Soter-icity
Date: Wed, Jun 25, 2008 Wine Tasting
Winemaker Tony Soter is a member of that rare club that has made both exceptional cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir. I’ve always thought that the approach that each of these varieties requires is so diverse that it makes it difficult to find winemakers that can handle both with equal dexterity. Tony has proved over-and-over again that he can cross that bridge with style. Having known Tony and his wines for several decades now, since he made wines at Spottswoode, I think there is a “Soter-icity” in his wines that have made both him and his wines so successful and respected. The key elements to the Soter style are elegance, un-amplified vineyard character and balance.
For many years Tony has divided his attention between his projects in California and Oregon, but last year he and his family made the trek north on a permanent basis and officially set up housekeeping in Oregon full time. Fortunately for us, his winery in Oregon, Soter Vineyards has been slowly increasing production and more people will be able to enjoy these lovely wines made by Tony and his winemaker James Cahill. However, make no mistake, this is still a very small winery and many releases are essentially sold only on their website.
Their two new releases of pinot noir are the main focus of their production, full of Soter-icity and should be available in most major markets. It’s worth pointing out that both of these wines are under 14% alcohol, which unfortunately has been less common in Oregon lately. They are well worth seeking out.
- 2006 Soter, North Valley Pinot Noir - a relatively new wine for Soter that debuted with the 2004 vintage and they decided to keep. Crafted from a blend of estate and purchased fruit the North Valley delivers the Soter style at a more moderate price and in slightly larger quantities. Typical of the 2006 vintage, the North Valley is forward and fruity with bright touches of cassis and wild blackberries on the nose and on the palate. Graciously silky from start to finish those that like their pinot velvety will be well satisfied. It’ll be better next year, but why wait? (Find online)
- 2005 Soter, Mineral Springs Vineyard, Pinot Noir, Yamhill-Carlton District - The Yamhill-Calrton District is proving to be home to vineyards capable of producing rich, voluptuous wines of great character, Shea Vineyard being the most famous example. The Mineral Springs section of that AVA is the leg sticking down on the right if you’re looking north and is an area to watch. Soter’s young Mineral Springs Vineyard, situated high on a hill with a spectacular view of the Coast Range, has all the potential to be a great vineyard, which you will understand when you taste this very fine pinot noir. The color is a rich ruby that is just translucent. On the nose expansive aromas of wild strawberries mix with black raspberries, vanilla and black truffles. The tannins in the finish are wonderful for their silky, but firm character that bodes well for those with the patience to age. A perfect example of Soter-icity. (Find online)
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Links for 2008-06-24 [del.icio.us]
Date: Wed, Jun 25, 2008 Wine Tasting
- Welcome to the Official Website of Jazz Legend Duke Ellington
the genious of Ellington - UniformedCriticism - The Wine Camp Blog
How much does a critic need to know?
Uniformed Criticism
Date: Tue, Jun 24, 2008 Wine Tasting
Last week there was a blog-o-sphere outcry about an article in The Los Angeles Times by one Joel Stein entitled The Language of Wine Snobbery. I can hardly think of a less creative topic than once again whipping on the lingo of wine aficionados. How many writers over the years have heaped ridicule on the patois of wine enthusiasts and put it off as snobbery? Did we really need yet another? Wine, like every other thing worthy of developing passionate hobbyists, develops it’s own shorthand that often seems silly to the uninitiated. Stein was thoroughly, and correctly, pilloried by writers such as Tom Wark at Fermentation and Catie McIntyre Walker at Through The Walla Walla Grape Vine. I applaud their commentary, but personally I found yet another tired rant about wine snobs not enough to rile me. Being a wine snob myself, I’ve just learned to live with it.
