WINO 101

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Happy Countdown-To-Labor-Day-Weekend Day! On this fine day you are the lucky recipient of the Carpe Vinum Extreme Newsletter of Extreme Wines of Extreme Importance and the Tasting Announcement of Extreme Extremeness! This week it’s the tasting of all tastings. It’s a tasting that I’ve been threatening to do for a few months: It’s Oregon Pinot Noirs Retailing Under $20! Or as I like to call it “The Oregon Pinot Noir Shootout”. I’ll come up with a better name eventually . . . and I’m always open to suggestions.

So! It’s Pinot Noir! What is a Pinot Noir? Wait . . . you don’t know what a Pinot Noir is? Have you been living under a rock? Oregon Pinot has only been the biggest thing since *gasp* Napa Valley! Everyone in the country has been trying to get their filthy mitts on our blessed, beloved and precious Pinots. In fact, the demand has gotten to the point that the pricing has gotten all out-of-control. Most of the Oregon Pinots out there are retailing between $30 and $60. And then there’s the expensive ones. Why?! Why?! Why?!

Well, for one, the Oregon winemakers have been able to coax this finicky grape into a lovely wine of finesse and complexity; qualities that have often eluded other American winemakers. When blind tastings have revealed Oregon Pinot as a rival to the exquisite Burgundy of France, the world took note. Even still, the production of Oregon Pinot is miniscule in size, in the grand scheme of things, but the demand is huge.

Then there was this independent movie called Sideways. It’s wasn’t about wine per se, but it was the theme of the thing running throughout . . . two guys cruising through wine country with brief stops for wine and plot complications. Still, the way Pinot Noir was revered in the movie elevated the film and the wine to cult status, and national Pinot wine sales went through the roof. (For your convenience, the main passage from that movie that turned so many people on to the Pinot has been thoroughly plagiarized from IMDB and posted at the bottom of the email.)

So where does that leave us? Well, now that the price of pinot has gone through the roof, and the wines are disappearing just about as fast as they are released, we find ourselves in a very lucky place: Oregon. Portland. If the Willamette Valley is the heart of wine country, Portland is the brain of wine country. (And inconsequentially, I guess that makes the mountain ranges the lungs of wine country, and Bend the spleen of wine country . . . or something like that.) So as the brain of wine country, we are the first to know what goes on. And when those few -those ever decreasing few Pinots that appear under $20 and sell out immediately- we’re there and snatching up these values. That’s what I’m here for.

So I compiled a list of all the Under-$20 Pinots I could find in-town. Considering the number of Pinots that are available in Oregon, there aren’t very many that retail under $20. I found about 50 of them. Once done sorting through all the ones of questionable quality, the ones that had already sold out, and removing the ones that were under $20 only by virtue of bottle size (half-bottles are cheating), I came up with my list. Oh, and speaking of cheating, the premium pours are actually Pinots under $30. They’re supposed to be “premium”, right?

So Friday, September 1st, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

The Exquisite Pinot Under $20!!!
O’Reilly’s 2005 Pinot Noir
Ransom 2004 Jigsaw Pinot Noir
Territorial 2004 Pinot Noir
La Bete 2004 Pinot Noir, Momtazi Vineyard
La Dolce Vita 2003 Pinot Noir

The Exquisite Pinot Under $30!!!
Lange Winery 2004 Reserve Pinot Noir
Cristom 2004 Pinot Noir, Mt. Jefferson

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 Wines of Washington!

M

Plagiarized from Sideways:

MAYA Why are you so into Pinot? It’s like a thing with you.

Miles laughs at first, then smiles wistfully at the question.
He searches for the answer in his glass and begins slowly.

MILES
I don’t know. It’s a hard grape to grow. As you know. It’s thin-skinned, temperamental, ripens early. It’s not a survivor like Cabernet that can grow anywhere and thrive even when neglected. Pinot needs constant care and attention and in fact can only grow in specific little tucked-away corners of the world. And only the most patient and nurturing growers can do it really, can tap into Pinot’s most fragile, delicate qualities. Only when someone has taken the time to truly understand its potential can Pinot be coaxed into its fullest expression. And when that happens, its flavors are the most haunting and brilliant and subtle and thrilling and ancient on the planet.

For the complete script, check here:
http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Sideways.html

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome again to the Lovely and Talented Wine Newsletter of the Week for Carpe Vinum and the Tasting Announcement of Which That Information is Herein Contained! I had the whole newsletter finished and ready to send out hours ago, but our side of town had a lovely BLACKOUT, and all was lost. So I’ll try to be quick, and reassemble the pieces that remain in my mind before our electrical lifeblood runs dry again. This week we’ll be cooling off another 90 degree day with a smattering of Chilled Summery White Wines! (The chilled part also depending on keeping the power on. Or bags of ice.) This is a fun tasting put together to feature odds and ends and old favorites and new favorites. So let’s learn a bit about the wines for tomorrow!

