Sips: Chardonnays that come alive when blended, plus a southern French “classic”

In case you missed my current “Weekend Wines” column on MSNBC.com, I’m linking here to my piece on Domaine du Tariquet and how this winery in southwest France is making some exciting chardonnay-based blends. They’re good examples of what a large, commercial winery can do in the $10-$15 range. After I  wrote about these wines, I also tasted Tariquet’s 2010 Classic, a zippy blend of colombard and ugni blanc, which remains a top under-$10 quaffing white that is a must-have for warm-weather drinking and for fish and shellfish. Rating: VERY GOOD. Imported by Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC. Wines received as press samples.

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Sips: More on the Super Bowl food and wine showdown

At least one of my NBC colleagues shook his head when I told him I was preparing a story on wines that would work well at a Super Bowl party with all its varied food possibilities. Like many, he's a beer man when it comes to the big game. But for those of you wondering about wines to serve with a Super Bowl spread, I have some suggestions, plus those of some of my wine friends, in my latest Weekend Wines post on the Bites blog of MSNBC.com. Beyond that, Karen Page and Andrew Dorenburg, authors of the new "Food Lover's Guide to Wine" and other books, offered me some of their suggestions.

They write: "For Super Bowl parties, we're all about the flexibility of bubbles for their food-pairing prowess, and all about whites so you don't have to worry if your friends spill on your couch (or you spill on theirs!) during a dramatic moment in the game -- so a good Prosecco would probably be our first choice (even though we also love good cava, we just got back from Italy!)."

Their choice for a red? "In honor of Andrew's hometown team (the 49ers, which was one good kick away from this year's Super Bowl), he'd pour a lighter-bodied, fruity California Zinfandel with the vegetarian chili he's hoping to get around to making."

And their recommendations for some of the most popular Super Bowl fare:

"Chicken wings: sparkling wine; or riesling, syrah/shiraz or zinfandel.

Chili: Beaujolais, Cotes du Rhone, syrah/shiraz or zinfandel.

Guacamole: Champagne, unoaked chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, torrontes.

Nachos: sparkling wine, torrontes (with white meat), zinfandel (with red meat).

Pizza (pepperoni or sausage): barbera, Chianti, lighter-bodied zinfandel.

Popcorn: Champagne or other sparkling wine.

Fudge brownies and chocolate chip cookies: Banyuls, port or Pedro Ximenez sherry."

Thank you, Karen and Andrew.

Wine tasting: two superb red values from France’s Languedoc

Languedoc in southern France, as I have noted in recent months, represents some of the world’s best wine values. By that I mean, if you choose well, you’re likely to find modestly priced wines of greater interest and dimension than from most other regions. Many Americans are still unfamiliar with the wines (they would have trouble telling you exactly where Langudeoc is much less specific appellations within the region).

Two reds I sampled recently illustrate the Langudeoc value proposition especially well. The first is Domaine de Fontsainte’s 2007 Corbières “Réserve la Demoiselle,” a superb, authentic terroir wine that combines delicious red and dark berry fruit and a deep earthiness. There are lots of other elements here, including fig, mint and rosemary along with cocoa and leather notes. The blend is 60 percent carignan from century-old vines, 30 percent grenache and 10 percent mourvèdre. With a relatively modest 13.5 percent alcohol, this wine would be a perfect match with grilled or pan-seared pork chops. It’s also a real bargain, with the average price listed on wine-searcher.com at about $15.

The second wine is Domaine d’Aupilhac’s 2008 Montpeyroux, a slightly bigger wine with a core of blackberry accented by herb, spice and unsweetened chocolate notes, with alcohol listed at 14 percent.  The village of Montpeyroux is a sub-appellation of the broader Coteaux du Languedoc and this wine is a blend of 30 percent mourvèdre, 25 percent syrah, 25 percent carignan, 16 percent grenache and four percent cinsault. Easy food pairings include grilled beef, lamb and sausage. The average price on wine-searcher.com is about $20 or so. Both wines are imported by Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, California. 

