Warming up to a delicious Loire Valley white

When I opened a bottle from France’s Loire Valley this past weekend, Hervé Villemade’s 2015 Sauvignon Blanc, I was reminded of the importance of temperature in enjoying the full spectrum of a wine’s flavors – and that wines without prestigious appellations on their labels can often be delicious values.

What turned out to be a lovely, subtly complex wine appeared at first one-dimensional and enclosed. But within a few minutes, the wine seemed to come alive, releasing wonderful and complex aromas and tastes and reinforcing my confidence that a wine with the broader “Val de Loire” classification could indeed be memorable.

What had happened, simply, was that the wine had warmed up a few degrees or so,  literally taking the chill out of the bottle and allowing the wine to express itself. If you have left a white wine in the fridge for more than an hour so or ordered one at a restaurant, chances are it’s going to be too cold. Tell your waiter to hold the ice bucket and let your wine sit on the table. (Conversely, I often ask that red wines be chilled down a few degrees to bring them to the more expressive and refreshing “cellar temperature.”)

As for the sauvignon, Villemade produces his wine in Cheverny, an appellation that calls for sauvignon to be blended with some chardonnay or a couple of other white varieties. Hence, an all-sauvignon wine must be declassified to the “Val de Loire” designation.

The sauvignon is made from organically farmed grapes (as are all of Villemade’s wines), and shows notes of orange, pear and apricot, a subtle herb touch and a nice mineral edge. The overall impression is generous and round, even with alcohol listed at just 12.5 percent. This is a beautiful wine with a winning price of about $14. It's available at Chambers Street Wines in New York and other stores.

Just promise me you won’t drink it too cold.

In a different league: Grgich Hills 2014 Fumé Blanc

The wine world is awash in sauvignon blanc. The grape is ubiquitous, grown in just about every wine-producing country, from the zippy Southern Hemisphere wines of New Zealand and Chile, to the mineral-driven sauvignons of France’s Loire Valley, to the more opulent wines of California, where one sauvignon blanc is in a class by itself.

That wine is Grgich Hills's Fumé Blanc (another name for sauvignon), and the recently released 2014 vintage is spectacular. This $31 estate wine made from organically grown grapes (as are all Grgich Hills wines), is one of the most balanced and elegant sauvignons you’ll find anywhere. The 2014 vintage is the best I’ve tasted in recent years.

Make no mistake, this is a sauvignon driven by the fruit, and in the mouth there is a lot of it to behold, with notes of pear and apple, some tropical fruit, touches of orange and pink grapefruit, and hints of green apple skin and white flowers. A long, mineral-driven finish gives the wine an attractive “chewiness.” There is an opulence here, achieved in part by the concentration of the fruit itself, but also by the subtle use of oak barrels in fermentation and aging, including six months on the lees. Opulent, but not overpowering, thanks to a good measure of acidity that keeps things fresh.

Many wine drinkers think of sauvignon as little more than cheap and decent wash-down wine, and there is certainly a place for those bottles, whether from Bordeaux or Chile or other parts of California. Grgich Hills brings American sauvignon to a different level and, at $30 or so, the 2014 Fumé Blanc seems like a bargain. (Received as a press sample.)

Swirls: The coming out of organic wine -- some things to keep in mind

Suddenly, it seems, the organic wine crowd is coming out of the woodwork. From growers to importers to supermarkets and other retailers, the wine world is seizing on “organic” as never before. Some growers, of course, have been making natural wines for years, including quite a few in France’s Loire Valley where most choose not to call attention to the fact, preferring to let the wines speak for themselves. And many of them do as wines of distinction. So the bar is high for wineries that trumpet the fact that they are producing organic wines or wines made from organic grapes (I’ll explain the difference in just a minute). My guess is that the market is ready to embrace the organic wine movement more broadly, but the wines will have to demonstrate that they have character, passing the same critical (and consumer) taste tests that non-organic wines must endure.

