Taking the Port Out of Portugal

An obscure European import with an intense following. A little bombastic, not the type you could hang out with every day. While I could be talking about the film director Werner Herzog, in this case the topic is port.

I don't know why he came to mind as I was taking my first turn with an American port: the Terra d'Oro Zinfandel Port. It had the rich raisin scent usually found in port, along with a distinct hit of chocolate, but the taste delivered a measure of the heat that zin is famous for. It's not overly sweet or heavy (19 percent alcohol, about $24 a bottle).

Zinfandel is not one of the grapes normally associated with this style of wine, but I am happy to see port being pushed in new directions. It's still a niche market, but it seems port is gaining ground here, with five dozen California wineries now producing the fortified wine.

Herzog left Germany for Los Angeles; port migrated from its origins in the Douro Valley of Portugal to the vineyards of California. Here's to more mixing of Old Europe with "the New World."

A Kicky Kiwi

I am usually a fan of New Zealand wines, and the 2008 Sacred Hill Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc (about $15, 12.5 percent alcohol) was no exception.

It was a zesty white, a little grassy and slightly smoky, with a clean, crisp finish. Of course, sauvignon blanc is known as a great "food" wine, and the Sacred Hill was an amiable companion to last night's fresh pasta salad. The label bills it as having "tropical" flavors, which I didn't especially notice.

This wine seems to have made friends and enemies: The wine writers of the St. Petersburg Times named it a Wine of the Week in mid-July ("Given its exuberant fruit and exquisite dryness, this wine enters our pantheon of refreshing summer wines..."), while Tim's Wine Blog, based in the U.K., said it lacked "depth and complexity."

I thought it was somewhere between those two poles: a nice, easy-drinking summer wine, perhaps made more enjoyable by the fact that the season is quickly slipping away here.

Hinky Pink

Summer. Specifically, the dog days of August. The swampy humidity has given way to perfect warm (but not too warm) weather.
It's dinnertime, and Nicoise salad is on the menu.
The ideal wine is usually rose ... but not this one.
The Barton & Guestier Rose D'Anjou (2010) is about as cloying as they come. Sweet wine makes my skin crawl, and this one was simply over the top. I don't recoil at sweetness in other forms; bring on the cake and ice cream, I say. But wine is a different story.
(It reminds me of a trip to the South; we were in Little Rock, I think, and the choices of bottled iced tea at the grocery store included sweet and extra sweet.)
Verdict: To be avoided unless you like your wine to give you sugar shock.

Back to School Special

I wanted to post this email I received from my wine guru, Kevin Zraly. If you live in the tristate area and can afford to take this class, I highly recommend it. Zraly is so knowledgeable -- and hilarious. This price is a bargain, too; I paid almost $1,000 for the class two years ago. He once said that the fall semester of 2011 would be his last course (the 10th anniversary of 9/11). I wonder if that's still true?

Kevin Zraly is pleased to announce the 35^th Anniversary of
the Windows on the World Wine School!

To celebrate this milestone Kevin is offering a one-time price for alumni and their friends for the Fall 2011 semester only. We have deducted $35 off of each individual class and the Fall semester price will be $720 per person. This offer
expires on September 1^st. Friends will need to be recommended by an alumni to take advantage of this price.

Monday, September 12 – White Wines of France

Monday, September 19 – White Wines of California, New York, and Washington

Monday, September 26 – White Wines of Germany and the Component Tasting

Monday, October 3 – Red Wines of Burgundy and the Rhone

Monday, October 10 – Red Wines of Bordeaux

Monday, October 17 – Red Wines of California and Oregon

Monday, October 24 – Red Wines of Spain and Italy

TUESDAY, November 1 – Champagne and Port

For more information, please call Michelle at 845-255-1456 or email at kevin@kevinzraly.com. Please visit our website at www.kevinzraly.com.

Kevin Zraly
Windows on the World Wine School
P.O. Box 847
New Paltz, New York 12561

(845) 255-1456
kevin@kevinzraly.com
www.kevinzraly.com

2011 James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
author and educator of Windows on the World Complete Wine Course

@kevinzraly on twitter
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Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself

I ran across an interesting article, "Wines That Favor Balance Over Power," in The Wall Street Journal from June 18.
The subject of the story, David Ramey, said he "was driving on a dusty road through the land of tequila and mezcal when he had what he describes as his "coup de foudre"— otherwise known as his road-to-Mexicali moment — and realized, improbably, that he wanted to make wine. "I suddenly thought, wine makes people happy," he says.
Amen to that! (His "eureka"moment is coincidentally the subtitle of this blog.)
The author, Jay McInerney, so far hasn't grabbed me like the previous WSJ wine writers, Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, who were splendid. Of course, I will give him a few more chances ... I wonder if (paid) wine writer is the dream job it appears to be?
In any case, this is my 100th post. Here's to 100 more, or 1,000.

