2008 Darting Risling Kabinett Dürkheimer Hochbenn, Pfalz

I apologize in advance for my haphazard writing style and for probably not writing my best or most complete blog entry. I run the risk of reducing what (if any) respect you might have had for my writing by posting this without having had much sleep because I can neglect the blog no longer and I feel inspired by this delicious wine. This is a Terry Theise Selection. Theise is a fantastic importer (technically, he works with Michale Skurnik Wines out of New York as the importer, but Theise selects the estates) of German, Austrian, and grower Champagne wines (more on grower Champagnes another time). This is one of the few importers whose wine I will buy without question based on my trust of their palate. The wine is distributed by SoPo and can be had for about $19 retail. I got it at Browne Trading and I am told that it's also available at Rosemont on the Hill. I've decided to start including where I get these wines because of comments from long ago. The wine's nose is a bit reticent, but has a slight sting of sulfur and shows wet stone and steely minerality with hints of yellow apple peel, orange, and flowers. It smells extremely fresh and clean (I'm not getting any aroma of sulfur, just a bit of a physical sensation, which usually comes across as stinging or burning. I want to point out here that for most of the population, sulfur is nothing to fear, and that these wonderful German wines often have a bit more than most to insure their stability because of their residual sugar.). The palate is much more expressive, with similar components, but with the fruit and floral elements being more obvious (still dominated by stony minerality, though). The orange comes across distinctly as mandarin, and some of the fruit and floral elements combine to give me an impression of peach blossom. There is residual sugar (just a little off dry), but the high acidity cleans out any sensation of sweetness by the finish. I suspect that with a decant or a couple more years in the bottle this would open up a bit more, mainly because of the noticeable sulfur presence, which tends to decrease with aeration or bottle age. This is what I want in a Kabinett: clean, slightly off dry, not tasting like Spatlese as far as the ripeness of the fruit characteristics, and enough acidity to make it super food friendly. very good, and there's not much more I expect or really want from a reasonably priced (under $20) wine in this category. 88 points. I want more. And at 9% alcohol by volume, this is perfect for a warm summer afternoon. Of course, the only downfall to that is you might not get to enjoy it as I'm sure it would really shine: with shellfish or other light seafood. Sorry for the sideways picture. I'm not good with computers and I can't figure out how to fix it now that I've completed the post.

The glory of Cru Beaujolais: Jean Foillard 2005 Morgon "Côte du Py"

Today I decided to be totally hedonistic and open a nice bottle of wine to have with lunch. This is before going to a dinner with fellow wine nerds where we will be drinking many truly great wines (at least by reputation). I wasn't planning on writing about this wine, but I'll tell you up front that I like it so much that this seemed like a perfect opportunity to write about the beauty of a good Cru Beaujolais. For those who don't know, many people unfairly think of Beaujolais only in terms of the juicy tasting Beaujolais Nouveau which, delicious as it is, is not the highest quality wine. This generalization is grossly unfair and untrue. There are 10 individual villages within Beaujolais that are known as the crus. "Cru" literally translates to "growth" but is often used by the French to designate a specific vineyard area or site. Within these crus there are some growers and producers making wines of far greater quality (and usually price) than the more basic categories of Beaujolais, Beaujolais Nouveau, basic Beaujolais, and Beaujolais Villages (theoretically, and usually literally, a step up in quality from the regularly labeled Beaujolais bottlings). One major difference between the higher quality wines and the juicy stuff is that the former are usually made with traditional vinification methods rather than what is known as carbonic maceration. Without getting too technical here, and as not to bore readers who already know all of this, carbonic maceration is a type of fermentation that produces aromas and flavors of artificially flavored fruit candy, bubblegum, and banana. Producers not using this method, but rather vinifying the wines similarly to other high quality red wines, are usually using fruit from one of these individual crus rather than bottling under the general appellation of Beaujolais. There are exceptions. I have even heard of a Beaujolais Nouveau produced without carbonic maceration. Edit: I also recently found out that there is some semicarbonic maceration, meaning some carbonic maceration and some regular, yeast vinification, used in this wine. I am humbly reminded that I should not generalize and there are, of course some high quality wines made with this method. So, again, I am humbled and will leave in all of my original text for the sake of honesty and as a lesson to myself to do my homework before writing about a wine. Getting back to my original text: in general, the highest quality wines will not say "Beaujolais" on the label, but will instead be labeled under one of these appellations: Régnié, Fleurie, Julienas, Chenas, Morgon, Moulin a Vent, Brouilly (the largest and most common of the crus), Cote de Brouilly, Chiroubles, and Saint-Amour. There are some accents of some of those that I didn't include, but I'm not too computer savvy and cutting and pasting kept on giving me italics. A cru Beaujolais might still be made with some carbonic maceration, (as this one is) but many are not. Another huge difference (maybe more important now that I know more?) is that the quality minded producers will use native yeast instead of specific lab cultured varieties, the latter of which also can contribute to the "tutti-fruity" banana type flavors. Morgon and Moulin a Vent are known as the most ageworthy crus (yes, many of these wines can age for ten or more years and develop beautifully), and Morgon is known for producing the most powerful wines. Within the appellation of Morgon there is a specific hillside known as the Cote du Py. This is supposed to be the finest site within Morgon. For those who haven't become too bored to continue reading, I'll now get into the wine.