One that does is Cirelli’s 2010 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, a delightful and refreshing non-oaked white made from organic trebbiano grapes in the Abruzzo region of southern Italy. A group of friends really liked this $14 wine when we served it at a holiday dinner party a couple of weeks ago, and my only regret is that I didn’t buy three or four bottles of it from Chambers Street Wines here in New York, which, speaking of natural and organic and biodynamic wines, has pioneered the trend among retailers for some years now. With stone fruit, pear, herb and citrus notes, Cirelli’s trebbiano is enhanced by an underlying minerality and was excellent with cheeses and other appetizers. Alcohol is a modest and welcome 12.5 percent. (A Zev Rovine Selection, imported by Fruit of the Vine, Long Island City, New York.)

Few wines in this country are labeled “USDA Organic.” That’s because under Department of Agriculture rules, organic wines cannot contain added sulfites, which are used in varying degrees by the vast majority of wineries as a preservative (and which some people say gives them headaches). If a wine is made from organically grown grapes but has sulfites added, the label can only say that it is made from organic grapes, as with the Cirelli wine.

Before the other day, I couldn’t recall the last time I received a wine with the USDA Organic designation. The bottle was from Italy, La Cantina Pizzolato’s 2010 Organic Cabernet Sauvignon NSA, from the Piave appellation in the Veneto region. NSA refers to “no sulfites added,” and the labeling on this wine makes the point that it contains “naturally occurring sulfites.”

I didn’t quite know what to expect but was pleasantly surprised. It's a light cabernet with an almost unheard of alcohol level of 12 percent (most New World cabs are in the 13.5-15 percent range). It has good varietal character with red fruit and blueberry notes and a subtle herbal touch. Made without oak, it reminded me more of Beaujolais than Bordeaux and was stylistically as far away from California cab as you can get. Delicate and refreshing and a bargain at a suggested price of $11. Try it slightly chilled with chicken, pork and veal.

The wine was sent to me by Natural Merchants, an importer of organic and biodynamic wines in Grants Pass, Oregon. Interestingly, I received a press release the other day from Whole Foods Market announcing the fact that it was the only national retailer to carry NSA wines from Italy and Spain, including the cabernet and others from Pizzolato, which it described as “Italy’s top-selling organic winery.” Organic and NSA, it seems, are about to go mainstream.

Swirls: My proposal for Starbucks wine, Chinese Lafite counterfeits, weighing in on wine bottles

SWIRL: Let’s face it. Finding a casual and convenient place for a quick glass of wine or beer can sometimes be a challenge. So Starbucks is expanding its reach into alcoholic beverages with plans to offer them in seven stores in the Chicago area by the end of next year, the Chicago Tribune reports. Beer and wine are currently served at five stores in the Seattle area and one in Portland, Ore. No doubt, the big commercial wine brands are already setting their sites on these re-imagined Starbucks stores. But consider this: how cool would it be if Starbucks were to take a refreshingly un-corporate approach to its wine offerings? Instead of some  marketing committee in Seattle deciding on the wines based on lobbying from the big wine companies, why not offer a sampling of artisanal or lesser-known wines from around the world that changes each week? How about a grüner veltliner from Austria, a cru Beaujolais, or a sparkling Crémant from the Loire Valley with an emphasis on organic and biodynamic growing? Might take a little training of the staff but I have a hunch that many Starbucks customers might be open to a little adventure and smaller-production, sustainable offerings when it comes to wine.

SWIRL: It’s not surprising to hear that in Bordeaux-crazed China, counterfeit bottles of Château Lafite are making the  rounds.  China Digital Times reports that “curiously, China appears to consume far more of the top foreign wines than it actually imports, with counterfeiting rising alongside the legitimate trade. Empty Château Lafite bottles are salvaged from restaurants to be illicitly refilled, and rumours speak of a floating wine factory hidden aboard a cargo ship.” Here’s the full story.

