Sips: with its ‘Layers,’ Australia’s Peter Lehmann produces a distinctive white blend

In the late-summer heat wave we’re having in the Northeast, any white wine that has a relatively low 11.5 percent alcohol is going to be at least be worth a try, which is why I pulled Peter Lehmann’s 2009 “Layers” White out of the wine rack here at our place in the  country. Beyond the heat, I’ll admit that I’ve been distracted in the last couple of days, which is why this is the first post of the week . (The chief distraction is an eight-week old puppy, a  cute little Lab/Pointer mix we adopted over the  weekend from a rescue program.)

But back to the wine. “Layers” is made from grapes from the Barossa Valley and Adelaide regions of South Australia and is a blend, which is, one may conclude, what they’re getting at with the name, although you might not know it because the bottle provides no clues except for images of five grapes on the front label. Peter Lehmann’s website reveals a mix of semillon, chardonnay, pinot gris, gewürztraminer and muscat. I had thought there might be some riesling in the mix. Oh, well.

The wine shows lots of component parts for  the suggested price of  $16 – a good deal of lemon-lime plus white peach, apricot, honey and some baking spices. I thought it might pair well with one of my favorite pasta dishes -- broccoli rabe sautéed with sweet and hot Italian sausage – and it did, providing a refreshing wash-down to this not unsubstantial dish, especially on a very warm night. It’s easy to drink with nice complexity – a winning combination for casual drinking and a range of white-wine foods. Imported by The Hess Collection New World Wines, Napa, California. (Received as a press sample.)

del.icio.us Tags: Barossa Valley,Australia white wine,Gewurztraminer,Chardonnay,Pinot Gris,Semillon,Peter Lehmann,Peter Lehmann Layers,Australian white blends,Edwad Deitch,Hess Collection

Sips: Portugal’s Enoforum creates wines for export with some exciting releases

In wine, as in other areas of journalism, we sometimes get our ideas – or germs of ideas -- from savvy PR and marketing folks who know when they have an interesting story to tell on behalf of their clients and have a good sense when writers might be interested.  One of the more diligent and delightful of them is Jo Diaz, who runs her own communications company in Windsor, California in Sonoma County.

When Jo asked recently if I cared to meet a new client, a principle in a relatively new Portuguese wine company, I quickly took her up on her offer even though I don’t usually meet individually with winemakers or executives because I tend to shy away from being a captive audience of one. What happens if I don’t like the  wines? In any event, I had a hunch that Jo was on to something unusual. And so we sat down for dinner last week at The Modern, one of my favorite New York restaurants, with her  client (who picked up the bill, I will disclose right off the bat). But enough on the preliminaries.

The company is called Enoforum, and it is a partnership formed  at the end of 2004 involving half a dozen wineries in Portugal’s Alentejo region in the hot  south of the country. The general manager, Delfim Costa, explained that the company was created solely to produce wines, under a number of new labels, for export to the United States and, secondarily, to other markets around the world, including Poland, Holland, Russia and Canada as well as Brazil and Angola with their strong Portuguese connections.

Some 80,000 cases or so were exported last year and Enoforum draws on production from each of the six wineries to create its wines, all of them blends, under the direction of José Fonseca, the winemaker.

Sips: an exciting new twist for California’s Bien Nacido Vineyard

Until now, the name "Bien Nacido Vineyard" was found only on other people's wine labels. The famed vineyard located in the Santa Maria Valley of California's Santa Barbara County is the source of grapes for many well-known wineries that turn to Bien Nacido for its exceptional fruit. Much of that fruit, as I saw for myself on a visit to Bien Nacido a few years ago, is grown on fairly steep mountain vineyards in the cool-climate region, a combination that gives the wines both opulence and finesse. Wineries that draw on Bien Nacido read like a who's who of notable properties in the region: Ojai, Qupé, Au Bon Climat, Byron, Fess Parker, Villa Mt. Eden, Longoria, to name just some of them. Typically on the labels of these wineries you’ll see the Bien Nacido Vineyard designation. It’s a kind of badge of honor.