Jean Foillard 2005 Morgon "Cote du Py" This wine is imported by Kermit Lynch, a wonderful importer of French and Italian wines. I am more familiar with his French portfolio than his Italian wines, but I can tell you that I find the quality and consistency to be quite high within the French offerings. His wines feature this image on the back labels:

This importer is represented in Maine by National and Wicked, but I'm not sure if this specific bottling is available. The current vintage is probably 2007 or 2008. I got this wine at a New Hampshire state store for $33. It is showing an array of red and dark berry fruits, including red and black cherry as well as red and black raspberry. The red fruits stand out more than the darker ones. It also has some spice components, both sweet and savory, and a gorgeous floral character, which is typical for these wines. It is medium bodied with medium minus aromatic and flavor intensity. There is complexity here to which my words are not doing justice. Beyond the surface flavors I have mentioned, there are other layers that are so harmonious that it's tough for me to find specific descriptors. What it comes down to for me is that this wine is delicious and so pretty. It seems delicate but strong, if that makes any sense. What I mean is that it's not a big wine but I'm sure it has quite a few years to go and will improve over that time. There's nothing here that I think will fade. The finish is fairly long (medium plus) and doesn't lose elements or thin out as so many finishes do. It hangs on nicely being beautiful and delicious. This wine is drinking wonderfully now, but I wish I had more so I could check in on it over the next five to ten years. It is one of the pricier Cru Beaujolais you're likely to encounter, but in the grand scheme of things I think it is undervalued at $33. I had a red Burgundy last night with a suggested retail of $40 and this wine puts that one to shame. The comparison is fair as this wine does remind me a bit of red Burgundy with brighter, California Pinot Noir style fruit, and these wines have a reputation for becoming more and more like their Pinot Noir siblings from the north as they age. This wine is outstanding and easily deserving of 91 points. (I gave the $40 Burgundy 82 points) Please, if you're not already familiar with this category, go out and try some Cru Beaujolais soon. They're great warm weather wines and they're very food friendly. I would even suggest serving them to those "I don't drink Beaujolais" snobs and not telling them until later that the wine is from Beaujolais.

