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

Remembering Joe Dressner

The world of wine lost one of its real originals this weekend when Joe Dressner, the New York-based importer, died after a three-year battle with brain cancer. Joe was a leading proponent of  natural winemaking and defined his business by bringing in wines from producers, mainly from France and Italy, who didn’t overly manipulate their wines and who usually followed organic or biodynamic methods. Joe believed in honesty in winemaking and honesty in the wine business. I was struck, not long ago, by a thread on  Twitter in which he took on someone in the business he perceived as not being transparent. Joe was outspoken and could be direct, although he never made me feel uncomfortable in a number of conversations and meetings we had over the years. Joe was passionate. He was interesting, and so are his wines, which, for me, is the best thing a wine can be. Opulent fruit was far less important to him than a expression of place and vintage that give soul to a wine.

I think I was introduced to Joe’s wines many years ago by David Lillie, now a proprietor of Chambers Street Wines in New York. I called David this afternoon for a thought or two about his close friend. “He was extremely faithful with his friendships and very loyal to people,” David recalled. As for his evolution in wine, “Joe just started to realize what kind of wine he liked. And that was accelerated by our trips to the Loire Valley and Beaujolais.” It was in those regions that both men came to appreciate the wines of such producers as Jean-Paul Brun and Marc Olivier, among others, who emphasized good work in the vineyard, non-intervention, reliance on wild yeasts for fermentation and organic growing. “Joe realized that those were the wines he enjoyed the most and those were the people he enjoyed the most.” I remember running into Joe at a large tasting in the Loire Valley last year and then, a few days later, at Charles de Gaulle where he was waiting for the flight back to New York with his wife and business partner, Denyse Louie. He looked okay and seemed to be fighting the good fight against his cancer. But he was more interested in how I had been and what I was up to. That’s the kind of guy Joe Dressner was.

Technorati Tags: Joe Dressner,David Lillie,Denyse Louis,Edward Deitch,Chambers Street Wines,Louis/Dressner Selections.

Sips: How Sweet It Isn’t – A Superb Dry California Riesling

Like the issue of climate change, the notion that dry riesling exists in this world still has its detractors -- those who believe that riesling is always sweet. Just the other day I found myself explaining the facts about riesling once again to someone who winced when I brought up the wine. For further irrefutable evidence, one need only turn to Trefethen’s delightful 2010 Dry Riesling from the Oak Knoll District of the Napa Valley. For me, this is Trefethen’s signature wine and the 2010, just released at $22, is a refreshing and complex in its aromas and tastes, which include white peach, green apple, orange and touches of ginger and white pepper. A wet stone aroma announces unmistakably that this is riesling. Minerals provide some texture to the long finish. The wine is a natural match for sushi as well as broiled flounder fillets and chicken  and makes for a crisp and refreshing aperitif. Alcohol is 12.5 percent. On the back label, Trefethen utilizes a very useful riesling sweetness scale that should be embraced by more in the industry. Based on levels of residual sugar, it tells consumers exactly where a wine stands on a scale from completely dry to very sweet. Received as a press sample.

   

Sips: Post-hurricane, the power returns and the corks pop

Hurricane Irene, as everyone knows, inflicted only a glancing blow on New York City, but in the suburbs and beyond it was a much different story. The day after, we spent most of the day cleaning up around our house in eastern Long Island, and now it was time for some (hopefully) good wines.

Irene knocked out power to our entire town, along with about half a million other homes and businesses throughout the island. There was no damage to our place but lots of branches and leaves blanketed the property. Down the street some big trees were down, one crashing on a main power line, closing the road, another a huge weeping willow blown over, narrowly missing the historic home next to it. Fortunately for us our neighbors have a   big emergency generator and they were nice enough to let us run an extension line from their house to ours. Candlelight is fine for a night, but the adventure quickly gives way to frustration.

With the lights on we were able to start preparing a decent meal and went with a simple favorite – penne tossed with crisply sautéed Italian sausage and broccoli rabe. As we cooked we started off with what turned out to be just the right aperitif wine – a light and lively Italian rose, Santi’s 2010 Infinito, a Bardolino  from the Veneto region. Salmon colored, the blend is 65 percent corvina, 30 percent rondinella and five percent molinara. It was an instant hit with its cherry and strawberry flavors accented by some herbal notes and a touch of lime rind. Fruity and refreshing, it was great for casual drinking with alcohol at just 11.5 percent. The suggested retail price is $11. (Imported by Frederick Wildman and Sons, New York.)