Now, for the first time, Bien Nacido is bottling wines, three of them, under its own labels – I say labels because two of the wines, a pinot noir and a syrah, are from the Bien Nacido Vineyard itself while a third, a chardonnay, is from the nearby Solomon Hills Vineyard, which Bien Nacido owns.

Swirls: the top imported wines for quality and value – consumers and the wine trade weigh in

In terms of wine quality, which countries stand out the most to consumers? The question was put to more than 600 wine consumers in a survey by Wine Opinions, an Internet-based research firm. Wines were divided into four categories: whites/rosés under $20, reds under $20 and reds in the $20 to $50 range. The results:

• When it comes to under-$20 whites and rosés, more consumers rated the wines of Germany, New Zealand, France and Italy “outstanding” than those of other countries.
• For reds under $20, the wines of Italy, France, Spain and Argentina came out on top.
• For reds in the $20 to $50 range, France and Italy got the highest marks, with each rated outstanding by fully two-thirds of consumers, while roughly half gave the reds of Spain, Australia   and Argentina top marks.

What countries do best when it comes to value? Wine Opinions put that question to more than 200 members of the wine trade.

• For whites and roses under $20, the leaders were Argentina, Spain, Chile and Portugal. Despite a lot of lower-priced Australian whites on the market, Australia was at the bottom of the value chart in this category.
• When it comes to reds under $20, Argentina led the way, followed closely by Spain and Chile. Italy and France were somewhat lower.
• As for more expensive red wines, those priced at $20 to $50, Spain, Argentina, Italy and Chile were the value leaders. All were  considered “good” or “outstanding” in this regard by about three quarters or more of the respondents. France’s rating was relatively low, at 59 percent, “an indication of the difficulty France is having in this price category,” according to Wine Opinions’ analysis of the results.

del.icio.us Tags: Wine Opinions survey,Wine Opinions,Edward Deitch,Quality wines,Value wines,Wine quality,Wine values,Argentina wines,Chile wine,France wines,Italy wines,Australia wines,Spain wines,Portugal wines,Germany wines,New Zealand wines

Swirls: more on Clinton wedding wine

As The Wedding approaches today, lots of outlets are carrying the story of how residents inconvenienced by all the activity involving the Chelsea Clinton-Marc Mezvinsky nuptials  in Rhinebeck, New York, were given bottles of Clinton Vineyards’ Tribute. The wine is a seyval blanc, a white variety, and the New York Post appears to have gotten it wrong by calling it a sauvignon blanc, which the winery does not produce. But then again, the Post isn’t especially known for its wine coverage. In any event, we’ll be watching for more details of what wines were served at the wedding today as they trickle out from folks who attended.

del.icio.us Tags: Edward Deitch,Marc Mezvinsky,Chelsea Clinton,ChelseaClinton wedding,Clinton wedding,Clinton Vineyards,New York Post,Clinton seyval blanc

Swirls: A Clinton wedding and a Clinton winery; an iPad wine list, and a ‘Nat Decants’ app

SWIRL:  The wines of Clinton Vineyards in Clinton Corners, N.Y. are getting the kind of attention this weekend that money alone can’t buy but that money and a Clinton wedding certainly can.  Though the wall of silence remains on details of Chelsea Clinton’s wedding to Marc Mezvinsky in Rhinebeck, N.Y., Wine Spectator has a juicy little tidbit on guests receiving a bottle of the winery’s Tribute, a seyval blanc.

SWIRL: While most people might consider it downright rude to break out an iPad in a restaurant (the iPod and iPhone are much easier to conceal in one’s lap), at least one high-end restaurant in  New York, South Gate, is using the iPad to feature its wine list, along with label images and other photographs. Seems like a cool idea indeed, although the iPad’s cost, starting at $499, might give “expensive wine list” new meaning. Read more at geek.com.