Nasiakos Moschofilero 2009

I just went to the Greek wine tasting at RSVP and was quite pleased with some of what I tasted. This wine -- The Nasiakos (producer) 2009 Moschofilero (grape variety) was one of the highlights for me. So I decided to come home, open a bottle, and write a review. Upon first opening this wine I noticed quite a bit of sulfur dioxide, which, in excessive amounts, gives me a kind of stinging feeling in my nostrils and sinuses when I smell the wine. Some aeration has reduced the sensation, but I still notice it faintly about 10 minutes after opening and pouring the wine. If I were serving this to people I would probably decant, as that often seems to help with this condition. Without digressing too much (when can I help it?), I feel the need to mention that there are sulfur compounds naturally present in all wines, even if none have been added. Also, for those who think they might have some kind of allergy to sulfur compounds, you are probably wrong. If you are able to eat dried fruit and a variety of fresh fruits without problems, you are not allergic to sulfites. If you are blaming a sulfite allergy on your headaches, you are not allergic to sulfites. Sulfur allergies give asthmatic symptoms, not headaches. So if you can eat raisins or apples without having trouble breathing, you're not allergic to sulfur. I hope I haven't been too brash in my partial explanation. I am usually much more polite in person, but writing to a faceless, nameless audience has given me the courage to vent my frustration that arises every time I hear someone tell me "I can't drink red wines because I'm allergic to sulfites" (whites generally have higher levels of sulfur dioxide than reds).

So, back to the wine. It's distributed by National and retails for about $11. The aromatic intensity is about medium. I'm getting pretty aromas of peach, nectarine (big time nectarine), flowers, and paraffin. I know this is a dry wine, but it smells sweet. If you've had much experience with Gewurtztraminer or Viognier you probably know what I am talking about. I'm also noticing subtle hints of bubblegum and baking spices. It does remind me of Gewurtztraminer, and I was told that the comparison is made often. The palate is quite a bit like the nose. As I mentioned, this wine is dry, meaning there is no residual sugar, but the flavor profile reminds me of sweet things. Again we've got medium intensity, and medium minus body. The acidity is also medium minus, which troubles me a bit as I think of trying to pair this with foods, though it would be great with a salad that might have a fruity dressing or a little fruit in it. The flavor profile is very much like the aromatic profile I described. There's a lot of fruit there and a strong floral element. The finish is quite long (medium plus) for a wine that isn't terribly intense flavorwise. I still notice the sulfur a bit and that is bothering me just a touch, but I assume that will continue to "blow off" (lessen) with more air. As it is now, I'm firmly into "good" territory, and bordering on "very good", with the excess sulfur holding it back just a hair. I don't smell or taste the sulfur, which can often come across similarly to a burning match, but I feel it in the back of the throat a little as well as in the nostrils. I suspect that if I had chilled the wine this element might not be noticeable. I didn't pick up on it at the tasting at all. That adds up to 84 points in my book, making this a definite buy. I'm glad I got 2 bottles. I can see me going through a fair amount of this wine this summer, especially when I want to sip a little wine in the sun and I'm not eating anything with it. There's a lot of wine out there. Please don't drink the same old stuff this summer when you can find unique, fun bottles like this one.

Alanera Nero D'Avola 2008, Sicily

Your long lost wine reviewer is back! I decided today that I had neglected our (imaginary?) readers enough and, despite wanting a beer when I got home, I opened a bottle of wine. what commitment! Perhaps drinking wine when I wanted a beer is a greater sacrifice than finding the time to write an entry more often than I do? Of course not. Let's face it: I drink wine almost every night and it's been over a month since I've written about one here. Well, no more apologies or promises. I won't even complain about the plastic fake cork that sealed this wine (see how I snuck that in there?).

Let me start by saying I have no idea why Nero D'Avola is not a greater force in the US wine market. These wines often deliver the big fruit that many Americans crave while remaining food friendly and are generally very reasonably priced. Nero D'Avola is the grape variety and the wines are generally from Sicily, though the variety does pop up by itself and in blends in other parts of Southern Italy.

This wine is distributed by Devenish and can be found for about $13 at retail. It is showing bold, plummy fruit on the nose with a little peppery spice and dirt. I'm also picking up a hint of barnyard. Some of the fruit is a bit muddled and stewed, but there is some fairly fresh black cherry accenting the plum. It's also showing a bit of a perfumy, incensy character. On the palate this is fairly bold (medium plus intensity). It starts off just like the nose, but that leads into a midpalate of fresher, more focused fruit flavors which highlight red and black cherries as well as the plum. The finish (medium length) is quite balanced and almost elegant (certainly elegant compared to the attack). I really like the midpalate and finish of this wine as they show more balance and focus than the attack or nose did (not that the attack or nose are an unbalanced mess; they're nice, too). Picking the wine apart like this, I have unfairly failed to mention that it is downright delicious. It's not thought provoking, but I've finished a small glass just writing this review. I would say the wine is good, bordering on very good, but doesn't quite have the complexity for me to say very good. That equals 84+ points in my book, making this a definite buy. I think this wine shows how Nero D'Avola can appeal to those who like fruity New World wines as well as those who like earthy Old World wines. If you're not drinking Nero D'Avola and you like red wine I think you're making a huge mistake. Get out there and try some.