SWIRL: We’ve all received them, those extra-heavy bottles intended to signal a wine’s stature and status, meant to distinguish, say, a reserve wine from a regular bottling. But in this eco-conscious era in the wine industry and beyond, are these bottle behemoths really necessary? Paul Gregutt in the Seattle Times thinks not, and I agree. He cites the growing use of the heavy bottles among wineries in Oregon, a state that, paradoxically, has often led the way on environmental concerns. This story is long overdue.

del.icio.us Tags: Chateau Lafite,China wine,Starbucks,Starbucks wine bar,Seattle Times,Chicago Tribune,China wine counterfeiting,Wine bottles,China Digital Times,Paul Gregutt,Edward Deitch

Winemakers try to carve out a new image for France’s vast Languedoc

NARBONNE, France – Just about everywhere I’ve gone in the last three days here in Languedoc, winemakers lament how this vast region in southern France has suffered for decades from its image as a bastion of quantity over quality wines. They say it parenthetically, however, because there seems to be a great deal of momentum these days for repairing that image – about getting the word out that some first-class wines are being made here. Languedoc is, in fact, the world’s largest wine-producing region, with more than one third of its production shipped abroad. While the U.S. market is growing, it accounts for only five percent of exports, behind China and Canada, both at eight percent. “In the U.S., we have no real image,” said Jérôme Villaret, managing director of the CIVL, the region’s trade organization. Beyond, perhaps, the most broad and basic Languedoc AOC appellation, the wines are largely unrecognizable to most casual American wine drinkers. Ask them about Corbières, Faugéres or Limoux; about Pic Saint-Loup, Picpoul-de-Pinet or Saint-Chinian, and they  will draw a blank. As one agent doing business in the region told me, this would be like asking the average Frenchman to understand the difference between Napa and Sonoma.

And yet, as I am finding in my travels here, there are some superb and original wines being made by passionate, smart and creative winemakers producing authentic terroir wines, many of them under $20. One need only pay a visit, for example, to Claude Jourdan’s Domaine Félines Jourdan overlooking the oyster farms on a vast saltwater lake to realize that her fresh, briny and deliciously fruity Picpoul-de-Pinet can (and should) give Muscadet a run for its money for fish and shellfish. Or spend  some time with Regis Valentin at Château de Lancyre in Pic-Saint-Loup to see what he does with the white roussanne and marsanne varieties and with a range of reds based on syrah, grenache and other grapes. Or taste and talk with  Pierre Bories, right, at Château les Ollieux Romanis in the Boutenac area of Corbières, or Charles-Walter Pacaud at Domaine La Croix Chaptal in the Terraces du Larzac, to see how they are giving new direction and distinction to carignan, a traditional red variety that, in the right hands, produces wines of finesse and elegance.

These are just a few of the winemakers who have impressed me, many of them growing grapes organically in Languedoc, which, with its dry climate, is producing almost a third of its grapes this way and leads in organic production in France. Today, I’m off to Saint-Chinian and Minervois in search of what I hope will be more revelations in this vast and largely undiscovered land.

Technorati Tags: Languedoc wines,Languedoc AOC,Corbieres,Faugeres,Limoux,Pic-Saint-Loup,Picpoul-de-Pinet,Saint-Chinian,Claude Jourdan,Felines Jourdan,Regis Valentin,Chateau de Lancyre,Pierre Bories,Chateau les Ollieux Romanis,Boutenac,Corbieres-Boutenac,Charles-Walter Pacaud,Domaine La Croix Chaptal,Terraces du Larzac,Minervois

Sips: From organically grown grapes, an impressive line of $10 wines from Argentina

To be honest, I don’t taste a lot of $10 wines that get me excited, and so I had only modest expectations on opening a shipment of new releases the other night from Argentina. But Trapiche, the big  Mendoza winery, has done something right with the inauguration of a new brand called Zaphy. The wines, all from the 2010 vintage, are  made from organically grown grapes and include a torrontes, a malbec and a cabernet sauvignon, each with a suggested $9.99 retail price, which means it’s likely that you’ll find them for a bit less.

The torrontes is impressive and should be a hit among those looking for lighter but distinctive wines for summer drinking. Citrusy, with lemon and lime, a touch of vanilla and subtle flower and herb tastes, it’s especially noteworthy for the minerality on the surprisingly long finish. For Asian foods, especially sushi, salads and as a zesty aperitif. Alcohol is 13.5 percent.

