DISQUS

Agree with your thoughts on bottle aged wine. Just finished up my birthday dinner. One of the bottles was a '95 Ch. Lascombes. It's been in my cellar (wine closet) for 10 years or so. Funny thing is that it was open for three hours before we tried it, but it wasn't great before six hours. Strange how that happens. Anyway, hi from tonka and too bad you missed it ('95 Pur Sang, '04 Leonetti Merlot, '05 Clos de l'Echo) included. Fabulous evening.

Once again, hope you feel better soon.

Ryan,

It is your job to bridge the gap between geekdom and event planning, and make some money to boot. Excellent suggestions and a niche waiting to be filled. Why not Catavino?

BB

Congratulations and well done!!! American Ambassadors of Portuguese Wine living in Catalonia coming back to America. Quite a journey. Are you flying over Minnesota or making a pit stop? If the latter, I'll warm up the cellar (figuratively speaking) for your arrival!

Ryan,

For me, the most recent occurrence took place last year. We spent two days in Chinon and picked up a bottle of '05 "Couly Dutheil Les Moulins de Turquant", which is a Chenin Blanc they source out of the Saumur. Of course, I was there for the '05 Chinon Reds (several of which are resting at the Gite). The Chenin was for Tami.

My recollection of Chenin Blanc stretches back to the mid to late '70's when I started cooking for my dates. It was the dark ages of wine in the US, with wines like "Ruby Cabernet", etc., on the liquor store shelves. Chenin Blanc was another of those labels I remember that get lumped into that category.

Fast forward 30 years, dining al fresco at the Gite, on market fresh sole, when we uncorked this bottle. It was a revelation. Big mouthfeel and flavors that peeled away into different flavors as it coursed towards the back of the tongue, in the way of a good New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc or a dryer Viognier. Needless to say, we were bummed that we only bought a single bottle!

BTW, note to RichardA. Glad to hear you are becoming acclimated to Cab France. If you get a chance, try one of the '05 Couly Dutheil's. Make sure you let it breath for at least 2 hours before drinking. Both the Clos de l'Echo and Baronne Madeleine are HUGE wines that benefit from decanting. Another point to make is that '05 is an anomaly in Chinon because the hot weather really ripened up the grapes.

Thanks for the post. Wish I could have been there with you.

Hey you two,

Having been fortunate enough to dine at several Michelin starred restaurants in France, including one ** that's been in the book since 1900, I must generally agree with your perception (and Andrea's) regarding the overall experience. Stuffy and overbearing service is a common theme. Granted, how often are you served lobster carved and shaped to look like a sea horse? The only such dining experience we've enjoyed was in Collioure at La Neptune. We ate out on their deck overlooking the harbor and it was wonderful. First time I ever had grilled fish with veal reduction. An ephiphany! Although I was scolded by the waiter for trying to pour Tami a glass of wine. :-)

Glad you enjoyed your birthday. You both look mahvelous!

Bill

A shout out from Minnetonka on Saint Valentine's Day! Enjoyed the prose very much. Por moi, grilled lobster with tarragon-mustard aioli and an '05 Pur Sang were the table d'hot. Calcots and Salmon seem like a nice combo as well.

Philip and Gabriella,

Winemakers can do what they want with their grapes, I've got no argument with that. The problem is that winemakers are not required to "fairly disclose" the manufacturing process involved in creating these wines. To me, there is something philosophically wrong with using tricks like reverse osmosis and micro oxygenation to tamper with the wine. If the wine label was required to list the ingredients as well as the processes that went into the final product, that might provide clues as to the real nature of a bottle. We, the consumer would ultimately benefit. One would hope so.

I also truly value "creativity, ingenuity, innovation and independent thought". It would be my contention that the slavish attention to creating wines to satisfy one man's palette, generating Parker points to increase sales volume is not demonstative of these adjectives. It is the efforts of those artisans who respect the traditional methods and seek to improve upon them through natural means that are the true innovators.

Let the debate continue!

Hard to believe it's really been 4 years since you left the Cities. I remember a few conversations about this very topic at the time and they basically went like the tone of your post. Granted, you didn't know the details, but the overall goal was (and still is) to make your mark on the world on Iberian wine. Congratulations, you are succeeding at that goal. Keep it up. I wasnt' joking about your first book, either. Get cracking!!

R&G, In the for what it's worth category, you may be happy to know that quite a few sherries made the WS "100 Best Values" list this year.

Looking forward to seeing you in '09, somehow, some way.

Having read the latest Feiring book, I consider myself firmly in her camp as it relates to the artificial means by which wine is being "crafted", not as an expression of the terroir, but as a means to curry "Parker points".