Laurent Miquel Père et Fils Syrah Grenache 2008

Hi, again, I know it's not really soon, but I am here to write about a locally available wine, as promised. I will also embark on another quick rant at the end, but I promise to be brief this time and I will save it for the end in hopes that people will at least read the wine review as you don't have to wade through complaints about which you do not care. The wine in front of me is the Laurent Miquel 2008 Syrah Grenache. It's got the words "Père et Fils" on it, which I see all the time on French labels, but for which I never bothered to find a definition. I just looked it up and found that it translates to something along the lines of "father and son". Now I know. The region here is Vin de Pays d'Oc, so, again, we're probably talking Languedoc (France) here, though it could technically include fruit from Roussillon. I am sorry for you and the wine that I was drinking coffee earlier, because it certainly impairs my palate somewhat, but I think I can adequately evaluate the wine anyway. At least I don't smoke cigarettes. (Side note, I found it funny in the movie Mondovino [which, side side note, was a great movie if you're a bit of a wine nerd or if you just want a very opinionated look at artisanal winemaking versus making "globalized" or "international" styles of wine which has a lot of footage of people's nice dogs], seeing the super expensive winemaking consultant, Michel Rolland, seem to chain smoke cigarettes when most of his job is to taste wines and give advice based on his evaluations.) So, digression over -- here's my take on the wine:
$10, distributed by DaVine Wine
Nose: jammy blackberry with hints of red berries and a bit of nail polish remover (it's a touch more than I'd like, but it's not enough for me not to drink the wine), along with a little peppery spice. This smells like it's a warm climate wine because of the jamminess, but the intensity is medium and I don't smell heat from the alcohol. The palate is pretty similar, but the red berry fruit is more defined (still more dark fruit than red here), as is the black pepper, which is still not too overwhelming, as it sometimes can be for me. Intensity here is also medium, with medium to medium plus body. On the finish, the fruit fades faster than the pepper. The nail polish remover element (ethyl acetate) is a bit more pronounced than I'd like on the midpalate, but I don't notice it in the beginning or end. The finish is medium minus and quite peppery. Overall, this is a simple wine with a minor flaw and minor imbalance. As a result, right now I'm saying it's near the cusp of acceptable to good, but into the good territory. The ethyl acetate does become more apparent with air, but it's hardly noticeable upon popping and pouring. Keep in mind that my number scores are literal as the poor/acceptable/good/very good/outstanding scale goes, and thus seem lower than those of many professional critics. I'll give this an 81+. To be fair, if you like really fruity wines, you'll like this more than I do. At $10, I'd still say it's a solid value if you like wines like this or wines from this area.

Now the biggest problem I have with this wine: it comes sealed with one of those rubbery plastic fake "corks". I've complained about these before, so I'll stop there.