O.Z. (Original Zin)

Wednesday night's wine was the 2007 Ridge Old School Zinfandel (Sonoma County, California). This vintage had a very limited production -- just 51 barrels were made ($30 a bottle).

If this wine were any more fruit-forward, it would be a glass full of grapes. Despite a high alcohol content, at 15.2 percent, there is no heat, just a plush, untannic flood of zin flavor. I found it cherry-sweet for a zinfandel -- I usually get more spice from this grape.

One review said the Old School has a "port-like taste," which might not marry well with food, and I agree. This wine yearned to be a stand-alone drink. And that's OK -- it's just not something I could drink every day.

Cork Conundrum

Austrian whites are buzzworthy these days -- I had my first Grüner Veltliner about this time last year -- but I had never had an Austrian red until Bud dropped by bearing one a couple of weeks ago.
I was puzzled at first by the 2007 Steininger Zweigelt Novemberlese (Kamptal Österreich), and not just because of its multisyllabic name. What grape was this? (Zweigelt, it turns out, harvested in November, just like it says in the name. I guess it's time to learn some German.) And how on earth do you get into the bottle? Under the foil I found my first glass cork -- huh? Slice off the foil, then nearly slice off a digit getting a sharp knife under the stopper. Does this wine come with health insurance?
After some struggling, we finally got it uncorked. The wine had a peppery bite that evoked zinfandel, except lighter on the palate, and strong notes of cherry. It was medium dry (13.5 percent alcohol), a pleasant but not showstopping red.
At about $18, this was a wine I enjoyed but would hesitate to buy unless someone else is cracking it open.

29 Tricks

Continuing our exploration of Bud Armstrong Cellars (I think my father-in-law owns more wine than many shops do), we had a bottle of red with a bit of age on it the other night.
It was a 1996 Vineyard 29 Cabernet Sauvignon (Grace Family Vineyards, Napa, Calif.), and at first Bud thought it was a bust. He had trouble opening it since the cork was shredding -- usually not a good sign in a wine.
At first taste, it was pretty lifeless. It was also still quite opaque for a 15-year-old -- usually they begin to lighten up a few years in, but this cab was inky. The 29 tasted of dried fruit and had a death grip on its tannins (after 22 months in oak, I can see why). I thought Bud was ready to give up on it, but I held out hope.
And we were rewarded. It was simply gasping for air -- the wine improved dramatically within an hour of being opened. Bud said he thought it got better the longer it aired. It was slightly viscous, medium-bodied (13.6 percent alcohol) and pricey: $75.

Big Pink

The snow is mostly melted, and it seems winter is finally slipping away. The minute I unearth a pair of shorts from my dresser drawer, it's time to start drinking rose.
Tonight it was a 2010 Bieler Pere et Fils (Coteaux d'Aix-en-Provence), a glassy, pale pink wine with a strong flavor of watermelon. Not the fruit but the Jolly Rancher candy -- and I'm not being a Mean Girl when I say that. It was a sweet note on what is actually a fairly dry wine (50 percent syrah, 30 percent grenache and 20 percent cabernet sauvignon, and 13.5 percent alcohol).
The wine (about $14) paired well with our dinner of shrimp and vegetables over rice, and I found a pleasant tartness to it when consumed with food.
I could see myself drinking a copious amount of this rose in the next few months. So glad summer is almost here.

Spring and Winter

When Bud brought over a bottle last week and declared it "the best sauvignon blanc" he's ever tasted, well, I knew I had to throw back a glass. It was the 2009 Cade Sauvignon Blanc (Napa Valley), and it was a lovely discovery. This wine had notes of fig and citrus -- none of that slightly skunky aroma often found in sauvignon blanc. I kept thinking it tasted like spring (corny, I know), which I am craving as we wait for the remainder of those hideous gray blobs of snow to melt. Also, it included some of my favorite features in wine: the convenient screw-top bottle and a healthy alcohol content (13.8 percent). Not cheap -- about $25 -- but worth it if you're a particular fan of this white.