The malbec, after a little aeration, shows lovely red berry fruit notes set against a subtle frame of oak with good complexity and tannic structure. Young and fruity, it’s style reminds me of Beaujolais. It should compete easily with comparably priced malbecs like the popular Altos Los Hormigos. Alcohol is 13.5 percent.

The cabernet, while a bit more generic, offers blackberry and spice aromas, a decent tannic structure and is preferable to many California cabs at this level. I am an advocate of organic and biodynamic methods, and these wines show how the power of a big winery can be harnessed to produce impressive results at a very modest price. And in case you were wondering about the word “zaphy,” it’s an indigenous word for “root,” “beginning,” or “origin.” Imported by Frederick Wildman and Sons, New York. Wines received as press samples.

Technorati Tags: Zaphy wines,Trapiche,Argentina wines,Mendoza wines,Argentine malbec,Torrontes,Argentine cabernet sauvignon,Organic wines,Argentine organic wines,Frederick Wildman and Sons,Edward Deitch,$10 wines,$10 and under wines

SWIRLS: Vino 2011 -- “totally insane” Italian appellations, retro wine, Robert Parker

Here in New York, this week’s Vino 2011 Italian Wine Week opened today with some perspectives on Italian wine and other aspects of the wine business from a panel of industry leaders. Here are some of the more interesting observations and comments.

From Leonardo Lo Cascio, Chairman and Founder, Winebow, Inc.

-- “In the sweet retail spot of $25 and under there is not another country that comes close to Italy” for American wine drinkers.

-- On Italian sparkling wines: “I don’t think we have an Italian sparkling wine story, we have a Prosecco story.” Beyond the great success of Prosecco, Italian sparklers “don’t do very well because they are priced like Champagne” and on a special occasion “people want to go safe” with Champagne.

-- On Italy’s wine laws: “Most Italian wine laws are totally irrelevant to the American consumer. People can’t make their way around DOCs or DOCGs. The  whole thing needs to be simplified and made easier. We have some appellations that are totally insane.” Example he cited: Colli Morenici e Mantovani del Garda. “There are 280 of those appellations.”

From Cristina Mariani May, Co-CEO, Banfi Vintners:

-- There is increasing interest among consumers in regional wines from Italy,  and there is a fallback to “retro wines” such as dry Lambruscos, Soaves, Amarones and Frascatis. “What is old is really new again but new in a better style, a purer style.”

-- More and more Italian producers are using natural  growing methods, even if they are not going through the cumbersome process of becoming certified organic.

From Tyler Colman, editor of Dr. Vino.com:

-- On wine journalism and criticism: The traditional model of “handing down points from Manna in Heaven is running out of gas.” Young people, thirsty for wine knowledge, are largely getting it from their friends and passionate retailers. As for wine information on the Web: “It’s a bull market for free content. If you’re giving it away for free on the Internet, people will come and read your content.” He noted that there are four million “core wine consumers” on Twitter alone.

-- Robert Parker won’t be replaced and there will be “a lot more voices” in terms of influential wine writers.

-- On barriers to increasing Italian wine sales even further:  1)more education will be needed because of the great diversity of Italian wines;  2) “The retail channel, I think it’s fair to say, is blocked” because of this country’s still-restrictive wine shipping laws.

Technorati Tags: Vino 2011,Tyler Colman,Dr. Vino,Winebow,Leonardo Lo Cascio,Cristina Mariani May,Banfi Vintners,Castello Banfi,Edward Deitch,Italian wines,Prosecco,Robert Parker

Thanksgiving wine lists: what Randall Grahm and others in the business are thankful for

There is no shortage of Thanksgiving wine advice out there, so instead of joining the pack, as I have for most of the last decade with my own pronouncements about Thanksgiving wine pairings, I decided to do something different this year. What were some of my friends and colleagues in the wine business planning to serve or recommend – from wine styles to regions to individual bottles? A set of email queries prompted a quick response and a broad range of possibilities, which included wines from California, Oregon, Washington, many parts of France as well as Italy, Austria, Germany and Chile. If one theme emerged, it is this: when it comes to Thanksgiving, there are very few rules about wine. Like the stuffing or the gravy, everyone’s tastes and preferences are going to be different. I would add (and the responses largely bear this out) that the wines, whether red or white, will work best when they are on the leaner and less  alcoholic side. Beyond that, my friends seemed to gravitate toward wines with finesse and individuality, as you’re about to see.