There are a few different grape varieties I’ve been keeping my eye on as the next big thing. A few years ago I predicted (silently) that the next big thing in white wines would be the Viognier. Lo, and behold, it has become quite a big thing and now there are Viogniers everywhere. (And delicious too.) In keeping with that, of course I’m featuring a Viognier this week as the last-next-big-thing-pour.

But one of the next-next-big-thing wines I’ve been eyeing has been Verdelho. This is a grape most commonly known for its role in the wines from Portugal. More specifically, it’s known for the wines from the Portuguese island of Madeira with their appropriately named fortified wine: Madeira. I’ve recently been noticing quite a few more of the Verdelho appearing from Australia and California. As a next-big-thing contender, this one stands quite a chance, as the prices of these wines remain fairly low, and the wines the grape tends to make are medium to full-bodied with a bracing acidity and substantial fruit. So, of course I have to jump on top of the next big thing, again, and pour one of these things.

Another grape I have my eye on lately is the Rousanne. Or maybe the Marsanne. Okay, I’ve been keeping my eye on both, as I always get the two confused. Let’s consider these grapes the Twin Sisters of the Rhone. Like twin sisters, their names are similar, and they are almost always seen together, like in the Northern Rhone Hermitage and in the Southern Rhone Chateauneuf du Pape. Singularly, Rousanne tends to be the leaner of the two, making a more delicate wine, and Marsanne makes a more wild and lush wine. As other contenders for the big-thing category, there needs to be more reasonable pricing on them for them to compete, but until then, they’re wonderful wines for a wine geek like me.

From there the tasting is featuring a number of favorites of the White Wine Summer Series of tastings: We have a Dry Riesling from New Zealand. Many people shy away from Riesling because there have been way too many sickly-sweet Rieslings on the domestic market over the years. To dispel that fear, just note that the important word of the term “Dry Riesling” is the word “dry”. Also, we’ve got a wine from the Monterrei district of Spain’s Galicia. It’s a wine made with Treixadura, Dona Blanca and Godello. (Godello is the Spanish name for Verdelho.) And from there we have a wonderful White Burgundy from Macon-Villages, which is as close as we like to get to Chardonnay around these here parts.

Okay, not to rattle on too long, but tomorrow is also the reception for the painter whose art has been gracing the walls of Carpe Vinum. The artist is Penelope Scambly Schott, and she will be here from 5 until 7 to answer any questions. Questions about her paintings, that is. I’ll field the wine questions.

So Friday, August 25th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Summery Whites Summary!!!
Framingham 2002 Dry Riesling, Marlborough, New Zealand
Terra do Gargalo 2003 Monterrei, Spain
Lee Family Farm 2005 Verdelho, Lodi, California
Castle Rock 2005 Viognier, Lake County, California
Henri Perrusset 2004 Macon-Villages, Burgundy, France

More Summery Whites!!!
Garretson Wine Co. 2004 Rousanne, Paso Robles, California
Telegramme 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape, Rhone, France
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 Pinot Noir Shootout: Oregon Pinot Noir for Under $20!

M

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Hello lucky recipient of the Carpe Vinum Ultimate Newsletter of Impending Joyousness and Tasting Announcement To Which It Refers! This week we’re heading to Italy to enjoy a smattering of Italian white wines. It’s a plethora of whites from that boot-shaped country. Italy is a country that appears to be one giant vineyard cut into a million tiny pieces, however, I realized that the white wines of Italy often go overlooked when lying in the shadow of the famous reds like Chianti and Barolo and Amarone. These wines can certainly not go ignored, as they are among the best in the world.

So one thing I’ve always liked about Italian wines is the sound of the language. There’s a certain thing about the Italian language that makes the pronunciation of the wine names so satisfying to say it with flourish. Orvieto! Vernaccia! Verdiccio! At least those three are some of my favorites, for the names, at least. Unfortunately I’m not so fond of the wines made in those places. Oh, yes. I’ll give them the same fair shot everything else deserves. Just not this week. I didn’t grab any of those for this round. But the ones I did get are some of my favorites, even if not as pretty in name.

So how does one go about setting up a tasting of just Italian white wines, when there is a seemingly endless roster to choose from? A random selection works! Okay, so it’s not totally random. It’s not the dartboard approach. Besides, I don’t think anyone has a dartboard big enough for all the regions of Italy to fit (although now that I think about it, everyone loves a challenge). To sum up all of Italian white wine into 7 or 8 different bottles, if not impossible, is still very difficult. I’d say a representative from each subregion within Italy is a good place to start.

