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Marion Valpolicella Superior 2006

March 18, 2012 By Shea Leave a Comment

I’ve written about the wines of Marion before. For me, they are making some of the best wines in the Veneto, in the same vein as Dal Forno and Quintarelli, though at a far friendlier price point.

Ripasso Wine Making

Marion is a fairly new winery, only converted to grape growing in 1994, though is built on an old plot of land associated with Veronese nobility in the Renaissance. This conversion happened at the behest of Celestino Gaspari, winemaker at Dal Forno and now consulting wine maker at Marion. I think his stamp shows in the wines, though I also find the Marion wines less densely packed and a bit more aromatic than the Dal Forno wines. In other words, they seem far more approachable and perhaps even a little more feminine and elegant.

Marion uses highly traditional techniques for drying its grapes in the traditional Veronese Ripasso style. In making this Valpolicella, Marion picks half of the grapes earlier than the other half and places them in small wooden boxes which are moved to highly ventilated rooms. Only the best bunches are selected for drying in “arele” – low wooden racks lined with bamboo mats.

The remaining half of the grapes is left on the vine to achieve very high ripeness. The two grape sources are then vinified separately and blended together to make the final wine. It’s an amazing process that, with wineries like Marion, manages to achieve both balance and incredible richness. In my opinion Marion’s wines are particularly noteworthy for their aromatic expression and completely integrated alcohol, a factor that often overwhelms other Ripassos.

The wine is made with a blend of 10% Corvina gentile, 60% Corvina Grossa, 20% Rondinella, and 10% Teroldego and other varieties.

The Wine

A nose of blue fruits and chocolate/mocha goodness. This is a wine with amazing density and power coupled with elegance and freshness. This is impressive wine: it’s got terroir, but also extreme deliciousness. It is aromatically impressive and a wine that easily draws you in and forces that additional sip from sure hedonistic joy. For souch a young wine made in the Ripasso style, the expressivity was exceptional. This wine reaffirms Marion’s extremely consistent quality across its offerings and I would highly recommend it, particularly for the price.

Excellent
$60 at Kits Wine / $50 at BCLDB

Filed Under: $40-$60, Corvina, Excellent, Italian Wine, Rondinella, Teroldego

Kongsgaard v. Delille Estate: Two Aged Whites from the United States

March 15, 2012 By Shea 2 Comments

I recently dug into my cellar and pulled out two very highly respected wines made by two US producers who have a track record for excellent and age-worthy white wines. One has a greater pedigree and cult status than the other, and is priced as such. The question facing me was both whether such lauded wines truly were age worthy and which of the two producers succeeded the most.

I began with the Kongsgaard Napa Chardonnay 2006. Kongsgaard is an iconic producer particularly well known for the The Judge Chardonnay, which costs more than twice what this wine does. Kongsgaard is a pretty hardcore producer, focusing on tiny plots, hand harvested grapes, and meticulous cellar practices, though it is hard to find info on precisely what they do with each wine. The Napa Chardonnay is made with fruit grown via two long-term contracts with Carneros’ famed Hudson and Hyde vineyards.

I must admit that I was quite disappointed in this wine. Unlike the absolutely stunning 2004 Ridge Monte Bello Chardonnay I drank a few weeks ago, this was lacking depth and complexity and was even fairly short on the finish. It did have great acid and balance and a nice candied lemon (rather than over the top orchard) fruit quality. However, I think this wine was likely superior a couple years ago and is well into its decline. Given the pedigree of this bottle, I’d say this is a serious strike for the ageability of California Chard. Undoubtedly overpriced for the quality. Given the reputation I feel obliged to try another at some point.

Very Good+
$100 at Vinopolis Portland (purchased a few years ago)

The 2005 Delille Cellars Chaleur Estate Blanc, however, was an absolutely delicious wine and utterly complete. Delille is one of the top names in Washington State, known particularly well for their red wines and for their side project Doyenne, which makes big and rich Rhone variety wines. While Delille’s reds were once great examples of quality wine making I’ve found that recently they have moved a bit too far towards over the top richness. This sort of approach always sacrifices ageability. However, I’ve always felt their white Bordeaux influenced blend an extremely good and mostly unnoticed wine. So, I decided to buy a bottle and see how it aged.