 

SWIRL: And speaking of apps, the Canadian wine journalist Natalie MacLean, who is something of a one-woman wine  information industry, has a new mobile app that culls a great deal from her Nat Decants Web site, including 380,000 wine and food pairings (can there possibly be that many?) and thousands of wine reviews and recipes, among other things.

 

del.icio.us Tags: Chelsea Clinton,Clinton wedding,Marc Mezvinsky,Clinton Vineyards,Clinton Tribute,Wine Spectator,iPad,iPad wine list,geek.com,Natalie MacLean,Nat Decants,Edward,Deitch,Nat Decants app,Rhinebeck,N.Y.,iPod,iPhone,South Gate restaurant

 

Sips: St. Supéry’s notable un-oaked chardonnay

When it comes to un-oaked versions of chardonnay, the standard for me is Chablis, the northern Burgundy appellation where most  of the wines are made without exposure to wood but have a good deal of complexity thanks to their distinct minerality.  Unfortunately, it’s more difficult to find that character in un-oaked chardonnays from California, and the wines often suffer from a one-dimensionality without the added element of barrel  aging. One wine that succeeds, however, is St. Supéry’s 2009 Oak Free Chardonnay from the Napa Valley.

I brought a bottle of it to a dinner the other night -- friends roasted a whole 16-pound striped bass on the grill with lots of fresh thyme, parsley and lemon -- and the wine was a great way to start things off as eight of us got ready to feast on this magnificent fish outdoors on a cool evening under a  moon-filled sky. The wine is notable for its refreshing style, and one  of our friends said it reminded her of sauvignon blanc with its slightly grassy and citrus notes. I myself found a good deal of grapefruit and green apple in the mix and, interestingly, the wine turns out to be 99 percent chardonnay and one percent sauvignon blanc, demonstrating how a little bit of sauvignon can go a long way.  Alcohol is 13.5 percent and acidity is ample, making this not only an excellent food wine but one that nicely whets the appetite for things to come. The suggested price is $22. (Received as a press sample.)

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Sips: a top small-production chenin blanc from Kyra Wines in Washington

This one falls under the category of excellent small-production wine at a very reasonable price. The setting was Bellevue, Washington on a recent Saturday night. I had arrived a day ahead of the third annual Riesling Rendezvous, a major conference on the grape, and found myself looking for a place to have a glass of wine or two and a bite to eat. Not far from my hotel I came across the Purple Café and Wine Bar, a large and attractive space that had plenty of room at the bar. After scanning the wines offered by the glass, I went with the 2008 Columbia Valley Chenin Blanc from Kyra  Wines. The winery, based in Moses Lake, Washington, was unfamiliar to me, which was understandable when I read on its Facebook page that it produces just 2,000 cases a year, divided among three whites and five red offerings. Indeed, the chenin blanc, with 430 cases of the ‘08 produced, is one of the bigger bottlings, though, of course, tiny compared with production of some of the bigger and more familiar Washington wineries. The grapes were sourced from the Harold Pleasant Vineyard in the Yakima Valley.

I was immediately struck by the wine’s pronounced acidity, which provided nice balance to a bit of residual sugar . The overall impression was dry and fruity with lots of tropical fruit notes, apricot and a burst of citrus. It turned out to be an excellent match for a number of small plates I ordered, including salmon tartare and a spicy soybean-based edamame hummus.  The glass was $8.50, which is pretty standard when it comes to wine-bar pricing on the lower end these days. I figured that a bottle of the wine, at retail, might go for around $20 or so. The answer came the next day when I was wandering around the Pike Place market in Seattle and walked into the Pike & Western Wine Shop. Much to my surprise, the Kyra Chenin Blanc was just $12.50. I almost bought a bottle to take home to New York but then remembered the hassles of bringing wine on planes these days. Oh, well. For now I’ll just have to savor the memory of that glass and the prospect of trying more of Kyra’s wines.