Muscadet and Proposed Legislation

So, this is about a wine I recently got really excited about. I drank the wine last night, so please understand that I will do my best to describe it based on my recollection. The wine's aromas and flavors are fairly fresh in my mind because I was so excited about it. This is not the best or most complex wine, but I put it right at the top of very good, bordering on outstanding, and I think it's relevant that I review it here now. The reason is that this is another wine that is not available in Maine. I'm sure you might be asking yourself why I am bothering to review another wine that's tough to get your hands on. If you've read my other entries, you might now be worried about another tiresome, inappropriate political rant. Well, I do have political motives, but I'll try to be fair to those involved and not throw around accusations that are not true this time. I also really want to tell you about this wine, which is the best Muscadet I've ever had. Muscadet is a wine from near the mouth of the Loire river in France. The grape variety is called Melon de Bourgogne. These wines are generally fresh and light, with mineral driven flavors and something reminiscent of sea air. If you open up whatever wine resource you might have, you'll probably see these talked about as wines that should be drunk as young as possible; certainly nothing to throw in your cellar and age. Relatively recently in the long history of this wine region, a small number of growers have realized that if they drastically reduce what are normally very high yields and set out to make serious, rather than rather neutral quaffing, wine, they end up with something that is, indeed ageworthy and complex. I have been intrigued for some time as I have read about these wines but not, until last night, had the opportunity to try one. What's neat is that this wine has already been aged, though I suspect it will continue to improve for the next 5 years or so. The vintage of this wine, in case you couldn't make it out in the picture, is 1997. It is rare to find a well aged wine at retail in general, and almost unheard of to get a wine over 12 years old for under $20. That's what my New Hampshire resident friends (not me, of course; I live in Maine) were able to do, though, by mail ordering this wine. Okay, with tax and shipping it probably came to more like $25 a bottle, but I still consider that one of the best values I've seen for wine.

Before I get into a tasting note, I will say that my reason for writing, besides my excitement over the wine itself, is that there is a bill in the House of Representatives right now, H.R. 5034, that is going to make it very easy for states to pass laws that unconstitutionally prohibit interstate commerce, namely the interstate sales of wine. This bill would make it very difficult for a citizen to challenge the constitutionality of such laws, which is the main way they have been challenged in places like Massachusetts. I will try not to get too political here, but in short, I am for the Constitution and its enforcement, and I am for the right to buy wines not represented by wholesalers in Maine. I cannot buy from retailers in other states, but I now can buy from small producers who do not have representation in our market. I love having this right and applaud the lawmakers involved in recently granting it to citizens of Maine. Allowing states to stop such practices (many will due to the power of liquor wholesale lobbies in all states and on a national level) by writing laws that violate the Constitution would be a great injustice. It could also put a lot of small, quality minded producers whose only way of staying afloat is to sell directly to their small, dedicated customer base throughout the country. I implore anyone who shares my views in this matter to write their House representative and urge that person to vote against this bill. Here are a couple of websites where you can find out a bit more:
Decanter article
Facebook page
actual bill text
Wilson Act (bill would change)
If you do some searching you'll find much more.

So, if you're still with me and you haven't forgotten that this is a wine blog rather than a political one, here's my take on the wine:

1997 Pierre Luneau-Papin Muscadet Sevre & Maine Sur Lie Cuvee Medaillee (not available in Maine, was about $19)

At first, this wine smelled a bit funky. It had a dusty, musty aroma (not cork taint) masking some of the orange and peach that was still coming through. After a few minutes, the mustiness had blown off, revealing layered aromas of stony minerality, orange, peach, and hints of a saline quality and petroleum jelly (sounds weird, but it was interesting and smelled very good). On the palate, this wine was delicious. It was very similar to the nose. It had great finesse and freshness, and that mustiness that blew off was subtly showing itself as a sort of dusty, earthy flavor that was mingling beautifully with the core of fresh fruits. If I hadn't known better, I would assume this was a much younger wine, maybe 4-5 years from vintage. I only might think it was even that old because of the petrol element, but really some wines will show that in their youth, and the freshness of the fruit (fruit elements tend to start tasting dried out or stewed as wines age) would have me thinking this had been bottled within the past year or two. At close to 13 years, I've rarely experienced a white wine with this kind of freshness of fruit, and I've only seen it before in Riesling. Even the Chenin Blancs I've had with similar age have seemed more mature than this wine did (not in a bad way, but it was evident). Considering that those are some of the longest lived dry whites, and Muscadet is generally seen as one of the shortest lived, this is really interesting. It didn't quite have the complexity or progression of flavor for me to call it outstanding, but it is as high as very good goes for me. 89+ points.

If you're sick of reading about wines that aren't available here, or if you don't care and think it's still interesting, let me know by leaving comments. If you're in the former category, send me an email (missatiejacket@yahoo.com) and I will come to your place and open something not locally available that I think will show you why I do care so much about such wines. I will review a wine that is available in this area soon. I promise.