What struck me was this comment in the article, “I want to know that a Zinfandel, our greatest native grape, tastes like America: big, bold, unsubtle and ready to fight.” What I want to know is how someone that thinks zinfandel is a native American grape variety gets to write about wines in The Los Angeles Times? Anyone who pretends to know enough about wine to write about it in a major American newspaper should know that zinfandel vines, like all important wine grape varieties are Vitis vinifera vines that originated in Europe and Asia and were brought to the United States. I suppose what is even worse is that Stein not only did not know this basic fact, but failed even to take 30 seconds to check out Wikipedia, where it’s well documented. What’s sad for consumers is that someone like Stein can present themselves as “experts”, and then go on to mislead their readers, more concerned with being cute and controversial than accurate. I suppose we should expect no less from someone who finds the antics of Gary Vaynerchuck more meaningful than the encyclopedic knowledge and artful prose of Jancis Robinson. I don’t mean that as a criticism of Gary, who has helped many a novice learn to enjoy the pleasures of fine wine, but Stein, who is a professional, perhaps should reach for a higher standard.
The real guilty party in this case is The Los Angeles Times, which as one of the world’s great newspapers usually expects more knowledge from their writers. Can you imagine them sending someone to cover the Dodgers that did not know what a curve ball was? Apparently in this case they did exactly that.
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Links for 2008-06-20 [del.icio.us]
Date: Sat, Jun 21, 2008 Wine Tasting
- Mac Farmer's Market - The Wine Camp Blog
cooking lion's mane mushrooms - Portal:Wine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
fantastic new wine resource
Mac Farmer's Market
Date: Fri, Jun 20, 2008 Wine Tasting
The farmer's market is back in McMinnville. Over the winter you slowly forget how wonderful such small things can be. Just a block long with maybe two dozen producers, markets like this hold treasures supermarket buyers, including Whole Foods et al, can't give us. Every Thursday now through late fall you'll find me at the market.
Today's treasure was lion's mane mushrooms. As usual, each visit to a farmer's market I approach without a recipe in mind, letting the local provenance guide me. With the beautiful mushrooms I added to my bag some fresh organic eggs, chives and the excellent aged Gouda from the Willamette Valley Cheese Company. Warm crusty baguettes from the Red Fox Bakery, just picked greens and a pint of fresh strawberries from a small organic farm guaranteed a perfect dinner.
The meal could not have been simpler:
For two:
4 or more large lion's main mushrooms (or other meaty, flavorful fresh mushroom) chopped into large chunks
2 cloves garlic peeled and smashed
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
A small wedge of aged cow's milk cheese like Willamette Valley Cheese Company's aged Gouda cubed
Minced fresh chives
Salt and pepper
5 large eggs with salt and pepper beaten lightly with a fork - using good eggs is very important so look for eggs with yolks that tend more towards orange than yellow
- Smash the cloves of garlic, add 2+ tablespoons (depends on how big the mushrooms are) good extra virgin olive oil to a non-stick sauté pan over medium high heat (don't let it smoke), add the garlic and cook until golden brown, but not burnt, then remove and discard
- Continuing over medium high heat add the very coarsely chopped lion's main mushrooms to the hot oil and stir fry for one minute.
- Add beaten eggs, chopped chives, cubed cheese salt and pepper and scramble until just cooked
- Serve immediately with fresh salad and bread
To match with this very local food I strangely enough grabbed a bottle from far, far away. The 2006 Domaine de La Gramière Côtes du Rhône, which is produced by two Americans, Amy Lillard and Matt Kling, who are living a dream that many of us have as they are living and making wine in France. I had resisted opening this wine for almost a year now as I felt it really needed a little time to come together and my patience was well rewarded. The wine has broadened and gained more complexity and aromatics. This is one of those wines that is big to the French, but medium bodied to Americans. I love the meaty, smoky butcher shop aromas this wine has developed along with the bright, ripe black fruit flavors. I think it's going to get better for another year or so, but now that it's this good I don't know how I'll keep my hands off of it that long! La Gramière is imported by Kermit Lynch.
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2007 Rudi Wiest Pre-Sell at Chambers St.