The winery is owned by Kyra and Bruce Baerlocher and Kyra doubles as the winemaker. More information and shipping information can be found at their Web site.

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Sips: from Spain and beyond, albariño is a top white wine for summer

Albariño is the signature white of the Galicia region in the northwest corner of Spain. One of the attractive qualities of albariño is its fresh vitality; the grape tends to be high in acidity and the wines are made without oak, which allows for a pure expression of the fruit. They are great for these warm summer days and will match with a variety of white-wine dishes, from fish and shellfish to chicken and salads. Some of the best wines come from the Rías Baixas sub-region within Galicia, including  Vionta’s exceptional 2008 Albariño. I loved this $18 wine from the first  sip with its tastes of green apple, a bit of pineapple, subtle floral notes and lemon-lime and minerals on a lengthy finish. It’s the kind of wine that easily invites you back for another glass. Another thing it has going for it is alcohol at just 12 percent or so (the bottle says 12 percent while notes from the winery say 12.35 percent). Imported by Freixenet USA, Sonoma, California.

Spain is not the only place where albariño is grown. It is widely planted just across the border in the Minho region of Portugal where it is known as alvarinho and is sometimes part of the blend in vinho verde, or “green wine,” which is named for its freshness. Beyond Spain and Portugal, some producers are having success with it in California’s Santa Barbara County, chief among them Richard  Longoria, whose 2009 Albariño Clover Cree Vineyard from the Santa Ynez Valley follows in the footsteps of the excellent ‘08 vintage. It has a lean elegance with delicious melon, citrus and floral notes. Light, interesting and easy to drink.  Alcohol is a welcome 12.5 percent and the suggested price is $23. Production was just 134 cases so you might want to check availability at Longoria’s Web site. (Wines received as press samples.)

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Sips: “Sancerre and Friends” – some top Loire Valley whites

Sancerre is arguably the most well-known white wine of France’s Loire Valley, the benchmark sauvignon blanc appellation by which other examples of the variety in the Loire – and throughout the world – are  judged. And so it was with a good deal of anticipation that I attended a superb dinner last night that was dubbed “Sancerre and Friends,” the friends being the nearby appellations of Pouilly-Fumé, Quincy, Menetou-Salon and Reuilly in the so-called Centre Loire, as well as the larger  Touraine appellation to the west. The wines are known for their distinctive minerality, which is achieved by the soils in which the grapes grow (primarily chalk and flint for Sancerre, limestone, flint and clay for Pouilly-Fumé, for example), and this gives them a signature, an originality, that is achieved nowhere else. You can see a good example of the rocky soils of Sancerre in the photo, which I took on my visit to the region in February.

We tasted a dozen wines at The Modern, which is attached to the Museum of Modern Art and which, in just a few years or so, has become a landmark on the New York restaurant scene. The dinner was built around fish because the wines are in their element with seafood. The pairings were, for the most part, right on target, especially the two centerpieces, a Maine lobster salad with roasted beets, black truffles and goat cheese followed by  a gorgeous “dorade royale” with a nasturtium flower broth and Swiss chard. The latter was one of the more exciting fish dishes I’ve had in recent months, the subtle broth, golden in color, providing a perfect accompaniment to the mild and beautifully textured fillet, which should boost the status of the local porgy, a dorade relative.

As for the wines, we’ll stipulate that the last two in the tasting were the top wines, as well they should be at $65 and $120 respectively. The first was Domaine Vacheron’s 2007 Sancerre “Les Romains,” a wine of beautiful balance and great length with citrus, apple and vanilla notes; the second was Didier Dagueneau’s 2007 “Silex” Pouilly-Fumé, which showed extraordinary fruit, notably apple and apricot with a rich, round mouthfeel.