The most enviable response came from Joshua Greene, editor and publisher of Wine & Spirits Magazine, for which I occasionally serve on tasting panels. Josh said he would raise a glass, in absentia, from Spain, where he will be meeting on Thursday with the owner of one of the great Rioja producers, R. López de Heredia. “Will think of turkey, native Americans and pilgrims,” he said, “as I toast with a 1981 Gran Reserva Viña Tondonia.”

Randall Grahm, the founder and self-proclaimed president-for-life of California’s Bonny Doon Vineyard, put Thanksgiving in the context of his own wine evolution (or is it revolution?). He wrote: “These days – and I’m more or less counting on this being a semi-permanent state of affairs – I’m pretty much only interested in wines that might be called vins de terroir: wines that express a sense of place, but also wines that exhibit a quality of minerality or life-force (two sides of the same coin). As it turns out, I do think that these sorts of dynamic ‘vital’ wines are in fact a great foil to turkey, which is itself, shall we say, somewhat static.” Among whites, Randall is thinking about a dry riesling from France’s Alsace, perhaps an older example from Fréderic Emile, or one from Austria’s Wachau, or a grüner veltliner, perhaps a Prager Grüner Alte Reben. For reds, he said, “it will most likely be infanticide of an ’05 red Burgundy,” perhaps from Fourier, definitely decanted, or maybe a Cornas from the northern Rhône. As an apéritif, he’s going to try to get his hands on some of Eric Bordelet’s Poire “Granit,” a pear cider from Normandy.

Sips: some favorite late-summer wine values from Spain, Chile and Italy

SIP: The weather has cooled slightly, but there’s still lots of time for rosé, including Julián Chivite’s 2009 Gran Feudo Rosado from the Navarra region of Spain.  It had been a few years since I tasted this wine, and I was reminded the other day just how delicious it is for all of $10 (that’s what I paid for it, but I’m sure you can find it for even less). Made from the garnacha (grenache) grape, with notes of cherry, cassis and spice. It’s great on its own and will match with lots of foods, including chicken, duck, tuna and bluefish. Alcohol 13 percent. Imported by Spain Wine Collection, Congers, New York.

SIP: Natura is a line of wines made with organically grown grapes by Viñedos Emiliana in Chile’s Valle Central. The other day I got  around to tasting the 2008 Natura Cabernet Sauvignon. This is superb, inexpensive cabernet (Wine-Searcher.com lists it from $8 to $12) and is superior to almost all cabs from California at this price. It’s 85 percent cabernet with 10 percent carmenere and smaller amounts of cabernet franc and malbec. It shows good varietal character with notes of blackberry, black cherry, mocha and some herbal overtones. Well balanced, moderately tannic and ready to drink (I enjoyed it slightly chilled). Alcohol 14 percent. Imported by Royal Imports, Old Brookville, New York. (Received as a press sample.)

SIP: With Italian-style tomato sauces, I am partial to Italian wines, and one of my recent favorites is Fontanafredda’s 2008 “Briccotondo” Barbera from the Piedmont region. I’ve bought it twice recently in New York and Long Island, paying $15 each time. The other night we enjoyed it with a simple sauce created from a big bag of “seconds” tomatoes I bought for $2 at one of the local farm stands, some basil and parsley. I tossed the pasta into the sauce in a cast-iron skillet,  sprinkled some grated mozzarella cheese on top and then broiled it for a few minutes to create a wonderful crusty top. Our whole meal (for six people) cost about $10 or so and the Briccotondo was the perfect accompaniment with its ample acidity and notes of cherry, blueberry and earth. A good, inexpensive barbera like this one is just made for simple, fresh tomato sauces that we are lucky enough to make at this time of year. Alcohol 13.5 percent. Imported by Domaine Select Wine Estates, New York.