I’d say this wine is peaking right now, but it’s layer upon layer of rich and creamy custard, lemon, orchard fruits and spices was truly stunning and showing all the amazing secondary characteristics you expect from aged white Bordeaux. Of course, this wine has all the other necessities for a complete wine, including great balance, weight and a very long finish. It paired perfectly with a spinach stuffed sole drenched in a shrimp roux.

Excellent
~$70 in B.C. when I bought it several years ago.

Filed Under: $60+, Californian Wine, Chardonnay, Excellent, Sauvignon Blanc/Semillon, Very Good, Washington Wine

Paolo Bea Rosso de Veo IGT 2005

March 10, 2012 By Shea Leave a Comment

Paolo Bea is one of my all-time favourite producers – a ‘naturalist’ for whom that label is irrelevant both from a dogmatic perspective and also from the perspective of the wine itself. Many of the so-called ‘naturalist’ wines suffer from a number of flaws, or when not flawed, can have a similar flavour profile. However, the greatest producers transcend these issues and the label, which makes me question the efficacy of using the ‘natural wine’ label to begin with.

Bea: Winemaking and Terroir

“Nature should be observed, heard, understood, not dominated.” These words commence the “philosophy” section of Bea’s typo-filled website. They highlight the fundamental belief system that underlies the Bea estate and better express Bea’s approach than any ‘naturalist’ label can. As testament to the reality that the best winemakers don’t do and learn everything on their own, Bea is a member of Consorzio VinVeri along with like-minded wineries, including Radikon, Maule, and Niccolaini. Each of these wineries makes distinctive, terroir driven wines, and shares certain philosophical beliefs all without placing dogma over the flavours and textures provided by the grapes themselves.

The practicality of Bea’s approach is best expressed by some excerpts from his website, such as (with a few translation typos):

“Day after day we seek to distinguish the best partnership between modern methods and nature”

…

“We are aware we must live with globalisation, but want to avoid homologation that represents the alienation of man himself. If humanity doesn’t want to make an irreparable error of stripping the real identify it must learn to respect and maintain the diversity.”

…

“We are convinced that technology and science can help man but this does not mean having to substitute essential processes and properties of nature, properties that are irreplaceable are essential to maintain the equilibrium formed over millions of years.”

To me these sentiments reflect a considered but principled approach to wine making. It is a difficult path to stride confidently between principles and practicalities, and those who wander too far in one direction generally make far less interesting wines.

Paolo Bea is based in Umbria Italy and is also known for vinifying the famed ‘nun’ wines Rusticum and Coenobium, both of which are skin contact whites approaching ‘orange wines’. While these two wines are delicious, it is Bea’s estate wines that, for me, are the most exciting. Bea makes 9 estate wines and an estate olive oil. Some of these wines can and need to age for many years before fully opening, mostly because of the intense tannin of the Sagrantino grape. However, Bea’s methods seem to coax this grape out of its dormancy far quicker and with far more grace than most of his peers. In fact, I think it is fair to call Bea the greatest winemaker in Umbria.

The Wine

Made with 100% Sagrantino, the Rosso de Veo IGT is grown in Montefalco. Hand harvested in October and destemmed before fermentation, the wine also sees 12 months in steel and 24 in wood.

This wine is clasically Italian in its acidity and perfume, but filled with unique wild berry flavours and an intense dose of minerality. The style of the perfume is unique to Bea’s wines, and the very fine tannin is an astonishing accomplishment for Sagrantino. This medium bodied wine is thus fascinatingly unique, but also delicious. An ideal pairing with tomatoes, pork, and game. I thought it was delicious with Italian sausage stuffed pasta with mildly spicy tomato sauce topped with duck prosciutto.

Excellent
~$50 at Arlequin in San Francisco

Filed Under: $40-$60, Excellent, Italian Wine, Sagrantino

Burn Cottage Pinot Noir 2010

March 6, 2012 By Shea 4 Comments

Burn Cottage is now one of the hottest wines coming out of New Zealand. A joint project of the Sauvage family (owners of Koehler Ruprecht in Pfalz and famed California wine maker Ted Lemon of Littorai), Burn Cottage first planted its vineyards in 2003, with its first wine, the 2009, being released last year.

Burn Cottage began using biodynamics from its inception and was one of the, if not the, first winery to do so in Central Otago. This mantra came from Ted Lemon, who became convinced of the importance of biodynamics after leaving a long career in conventional agriculture.