Other notable wines were:  Domaine de Chatenôy’s 2008 Menetou-Salon, $20, which won the prize as the evening’s most unusual offering – an elegant and zesty wine with orange, grapefruit and green apple tastes and a flinty backdrop; Gerard Boulay’s Sancerre ‘Les Monts Damnés,” $41, a generous, rounded wine with layers of spicy pear and vanilla; Domaine des Caves du Prieuré’s 2008 Sancerre, $23, a classic Sancerre with lots of minerals and notes of green apple and a touch of brown sugar on its long finish; Claude Lafond’s 2008 Reuilly “Clos Fussay,” $19, which is on the simpler side with lemon and lime notes that almost demanded a dozen oysters or clams; and the bargain of the evening, Domaine Duret’s 2009 Quincy, $13, elegant and reserved with minerals, tropical fruit and lime.

These wines reminded me that when it comes to sauvignon blanc, there is the Loire Valley and then all the rest; the wines, with their distinctive terroirs and varied styles, are unique and compelling. (Dinner and wines presented by Loire Valley Wines.)

del.icio.us Tags: Loire Valley,Loire Valley wines,Loire Valley whites,Edward Deitch,Sancerre,Pouilly-Fumé,Touraine,Quincy,Reuilly,Manetou-Salon,Claude Lafond,Domaine Duret,Domaine de Chatenôy,Centre Loire,Domaine des Caves du Prieuré,Gerard Boulay,Domaine Vacheron,Didier Dagueneau,The Modern,Museum of Modern Art,Wines under $20

Sips: Will torrontés be the hot new white wine?

For white wine lovers used to chardonnay or sauvignon blanc, torrontés is going to be an acquired taste, but one that I think will grow on them. This aromatic variety, which is native to Argentina and is perhaps the country’s most important white grape, is gaining popularity here and deserves consideration as a relatively inexpensive and interesting alternative to more familiar whites. Typically enjoyed young and fresh, the 2009s are out now and a couple of them are worthy of attention for pairing with a variety of foods, especially spicy fish, shrimp, sushi and chicken dishes.

If there is one quality that distinguishes torrontés, it is the grape’s floral undertones that might remind some of gewürztraminer.   This backdrop, when combined with vivid fruit notes, produces wines of considerable complexity and charm. Alas, they can also be one-dimensional and dull.

Trapiche’s 2009 Torrontés from the winery’s “Varietals” series is simple but delicious. Light straw in color, this wine from the Mendoza appellation is subtly herbal and floral with notes of green apple joined by minerals on a surprisingly long finish. It’s a real bargain at $7. Alcohol is 13.5 percent. Imported by Frederick Wildman and Sons, New York.

Finca Ferrer’s 2009 Acordeón Torrontés from the the Cafayate Valley is in a somewhat fuller style and is priced at $9 or so.  Straw colored, it’s more aggressively floral with notes of lime and honey and has a pleasing roundness. Alochol is 13.9 percent. Imported by Freixenet USA, Sonoma, California.

Bodega Tamari’s 2009 Torrontés Reserva from Argentina’s Rioja  region is fresh yet elegant with  notes of pear, grapefruit, lemon and a bit of cream with a subtle backdrop of flowers. I enjoyed it with a lunch of sliced asparagus, onions and pancetta sautéed with bit of Balsamic vinegar and tossed with pasta. Alcohol is 13.3 percent. $15. Imported by Terlato Wines International, Lake Bluff, Illinois.

One thing I noticed about all these wines: they were better on the second or even third day after I opened them; clearly aeration brings out the flavors and helps them “settle down” a bit. You might even considering decanting them.  I doubt that torrontés will overtake the chardonnays or sauvignon blancs of the world any time soon in terms of popularity, but I think it can become a nice addition to your white portfolio, especially for warm-weather drinking.  Have you tasted a torrontés? Let me know what you think.  (Wines received as press samples.)

del.icio.us Tags: Acordéon Torrontés,Trapiche Torrontés,Bodega Tamari Torrontés,Torrontés,Edward Deitch,Argentine whites,Argentine white wines