As I found on my visit to the region in May, Languedoc, which churns out more wine than any other region in the world, is trying mightily to move past its quantity-over-quality image. These wines are a testament that Languedoc is succeeding. Wines received as press samples.

Technorati Tags: Kermit Lynch,Domaine d'Aupilhac,Montpeyroux,Coteaux du Languedoc,Corbières,Edward Deitch,Wine-searcher.com,Domaine de Fontsainte,Languedoc wines,Languedoc reds,Southern France reds

Sips: An under-$10 white goes down well with the heavy hitters at a charity event

When friends invited us to be their guests at a benefit dinner last week, we found ourselves in the fancy Pierre Hotel here in New York, mingling with men in suits and women in just the right dresses, which is to say people with the means and a desire to make a difference for a good cause, in this case Partnership with Children, which lends a big helping hand to thousands of underprivileged kids in this city’s public schools. Food and wine were not the main concerns, of course. Raising money for the Partnership was, and this group of supporters – a couple hundred of them or so – was very good at it. At the start of the dinner, the Partnership raised more than $100,000 in less than 15 minutes  as guests, encouraged by an auctioneer, punched in substantial sums in their BidPals, little i-Phone-like devices  we were all given that let you contribute and bid from the privacy of the palm of your hand. It was a breathtaking display of generosity and was just one of the evening’s fundraising activities.

For me, the dinner also highlighted the fact that you don’t have to serve expensive wines to satisfy well-heeled folks at an event like this (all the more money to benefit the children), and one wine in particular stood out in this regard. Domaine du Tariquet’s 2009 “Classic” is an under-$10 white Vin de Pays from Gascony in southwest France, which is far better known for producing Armagnac. Indeed, Tariquet’s wine is made by blending two Armagnac grapes, ugni blanc and colombard, which results in a delightful and fruity wine that went down especially well during the pre-dinner reception. I've reviewed this wine before and was glad to have come across it again with its pleasing green apple and citrus notes. It's widely available, perfect for the warm weather and will fool your guests, if you so desire, into thinking it's a much more expensive wine, as I'm sure it did with more than a few those at the Pierre the other night. Imported by Robert Kacher Selections, New York.

Technorati Tags: BidPal,Partnership with Children,Edward Deitch,Domaine du Tariquet,Domaine du Tariquet Classic White,Gascony wine,Armagnac,Ugni blanc,Colombard,Under-$10 wines,Robert Kacher Selections,Pierre Hotel,Vin de Pays

Sips: Finding excellent value in an easily dismissed French white

We have a French friend who sniffs at the thought of wines from the corner of the country where he lives – the Dordogne in southwest France. When it comes to such local appellations as Cahors or Bergerac, he dismisses them as country bumpkins of  French wine, preferring, among others, wines from Bordeaux, the Dordogne’s illustrious neighbor to the north. He is, of course, entitled to his opinion, and it may have been largely true at one time, but I will suggest to my friend the next time I see him that this is old thinking.

What got me focused on the region once again was a bottle I bought the other night at my local wine store, Martin Brothers on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. I like to start most evenings with a refreshing white while cooking and unwinding, and I find myself chronically short of them. One that will easily fill the void is Grandissime’s 2009 Bergerac, a dry and elegant Bordeaux-style blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon. The $10.99 price will make it easy to keep on hand as an aperitif wine and well beyond. Light but with nice complexity, it shows pear, green apple, apple skin and herb notes. Alcohol at 12.5 percent and little or no oak  make it effortless to drink. Enjoy it with fish, shellfish and simple chicken dishes.

This is the kind of wine that makes me turn to France time and again, especially to the lesser-known appellations that offer some of the best values around. And when my friend is in New York, perhaps I’ll pour him a glass of a wine practically grown in his own backyard. Imported by Gabriella Importers, Bohemia, New York.