Burn Cottage has a pretty cool label. I normally don’t care about this sort of detail, but the story behind the label is interesting and indicates Burn Cottage’s dedication to sustainable farming and bio-diversity. From Burn Cottage:

The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily is a fairy tale by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe published in 1795 in Friedrich Schiller’s German magazine Die Horen (The Hours). It portrays, in imaginative form, Goethe’s impressions of Schiller’s Letters on the Aesthetic Education of Man. The story revolves around the crossing and bridging of a river, which represents the divide between the outer life of the senses and the ideal aspirations of the human being.

This is a story about the combining the ‘ideal human being’ in everyone with ‘outer life experiences’, the two working in harmony. If this can be achieved then the human will become complete and fulfill his destiny. This was an inspirational story for Steiner and informs his life’s work, including Bio-dynamics. The practice of Bio-dynamics can be seen as an undertaking of the “ideal human being” working towards a better way with long term solutions to existing problems. Bio-dynamics is a practice of the ‘ideal human’ as this approach is in contrast to the short term economic gain approach of chemical fertilization.

Burn Cottage uses minimal sulfur, indigenous yeasts and avoids practices like racking whenever possible. The 2010 sees 20% whole cluster fermentation.

The Wine

While this wine may seem immediately off-putting if opened now and not allowed to breath, this is a mere product of youth. With air, this reveals itself to be a fascinating, modern yet restrained Pinot that offers both classic Otago black raspberry and cherry fruit along with a leafy earthiness that promises more with age. The tannins are fine, but structured more like a serious Burgundy than the majority of New Zealand Pinot Noirs – in fact, I’d say this is one of the best structured new world Pinots I’ve tasted in the last 12 months. The 2010 is a nicely balanced wine with a fresh Ph (3.64), balanced alcohol (13.7% ABV) and real, not manufactured, structure.

In sum, I think this is one of the most interesting Pinot Noirs coming out of New Zealand right now and I highly recommend it. It will likely only get better as the vines mature. The only problem is getting your hands on it. I believe the current vintage is sold out, but Pinot-philes should consider getting on the list for next year’s.

Excellent to Excellent+
$70 at Marquis Wine Cellars

Filed Under: $60+, Excellent, New Zealand Wines, Pinot Noir

Monsanto Chianti Classico Riserva 2007

March 3, 2012 By Shea 2 Comments

The time I spent writing my Spotlight on Sangiovese a few months ago and tasting through a wide array of Tuscan wines cemented my appreciation for the grape as an absolute essential in the home cellar. So many foods go so well with Sangiovese that it is incumbent on any food lover to have a bottle at the ready.

Reinventing Tradition

Monsanto is a highly respected name in Chianti. Monsanto was founded in 1962 and has been consistent with experimenting with and applying new technologies in their wine making practices. This includes one of the first uses of stainless steel fermenters, one of the first wineries to remove white grapes from the Chianti blend, and, today, a general tendency towards french oak barriques rather than slavonian oak. However, the winery also focuses on hand picking, indigenous yeasts and long macerations, which make it an intriguing blend of traditional flavours and modern structure.

Monsanto is particularly famous for their Il Poggio Chianti, one of the most famous Chianti Classico Crus. The wines from this vineyard now sell for hundreds of dollars and are known to age for decades. However, their Chianti Classico Riserva is a good entry point into the estate’s style.

A Baby with Potential

This wine sees a blend of 90% Sangiovese and 10% Canailolo and Colorino. A 20 day maceration in stainless steel leads to 18 months in French oak barriques and 3 months of bottle aging.

This wine has a traditional feel to the fruit, even as the French oak tannin is apparent. Bitter Cherry and Cherry nut predominate along with tobacco and taught minerality. Structured but ripe tannins resolve with air. This wine is only at the very beginning of its development and I have no doubt that this wine’s reputation for ageability is entirely correct. Right now the oak tannins are still firm and a bit dominating (though alleviated with a decant), but I have no doubt they will soften and transform into fascinating aromatics. It will only open and become more fascinating with 5-10 years in the bottle. It is certainly a top notch Chianti Classico that will come into its own with time.

Very Good+
$47 at Kits Wine

Filed Under: $40-$60, Canaiolo, Colorino, Italian Wine, Sangiovese, Very Good

Springfield Estate Methode Ancienne Chardonnay 2005

February 24, 2012 By Shea Leave a Comment

I rarely drink South African wine, partially based on availability and partially because while there are some very good wines out there, my preferences tend towards the old world. Springfield Estate, however, is one of the more interesting estates in South Africa.