I am against the trend to "Franken-wines" or the "global style" or whatever one chooses to call the ridiculous attempts to satisfy the palate of ONE MAN. Let's go back to basics, especially in the US, and first figure out what grapes should be planted where. Some of that is being done, but as vineyard acreage continues to expand, the idea of terroir is being sacrificed to the artificial machinations of the UC Davis educated winemakers.

Sorry for the rant, and yes, my comments are off the top generalizations. This is one topic that definitely gets me going. Once again, let's go back to the basics. . . earth, sun, rain and the innate skill of the producer, from planting in the right place to the final product.

Finally, I do recommend Alice Feiring's latest book, even to those of you who are Parker fans. Her take no prisoner mentality and commitment are refreshing, and, in the small world of wine writing, quite courageous.

Reading her book really makes me look forward to first Opaz book. :-)

Trolling for beer now, eh? Can't say that I blame you. I will corroborate your father's assurance that your store held 1,400 different beers. A veritable cornucopia of beer. I especially liked the six pack special. Great way to experience a wide variety at a reasonable price. First place I tried Bell's, for one. And the only place I've ever seen a Belgian Single. You must really trust your folks with all that great beer. :-)

My experience is somewhat analogous to Richard's. I became a serious wine drinker in 1982 after moving to the Twin Cities and rooming with a college buddy (Ross). Back in those days, we were the only ones in our group with a serious (or even moderate) wine jones. We started pulling people in by hosting dinners, parties and wine tastings. Our yearly German wine tasting, which lasted for 11 years, is the stuff of legend. During this period of time, I started to notice that instead of beer or spirits, my friends were now starting to bring wine to our get togethers. We're talking a span of over 20 years here, but the last holdouts finally came around over the past few years. Now, we're all drinking wine. For most of my friends, I don't know if I can say there was an epiphany, in the sense of the "eureka" moment. I just hammered away like the tide and eventually they all crumbled (or had their epiphanies while I wasn't looking) . Wine became (and still is) their beverage of choice. I couldn't be happier. Ok, I could be happier if they all decided to drink great wine. But any wine, even the El Coto, is better than no wine, yes? Or does your epiphany require the distinction between two wines as opposed to wine vs. spirits or beer?

Anyway, that's my wine pied piper story, and I'm proud of it. :-)

The photo reminds me of Borat. Funny!

Interesting post coming on the heels of the previous "wine journalist" post. I was actually thinking about Ryan the dragon slayer after reading that article. ;-)

Coincidentally, I tried a "new" Spanish wine last night that I picked up at Sam's Wine Shop (thanks for the tip, btw). It's called Fidelium from Navarra and it's a blend of Merlot (55%), Cabernet, (30%) Grenache (20%) and Tempranillo (15%). Not a traditional Spanish blend, but an excellent wine for the price. I had the '03 and it's drinking beautifully right now. Very rich with a long tasty finish. Maybe a tad overripe, but at the price and overall quality, I'm not going to complain.

Hi Guys,

I've been hitting the Iberian peninsula pretty hard lately (the past four years or so), and Tami's been on a major Albarino kick.

A sampling of the cellar includes:

2005 Sante Fe De Arrailolos Alentejano
2004 Quinta dos Acprestes Douro
2005 Vale DO Bomfim Douro Reserva
2005 Altano Douro
2006 Campo Reales La Mancha
2006 Almira LosDos "Old Vines"

Generally speaking, these wines deliver excellent value for the price. I really love the Vale DO Bomfim and the Altano. As you can see, not a Rioja on the list, although I try them once in a great while.

Of course, there are the occasional Chinon's and Languedoc's thrown in, plus quite a few value priced Rosso's. And, as I've rejoined the Ridge ATP, a few highly extracted Zin's are now in the rotation.

Now you've gone and got me thirsty!

How does one say 'April Fools Day' on the Iberian Peninsula? Should I even click on the "found here" link?

Lovely post, Ryan. God, I love wild boar sausage.

This is one of my favorite stories. I truly regret that I wimped out on the opportunity to meet you there. Thanks for sharing it again.

Ryan,

Interesting perspective, and so true. Good experiences for your eventual plunge into winemaking. : - )

Right back atcha with the cava!

Gabriella,

Please tell Maria that I appreciate her taking the time for a thorough explanation of their milieu. It sounds like they're sitting on a gold mine of natural biotics. This level of detail starts to hit the wine geek level, but she did a great job of explaining why the walls are covered with mold.

Thanks,

Bill

Sounds like a fabulous evening.

I'll second that request.

Have you tried the '05 "Vale Do Bomfim" Douro Reserve? Quite nice for around $12.