape
Excelsior 2004 Shiraz, Robertson
De Toren 2002 Diversity Gamma, Stellenbosch

Even South-er. . .and Even More African!!
Rudera 2002 Syrah, Stellenbosch
Leidersburg 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon, Paarl

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

Next Friday tasting Australia!

Oh, and by the way. . .if you normally find out about the wine tastings in town from the Oregonian’s FoodDay, I’ve been informed that they will no longer be doing this, except for a few “select” tastings. This may be a bit irritating to many people, considering this has been quite a resource for the wine tasters as well as the shops. If you find this sudden change irritating, perhaps the Oregonian might like to hear about it. . .y’know. . .just a little letter to the editor or something. Just a thought.

M