The Wine Broad's Board

Oaky Chardonnay: On the Way Out or Here to Stay?

Over the last few years I've read quite a few articles in wine magazines and newspapers declaring that Americans are over those big ol' oaky Chards and are embracing oak-less versions, or unwooded varieties like Riesling and Gruner Veltliner. Could it be true? Well, sort of. If you look at sales growth by percentage, wines like Riesling and GruV are kicking Chardonnay's ass. But when you consider the fact that Chardonnay still has waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more market share than many of those unoaked varieties combined, the trend seems far less revolutionary.

A look at the white wines in my sample stash reflects the reality of the market: California wineries are still putting out a hell of a lot of Chardonnay. And they wouldn't be doing it if nobody was drinking the stuff. Mind you, not all of it is over-oaked--but it seems that the higher up you go in price the more oak influence the wines seem to have. ("I paid $900 each for those French oak barrels, damnit, so by god, people are going to taste them!") What I wouldn't give to find a nice bottle of Gruner Veltliner on my doorstep...

You won't be surprised to read that California Chard doesn't top the list of my favorite white wines (too many splinters in the throat can make anyone jaded). But there are some that have won my heart. Namely:

Stony Hill Vineyard 

MacRostie - Carneros or Sonoma Coast

Dutton Goldfield - Dutton Ranch

Marimar Torres - "Acero"

Steele - Bien Nacido Vineyard

Of the Chards listed above, only one (the Marimar Torres) is unoaked. The appealing thing, to me, about the wines is that the purity of the fruit shines through, and isn't overshadowed by oak. It's all about balance, baby.  

My questions for you, dear readers, are the following: Do you think Americans are truly moving on from Chardonnay to unwooded (or less wooded) varieties? And which California Chardonnays (unoaked or otherwise) tickle your fancy?

 

Too Hot to Handle

Ever notice on a particularly hot day that your wine bottles are leaking up through the corks?

Heat is one of wine's many enemies--along with light, vibration and neo-Prohibitionists. When the going gets hot, your wine could quickly go from tasty to nasty. How? Heat forces wine to lurch forward in its aging process in a decidedly ungraceful way. Even if your heat-exposed wine manages to escape immediate damage (the wine can have a "stewed" taste), it will usually start going downhill on a rapid rate. When that happens it's time to open that bottle and drink up!

Protecting wine from heat can be a challenge if you--like me--live in an older home, without air conditioning or even a nice cool basement for wine storage. One of these days I'll suck it up and buy one of those nifty temperature-controlled wine chillers, but until then, I'll just have to live with a few leaky bottles per year. (Anybody out there want to share their clever wine-storage ideas to help beat the heat?)

For more on the science and heartbreak of heat exposure, check out my latest column for Wine Review Online.

 

 

 

In Defense of Blends

Among the many great wines I sampled during my trip to Western Australia last month was an array of Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon blends.  These wines are everywhere in Western OZ, and it' s no wonder: They're fresh, lively and perfect for summertime drinking. Depending on the ratio of the grape varieties, the combo of SB and Semillon can yield a grassy, herbaceous wine, or one that's a bit rounder with passionfruit notes. Just thinking about it makes me thirsty!

But before you start drooling, I should tell you that these Western Australian beauties aren't easy to find in the US of A. Why? Because someone went and told the Aussies that Americans think single-varietal wines are better than blends. Do people in the U.S. really still believe that? Most wines these days have a little something blended in to help balance their flavors, give them better color or add more enticing aromas. Many people unknowingly drink Cabernet enhanced with Merlot or Malbec, or Syrah kissed with a touch of Viognier (another fairly common Aussie combination, following the Rhone model), because the blending grapes aren't always listed on the labels. There's no shame in mixing different grape varieties--most of the time such inter-grape blending results in tastier wine.

But I don't have to tell you that, right? If you're reading this blog, you're probably well aware of the benefits of blending. So back to my original subject: Sauv Blanc/Semillon blends from Western Australia. Though I've painted a pretty bleak picture of their availability here, some have managed to make it over to our hemisphere. Here are reviews of some of my favorites, taken from my latest column for Wine Review Online:

Chalice Bridge, Margaret River Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc 2007 ($20, Vinum Global):  Made from 65% Semillon and 35% Sauvignon Blanc, this is Chalice Bridge's top-selling wine.  It's fresh and clean, with passion fruit/guava aromas, grassy notes and good concentration. 

Clairalt, Margaret River Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc 2007 ($20, Clairault, Inc.):  A 50-50 blend, the wine has a lovely floral aroma and nice roundness, while retaining its fresh grapefruit aroma and flavor.  It's crisp, but more complex and balanced than the winery's straight Sauvignon Blanc wine. 

Moss Wood, Margaret River Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc 2007 ($22, USA Wine Imports):  Made in stainless steel tanks, this SSB is heavy on the Semillon (70%), which gives it soft, round flavors of melon, along with flinty, mineral notes and balanced crispness. 

