WINO 101

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome to another edition of the Carpe Vinum Wine Tasting Bonanza and Newsletter of Fine Wine Extravaganza! This week we’re wrapping up this soggy month of May with a wonderful treat from “Down Under.” It’s sunny Australia! And more specifically, it’s the spectacular, super-special, stupendous, sensational, splendid, and s . . . uh. . fruity. . .Shiraz! I thought I might do this one a bit differently because. . .well. . . I do that kind of thing!

Shiraz, for anyone new to the list or needing a refresher, is a grape variety. (Whee! Isn’t learning fun?) Elsewhere in the world it’s mostly known as Syrah. Why the two identities? We! Don’t! Know! The grape has its origins in and/or around the city of Shiraz in what is now modern-day Iran. Considering that it is named after its hometown, I suppose it is more of a mystery why it is called “Syrah” at all, although I’m assuming it has to do with the French pronunciation of it over a couple of millennia. This is considering France was the first recipient of the grape, and is from there where everyone else got it. So if the French call it “Syrah” and everyone else got it from the French, why does anyone still call it “Shiraz”? The answer is simple it that — Hey, what’s that over there? Ah, nothing. Soo. . .what was I talking about?

In the past I’ve done tastings of Australian Shiraz, and what I’ve discovered is that Australia is one powerhouse of a wine market. We’ve all seen a huge influx of Aussie wines; waves and waves of good deals and tasty wines. Sometimes they’re so consistent in quality, that it becomes a bit nondescript between producers. I noticed that although there are a great number of different regions within Australia, the majority of the ones I see are coming from two big-names: Barossa and McLarren Vale. These are two of the major wine areas within South Australia, Australia’s largest producing and exporting region. Wines here account for 50% of the country’s exported wine. So we see a lot of it.

With this in mind, and considering I never like to take the easy way out, I decided it would be more interesting to put together Shiraz examples from all of Australia’s wine growing regions, rather than having all similar wines from one region. This way we can get an idea of the regional terroir and Shiraz styles of each region. . .within reason, that is. Seven samples out of 1800 wineries is just a drop of wine in the proverbial bucket. But the wine here will be served in regular glasses. Not buckets.

So Friday, May 26th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Aussie Shiraz!!
Nine Stones 2004 Shiraz, Hilltops, New South Wales
Wildberry 2004 Shiraz, Margaret River, Western Australia
Indis 2003 Shiraz, Great Southern, Western Australia
Mt. Langi Ghiran 2003 Billi Billi Shiraz, Grampians, Victoria
Thorn Clarke 2004 Shotfire Ridge Shiraz, Barossa, South Australia

You Bet Shiraz!!
Akoomi 2002 Shiraz, Frankland River, Western Australia
Coriole 2002 Shiraz, McLarren Vale, South Australia

Next Friday tasting is The Pinot Family: Pinot Noir! Pinot Gris! Pinot Blanc!

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

It is time, once again, to get excited about the world of wine with the Eloquent, Elegant, and Diligent Carpe Vinum Newsletter and Tasting Announcement! This time I just have to say that it’s my favorite time. It’s time to pour another wonderful selection from the French Rhone! And as I look back I’m thinking “Mon Dieu!” (Y’know. . .because I’m thinking in French at the moment.) We haven’t done a French Rhone tasting for a staggering 7 months! Well, we shall stagger no more.

The Rhone is one of my favorite regions in the world for wine. The region has two distinct regions for winemaking: The Northern Rhone, and the appropriate counterpart, the Southern Rhone. The Northern Rhone makes inky-dark Syrah-based red wines, and voluptuous Viognier-based white wines. The wines rival the best growths of any other French region for quality, although the styles are unmatched anywhere else in the world. They’re also pretty expensive, for the most part. So much so that assembling a tasting of all Northern Rhone wines, and making it affordable, is a nearly-impossible task. So that’s why we mix them in with the Southern Rhone!