With dinner I wanted a serious red, and with the weather now  cool and clear after the storm, it was the perfect night to try something I’d been avoiding in the heat of summer -– a big California  red. I went with Sbragia Family Vineyards’ 2007 Rancho Del Oso Cabernet Sauvignon from the Napa Valley’s Howell Mountain District. This exquisite, concentrated yet precisely balanced wine is showing very well right now and, with ample acidity, belies its relatively high alcohol level of 14.8 percent. No California clunker here. The blend is 95 percent cabernet sauvignon and five percent cabernet franc. With a classic blackberry core and notes of graphite and truffles, this is a California cab I could drink every day. It was perfect with our sausage and broccoli rabe dish and will match nicely with all kinds of meats and risotto with mushrooms. It’s listed on Sbragia’s website at $75. (Wines received as press samples.)

Technorati Tags: Santi Infinito Rosé,Veneto wines,Frederick Wildman and Sons,Italian rosés,Sbragia Family Vineyards,Spragia 2007 Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon,Spragia cabernet,Edward Deitch,Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon,Howell Mountain cabernet sauvignon

Swirls: Caught in the act – a wine marketer pushes the limits of integrity

How would you like to buy your way onto this blog? If not for outright cash, perhaps for a nice little gift of your choice, or even store credit? I’m kidding, of course, but there are those out there in the wine business who think not only that this is possible, but that it is standard practice for bloggers, who, as I have said before, are considered soft targets – the low-hanging fruit of wine journalism – by many in wine marketing and PR.

What got me thinking about this again was an email I received a week or so ago. “Hello Edward!” it began. “My name is Laina, and I’m currently doing the online marketing for Vintage Cellars, the custom wine cellar and wine storage specialists with a large online presence.” This was followed by some terms of endearment: “First of all, I want to compliment you on your blog! Your content is incredibly knowledgeable and interesting, especially when it comes to everything wine.” Thanks, I thought to myself, although wine-related content, as anyone who reads my site knows, is really the only thing on it.

Laina continued: “We at Vintage Cellars would love if you would be willing to help spread the word about how useful and wonderful Vintage Cellars is.” Subtle, I thought, though at this point I was basically still okay with what I was reading. But then  Laina got specific: “You could do this by allowing me to write a guest blog on your site (so you wouldn’t even have to write it, unless you would prefer it that way).” Hmm. Let’s see. The last time I checked, every item that has ever appeared on this blog was written, uh, by me! Yeah, I kind of do like to write my own content.

Laina even proposed some specific topics that she (or I) could write about: “It could be a review of VintageCellars.com as a whole, or about a specific product available at Vintage Cellars with a link to it.” (Mustn’t forget that all-important link.) “Vintage Cellars is especially proud of their custom cellars section and wine cabinets.”

And what would be in it for me? Laina had the answer to that question, too. “As a thank you,” she said, “we will give you your choice of Riedel wine glasses, Riedel decanter, Mulholland All Leather Sommelier Corkscrew and Leather Case, Mulholland Flourish Fairway Clutch Bag, or Mulholland All Leather Golf Ball and Tee Holder. If you prefer Vintage Cellars store credit, that is also a possibility.”

And there it was, Laina’s pitch on behalf of her company, the latest example of questionable marketing practices I have received or noticed in recent months. In this new era of blogging, Tweeting and other forms of democratic journalism, many more people have been given a public voice, with standards and levels of objectivity left entirely up to them. This has provided an enormous new opening and even, as Laina’s email so clearly demonstrates, a sense of entitlement, to some of those trying to promote their products, causes or agendas, in wine and  elsewhere. Among other things, I wondered if Laina sent the same pitch to the wine columnists of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal or the San Francisco Chronicle, or whether she would have sent it to me when I was writing my column for  MSNBC.com, all news organizations with clearly defined policies on these matters. I think not.

When I showed a copy of this email to a friend who is a PR veteran and who ran her own highly successful agency, she shook her head and said that this was the kind of thing that gave the business a bad name. It also made me wonder whether they even bother with issues like this  in marketing classes these days? To be fair, most wine marketing and PR professionals understand the problem with this approach and wouldn’t dream of it. I would like to think that most bloggers understand it as well,  but I’m not sure. Would Laina have made this pitch to me (and, presumably, others) if there weren’t some precedent for it? Probably not.

It is largely up to journalists and others who project an authoritative voice when writing about wine to police themselves to maintain basic standards of objectivity, including issues of disclosure and conflict -- standards that are fundamental to all of journalism. As a seemingly routine email from an online marketing manager shows, it may be time to redouble our efforts in this regard.