Firstly we’re starting with one of my favorite summer wines: the eloquent, elegant, and effervescent Prosecco hailing from the Veneto. Sure, there are quite a few different bubblies around Italy, but Prosecco is what it’s really about. Also from the Veneto we’ve got a couple wines from Soave Classico. This is always a crowd pleaser and one of my favorite still white wines from Italy. From there we have a selection of whites from Tuscany, Piedmont and Friuli. But not to neglect another favorite of mine, I’m bringing back, once again, the Super-Duper Tasty Dessert-ish Pour with Elio Perrone’s Moscato d’Asti! It’s sweet, slightly bubbly, relatively low in alcohol, and vaguely addictive. Oh, and don’t forget the delicious part.

So it’s a good place to start. 8 Wines out of a few million. Well, hey, at least it narrows it down a little bit, eh?

“Wait . . . Where’s Sicily?”, you may ask. “Floating in the Mediterranean,” I may respond. There are quite a few Sicilian whites, and some very good ones as well, although I would wager that most Sicilians would appreciate keeping their wines separate from the rest of Italy. No man is an island . . . but Sicily sure is!

So Friday, August 18th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

Italian Whites!!!
Trevisiol NV Extra-Dry Prosecco, Veneto
La Parria 2005 Ansonica, Costa dell Argentario, Tuscany
Inama 2004 Soave Classico, Veneto
Marziano Abbona 2005 Roero Arneis, Piedmont
Girolamo Dorigo 2005 Ribola Gialla, Friuli

More Italian Whites!!!
Zuani 2004 Vigne, Collio, Friuli
Pieropan 2003 Calvarino, Soave Classico, Veneto

Super Duper Tasty Dessert-ish Pour!!!
Elio Perrone 2005 Sourgal, Moscato d’Asti, Piedmont

A stellar deal at $10 for the First 5, $6 for the Extra 2 Premium Pours, $4 for the Dessert Pour.
Hope to see you here!

Seize the Wine!

Next Friday tasting is Summery Whites!

M

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

Welcome again to the Carpe Vinum Super Fun Happy Newsletter and Announcement of the Fun Super Happy Tasting Tomorrow! Friday! Let’s get to it! What are we having? Spanish wines! Which kind? Wines from the North-Central part of Spain! Hooray–huh? “What? Which part is that?” you may ask. Well, besides the obviousness of its geographic location from its name, it includes the wonderful Rioja, the also wonderful Navarra, and the wines of the Aragon: Somontano, Carinena, Calatayud and Campo de Borja (also, also wonderful.) Boy, that’s a lot of ground to cover.

Yes, “North-Central Spain” doesn’t have the ring that some of the other larger wine regions of Spain have, like Catalunya or Castille or Andalusia. It does include the region of Aragon, which sounds pretty cool, but is pretty small and lumps together with Rioja and Navarra very well. Perhaps we can rename the area ourselves. Y’know . . . something do describe the wines from there. Like “Groovy Delicious Spain” or something. It’s a project we can work on. But until then, here’s a little something about the wines from there.

Rioja, the most important wine of this region is also the most important and oldest wine region of Spain. When the Romans showed up there, the Iberian Celts were already making wine. The Romans showed them how to make wine better and, to make a long story short: We add a couple thousand years, a lot of political strife, a bit of French influence, and you have the most well-known wine in Spain. (For a more detailed history, there are books about that sort of thing.) The region is named after the river Oja (Rio Oja) which is a small tributary of the other two rivers in the area. Why name the region of the meekest river in the region? It sounded cooler. The wines are dominated by the noble Spanish grape Tempranillo.

Navarra is the region directly to the East of Rioja. Constantly living in the shadow of Rioja, figuratively as well as literally considering the sunset, the wines are growing in popularity and slowly catching up to its neighbor. Historically Navarra was most known for its Rosados, but the red production has been ever increasing, which anyone can see is not a bad thing. Still, red or pink, the wines are dominated by the delicious Garnacha.

The Aragon region, a touch further south of Rioja/Navarra, refers to the 4 wine districts surrounding the city of Zaragoza: Samontano, Calatayud, Carinena and Campo de Borja. All being lesser-known regions of fewer exports, there are tremendous values throughout. Tempranillo and Garnacha do reign supreme here, but there is a smattering of other varieties blended in as well. In a bit of irony, though Carinena is the birthplace of the grape variety of the same name, that grape accounts for fewer than 10% of the production of its own region. Hm.

So from those regions, we’re featuring 2 Rioja wines: A white Rioja made with the Viura grape and a red made with Tempranillo, naturally. We’ve got a Rosado from Navarra from Garnacha and Cabernet, a wine from Somontano made with the obscure native Moristel, a wine from Carinena made with Merlot and Syrah (but sadly no Carinena), and a Reserva from Campo de Borja made with a delicious blend of Tempranillo, Garnacha and Cabernet. To finish off the lineup is a wine from Guelbenzu in their own region of Ribera del Queiles, which was originally a part of Navarra but seceded a few years ago. This wine is made with Cabernet, Tempranillo and Merlot.