Seriously Old School

Located in Robertson, SA, Springfield is a family winery owned by the Bruwers, descendants of French Huguenots immigrants to South Africa in the 17th century. Coming from a Loire-based wine making family, the tradition of the vine stems all the way back to that original immigration.

This spirit of adventure and do-what-it-takes is reflected in the Bruwer’s non-comformist approach to wine. A pioneer of using wild yeasts in South Africa, Springfield Estate uses very low intervention to ensure that these yeasts survive through the entire fermentation process. This includes night harvesting (the 15 degree nights are a far more ideal time to harvest than the 30 degree days as the grapes’ metabolisms shut down at night), and all the wines are unfined, unfiltered and unstabilized.

This ‘Method Ancienne’ Chardonnay is made in the Burgundy style and uses new and old Allier barrels along with 12 months on the lees to produce its luxurious texture.

These guys also make a fascinating sounding “Whole Berry” Cabernet Sauvignon that generally sits at about 13.5% abv and is made in an old school style, with whole berry maceration and gravity fed winemaking.

The Wine

The wine pours a very dark golden – so dark I thought there may be premox here, but there wasn’t. Aromas and flavours of butter, honey and lemon that are deep, rich and full-bodied but very balanced. There is a nice honeyed length with some orchard fruit and lemon squeezing out over the finish. The key to this wine’s success is the superb oak treatment – a feat that is not so easy to accomplish.

I wouldn’t call this “Burgundian”, but I would call it extremely well made Chardonnay that is also distinctive, interesting and delicious. For these reasons, it’s definitely worth a try.

Very Good+
$58 at Liberty Wine Merchants

Filed Under: $40-$60, Chardonnay, South African Wine, Very Good

Teutonic Wine Company “Laurel Vineyard” Chehalem Mountains Pinot Noir 2010

February 19, 2012 By Shea Leave a Comment

I’m always on the lookout for wines that challenge preconceptions and the status quo. In fact, this has been a trend with everything in my life, whether it was the years I spent studying how to use art and aesthetics to think about social and political theory, the literature and music I have tended towards over the years or even my current legal career. Something special happens when one is forced to rethink.

Of course, such rethinking is hard work. It often requires us to throw away ideas that we have personally invested in for a very long time. It often means writing off considerable time spent pursuing a mistaken path. This is why ideas (or wines) that challenge will never be the big sellers – it’s just too much work to get to know why they matter. Nonetheless, they remain the critically important catalysts for change.

Teutons in Oregon

Teutonic Wine Company was founded by Barnaby and Olga Tuttle on the principle that cool climate wines have greater nuance and complexity. Inspired by Alsace and Germany (in particular, the wines in the catalogue of US Importer Ewald Moseler), Barnaby and Olga have sought to emulate these regions by choosing to work with similar varieties and seeking fruit from sites that share climactic similarities and allow for longer hang times with lower ultimate brix. Grown in the Chehalem Mountains (their Alsea vineyard is west of the coastal range and only 22 miles from Oregon’s Pacific coast), all of their wines range from 9-12% alcohol and are made in a fresh acid-driven style to pair with food. Teutonic has even spent considerable time working with producers from the Mosel to learn effective techniques for producing wines with similar character and vivacity. If you remain unconvinced, Teutonic even imports a few very small family wineries from Germany and sells them through their website.

These guys are also ‘biodynamic’, use indigenous yeasts, etc. etc. You know, they put a lot of effort into respecting natural ecosystems and treating their vines as part of a greater whole.

An Oregon Pinot with Ideas

There is little point comparing this Pinot Noir on some sort of unified rating scale to other wines being made in the region. It is also not inherently superior to the other style of Pinot Noir being made in Oregon. However, it is fundamentally unlike any other Pinot Noir I’ve tasted from the United States.

Grass, minerals, ripe wild bush berries and a fundamental wireyness characterize the fruit, much like German Spatburgunder. This is not, however, lean wine. Nor is it acidic or washed out. It is easy to drink lip smacking wine that is the antithesis of the confected Pinot Noirs that have dominated consumer buying since Sideways. In fact, the Teutonic is so focused on cool-climate freshness and brightness that it managed to make the other ‘restrained’ Oregon Pinot Noirs (from the likes of Brick House and White Rose) we tasted with it seem overly rich.