Date: Thu, Jun 19, 2008 Wine Tasting
Chambers Street Wines: Wiest Pre-Sale
A vintage and sale not to be missed for riesling lovers! Wiest offers an elite portfolio, which, by today's standards, are still tremendous values.
Varieties of a Lesser God
Date: Thu, Jun 19, 2008 Wine Tasting
There are a few great varieties and a few terrible ones. However, most sit in the middle quality-wise and what gets in the bottle is totally on the shoulders of those that make the wines. Put a great variety in a great vineyard and it’s your fault if you screw it up. Put an ordinary variety in an ordinary vineyard and you better know what you’re doing if you’re going to make a good wine.
Such a variety is müller thurgau, the workhorse grape of Germany and the black sheep of Oregon winemaking. Perhaps its bad reputation in Oregon is understandable considering the simple, sugary wines that wineries made there over the decades. Producers were only interested in pumping out cheap, sweet grocery store wines selling for under $10 a bottle. The resulting bad reputation made müller thurgau the butt of the local joke:
What’s the leading cause of teen pregnancy in Oregon?
Answer: müller thurgau
Anyone who has tasted the wines of the great producer Rudolf Fürst in Germany’s Franken region understands that in the right hands this rather ordinary variety can produce a very, very good wine. His Pur Mineral Müller Thurgau is easily the finest example of this variety that I have tasted. It is dry as a bone with a mineral intensity hard to describe. Firm, elegant, racy and complex with a lacy flowery character that makes it both charming and briskly refreshing.
For the first time that I know of, there is an American producer taking a more serious stab at this variety and I’m sure the teenagers will hate it, but that you’ll love it. The 2007 Château Benoit Müller Thurgau Estate Vineyard, produced by Oregon’s Anne Amie Vineyards shows what can be done with such varieties when you actually try to make a good wine. In this case the combination of an outstanding winemaker, Thomas Houseman, and a passionate viticulturist, Jason Tosch made all the difference. By simply trying to make the best wine they could Houseman and Tosch have produced a lovely wine. It is on the drier side of off-dry with a charming bright, fresh fruity character laced with notes of fresh pineapple and wildflowers. It’s hard to think of a easier white wine for summer parties and picnics. It’s important to note that in vintages prior to 2007 you’ll find the Benoit more akin to those wines that spawned the joke mentioned above.
I do not intend to say this is a wine on the level of the Rudolf Fürst Pur Mineral Müller Thurgau, but it is a very good wine that is a pleasure to drink. What it proves that is that effort and attention pays off when it comes to varieties of a lesser god.
An Immense Wine
Date: Tue, Jun 17, 2008 Wine Tasting
Pinot Noir Sonoma Coast Marcassin Vineyard 2003
95 points | $120 | 450 cases made | Red
"An immense wine that’s rich and concentrated, with taut, supple, firmly structured blueberry, wild berry, and blackberry fruit that coats the palate. No shortage of tannins either yet it’s very deep and persistent, ending with smoky oak touches. Drink now through 2013. From California."—J.L.
Tasting notes like this always confuse me. Is pinot noir supposed to be an immense wine? If it's not (and I don't believe it is), why do you give it 95 points? If you tasted a syrah and noted it was light you would give it a lower score. Should not that standard apply to pinot noir, which is famous for its elegance and complexity not it's girth. Immense to me should be a criticism, not a compliment for great pinot noir. I offer no criticism for the wine here, which I have not tasted. However, these notes just don't seem to be describing pinot noir to me.
Links for 2008-06-16 [del.icio.us]
Date: Tue, Jun 17, 2008 Wine Tasting
- Family Winemakers Making Headway in Massachusetts - ShipCompliant
compliance news - Domaine Dujac
one of the world's great producers of pinot noir - bomomo
making you a modern artist
California Burgundy
Date: Mon, Jun 16, 2008 Wine Tasting
Here's a riddle for you: When can you make Echezeaux in California? The answer: You can't, you have to wait until California comes to Burgundy. That's exactly what happened in 2003. I was living in Italy that year, our house tucked into the foothills of the Alps, and we baked for months. The television was full of the horrible news from France as thousands died from the heat. Burgundy was not one of the fatalities of that hot summer, but the vines and the wines did suffer as they did throughout Europe.