Technorati Tags: Bergerac,Grandissime,Grandissime Bergerac,Southwest France,Edward Deitch,Bordeaux,French white wines,French wine values,Bordeaux-style blends,Sauvignon-semillon blends,Sauvignon blanc,Semillion,Garbriella Importers,Martin Brothers Wines

SIPS: A tale of two malbecs (and you thought malbec only came from Argentina)

After a long conversation about business with a friend, I  reminded her that, among other things, I write about wine. She responded by noting how she had recently been enjoying malbec. She quickly confirmed my hunch that she was  referring to malbec from Argentina, which has become an “it” red wine of late. I wasn’t surprised that she had no idea that malbec originated in France, as a blending variety in Bordeaux, where it has all but disappeared, and, more importantly, in Cahors in the southwest, where it remains the centerpiece of that appellation. More on Cahors in a moment.

But first, Argentine malbec can be stunning. One has only to  spend an evening with a wine like the 2008 Malbec from Luca Vineyard and Winery in the Uco Valley of Mendoza to get a sense of the variety’s depth and range in the sun-drenched region. This limited-production wine, which is priced at retailers on wine-searcher.com at anywhere from $25 to $37, has a refined, Bordeaux-like elegance with sweet and concentrated blackberry and plum tastes joined by earth and coffee notes, all supported by a fine tannic structure. Alcohol is 14 percent. Imported by Vine Connections, Sausalito, California.

Based on a sampling of several Cahors releases, the French wines deserve more attention than they are getting. Compared with malbecs from Argentina, their style is a bit less fruit forward and more lean, although I found good concentration and lots of complexity.  I also found the popular notion that they be somewhat coarse and unrefined to be overstated, at least in ‘06 and ‘07 vintages.

My favorite was the 2007 Cahors from Chateau de Gaudou, a ready-to-drink blend of 80 percent malbec, 15 percent merlot and five percent tannat. It has relatively soft tannins, blackberry and blueberry fruit and notes of mlk chocolate, herbs and black pepper. I was shocked at its $10 price. Alcohol is 13 percent. Imported by USA Wine Imports, New York.

Also worth trying is the 2006 Cahors from Chateau de Haute-Serre, which is well balanced with beautiful fruit, mainly blackberry, along with earth and tobacco notes. It’s listed on wine-searcher.com at at between $17 and $22. The blend is 80 percent malbec, 10 percent merlot and 10 percent tannat. Alcohol is 13 percent. Imported by Baron Francois, New York.

Notably, and with good reason, the varieties are listed on the labels of these wines.  This represents a welcome loosening of the strict French appellation and labeling laws that will allow the wines compete  more effectively with their New World counterparts. The average wine drinker will know that France, as well as Argentina, produces first-rate malbecs. Wines received as press samples.

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The Daily Sip: Taming duck with a hearty Madiran from France’s South West

There is really something to the notion that wines and foods from a particular region are often made for each other, and that proved to be the case once again the other night when I cooked some duck breasts and served what turned out to be the perfect red wine. The region is France’s South West, where duck is a staple of the cuisine and where some of the red wines provide just the right amount of oomph to hold their own against the gaminess of dishes like our seared duck, served with a rich demi-glace and apricot sauce, along with wild rice and roasted carrots and parsnips.

The wine that worked so well (there were a couple of others that didn’t) was the 2006 Château Montus Madiran from Alain Brumont, a well-known producer in Madiran, which, along with Cahors, are the region’s most famous appellations. The wine is a blend of three grapes, most importantly the largely forgotten  tannat, along with smaller amounts of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc. It demands food, and in this case the duck tamed its considerable tannins while the wine provided a beautiful counterpoint to the dish with its red fruit and earth notes and long finish. It is complex and elegant (even with 14.5 percent alcohol), worthy of considerable aging and among the region’s very best wines. The suggested price is $33. Imported by Lauber Imports, Branchburg, N.J. Received as a press sample.

Technorati Tags: Château Montus,Alain Brumont,Madiran,South West France,Tannat,Edward Deitch,Lauber Imports