There are ideas in this wine. The idea that not all wines need be alike and not all palates seek sledgehammer flavours. The idea that idiosyncratic wines can be made in a sea of mediocrity. The idea that $20 can buy far more profundity and character than $80. These are not new ideas, particularly in Europe. But these are ideas that I very rarely encounter in Oregon or anywhere in the New World. It is also a sign that a few have started to rethink. These are made in very small quantities but are worth seeking out.

Very Good+ to Excellent and Highly Recommended Value
$20 at Soul Wine in Seattle

Filed Under: $20 and under, Excellent, Highly Recommended Values, Oregon Wine, Pinot Noir

Pax Cuvee Moriah 2005

February 17, 2012 By Shea Leave a Comment

Continuing the trend of writing about wines you can’t get, I yet felt compelled to write about this beauty from Pax (back when Pax Mahl was still winemaker). I purchased this when I was living in California 3 years ago. Time served it well.

I didn’t think new world Grenache could taste like this (technically this wine is 75% Grenache, 14% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre, and 1% Roussanne). Underbrush, molten licorice, smoke, leather, pepper and crushed rocks – oh and beautiful raspberry and strawberry fruit. Impeccable balance. This is another example of real California wine. And the real reason I wrote this brief note: Pax Mahl really is a genius – follow him now at Wind Gap Wines, which are currently available in B.C. at Kits Wine and perhaps other shops.

Excellent to Excellent+
$45 in California (purchased 3 years ago) (I’ve seen some Pax in the B.C. market from time to time for $180+)

Filed Under: $40-$60, Californian Wine, Excellent, Grenache

Ridge Monte Bello Chardonnay 2004

February 14, 2012 By Shea Leave a Comment

While I like to focus on wines currently available in the market, after drinking an aged bottle of Ridge’s top Chardonnay from my cellar I felt compelled to share my impressions.

California Chardonnay, once all the fashion, is now much maligned. Most of us know the story and now the majority of casual drinkers are ABC and averse to ‘oak’. Of course those old style crowd pleasing chards fundamentally misunderstood the nature of Chardonnay, just as oak-phobes miss out on some of the greatest white wines in the world.

I’m not here to tell you that all California Chardonnay should be reconsidered. But the state does have a few choice sites that produce wines to rival the great whites of Burgundy. Ridge’s Monte Bello Chardonnay is such a wine. This is massal selected old clone material grown at high altitude in one of the greatest vineyards in the United States – a combination you don’t find often in California.

At eight years of age, this wine is now peaking as it pours a golden sunset yellow and offers a nose of such opulent complexity that you would not be wrong to think aged Meursault. Hazlenuts, minerals, white flowers and a textural completeness perfect this wine – which sings with a fully harmonious 14.7% ABV. I have no doubt this is amongst the very best examples in the state, and a subsequent discussion with John Clerides from Marquis confirmed that Monte Bello sits amongst the very best along with Mayacamas, Tor, Kongsgaard, and Montelena.

In conclusion, this wine has convinced me to make a few carefully selected additions of California Chardonnay to my cellar.

Excellent+
$75 at BCLDB (purchased 4 years ago)

Filed Under: $60+, Californian Wine, Chardonnay, Excellent

Champagne Day: Coessens “Largillier” Blanc de Noirs Brut

February 11, 2012 By Shea Leave a Comment

It’s been a while since the last Champagne day. I had this wine for New Year’s, brought back from Lyon, France, where it was recommended to me by the fantastic staff at Georges Five.

The Coessen family owns the entire Largillier vineyard, located in the Cotes des Bar (the largely maligned and forgotten region in south eastern Champagne), and dedicate their production entirely to Pinot Noir. The 35 year old vines are planted in clay-calcerous soils and with southern slope exposure. This wine is whole cluster pressed and fermented in tank. It sees extended lees aging and very low dosage.

This is miniscule grower stuff. It is crazy wine. It has the purity of fruit like Cedric Bouchard and a hell of a lot of extract and weight with no obvious oak influence. It is one of the most delicious Champagnes I tasted last year and proof that we are only drinking the tip of the grower Champagne iceberg here in North America. Find it, buy it, drink it.

Excellent to Excellent+
35 Euro in Lyon

Filed Under: $40-$60, Champagne, Excellent, French Wine
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