Watershed, Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon 'Shades' 2007 ($18, America Uncorked):  With tropical aromas of passion fruit and guava, Watershed's SBS (70% Sauvignon Blanc, 30% Semillon) has refreshing grapefruit/citrus flavors and a fresh, clean finish.  This is one of my favorite Western Australian SBS wines. 

Barwick Estates, Pemberton, Margaret River  Semillon-Sauvignon Blanc 2007 ($13, Great Sunsan Imports):  The Barwick SSB's tropical fruit aroma is accented with a pleasantly grassy edge.  On the palate, it's crisp and balanced, with zesty citrus/lime flavors and mineral notes.  It's a great value at just over $10. 

Leeuwin Estate, Margaret River Sauvignon Blanc-Semillon 'Siblings' 2007 ($18, Old Bridge Cellars):  Leeuwin's winemaker prefers to make his SBS in the grassy-herbal style, rather than in the tropical-fruit style some others prefer.  The wine's aroma has notes of freshly cut grass and green beans, with crisp lemon-citrus flavor and balanced, bright acidity. 

To find the wines in your area, check search-engine sites like Wine Searcher. Or, if you live near San Francisco, head for The Jug Shop, which has a terrific selection of Australian wines.

It's worth the effort, I promise! 

A New Twist on "Old-Vine"

A while back I asked readers to share their views on the meaning (or, more accurately, the lack of meaning) of the term "old-vine." Is there any point to putting it on wine labels if there's no legal definition? For some vintners, old-vine might mean 15 years old; for others it could mean 80. Who's to say? No, I'm not about to rehash the whole drama: I actually have something new to add to the discussion.

While researching my February "Marketing Matters" column for Wines & Vines, I conducted an online survey of California vintners to find out where they stand on the issue, and received 172 resonses. Here's what I found out:

• 71% believe the term "old-vine" should be regulated (this was surprising to me--I thought everyone was fed up with rules!)
• When asked how old an "old-vine" vineyard should be, 63% chose 50 years old as the minimum legal age, while 28% chose 20 years old as the legal minimum.
• 39% of survey participants who said they their wines as "old-vine" said their "old-vine" vineyards are only 15-49 years old. (So what happened to that 50-year minimum?)

Of course, the real question is: What do wine-drinkers think the term means? Do they care? I did a little online survey for that too:

• More than half of the people who responded had no idea that there's no legal definition of "old-vine."
• Most (84%) said they don't think "old-vine" wines are any better than younger-vine wines (take that, wine marketers!). Even so, 63% said they think there should be a legal definition of the term.

W&V subscribers can read the full story online. In the meantime, I'll pour myself a tasty glass of Beaujolais Nouveau.

Not the Same "Auld" Bubbles

Well, it's almost New Year's Eve, and you may still be wondering what you're going to drink when the clock strikes 12. If you're looking for something different this year, why not go for a sparkling Gewurztraminer or sparkling Chambourcin? No, really! Is there some kind of law that says you have to drink Champagne on New Year's Eve? For recommendations, check out my column on Wine Review Online.

Happy New Year! And stay tuned for a report on wine tasting in Texas...

Tube-ular Wine

There's good news for those of you who wouldn't touch wine-in-a-box with a 10-foot straw: It now comes in tubes! Revelry, a new brand from Washington's Columbia Valley, is exclusively packaged in nifty 1.5L tubes. The line includes a 2005 Merlot, 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2005 Chardonnay.

I've seen wine-in-a-tube before, but this two-bottle version is more compact. In fact, when I first saw it I thought it held only a single bottle.

It was a little tricky getting the tap into the right position to pull it through and open the thing, but once I did, it was smooth sailing. The Merlot is perfectly respectable everyday wine, with smooth black cherry flavors and a touch of spice. The bonus feature is that, in it's recyclable bag-in-tube package, it will stay super-fresh for a month.

Now for the bad news: I have absolutely no idea how much the wine costs. The Revelry folks sent me a folder crammed with information about the company, founder Jared Burns and the wines. Conspicuously absent was the retail pricing info. As a former wine PR rep, this sort of thing makes me insane. Why bother to send all that info, only to make the wine writer call you to find out a crucial piece of information like price? (No, it's not on the website either: I checked.)

So, this wine could be a great value at, say, $10, or it could be a rip-off at $30. Which is it, Revelrers??? 

New development: I finally got over my annoyance (damned curiosity!) and called for the price: $19.99 for each tube-o-wine. This is a bit better, I think, than your average $10 California Merlot, so that's not a bad deal.

Michigan Wine: Apple of My Eye

If you think good American wines can only come from California, you need to get out more. A couple summers ago while visiting my family in Michigan, I tasted some excellent wines in the Leelanau and Old Mission Peninsulas, near Traverse City. (If you're a Michigander, now is the time to hold up your left hand and point to the pinky area to show the location.) They make some delicious Rieslings and Gewurztraminers up that way--most of which are better than any I've had from West Coast wineries.

During my most recent visit to my homeland, I was introduced to a surprising new favorite: Gill's Pier Icebox Apple Wine ($10). If your eyes automatically roll back into your head at the mention of fruit wines, because you think they're all tooth-achingly sweet, think again. This one is refreshingly tart, with a crisp fermented apple aroma.

