Hope Springs Eternal

A break from the new business frenzy allowed a visit to an old friend. Gracious as ever, she brought a dusty bottle up from her intriguing cellar in an historic "Denver square." On seeing the vintage we both thought, "probably a goner." But we gave it a shot and were rewarded.

Admittedly, five years ago would have been better. But what a treat to still enjoy elegant dark cherry with a loamy, dusty, lengthy finish. So as mentioned before in previous posts...get out your old bottles before it's too late. Enjoy them with someone you care about. Raise a glass to the dear departed. And remember, Open That Bottle Night is soon upon us. Cheers!

Okay, back to work now.

Bloggus Interruptus

Or should that be BackBlog. After about a month-and-a-half of helping set up a new wine store and classroom, taking time out to post new wine ramblings has been rudely shoved to the back of the line. There is a backblog of posts about the Rhone Valley, Champagne ravings, photos, and more to come. But if a visit to the new place is in your travel plans it will be worth your while. The new classroom is worthy of royalty. Photos to come!

Drinking The Koolaid

The aforementioned Provence journeys included many, many wines of note. The challenge is in narrowing down the accolades to only a few. And even more challenging, finding the wines in the U.S. market. Most major cities offer up the famous producers like Domaine Ott, Chateau D'Esclans and Domaine Tempier. But like most of France's wine regions, Provence harbors hundreds of winemakers whose juice never leaves the country.

Here are a few standouts among several intense days of tasting:

Chateau des Annibals - Owner and winemaker Nathalie Coquelle

Across the board, Nathalie's organic wines are multi-layered, sophisticated wines. Her export volume is very small but if you are in the area be sure to visit. She's outside Brignole at a very welcoming property.

Chateau Margui Especially search out the Syrah/Cabernet blend. It is an intense black fruit, coffee bean, truffle-nosed red. And there are several U.S. importers. This is another organic producer

Chateau Vignelaure Best known for their notable red blends of Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Grenache.

Chateau Ferry Lacombe Their Cascai series from their oldest vines is especially good.

Chateau Sainte Marguerite and also Chateau Hermitage Saint-Martin from famille Fayard father and son team, certified organic

Chateau Les Valentines The white, 50% Ugni Blanc, 30% Vermentino and 20% Clairette is both crisp and lush at the same time.

Taking Pink Seriously

If you thought pink wine meant wimpy stuff think again. If it's coming from Provence, they are taking their craft very seriously. A recent whirlwind visit sent a band of wine nerds crisscrossing the region, swirling, sniffing and usually spitting. Sure, Provence wines evoke sun and idyllic wanderings. But while you are lounging in St. Tropez at Cafe de Paris (okay maybe some of that went on too) the expert vignerons are toiling away.

At the Centre du Rose there is a laboratory devoted to analyzing, defining and cataloging all things pink. Charts, graphs, and gradient color analyses are their raison d'etre. They make small test batches of wines there, using grapes from various sites, and constantly evaluate quality, style, and ways to improve.

According to Francois Millo, Director of the CIVP, only about 15% of Provence AOC wine makes it to the U.S. That's something they are working hard to change. And while Monsieur Millo is focusing on the pink, don't discount the reds and whites. Can you find them at your local wine shop? Probably not. So it's up to the U.S. consumer to ask for them.

The trip wasn't all business, of course. After all, it's Provence in September. Who wouldn't be full of Joie de Vivre?

Come To Papa

Perhaps it's cooler where you are. Here the thermometer is reading around 105 degrees F in the day, maybe 85 at night. What you want is a cool, crisp, light, soothing white wine... Something that makes you feel like a delicate breeze is wafting by. Fan yourself with your palm frond and try Ladera Sagrada Papa. It's a Godello from Valdeorras, Spain. The label just says "Papa" on the front. It's pronounced "go-day-yo".

Godello is the grape. It was almost extinct back in the early 70s until some clever person discovered remnants in a vineyard. It hales from the northwestern region of Spain, up in albarino territory. It's rich in aromatics, orange blossom, apricot, delicate spice like cardomom and clove. And it's got bright acidity balanced with a smooth, creamy finish. It pairs beautifully with typical summer fare like grilled fish, salads, lightly steamed vegetables with a touch of lemon and butter, even grilled corn-on-the-cob.

This is one among many of the excellent wines from the Ole portfolio by Patrick Mata. A much appreciated feature of these wines is the information on the labels. You can actually read the back label and know what the grapes are and a bit of information about the viticulture. Thank you very much!

Once Upon A Time

What is there to say about this unique venture...delicious, affordable, interesting, probably trendy? The Sommelier Series from Once Wines invites bloggish attention. Once a year these folks bring together top sommeliers to create/blend wines for some high-end restaurants to serve as house pours. These retail, if you can find them, for about 20 bucks. One of them, The Knife, has become our house wine chez nous. It is 50-50 Cabernet Sauvignon-Cabernet Franc. This evening it was paired with from scratch thank-you-very-much pizza-on-the-grill with spinach/mushroom/pepper/mozzarella/tomato/basil/four cheese toppings. Even though it's about 110 degrees here, it was a beautiful thing.

The wine is loaded with fresh from the patch blackberry, bing cherry, a touch of down South tea leaf, and a long silky finish. How to not polish the bottle is the issue.

You've Come A Long Way NZ

A recent palate-numbing tasting at The New Zealand Embassy in Washington, D.C. uncovered some gems. When you think of wines from New Zealand do you just picture Sauvignon Blanc and grapefruit juice simultaneously? Think again. That tasting, along with an excellent seminar comparing NZ and French wine, presented by Jay Youmans, C.W.E., M.W. would make a convert of any NZ skeptic.

The standout at the embassy was the wine from Saint Clair Family Estate Their wines run the gamut of price ranges but the quality is consistent throughout. The pinnacle that evening was the 2007 Pioneer Block #14 Doctor's Creek Pinot Noir. Lush, dark cherry and raspberry aromas and flavors with a spicy hint of cinnamon and plenty of body. This is not a wimpy Pinot. Also not to miss is the 2009 Wairau Reserve Sauvignon Blanc. Sure there's some grapefruit. But there's also pear, passion fruit, and zesty acidity with a smooth finish.

Winning the unique prize would be the 2009 Waimea Nelson Edel. "What the heck is this?" was overheard several times. It's a new release for the Waimea brand wines. The blend is Riesling, Pinot Gris and Gewurztraminer. Odd but it works beautifully on a hot summer evening with a platter of grilled shrimp and some crusty bread. Here's the description from the winery, "The first release of this special blend has a heady nose of orange peel, Turkish delight, Lychees and spice, plus hints of marshmallow!" But it's not that sweet. The acidity balances it out to make it great with all sorts of foods, but especially spicy dishes.

Also of note are the wines imported by Via Pacifica. They offered the Alpha Domus Hawkes Bay Navigator from 2006, an impressive Bordeaux-style blend, as well as an '09 Unoaked Chardonnay, crisp and aromatic. Alongside those were the 2009 Manu Sauvignon Blanc and 2009 Manu Pinot Gris. All total an intriguing cross-section of New Zealand ingenuity.

Mr. Youman's presentation a couple of days later was called "New Zealand: The France of the New World." He paired like varietals in seven flights and effectively proved the comparable quality of New Zealand's wines. Best of all, New Zealand is committed to protecting the environment with their SWNZ program. (Sustainable Winegrowing New Zealand) with a goal of 100% participation by 2012. Those young upstart Kiwis. The nerve.