Sips: some exciting new dry rieslings

I’m catching up on a couple of excellent dry rieslings, a category that deserves much more attention as an alternative to the ubiquitous chardonnays and sauvignon blancs. These two are from Australia and Washington state, which are both making world-class rieslings. From Australia, Wakefield’s 2008 Clare Valley Riesling, $17, is bone dry and refreshing and would be great with broiled fish, which may not be the typical pairing that comes to mind with riesling. I found this wine exquisite, with  notes of Meyer lemon, apricot, a bit of the interesting petrol-like quality that is often found in riesling (don’t worry, it’s not at all offensive), a hint of honey and then lime and minerals on the finish. As you can see, there’s a lot going on here. Imported by American Wine Distributors, San Francisco.

Another winning example, from Washington, is Mercer Estates’ 2009 Yakima Valley Riesling, $14. Mercer, which opened just two years ago, is making some impressive whites, including a pinot gris that I reviewed last fall. The riesling is quite dry and  full-bodied with melon and petrol notes, a creamy mid-palate and citrus, mainly lime, on the finish. Enjoy it with a range of foods, including Asian and other full-flavored dishes, or as an elegant aperitif. (Wines received as press samples.)

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Sips: Le Bernardin and Muscadet

Le Bernardin and Muscadet might seem to some like a food and wine oxymoron, pairing the cuisine of the famed New York restaurant with the modest, inexpensive wine from the western end of France’s Loire Valley. After all, isn’t Muscadet, made from the melon de Bourgogne grape, a fresh and slightly briny young wine that is in its element with a dozen oysters on the half shell? Or as a wash-down wine for fried clams served in a basket on a red and white checked tablecloth? Well, yes and yes, but the point of the dinner convened for a group of wine writers last week (we sampled 11 wines, with as many glasses in front of each of us) was to reinforce the fact that Muscadet can and should be about much more than just the simplest of food pairings. This is something that I and others who have studied the wines have understood for some time, appreciating them as terroir-driven wines that express the range of soils in which the grapes are grown. And yet, the producers and promoters of Muscadet have had a hard time moving it more broadly beyond its reputation as the Rodney Dangerfield of white wine.

At a big tasting event I attended several months ago in the Loire Valley, for example, a prominent producer told me of people who get excited about the complexity and depth that one can taste in Muscadet, only to laugh dismissively when told of the prices (Muscadets tend to be in the $12 to $20 range). According to this line of reasoning, wines of such dimension need to be priced higher to be taken seriously. That’s okay. The rest of us will enjoy them at their humble tariffs.

At our dinner last week, the wines were separated into three groups: young and fresh wines from 2009 and 2008; those with a few years or so of bottle age, and a few that go back 15 to more than 30 years. The young wines were paired superbly with a first course of smoked yellowfin tuna “prosciutto” served with crunchy Japanese pickled vegetables, and some of the slightly older wines, which tend to take on a more creamy quality, matched well with the main course of baked wild striped bass in a delicious light Périgord (truffle and wine) sauce.  Here are my favorites:

Domaine l’Aujardière 2008 Muscadet Côtes de Grandlieu sur Lie, $13. Chablis-like with lots of minerals and a honey note.

Michel Delhommeau 2009 Cuvée St. Vincent Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie, $13. Delicious apricot, tropical fruit, pineapple and mineral notes.

Domaine de la Louvetrie 2008 Amphibolite Nature Muscadet Sèvre et Maine, $16. Young and austere with a pear note and beautiful balance. Organically and biodynamically farmed.

Claude Branger 2007 Les Gils de Gras Mouton Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie. Spicy with a green apple note and lots of creaminess; still quite young.

Domaine Luneau-Papin 1995 L d’Or Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie, $30.  Beautiful fruit and mineral mix; rich yet still refreshing.