del.icio.us Tags: Julian Chivite,Gran Feuto Rosado,Navarra,Spanish rosés,Spanish wines,Natura,Organic wine,Natura Cabernet Sauvignon,Natura Sauvignon Blanc,Spain Wine Collection,Royal Imports,Viñedos Emiliana,Chile's Valle Central,Chile's Central Valley,Fontanafredda,Fontanafredda Birccotondo,Fontanafredda Barbera,Barbera,Piedmont wines,Domaine Select Wine Estates,Edward Deitch

Sips: California pinot noir the way I like it

Anyone looking for an American pinot noir with beauty and finesse would do well to get hold of a bottle of Paul Dolan Vineyards’ 2007 Mendocino County Pinot Noir. This lovely California wine with a suggested price of $30 is one of the prettiest pinots I’ve tasted in recent months. A good deal of raspberry, cherry, some floral and vanilla notes framed by  good balancing acidity help belie the fact that the wine weighs in at 14.5 percent alcohol. The color is light and transparent as in many Burgundies, and Burgundy is what the overall style reminds me of, though it’s not quite so austere as many young Burgundies are. The wine is a welcome change from the highly extracted style that dominates California pinot noir. Significantly, only 14 percent of the wine is aged in new oak, which, to my mind, is part of what gives it such a refreshing quality. The grapes are grown organically, and I can’t help but think that this contributes to the overall purity and expressiveness. Drink slightly chilled with grilled pork chops (as I did) or with wild grilled salmon or grilled chicken. Production was 4,730 cases. (Received as a press sample.)

del.icio.us Tags: Paul Dolan Vineyards,Edward Deitch,Paul Dolan Mendocino County Pinot Noir,Mendocino County,Mendocino County pinot noir,Organic pinot noir

Swirls: wine & Islam, natural winemaking and “cup-a-wine”

For the first time, as far as I can tell, wine is being used as part of a growing backlash in France against what some refer to as the  “Islamisation” of the country, which has the biggest Muslim population in western Europe. Read what happened when one group announced a pork-and-wine party in a largely Muslim neighborhood of Paris. Read how AFP reported the story.

Eric Asimov in The New York Times examines the good, the bad and ugly in natural winemaking, including attitudes about the practice. “Most people who make or like the wines,” he says, “feel  as they do simply because they enjoy the way the wines taste, not because they follow a particular dogma. When successful, natural wines can be superb, seeming bold, vibrant and fresh, graceful and unforced.” I, for one, agree. Read the full article.

And it was probably only a matter of time, but we have entered the era of “cup-a-wine” with the introduction of a product called Le Froglet in the UK.  That’s the not-particularly-endearing name of a plastic glass of French wine filled with a your choice of shiraz ,  chardonnay or rosé and kept in the glass with a “tear-off lid,” as in a cup of yogurt or fruit juice. One business news website says they are “flying off the shelves” at the Marks & Spencer chain. That may be the case, but it’s also worth reading one British wine blogger’s assessment. The product is also profiled in The Daily Mail, which has a picture. Sounds, uh, klassy.

del.icio.us Tags: Le Froglet,cup-a-wine,Marks & Spencer,Eric Asimov,natural wine,Islam and wine,pork-and-wine party,France and Islam,Daily Mail,AFP wine,Edward Deitch

Sips: drinking “green” on St. Patrick’s Day

Wine names. Is there a more un-sexy one than “Sustainable White?” I mean, come on. Doesn’t it sound more like a paint color than a wine? And yet, I really did enjoy this $11 California blend, and I’ll tell you about it in a minute. But first, a little background is in order.  