And another treat from Bud last night: the 2002 Ridge Mataro (Pato Vineyard). This blend -- 75 percent mataro, also known as mourvedre, and 25 percent zinfandel -- tasted richly of prune/raisin and had an almost oily quality to it; this is a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs wine (14.9 percent alcohol), a perfect winter red that has aged well. (The wine also stirred fond memories of my visit to their vineyard last year.) Ridge made only 38 barrels of it, and it's not even available on their website. If you can find it, drink it. (Price unavailable.)

Big Black

Hit the sale at Surdyk's recently and came up with a little gem, Le Grand Noir 2008 (Minervois, France). It's 60 percent grenache, 35 percent shiraz and 5 percent mourvedre, and medium-bodied at 13 percent alcohol.
I found aromas of yeast and plum -- it had an almost herbal quality. The first sip was a bright shot of tannin, but it quickly turned mellower and even a little tingly after a few moments. This is a lovely, well-balanced wine; it won the 2010 gold medal at the San Francisco International Wine Competiton, which I hope it not a bunch of marketing hooey. Well, even if it is, it doesn't diminish this appealing wine, which I acquired for the equally appealing price of $6.99.
It's a screw-top bottle, which I love -- my favorite corkscrew broke a while back (from overuse, no doubt), and I have yet to find its equal.

Wine for Dummies

For news, you can't beat the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal; I look at both of their websites daily. Heck, I even used to work at one of those fine institutions. Another feature the two papers have shared is the wine club -- I know the Times had one recently, although I just did a quick search of their site and could find no evidence of its continued existence.
Anyway, the Journal still has one, now advertising your first case of wine for $69.99 (plus $19.99 shipping). Subsequent deliveries are $139.99 plus tax and shipping. That first case is kind of tempting, with an average price of $7.50 a bottle. It's less of a deal when the "real" cost kicks up to $13.30 a bottle, but still, that's not a bad price if you're getting decent wine. But how would you know?
The disclaimer says, "WSJwine is operated independently of The Wall Street Journal’s news department." So it's not like you're getting the expertise of their wine writers in the selections, which might make a club like this more palatable for me.
In any case, I wouldn't let someone else pick the movies I'm going to see or the restaurants I'm going to try. Why would I let some random stranger pick my wine? I'm sure some marketing whiz got a big fat bonus for thinking that one up. As for me, they can keep their wine.

Nice Coat

Bud brought over an interesting bottle the other night, the 2002 Turley White Coat (San Luis Obispo County). He said he thought it was overdue for consumption. In fact, it was a deep gold color, a sign that a white is showing its age. This wine is a Rhone varietal, and I thought it was musky and slightly woody -- almost chardonnaylike, but not as in your face. And this wine packs a wallop, at 15 percent alcohol -- more than most reds I drink. It's running about $80 to $100 online.
The White Coat might have been a bit over the hill, but it was a likable bottle (and it's hard to find a white I crave). Not sure I'd ever spend that much on a white, though.

Feeling Fizzy

I was feeling nostalgic a few months back when I bought a bottle of Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut Champagne (Epernay, France) with a gift certificate from wine.com. This was our wedding Champagne in 2002, and I don't recall having any since then.
We had an occasion to celebrate: My impending return to work after nearly a year off.
So we popped the cork the other night. The Perrier-Jouet ($50) had flavors of lemon and moss, and a tart finish. The color was a delicate, pale straw. This elegant, understated wine was little more than I usually spend on Champagne, but it was delicious to the last bubble.

Two Newbies

Yay, it's beaujolais nouveau time again! It's nice to sample a couple of these fresh wines, especially since we've already had a 10-inch snow storm here in Minneapolis.
On Saturday, I sampled the 2010 Labuouré-Roi Beaujolais Nouveau ($9); it was a luminous pale ruby in the glass, with an aroma of sour cherry. It had a flinty quality, and I found it very light on the palate, with some sweetness toward the finish.
And this evening, it was the 2010 Georges Duboef nouveau (about $8). This was a much deeper red than the Labouré, with notes of chalk and plum. It had a slight effervescence at first, and finished with more tannin than Saturday's wine. Some other reviewers found it tart this year, but I thought it was pretty well-balanced for a nouveau.
Very different styles, but both delicious.
Some critics say the whole nouveau celebration is a lot of hype for a wine that isn't that special, but I appreciate any event that helps make wine more fun and accessible. Even better, let's just think of it as an economical way to visit France!

Visiting Sonoma, Part 2

Into the tasting room ... it was a busy afternoon, with at least two tour groups visiting.

Later, we met the adorable donkeys.