Domaines Ollivier Frères 1986 Domaine de la Grenaudière Muscadet Sèvre et Maine sur Lie. Probably the most interesting wine of the evening with exotic spices, a good deal of creaminess and still-vibrant fruit. Alas, it’s no longer available but demonstrates the wonderful aging potential of some Muscadets.

And by the way, did I mention that we enjoyed one of Pascal Guilbaud’s Muscadets with oysters? And that the pairing was nothing less than superb?

del.icio.us Tags: Edward Deitch,Muscadet,Le Bernardin,Muscadet and oysters,Claude Branger,Domaine de la Louvetrie,Domaine Luneau-Papin,Domaine l'Aujardière,Michel Delhommeau,Domaines Ollivier Frères

Sips: California chardonnay the way we like it

I’ve just tasted a couple of superb new California chardonnays in a crisp, cool-climate style that makes them delightfully refreshing and easy to enjoy their complexity and sophistication. Both are from Rusack Vineyards, which I’ve written about before and is located in Solvang in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County. This area produces some of California’s most exciting chardonnays, notable for their exceptional balance produced in part by the cooling influences of the nearby Pacific Ocean. 

The wines reminded me of my visit to this breathtaking region three and a half years ago during which I got to sample a fair number of chardonnays, pinot noirs, syrahs and other wines (my MSNBC.com column on the area and an accompanying video won a James Beard Award). The Rusack chardonnays immediately brought to mind some of the wines I tasted from fruit grown in  the famed Bien Nacido Vineyard in the Santa Maria Valley, which I visited on that trip and which for years has been supplying grapes to some of the region’s most notable wineries. And so I wasn’t at all surprised when I read that a good deal of the fruit for both Rusack chardonnays came from Bien Nacido (as well as the Sierra Madre Vineyard).

Rusack’s 2008 Santa Barbara County Chardonnay, a bargain at $23, shows a delicious combination of Meyer lemon, pear and a bit of vanilla reflecting judicious use of oak aging. The 2008 Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay Resreve is a bit richer, showing those same flavor profiles, along with some pineapple, a spicy note and a good deal of minerality on its long finish (2,228 cases produced). A much greater percentage of the Reserve wine is aged in new oak, giving it that spice and a bit more fullness. It’s $36 with just 338 cases produced. Alcohol in both wines is listed at at a moderate 14.2 percent. With their limited production, I suspect that a visit to Rusack’s Web site may be the preferred method of buying the wines. (Wines received as press samples.)

del.icio.us Tags: Edward Deitch,Rusack Vineyards,Santa Barbara County wines,Santa Maria Valley wines,California chardonnays,Santa Barbara chardonnays

Sips: new releases from Oregon

Some wines from an Oregon label I wasn’t familiar with came my way the other day, and while I haven’t finished tasting through them, the first two were standouts. They were from Vista Hills Vineyard & Winery, a family-owned property that has been operating for 15 years. Vista Hills is growing pinot noir and pinot gris on 42 acres in the Dundee Hills in the Willamette Valley. Along with its own winemaker, Dave Petterson, Vista Hills uses “guest winemakers” from the region to craft its wines. Its 2008 “Treehouse” Pinot Noir, $28, is a lovely, balanced wine with moderate 14.2 percent alcohol. The overall impression is one of elegance rather than power, the style more Burgundian than American brawn that has become so fashionable in pinot noir. The tastes suggest raspberry, black cherry and tea with nuanced oak and good balancing acidity. A pleasure to sip.

Also notable is the 2008 “Treehouse” Pinot Gris, $18, a fresh and vibrant wine loaded with tropical fruit, including pineapple and mango, lemon and lime peel. Alcohol, again, is modest at just 12. 5 percent. (Wines received as press samples.)

Separately today, The New York Times  has an interesting look at the growing movement toward organic winemaking in the Willamette Valley.

del.icio.us Tags: Oregon wines,Oregon pinot noir,Oregon pinot gris,Edward Deitch,Vista Hills,Willamette Valley,Dundee Hills

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.)