As I’ve observed before, many wineries are jumping on the green bandwagon these days; no doubt it’s one of the hottest trends in winemaking and wine marketing, at least in this country. I point to the American example because in France, as I learned on my visit to the Loire Valley last month, they seem less inclined to wave the green flag to sell their wines, even though organic and biodynamic winemaking has taken off there as well (in fact, in the Loire there is a long history of it). The difference seems to be that the French prefer to let their wines speak for themselves and then to tell you about them if you care to ask. In any event, the 2008 Sustainable White from Mendocino County succeeds because it’s very good wine and, at $11, is a rare California bargain. That said, it’s laudable that the winery is trying mightily to be environmentally correct -- and succeeding .

The winery is Parducci Wine Cellars, owned since 2004 by the  Mendocino Wine Company, whose partners, Paul Dolan and several members of the Thornhill family, have made sustainability the centerpiece of their business. There’s a nice explanation of how they are doing this on the sustainability page of their Web site. I’m assuming that because the wine doesn’t explicitly say so, the grapes are not certified organic, which I wouldn’t expect at this price point.

Parducci’s “Sustainable” line (there is also a red) was created at the request of Whole Foods Market and was sold exclusively at the chain for the first year. The wines are now being sold nationally, with 9,000 cases of each produced. For me, the winner is the white, a blend of mainly chenin blanc and sauvignon blanc with smaller amounts of viognier, muscat caneli and friulano. The most striking thing about it is an unusual layer of smokiness that accents its notes of pear, tropical fruit and citrus. It’s unusually complex for the price and will pair well with a range of foods, including chicken and pork, seafood and risotto with asparagus and shrimp. As for being produced by a sustainable winery? That’s icing on the cake. And the name “Sustainable White?” It’s growing on me. Perhaps I’ll suggest it to the folks at Benjamin Moore, and do let me know what you think of the name. (Wine received as a press sample.)

del.icio.us Tags: Parducci,Paul Dolan,Edward Deitch,Sustainable White,Sustainable,White wine,White blends,California blends,Wine names,Wine labels,California white wines,California whites,Green wine,St. Patrick's wine

The superb Montlouis

I had a delightful tasting and lunch in France last week with Lise and Bertrand Jousset, a young couple who have been farming about 26 acres in the Montlouis-sur-Loire appellation since 2004. Mountlouis has been overshadowed for most of its history by its larger and more famous neighbor, Vouvray, but Lise and Bertrand are among those demonstrating why tiny Montlouis is making its mark producing some of the most exciting chenin blancs in this part of the Loire Valley.

For one thing, they are farming and making their wines organically, though Lise says you will never see the word “organic” on their labels. While an increasing number of winemakers here and elsewhere use organic certification as a badge of honor and as a marketing tool, the Joussets beg to differ. “We don’t want to use ‘organic’ to sell our wines,” Lise says. “We want people to buy our wines because they like them, not because they’re organic.” She adds, “There are a lot of industrial wines that are organic. We don’t want to be mixed with these people.”

The Joussets’ wines, made from chenin blanc grapes from 40- to 130-year-old vines, speak for themselves, as I quickly found out  in the small cellar below their house, tasting five or six 2009 barrel samples from various vineyard parcels, some of them still fermenting. The fruit, though still a bit bitter in some cases, is ripe, concentrated and altogether delicious and another sign of the quality of the ’09 vintage that I found in a week of tastings in the Loire Valley.

The vineyard lies on soil with a good deal of flint, or silex as its known, which gives the wines a precise, focused quality. I liked all three wines from the 2008 vintage, the dry Premier Rendez-Vouz, with lush pear, honey and minerals, still a bit bitter at the end reflecting its youth; the Trait d’union, a semi-dry chenin with a good deal of tropical fruit and a touch of banana supported by firm acidity; and the racy, more austere and profound Singulier, made from some of the oldest vines on the property, which has a superb finish.

Chenin blanc, as I was reminded time and again in my tastings last week, not only benefits from but really requires aging to enjoy fully, and the point was emphasized when Bertrand served the 2005 vintage of Singulier at lunch in the couple’s kitchen. The food highlight was a simple soup that Lise had made with pureed carrots, potatoes and leeks and flavored with what Lise called some some “bones,” or veal scraps. The wine, with a few years of bottle age, had lost its edges and made for a sublime pairing.