The Southern Rhone, although it shares the name “Rhone” with the Northern Rhone, and also shares the same valley (Rhone Valley) which was carved out by the river of the same name (Rhone River. . .down which you could Rhone, Rhone, Rhone your boat), the styles of wine of the region differ dramatically. In the South we find amazing blends of a great number of grape varieties and warmer growing seasons producing the heartier varieties. The blends are dominated by Grenache, Syrah, Carignane and Mourvedre, but also could feature some 20-or-more varieties of grapes, none of which anyone really remembers. The specific blends are left to the mercy of the weather, the whim of the winemaker, and a couple hundred years of French Rhone wine laws.

Now speaking of the mercy of the weather, the 2002 vintage in the Southern Rhone was decimated my massive storms. Whole crops for some winemakers were destroyed, and the ones that remained were of mediocre to just-plain-not-so-good-and-possibly-crappy quality. This whole disaster created quite a lull in the wine scene for the Rhone-lovers, however in the recent months we’ve been seeing the influx of the 2003 vintages of some of our favorite appellations, mostly with rave reviews for an ultra-ripe vintage.

I thought I might leave you with a few points of interest regarding this tasting. I’ve brought in 2 white wines to compliment the super warm weather we’ve been having, and among them is a 2003 Saint-Joseph blanc. I’ve never had one of these, and they don’t appear to be very common. Also, I finally located a favorite of mine: J.L. Chave’s Mon Coeur Cotes du Rhone. The last one I had was the 2001 which was great, and this one is supposed to be better. Also, it’s the triumphant return of Michel Faraud’s Gigondas. I don’t believe there was a 2002 made, and the 2001 seemed a bit funky. So this 2003 is sure to be a blockbuster! (And if your blocks do get busted, I might have a bit of glue that might put them back together.) I’ve indicated which wines are Northern or Southern Rhone, just in case you’d care to know.

So Friday, May 19th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

The Rhone!!
Chateau Val Joanis 2003 Cotes du Luberon Blanc (South)
Domaine Courbis 2003 Saint-Joseph Blanc (North)
Domaine de Beaurenard 2003 Cotes du Rhone (South)
Mon Coeur 2003 Cotes du Rhone (South)
Domaine Entrefaux 2004 Crosez-Hermitage (North)

And Some of the Best!!
Michel Faraud 2003 Domaine de Cayron Gigondas (South)
Ancien Domaine des Pontifs 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape (South)

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 is Australian Shiraz!

M

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome again to the Carpe Vinum Ultra-Fine E-mail E-Publication and Wine Tasting E-nouncement. This week we’re re-visiting a new favorite of mine: the noble, yet so totally underrated Tempranillo! We tasted Tempranillo here in the shop about 4 months ago, but as a favorite of mine, I just couldn’t get enough of it. Plus, just days after that tasting, I discovered even more that escaped my attention, and I just had to make more room for them. At any rate, here we go!

Tempranillo! It’s the noble grape of Spain, and responsible for most of the top Spanish wines, as well as the majority of Spanish wines altogether. It rarely seems to appear outside Spain within Europe, although that can be hard to tell sometimes, as it has about a hundred different names**. Occasionally it can be found in Portugal, Spain’s neighbor on the Iberian peninsula. In Portugal it’s known as Tinta Roriz and Aragonez. I just might have to have another Tempranillo tasting once I find a good Portuguese example. So simply stated, there are countless delicious examples of Tempranillo wines to be found there.

What I find interesting regarding this varietal, is how it’s catching on worldwide, and the plantings in the New World. Many consider it to be the next big thing, and watch as it surpasses Sangiovese in that respect. So my job is to seek out these Tempranillos that have traveled so far from their homeland to where they’ve taken root.

For that last tasting, I scoured all the information that I have to track down my elusive prey. There are a handful of plantings down in California, a couple in Oregon, one in Washington (as far as I can tell), and a good number of them in Argentina. I landed a few more this time, as last time the only California Tempranillo I found was priced like it came out of Napa Valley. Mainly because it came out of Napa Valley. And it made me sad. So all these Tempranillos are more affordable, and totally worth it.