Our second and final stop on Thursday was Cline Cellars in Sonoma. I picked it because I have been fond of Cline ever since the days of Jimmy Armstrong's Sal**n in New York, where their zinfandel was the house red.
The contrast with our earlier visit to Ridge Vineyards could not have been more pronounced. At Ridge, the vibe was sedate and intellectual, a place for true connoisseurs. Cline's tasting room was for people who like to drink. The place was buzzing like a 2-for-1 happy hour. In the world of wine, I can appreciate both atmospheres!
Perhaps it's because their wine is so accessible and reasonably priced. Or perhaps it's because the tasting room is free. (Ridge charged $5, which was waived for me because I mentioned my wine blog. Thanks, Ridge.)
I tasted six wines, one white and five red.
1. 2009 Marsanne/Roussane (Carneros), a blend of 74 percent marsanne and 26 percent roussane, two Rhone varietals. This citrusy white was pleasantly tart at the finish; it was a subtle wine from two grapes that are often blended, so this was an unusual pairing for the U.S. market ($20).
2. 2008 Cashmere (California, 44 percent mourvedre, 35 percent grenache and 21 percent syrah). It had a powdery aroma and a sweet finish. This was a silver medal winner at the 2010 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition; I liked it but it didn't dazzle me ($21).
3. 2008 Ancient Vines Carignane (Contra Costa County). This grape (pronounced karen-YAWN) was new to me, and had an unusual mouthfeel for me -- on first sip, it almost seems to expand in the mouth, and it felt like what I would describe as cloudy or pillowy. It was cool. One of the bartenders described it as "masculine" -- anyway, it had a hint of pepper, with a subtle dryness at the finish ($16). I bought a bottle of this one.
4. 2009 Ancient Vines Mourvedre (Contra Costa County). Chocolate flavors but too dry at the end. In contrast to the Carignane, this one was described as "feminine." ($18)
5. 2009 Zinfandel (California). A big-fruit classic, with soft cherry on the palate. Very well-balanced and at $12 a bottle, a wine for the people. Jimmy Armstrong's house red holds up.
6. 2008 Ancient VInes Zinfandel (California). Spicy aromas, lots of black raspberry flavor, but kind of tannic and what I would call a "fruit bomblet" -- just a bit too overwrought. ($18).
Besides the Carignane, Cline had a few bottles on sale, so I picked up a couple of 2008 Zinfandels at 40 percent off ($7.20 each). I know I paid at least twice that for this wine in New York, so it was hard to pass up such a bargain.
Cline Cellars has beautiful grounds and, out back, a pair of very friendly donkeys. It made for a very memorable afternoon.

Visiting Sonoma, Part 1

Back yard at the Ridge Vineyards tasting room.

Happy, even though my glass is empty!

Behind the bar, Eliot was a fount of information. That band on his arm is for his repetitive stress injury from pouring so much wine.

With three-hundred wineries in Sonoma County, how do you pick which ones to visit? (When "all of the above" is not an option.) At the top of my list was Ridge Vineyards, mainly because I've always had good wines from them (thank you, Bud Armstrong...). So we made a visit to Healdsburg, Calif.
The chic tasting room -- high ceilings, stone floor, soothing earth tones -- has been open since 2002. I tasted nine wines there today.
1. 2007 Santa Cruz Mountain Estate Chardonnay ($40); decent but forgettable. I suppose Ridge is not the place I'd pick for Chardonnay, but I was curious.
2. 2008 Buchignani Carignane (100 percent old vine carignane, $28). A bit tart with a faint scent of cotton, this red was described by our bartender, Eliot, as a perfect "summer wine," and he was spot-on.
3. 2007 Lytton Springs (71 percent zinfandel, 22 percent petite sirah, 7 percent carignane) was thick-tasting and inky. A little too overwrought for me. ($36)
4. 2007 Zinfandel Carmichael (96 percent zinfandel, 4 percent petite sirah). Available only at the Ridge winery, this one was lush and a bit jammy without being a fruit bomb. The petit sirah seemed to take the diva-like zin grape down a notch. ($28)
5. 2006 Lytton Zinfandel Estate (84 percent zinfandel, 16 percent petite sirah). You'd think since I liked the zin/petit sirah combination of the wine before this, more would be better. But this one just didn't hold up. It had some nice mineral aroma, but was ultimately kind of a wallflower. ($30)
6. 2007 Zinfandel Paso Robles (100 percent zinfandel); a spicy charmer, with notes of cinnamon and classic zinfandel structure. ($30)
7. 2008 Zinfandel East Bench (100 percent zinfandel). Both drier and brighter than the previous zin, Eliot called this one a classic "Dry Creek" zinfandel. Nice peppery notes.
8. 2007 Monte Bello (79 percent cabernet sauvignon, 10 percent merlot, 9 percent petit verdoh, 2 percent cabernet franc). This is one for the connoisseurs (and the wealthy, at $145). It has a delicate perfumey aroma, very herbal, with layers of flavor. A very special wine.
9. 2007 Pagani Ranch (85 percent zinfandel, 10 percent alicante bouschet, 3 percent petite sirah, 2 percent carignane). This one was tangy, with an almost sticky quality to it. Interesting but not my favorite. ($36).
Which bottles came with me? The 2007 Zinfandel Carmichael and the 2007 Zinfandel Paso Robles. I'd love to double back for the Monte Bello, but I'd have to rob a couple of banks first.