Puydeval 2008 Rouge

Hi, folks! I'm still alive and my computer still works, regardless of what the inactivity here might have led you to suppose. I am here with an open bottle of the 2008 Puydeval, which is a blend of 60% Cabernet Franc, 28% Syrah, and 12% Merlot. The wine has been sealed with the dreaded plastic "cork", which I detest. These closures have been shown to leach flavor components out of the wine, though it hasn't (to my knowledge) been studied to what extent that effect might be noticeable. What really bothers me about this closure is that it does not reliably last more than about 2 years, if even that long. I once got a great deal on a case of wine with these closures that had been in bottle maybe a year or year and a half and was drinking fine. The last few bottles I got to were all oxidized, but all showed different levels of oxidation. Some were kind of drinkable (if you've already opened a few bottles, who cares?) and some went straight down the drain. The wine itself should not have been that bad yet. sad.

Back to the wine at hand: it's labeled as a "Vin De Pays D'Oc", which tells me it can contain grapes from anywhere in the Languedoc or Roussillon areas in Southern France, more likely Languedoc. It's distributed by National and is probably about $14 retail if I remember correctly. This wine is purple and almost completely opaque, except at the rim. It has a big nose of licorice, a jammy melee of somewhat indiscernible fruits, both red and black, but mostly black (my palate might not be at the top of its game today, but I didn't want to neglect the blog any longer), black pepper, a bit of graphite, and a bit of a floral character. I am able to pick out some blackcurrant in the fruit character, which is not as jammy as some but not really smelling like fresh fruit either. There's also a hint of alcohol and just a hint of paint thinner (ethyl acetate), which I usually consider a flaw right away, but it's very faint here and I can deal with it, along with a little cedar.

The wine's body is probably medium plus, as is the flavor intensity. The palate is a bit hot (alcohol coming through), but overall fairly pleasant. I notice a lot of blackberry and blackcurrant, along with that peppery spice and those hints of purple flowers and cedar. There might even be a barely perceptible (to me, but I think my recognition threshold is below average) amount of residual sugar here, which brings out the fruit more. Don't get me wrong; this is still a dry wine. The fruit here is fresher than it was on the nose (not as jammy), though this is clearly not a cool climate wine, which would generally have more definition of flavor and less heat from the alcohol. There is a bit of tannin, which is fine grained and enjoyable. I could see this going well with roasted meats or some kind of game. The finish is about medium, which is fine. If the nose were as good as the palate, I could get more excited about this wine. Frankly, I've not been drinking a lot of "New World" styled wines lately (I know it's France, but the Languedoc wines often taste more New World to me), and they're not generally my preference, so I might be being a bit hard on this wine. Every time I go back to it, though, the nose is kind of weird and the palate is really nice. Overall, I'd give this 84 points (good, almost very good) and say if you like this style it's probably right up your alley and priced fairly. EDIT: Later in the evening this wine started smelling really stewed, like I was cooking with wine. The flavor did not degrade nearly as much, but it did start tasting just a little more like my initial impression of the aroma. I would have to say, after the whole experience, that this is more of an 82+ point (good) wine for me. If it had shown as it did later from the start, I'd really be trashing it. Too bad. I think this is a great illustration of how unfair it can be to a wine and to a readership to make such snap judgments as we often do. A wine can easily change this much for better or for worse with a couple hours' aeration. I strongly believe that this shows how flawed a system of wine scoring and the power the professional critics' scores are. I have also noticed what a significant difference as little as six months more in the bottle can have on a wine, which again illustrates the same point. I will continue to use scoring as I am a hypocrite, but I would encourage people to pay more attention to the poor/acceptable/good/very good/outstanding scale than the actural number, and to always remember that we all taste things a bit differently and we can have vastly different preferences in taste. I was fortunate enough to buy this when Hannaford had it marked down after its time in the Limited Reserve bins, which is something to look for if you live near a Hannaford that has a bunch of those.

Thank you so much for checking back here despite so many weeks of nothing. I appreciate more than you probably realize that you would take the time to do so.