Technorati Tags: Vintage Cellars,Edward Deitch,Wine marketing,Wine PR,Wine writing,Wine journalism

Sips: Enjoying two superb white wine values from the Finger Lakes

As I continue to focus on New York wines this summer, two whites from the Finger Lakes region stand out for warm-weather drinking, both of them from one of the region’s leading wineries. And as I post this after a dramatic day on Wall Street, with the  Dow dropping more than 600 points, it’s also worth pointing out that they are both under $15.  

It’s well known in the wine world that the cool-climate Finger Lakes produce some superb rieslings, and Heron Hill’s 2009 New York Dry Riesling not only supports that fact but demonstrates superb value at the modest price of $14. This light, lovely wine shows a good deal of complexity, with guava and other tropical fruit notes, tangerine, lime and a wet-stone minerality that distinguishes it from rieslings with lesser pedigrees. Its ample acidity not only makes it a thirst-quenching aperitif in these dog days of summer but an excellent match for a variety of lighter foods, including sushi, sautéed or broiled fluke fillets or other freshly caught fish, salads and grilled chicken. Alcohol is 12 percent.

I was also impressed by Heron Hill’s 2009 Ingle Vineyard  Unoaked Chardonnay, a single-vineyard wine that also sells for $14. The problem with many chardonnays made without exposure to oak is that they lack interest and depth beyond the fruit. In this one, however, the fruit notes, mainly green apple and lime, are balanced – enhanced might be a better word – by a delightful mineral component that gives the wine a lively complexity and reminded me of Chablis, the chardonnay from Burgundy also made, in its basic examples, without oak. This one, with alcohol also at 12 percent, will go especially well with grilled tuna and striped bass, as well as chicken and pork. What makes these wines so appealing to me is their finesse, achieved in part by their modest alcohol levels and cool-weather acidity.  Click here to go to Heron Hill’s Web site. Wines received as press samples.

Technorati Tags: Heron Hill Winery,Finger Lakes,Finger Lakes riesling,Finger Lakes wines,Finger Lakes chardonnay,Edward Deitch,Dry riesling,Unoaked chardonnay,New York wines,Wall Street,Value wines,Under-$15 wines

Sips: A sampling of top Long Island wines for summer drinking

When the editors of a new website, Metrofocus.org based here in New York, asked me to contribute a piece on New York wines,  I decided to focus this first article on the wines of Long Island’s East End, particularly the North Fork, where most of the region’s 60-plus wineries and vineyards are located.  The wines, which I have been following closely for many years, are worth seeking out for their elegance and relatively low levels of alcohol. Among others, you’ll find lots of crisp, fresh whites that are perfect for summer drinking. Click here to read my article, which includes a list of five top Long Island wines I found in my tastings. Wines received as press samples.

Technorati Tags: McCall Wines,Long Island wines,North Fork wines,Long Island East End,Edward Deitch,Croteaux Vineyards,Lieb Cellars,Channing Daughters,Jamesport Vineyards,New York wines

Sips: A $15 white Burgundy stands out, defying the region’s high-price image

Finding chardonnay with character at prices that won’t break the bank is often a challenging proposition. With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I opened a bottle of Bourgogne, the broadest appellation in France’s Burgundy, where the region’s famed chardonnays (and pinot noirs) are made in very small quantities and command stratospheric prices.

J.J. Vincent’s 2008 Bourgogne Blanc, by contrast, provides real Burgundy character at the unbeatable price of $15 or under,  according to retailers listed on wine-searcher.com. Few chardonnays I’ve tasted recently offer the level of complexity this one does at such a modest price.

I enjoyed sipping it on its own before dinner and then with grilled wild salmon marinated in soy sauce, maple syrup and lime. Notes of apple, orange and a touch of brown sugar are supported by refreshing acidity and a good deal of minerality on the finish. Oak treatment is subtle. I think this wine, with its roundness, has also benefited from a year or so in the bottle. It will match well with all kinds of seafood, shellfish, chicken and pork dishes. Alcohol is listed at 13 percent.

J.J. Vincent, by the way, is a leading winery in the Mâcon region of southern Burgundy and is best known for Pouilly-Fuissé, including wines produced by its famed Château-Fuissé.  Imported by Frederick Wildman and Sons, New York. Received as a press sample.

Technorati Tags: J.J. Vincent,J.J. Vincent Bourgogne Blanc,Burgundy,White Burgundy,Château-Fuissé,Macon,Affordable chardonnays,Value chardonnays,French chardonnays,Edward Deitch,Frederick Wildman and Sons,Mâcon wines