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.