My gracious host for dinner last Saturday, winemaker Tony Rynders, brought me back to that sultry summer when he pulled a bottle of 2003 Echezeaux Domaine Dujac (find online) from his cellar. I admit I can't help but be thrilled by the appearance of a Dujac at any time.
Let's make no mistake about it, this is a very fine pinot noir. However, there is little to remind you of Burgundy, much less Echezeaux in this wine. Perhaps I'm nitpicking, but at $200+ a bottle I think picking a few nits is allowed. This is big pinot in the California style and I don't mean that as a criticism of the California style, although I prefer it in my California wines and not my Burgundy wines. While touches of stemmy whole cluster fermentation lighten the wine in a blind tasting you'd be hard pressed to spot this as a Burgundy. This comparison is interesting because it does not so much put down the Echezeaux as remind you how good the best California pinot noir can be.
While the best vintages are always from warm years, which produce ripe grapes that become rich, complex wines, it is also true that more is not better especially when it comes to pinot noir. Extremes of all types overwhelm terroir, in this case erasing Echezeaux and replacing it with an excellent pinot noir of indeterminate origin. As I remember the brutal and deadly heat of that summer it is amazing that Dujac produced a wine as good as this very hearty Burgundy.
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Links for 2008-06-14 [del.icio.us]
Date: Sun, Jun 15, 2008 Wine Tasting
- http://www.fightthesmears.com/
Fight the Republican lies - Jackson Pollock by Miltos Manetas, original design by Stamen, press any key to s
You become Jackson
Great Grenache
Date: Fri, Jun 13, 2008 Wine Tasting
From the stony vineyards of Chateauneuf du Pape comes great wines made primarily from grenache, some of which sell for hundreds of dollars and are fought over by collectors. From the wilds of Sardegna (Sardinia) comes great grenache that doesn’t cost fifteen dollars a bottle. While it doesn’t taste like the supercharged wines coming from Chateauneuf these days it certainly does remind of the wines from that region twenty years ago.
Proving itself year-in-and-year-out as a tremendous wine value is the Cannonau di Sardegna Riserva from Sella & Mosca and the 2004 vintage is no exception. Cannonau is the Italian name for grenache. Easily found for under $15 this is a great bargain and a quick look at WineZap showed some retailers under $10. If your reference point is grenache from Australia or new wave Spanish wines you won’t recognize this wine as a grenache. However, if traditionally styled wines are your thing you’ll love this wine for what it is not. It’s not purple, opaque, jammy or 15% alcohol. What it is, is graceful with with no small dose of complexity. Light ruby in color with a touch of garnet it is quite translucent as in good pinot noir. Leaning the glass over you can easily read through it. The nose is spicy and earthy with hints of leather, wild mushrooms, ripe plums and maybe, just maybe, a touch of brett. It hits the palate with a graceful lightness at first, but then firm tannins and warmth remind you it is indeed grenache. The finish is ripe and warm with a hint of prunes and closes with a tannic snap. While you can’t claim that this is a great wine, it is a very good wine and for the money a great deal.
Perhaps I like wines like this because they are so distinct. Wines made in traditional ways just have a more individual personality. I can’t imagine this wine coming from anywhere but Sardegna. I like that.
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Very Jealous
Date: Fri, Jun 13, 2008 Wine Tasting
Brooklynguy's Wine and Food Blog: 2006 Beaujolais - Dressner's Tasting
I pass this along because these notes need to be shared. This was a wonderful tasting and I'm very jealous I was not there. Fortunately Brooklynguy was and his notes are a must read. Fine Beaujolais is still the greatest value in profound red wine anywhere in the world.