And look! I have a rose’ in there! A Rosado Tempranillo! Don’t be afraid. That’ll be delicious too!

So Friday, May 12th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Noble Tempranillo!!
Fuente del Conde 2004 Tempranillo Rosado, Cigales, Spain
Jeromin Grego 2004 Tempranillo, Madrid, Spain
Barnwood 2003 “Untamed” Tempranillo, San Luis Obispo County, California
Bodegas Palacio 2001 Glorioso Crianza, Rioja, Spain
Mil Piedras 2003 Tempranillo, Mendoza, Argentina

Even More Noble Tempranillo!!
Verdad 2004 Tempranillo, Santa Ynez Valley, California
Alejandro Fernandez 2000 Dehesa la Granja, Spain

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 is the French Rhone!

M

** Just for your own information, here’s a few of the names: Aragonez, Arganda, Cencibel, Chinchillana, Escobera, Garnacho, Foño, Jaciuera, Negra de Mesa, Tinta Santiago, Tinta Montereiro, Tinto Fino, Tinto País, Tinto Riojano, Tinto de Toro, Tinto de Madrid, Ull de Llebre, Valdepeñas, Verdiell and Vid de Aranda. A regular Special Agent, that guy Tempranillo. . .

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Happy Quattro de Mayo! You know what that means? That’s right! It’s time for the Carpe Vinum Quattro-de-Mayo Super Special Newsletter of the Week and Tasting Notes for the Tasting of the Day Which Is Tomorrow! (CVQdMSSNWTNTDWIT for short). Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo and in celebration we’re pouring all wines from Italy’s Tuscany! You don’t see the connection? Well, it seems so obvious to me I’m not going to explain it. However, if there are ever enough Mexican wines around to feature a full flight of them for Cinco de Mayo, I’d certainly do it. But until then: Italy’s Tuscany!

Tuscany is possibly Italy’s most well-known wine region. It’s located on the West Central coast of the peninsula and is home to Pisa, the city made famous for shoddy craftsmanship, so much so that a badly-built tower has been made an international landmark. Of course, this is completely ignoring the fact that although it’s leaning, after nearly a millennia it is still STANDING, whereas with all of our technology we can’t pave our roads to last more than 5 years. . .but I digress.

What makes Tuscany one of the most well-known wine regions of Italy is most likely the Chianti district. And this is unfortunate. The best part of the vast majority of Chianti wines is when they come in the cool bottles wrapped with reeds and raffia. These bottles look nice on the table, work well as candle-holders, and themselves can be nicely flammable if you ever need to start a fire in a pinch, or feel like lighting a small effigy against crappy Chianti. The fact that lousy Chianti is the most well-known Italian wine in the US could be a direct result of so many Americans visiting a crooked tower. (“So. . .they like shoddy craftsmanship, eh?”)

But Chianti aside, it took a lot of Italian wine for me to get over my fear of yet-another gut-wrenching and dry-as-all-get-out red wines from the region to find the “Oh-wait. . .they’re-not-all-like-that-and-this-is-pretty-darn-good” wines. And here’s a whole bunch of ‘em. One white wine, a Vernaccia, since the weather just begs for it, as well as a half-dozen reds including – GASP! – a Chianti?!? Yep. Tried and true, this Chianti will knock your socks off. But please. . put them back on right away. We’re not IN Italy, y’know!

So Friday, May 5th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

The Taste of Tuscany!!
Marchetti dei Castello di Jesi 2004 Le Rote, Vernaccia di San Gimignano
Erik Banti 2003 Carato, Morelino di Scansano
Gualdo del Re 2003 Elisio, Val de Cornia
Solo Maremma 2004 Micante, Calpalbio
Ambrosini Lorella 2003 Tabaro Rosso, Suvereto

Wines of Not-So-Shoddy Craftsmanship!!
Valdipiatta 2001 Vino Nobile di Montepulciano
Castellare 2003 Chianti Classico

Next Friday tasting is the Tempranillo!