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Sips: wines we like

I’ve been tasting a variety of excellent inexpensive whites in recent weeks and wanted to share one of my favorites. At Gabriel’s restaurant here in New York last evening, I wanted a refreshing, easy-to-drink but interesting young white over which to have a business conversation with a friend. On a hunch (and because I didn’t know the wine), I ordered a bottle of Saladini Pilastri’s 2008 Falerio “Vigna Palazzi” from Italy’s Marche region. My hunch was right. This crisp and focused wine has delicious fresh fruit and I suspected there was some chardonnay in it; in fact it’s a blend of  blend of the trebbiano, passerina and  chardonnay that combine to offer notes of pear, lemon-lime, subtle herbs and minerals with a nice little overlay of cream on the finish. It matched well with a little steak tartare and some  bruschetta. We paid $24 for it at the restaurant but I saw it listed at $8 or $9 at retail on the Web. Imported by Michelangelo Imports, New York. I’ll have some more exciting white wines in coming days.

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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.”

Loire Valley 2009s: an exceptional vintage

Just finished my first day of tastings here in France at the Salon des Vins de Loire in Angers, a big trade event where hundreds of Loire Valley producers are pouring their newly released or soon-to-be released wines. Headline: the 2009 vintage is excellent, with great fruit and balance in both the reds and whites. Some highlights:

Lucien Crochet’s 2009 white Sancerre reminded me why sauvignon blancs from the Loire Valley are the benchmark with which others are compared. It’s a model of elegance and balance. Sancerre’s reds are made from pinot noir, and  Crochet’s  2006 “La Croix du Roy” Pinot Noir speaks well for Sancerre’s ability, with certain producers and in certain vintages, to make distinctive pinots with both ample fruit and high acidity. It’s a style that I, for one, prefer.

From Chinon, Bernard Baudry is making some of the most delicious cabernet francs in the Loire Valley – or the world (his son Matthieu is seen holding one of them on the right). Cab franc can be dominated by the variety’s “green” notes, but in Baudry’s wines they are in the background. One focuses, instead, on the concentrated red fruit and violet notes and the minerality of the wines, which show nuanced differences depending on whether the grapes are grown in soils with gravel, clay, limestone or chalk, all of which are found in Baudry’s vineyards. Four of his   Chinons – the basic Les Granges as well as Les Grezeaux, Le Clos Guillot and La Croix Boissee – are must buys in ‘09 when they are released beginning in a few months or so.

Other highlights included a sauvignon blanc, pinot noir and rosé of pinot gris from Domaine de Reuilly in the small Reuilly appellation in the southeast Loire; several Saviennieres, both dry and sweet (the grape is chenin blanc) from Domaine des Baumard; a dry chenin blanc (Les Chanteaux) and Chinon (Les Graviere) from Couly-Dutheil; and another sauvignon blanc, the 2008 Pouilly-Fumé from Chteau de Tracy.

We’re in the Loire Valley

I arrived today in the chilly Loire Valley of France, which is still one of the more under-appreciated wine regions, and I’ll be posting from here during my week-long look at the wines of the Loire, which include such well-known appellations as Sancerre, Vouvray, Muscadet and Chinon, but also many others that deserve to be better known. The centerpiece of my visit is a three-day event here in Angers, in the central Loire, known as the Salon des Vins de Loire. It’s a giant tasting that attracts hundreds of winemakers who hope to make an impression with their latest offerings on the world’s importers, retailers, restaurants and journalists. I’m here with a small group of American wine writers invited to attend the event and sponsored by InterLoire, the region’s wine trade body. The tasting and spitting begin bright and early tomorrow.

This afternoon, we had a delightful warm-up at Domaine Richou just a few miles outside Angers. Didier Richou, seen above on the right, took us around his vineyards and poured his expressive, terroir-driven chenin blancs, both dry and sweet, as well as his red gamays and cabernet francs. I’ll have details on our tasting shortly.