Robert Goodman Wines

Our main mission during our stay in Arcata, Calif., was to see the magnificent redwoods nearby. And we did, and they were awesome. I found time to squeeze in a tasting at Robert Goodman Wines, and I'm so glad I did. The tasting room has been open just since April. They produce all their wines in Arcata from grapes bought elsewhere.
I picked a flight of three wines; first up was the 2005 Carneros, Sangiacomo Vineyards Chardonnay. It had a rich lemon color and an aroma of slate but not much complexity. It was well-balanced but not outstanding ($26 a bottle).
Next was a 2007 Humboldt County, Alder Point, Rainbo Vineyards Pinot Noir. I found it floral and grassy, and overly tannic at first -- this one could use a year or two to soften up ($26 a bottle). The charming bartender, Jen, said another wine lover reported that "it bites," meaning it has a snap to it that makes for an abrupt drinking experience.
Last was my favorite, the 2006 Humboldt County, Orleans, Henry Rose Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, which had notes of moss and smoke and was a smooth ride from beginning to end. I had to take a souvenir of this one, also at $26.

Domaine Drouhin Oregon

The vineyards at Domaine Drouhin Oregon.


The view from the porch just off the tasting room.


At long last I finally got to visit my first West Coast winery, Domaine Drouhin Oregon, on Saturday. The state has more than 400 wineries, so it was tough to choose which one to visit -- if I had been traveling on my own, I could have spent a few weeks wandering from tasting room to tasting room. But we only had time for one. Drouhin was a name I recognized from wine class last year, and their French wines have been reliably good, so I figured I couldn't go wrong.
The winery sits on a 200-acre farm (about 120 are vineyards) in Dayton, Ore., and it was a crisp, sunny day for a drive through the rolling hills. The tasting room was pouring three wines for $10, so I bellied up to the bar. The 2008 Chardonnay Arthur was buttery, not too woody, and refreshing, with pleasant acidity. Half the wine is aged in oak, half in steel before it's blended, so it has classic Chardonnay notes without belting you in the face. A bottle is $30.
Next was the 2008 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley ($20), which had a slightly skunky aroma. It was tannic and loamy -- it could use a little age to take the edge off.
Last was the 2006 Pinot Noir Laurene Cuvee, the definite champion of the day, and why not, at $65 a bottle? (Bought one; wanted a case.) It spent 14 months mellowing in the barrel, and the result is a balanced, silky wine with notes of rainwater and a distinct earthiness. Drouhin made 2,500 cases of the Laurene, and the bartender told me they expect to sell out within a month. That's one aspect of wine that I love: here today, gone tomorrow. Enjoy it, because you might never experience that wine again.

A Spanish Treat

After Day 2 of trying to get a Minnesota driver's license -- oh, the bureaucracy! -- I needed to treat myself, and what I selected was the 2005 Joan d'Anguera La Planella (Monsant, Spain.) It was $17 at South Lyndale Liquors. The wine is 40 percent mazuelo and 20 percent each of syrah, grenache and cabernet sauvignon.
I never really pay too much attention to "official" wine ratings: to me, a good wine is any wine you like. But I was browsing around online and saw this one gets an 89 from erobertparker.com, so that's nice to know, if that's your thing.
This ruby red had aromas of cinnamon and straw, and on first taste you definitely get a big blast of the tannic/acidic mazuelo grape. It was a bit of a chameleon, though, and softened up after half an hour of airing. The Planella is full-bodied, too, at 14.5 percent alcohol. Just the thing to take the edge off after a day at the license bureau.