I've you've ever been to Barcelona and washed down your tapas with Sidra, the local sparkling hard cider, Gill's Pier's Apple Wine has that exact flavor (minus the sparkle). I'm an absolute junkie for Sidra, and you just can't find the stuff in the U.S. (at least, I haven't seen any). I'll definitely be placing an order with Gill's when my annual tapas party rolls around.

So, how do they make the stuff? 

Winemaker Bryan Ulbrich (who made excellent Rieslings for Michigan's Peninsula Cellars, and now has his own winery called Left Foot Charley), uses four different kinds of apples: Northern Spies, Golden Delicious, Rhode Island Greenings and Ida Red. It's made like a white wine in that it is cool fermented for four to six weeks and only aged on the light lees for about two months. They bottle it with about 2.5% residual sugar (yet it's surprisingly dry). The winery only bottles 250-300 cases per year, so get your hands on some while you can.

Sake2Me

It took me many years to get around to this point, but I really like cold sake. When I first encountered the stuff, it was always served hot--and I was usually serving it up to patrons of the various sushi restaurants in which I worked. (An Italian girl wearing a full kimono get-up: not a pretty picture.)

In any case, I eventually came to understand that good sake is always served cold. (For more on my sake epiphany, and about sake in general, see this article I wrote for Wine X several years ago.)

A new category in the sake market (at least in the U.S.) is sparkling sake. It's often packaged in single-serving bottles, with a crown cap (the kind they use on beer bottles). Sometimes slightly sweet, with playful bubbles, sparkling sake is a fun alternative to aperitifs like Prosecco, or to higher-octane cocktails. And--surprise!--it's great with sushi.

This afternoon I tasted a new entry into the sparkling sake category: Sake2me.  It comes in four flavors: Ginger Mango, Yuzu Citrus, Green Tea and Asian Pear ($13.99 per four-pack of 187ml bottles). While this is not what I'd call "serious" sake, it certainly is tasty. Though it weighs in at about 7% alcohol, I could imagine drinking this stuff at breakfast--it's that deceiving. My favorite was the Green Tea flavor: not overly sweet, and with a definite infusion of green tea. You can find Sake2me at Whole Foods Markets in the Bay Area.   

Does Mass-Produced = Swill?

After reading my "Hot Fizz" post, one guy commented that he won't be drinking any "mass-produced swill" like Korbel with his Thanksgiving dinner, and will instead be serving a French Champagne that sells for 50 bucks a bottle. Nice for him, but I wonder: Had Thurston ever tried Korbel's pink sparkler before dismissing it?

I too am a fan of limited-production, hand-crafted wines made by independent producers, but that's not to say that I'm ruling out everything else. After years of attending wine events, tasting through wine samples and visiting countless wineries, I've learned never to say never: Just when you start thinking all mass-produced wine is crap, one of them is bound to sneak up and surprise you. On the flip side, I've tasted rivers of "boutique" wines--priced anywhere from $30 a bottle to over $100--that I wouldn't buy for a quarter of their suggested retail prices. I've never been a big Korbel fan, but their pink sparkler is an exception. I challenge you to find a better pink bubbly in the U.S. for 10 bucks.

We'd all love to drink Sea Smoke Pinot on a daily basis and brine our Thanksgiving turkeys in Krug Champagne, but that's just not realistic for most people--whether for economic reasons or logistical ones. Sometimes you forget to bring a bottle from your personal stash, and the grocery store is the only wine seller on the way to wherever you're going; sometimes you're in a strange town and the only place that sells wine is a double-wide trailer a mile from your in-laws house (true story); sometimes you're at an outdoor concert with limited beverage options.

When confronted with such realities, it's nice to have go-to wines that you can count on to quench your thirst for wine without offending your taste buds. The non-small producers that I've found to be consistently good include J. Lohr (still family-owned, by the way), Sebastiani (ditto) and Geyser Peak (the Sauv. Blanc in particular). I've made do with much less--even on Thanksgiving. (When I'm at my dad's house in Michigan I've even been known to drink Carlo Rossi jug wine because that's what's in the house. Hasn't killed me yet.)

Anyone else out there want to share the names of their go-to "big brand" wines?

Hot Fizz

While fall is elbowing summer out of the way in other parts of the country, the temps are still toasty here in Northern California. For my friends in San Francisco, this is the beginning of their "summer."

To me, the extended summer means more time to sip my favorite warm-weather wines. Last weekend while checking out the Russian River Jazz Fest, I enjoyed a yummy pink sparkler: Korbel's Brut Rose NV. (Sorry Francophiles, but I don't know how to make the accent over the "e" in this application!) For just about $10 per bottle, you get pretty strawberry flavor with a touch of tart acidity. It's medium-dry, so there's none of that nasty "Cold Duck" sweetness that reminds you of that time in college when you drank two bottles in your dormroom and then woke up... oh, never mind, that was me.

My point is that this stuff is a pleasure to drink, and a great value. Don't worry if you live someplace where the weather is on the cooler side; this would be a really nice Thanksgiving-dinner wine, too.