So Friday, August 11th, between 4:30 and 9:00 PM it’s:

North-Central Spain!!!
Bodegas Breton 2004 Lorinon Blanco, Rioja
Bodegas y Vinedos Nekeas 2005 Vega Sindoa Rosado, Navarra
Alquezar 2004 Moristel, Somontano
Esteban Martin 2004 Tinto, Carinena
Bodegas Borsao 2000 Reserva Seleccion, Campo de Borja

More Groovy Delicious Spain!!!
Finca Allende 2003 Allende Tinto, Rioja
Guelbenzu 2003 EVO, Ribera del Queiles

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 Italian Whites!

M

Hello Friends and Wine Lovers!

We interrupt your summer vacations to bring you the Newsletter of the Wide World of Wine According to Carpe Vinum and the Tasting Announcement to Which It Refers! This week we scour the wide world of wine and settle down in an unusual place. Or places rather: Germany and Austria. How are these places unusual? Well, Germany is a place that has spawned Kraftwerk and Austria is a place that has spawned Governor Schwartznegger. Coincidence? Hm. Well, yes. And totally irrelevant.

So I guess the most unusual thing about Germany is that it’s a colder-weather growing region best suited for white wine grapes like Riesling. Wines made of Riesling do make up the majority of what our market sees from Germany. I know, I know. Many of you have already puckered up at the thought of Riesling, as so much of it we’ve seen is so cloyingly sweet that it has caused diabetic shock in laboratory rats. Well, this is not necessarily true with all German wines and it’s all as simple as knowing German wine laws and reading the label . . . which is also about as simple as performing calculus on an abacus.

The important thing to know about German wine laws and the labeling is they attempt to determine and indicate the style of the contents therein. Sound simple? Good! The German wines are graded by the natural sugar content of the grapes at harvest. I believe the idea was to indicate ripeness of the grapes at harvest and therefore the quality of the vineyards because, naturally, the best vineyards would be the ones where the grapes receive the optimal ripeness. This is not necessarily so, but it does indicate the sugar content of the harvested grapes and then the possible sweetness of the finished wine. But this is also not necessarily so, as fermentation can reduce the sugar levels in relation to the alcohol levels. Confused yet? Good!

So the designations in the German wine laws are as follows from lowest sugar levels to the highest: Tafelwein, Landwein, QbA, Kabinett, Spatlese, Auslese, Beerenauslese, Trockenbeerenauslese, and Eiswein. Furthermore, the addition of “Trocken” would mean “dry” but doesn’t necessarily make a dry wine, but makes a drier wine depending on the beginning sugar levels and the finished sugar levels in relation to the acidity of the finished wine. Heck, at this point even I don’t know what I’m talking about. So in a nutshell, Rieslings are not all sweet, and German Rieslings are considered the finest in the world. So don’t be afraid, or we’ll study more German wine laws. And listen to Kraftwerk. And nobody wants that do they?

So with all that talk about German wine laws we hardly have space left for Austria, so let’s get Austria in a nutshell. Austria is, of course, further South from Germany, and thus warmer. Warmer means a better chance for the warmer-weather grapes, so there’s a better chance for red grapes. Also, Austria shares its southern border with Northeastern Italy, so the red wine styles are similar to the Italian wines of that region (closest to Friuli), although with remarkably different grapes. This means lighter reds with varieties of Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch. The hallmark of Austrian wines, however, would have to be the dry, crisp, and complex white wine, Gruner Veltliner.

They’re all delicious crowd pleasers! We’ve got two reds, a Blaufrankisch and the Park Cuvee, which is a blend of Zweigelt and Blaufrankisch. Then there are two Rieslings, two Gruner Veltliners and even a Rose of Pinot Noir. We continue with the light and lively summer tastings, and this is a wonderful stop on the world tour!

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

Germany & Austria!!!
Hopler 2004 Gruner Veltliner, Burgenland, Austria
Pazen 2004 Riesling Spatlese, Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Germany
Villa Wolf 2004 Rose de Pinot Noir, Pfalz, Germany
Peter Schandl 2003 Blaufrankisch, Burgenland, Austria
Graf Trauttmannsdorff 2001 Park Classic Cuvee Blaufrankisch & Zweigelt), Burgenland, Austria

More Germany & Austria!!!
Sighard Donabaum 2003 Gruner Veltliner Smaragd Atzberg, Wauchau, Austria
Von Buhl 2003 Riesling Kabinet “Amand”, Pfalz, Germany
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 North-Central Spain! (Rioja, Navarra, Campo de Borja, Etc.)

M