The Joussets’ production has been and will remain small. They’ve been making 20,000 to 25,000 bottles a year and will go up to about 40,000 this year. But that will be it for now. As Bertrand explained, “We want to keep it a human winery. I like to work the vines myself. I don’t want to be a businessman.”

Bubbly for breakfast

On our second day at the Loire Salon tasting here in France we concentrated on a few of the great names and appellations of the region as well as some lesser known areas and producers. We started off with a “breakfast of bubbles,” as our guide, the highly knowledgeable and delightful Ross Wassermann, put it. Many Americans may not know that the Loire Valley is the second-largest producer of sparkling wine in France after Champagne, and that the wines are made throughout the region from chenin blanc combined with other grapes. The appellation Crémant de Loire is the biggest for sparkling wine and also the most prestigious, though by no means a household name beyond France or even the Loire itself.   François Régis de Fougeroux thinks that’s starting to change. He’s the young general manager of one of the best-known Crémant producers, Langlois-Chateau in Saumur (the property was founded in 1885 by Edouard Langlois and his wife, the aptly named Jeanne Chateau, and has been owned since 1973 by the Bollinger Champagne house). As he poured for us today, Régis de Fougeroux said he believes the wines are becoming better known and are increasingly perceived as having “authenticity,” as he put it. “People are now asking for a ‘Crémant,’” he told us. It’s no wonder. The wines can be quite distinctive, are refreshing with their crisp acidity and cost a good deal less than Champagne.

Three from Langlois-Chateau stood out for me. The basic Crémant de Loire Brut, made from 60 percent chenin blanc, 20 percent chardonnay and 20 percent cabernet franc, is zesty and fresh with pretty, lemony fruit and a bargain at about $20. The 2003 Crémant Reserve is made from the same blend and has a somewhat longer finish and more minerality. The 2002 “Quadrille”Crémant Extra Brut, though nominally drier than the Bruts, is actually richer and more Champagne-like in practice with its long, creamy finish, achieved from extended contact with the lees, the remnants of the yeasts and solids of the grapes. The Quadrille is made with four varieties -- 50 percent chenin, 30 percent chardonnay, 15 percent cab franc and five percent cabernet sauvignon.

We also enjoyed some nice Crémants from Louis de Grenelle, also located in Saumur, and for me the standout was the organic “Louis” Brut, which was at once refreshing, creamy and citrusy, reminding me of lemon meringue. Our “breakfast” was a tasty one indeed. I’ll be posting on more great wines from the Loire Valley in coming days.

Wine in a box (yes, good wine)

The innovative wine company Yellow + Blue has come out with its fourth offering, a crisp sauvignon blanc from Chile. It joins a malbec and a torrontes from Argentina and a rosé of syrah and monastrell from Spain that, together, present  a quartet  of excellent wines for everyday drinking. See my MSNBC.com column on Yellow + Blue from earlier this year.

The wines are all made from organic grapes, which is worth applauding in itself. They’ve also made me a convert to wine in a box, a concept that I found a bit difficult to swallow until now. The wines come in one-liter boxes that contain one-third more wine than a typical glass bottle. The juice is shipped to this country in containers and then packed  in the Tetra Pak boxes. The process reduces the carbon footprint of shipping wine. (The  point is that Yellow + Blue = green.) The 2009 Sauvignon Blanc from Chile’s Central Valley is fermented in stainless steel with native (naturally occurring) yeasts and shows notes of lime and orange with a bit of vanilla on the finish. It has a suggested price of $11. Once you pour yourself a glass, you’ll quickly forget that it came from a box.

Long Island wine

I am always looking for expressive, leaner wines that aren’t dominated by over-extracted fruit and excessive levels of alcohol. One can find these wines in Europe, of course, but in California it’s a rather tall order. Another place to look is the North Fork of Long Island, about two hours from New York.

I recently became more familiar with the wines of Shinn Estate Vineyards, which, in only a decade, has become one of the area’s leading properties and uses mostly organic farming practices. That’s David Page, one of the owners,  in the photo above. For an in-depth look at Shinn, take a look at my latest column on MSNBC.com.