B.R. Guest

A while ago I had an older bottle of B.R. Cohn Cabernet Sauvignon and it stuck with me. So when we passed the winery on the way to our Sonoma rental in Glen Ellen this past week, I had to add them to our agenda. The estate property, called Olive Hill Vineyards, includes about 90 acres of vines, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and a small amount of Malbec. The Special Select Cabernet Sauvignon is only made during exceptional years from 3 acres of bush vines in the front of the property that yield only about 1.5 tons of grapes per acre (this is not a lot). The Cab is dark and sultry when young and really opens up with proper aging.

I enjoyed all the reds, which had nice acidity and overall balance - Pinot Noir with berry fruit and vanilla, spicy Zinfandel with peppercorn and clove, Cabernet Franc with blue and black berries, and cinnamon-berry Malbec.

But the grand finale for me was the Late Harvest Semillon, made with grapes from Russian River Valley. Botrytis spice balanced the sweet honey and apricot flavors in this Sauternes-style dessert wine that brought me back to my sorting days at Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard.

I felt quite welcome as a guest of the B.R.Cohn family that day and also enjoyed their delicious side projects - olive oil, vinegar, and wine-infused concoctions.

Side note:

Madeira - The Indestructible Wine

I recently attended a Madeira Master Class at the San Francisco Wine Center, led by professionals from The Madeira Wine Institute - the governing body of winemaking on the island of Madeira, Portugal. Madeira is a fortified wine known for its longevity - but did you know the best Madeira can last 300 years? Rui Falcao, our instructor, told us about the oldest Madeira he’s tried, which was from 1715! It was not only good, but very good – nowhere near tired or gone. How does this tiny, mountainous island whose subtropical climate is always 70 degrees produce one of the world’s most indestructible wines? Acidity! Like Champagne, Madeira’s wine grapes produce extremely acidic wines that are undrinkable in their normal, vinified state. But this acidity provides the backbone of a wine balanced by natural sugar levels and the addition of neutral spirit to raise the alcohol from about 9% to 18%. With the right amount of aging, a beautiful, complex wine emerges.

Madeira is always a single varietal wine. The 5 main permitted varietals vary in natural sweetness, so their wines will usually follow suit. Sercial is a dry wine; Verdelho – medium dry; Boal/Bual – medium sweet; Malvasia/Malmsey – sweet/rich. Tinta Negra is the exception to all of this: the only red varietal, vinified as a white, it can be any level of sweetness. Though it accounts for 82% of Madeira production, it used to not be talked about, but as recently as the day of this class it had been recognized as a Noble grape varietal and will be included on the label going forward.

Madeira has a total of just 900 acres of vines. Vineyards are managed separately from the wineries, and there are only 8 Madeira wineries in existence. One of these opened 3 years ago and it was the first new winery in 60 years. Clearly, Madeira winemaking is a very old tradition. (Fun fact: the fathers of the U.S. Constitution toasted its signing with Madeira!) The Madeira Wine Institute does all of the analytics on each wine and tastes them before bottling to make sure the wine matches its proposed labeling criteria. After a blind tasting, an approval allows the winery to bottle and sell the wine. Madeira wines are either a blended style (meaning a blend of different years, not grapes); a Colheita single harvest – also known as a “baby vintage” that must be aged for a minimum of 5 years to be labeled as such; or a Frasqueira/Vintage – which must be aged for a minimum of 20 years to be labeled with that vintage.

The tasting included a wonderful sampling across these grape varietals and aging categories. We learned that Madeira should be served cold (55 degrees F), and one shouldn’t try to follow it with any other wine – the finish is long and lingering and will overpower any other wine.  Despite the perceived “sweet” character of many Madeiras, the bracing acidity actually balances that sweetness, making it a friendly wine on its own or with food.

Typical Madeira aromas/flavors include toasted almond, caramel, molasses and dried fruit, like fig and raisin. My favorite was the Colheita 1996, with its honey and orange blossom character; the finish went on forever. The Malvasia 1989 was also a treat, with burnt orange peel and caramel.

Wine List:

1. H&H Sercial 10 Años - toasted almond, lemon peel, caramel, almond skin. Sweeter than expected despite this being the "dry" grape. Great acidity. 
2. The Rare Wine Co. Savannah Verdelho - cola, caramel and Tootsie roll.
3. Broadbent Malvasia 10 Años - cola, raisin, dried figs.
4. Blandy’s Colheita 1996 - honey, orange peel, orange blossom and white flowers. Persistent finish.
5. D’Oliveiras 1989 Malvasia - burnt orange peel and caramel; wonderful acidity and sweetness. 

Thinking I need to go get some Madeira for my wine collection...

Rave Riesling Reviews for HJW

Congrats to my friends at Hermann J. Wiemer, who got rave reviews from Wine Spectator for 4 of their 2008 Rieslings!

Here are the reviews and ratings from James Molesworth:

HERMANN J. WIEMER
Riesling Finger Lakes Dry HJW Vineyard 2008
92 points | $39 | 80 cases made | White
Still reserved for now, with white peach, blanched almond, bitter lemon and Key lime flavors all laced up tightly by a note of jasmine tea. Dense and ripe, but tightly wound on the finish. Will need to stretch out in the cellar. Best from 2011 through 2014.—J.M.

HERMANN J. WIEMER
Riesling Finger Lakes Late Harvest Bunch Select 2008
92 points | $100/375ml | 75 cases made | dessert
Inviting with a gorgeous beam of persimmon, apricot and blood orange fruit flavors allied to a creamy, lush frame. Fig, green tea and creamed pear notes then fill out the lengthy finish with great underlying snap. Drink now through 2019.—J.M.

HERMANN J. WIEMER
Riesling Finger Lakes Dry Reserve 2008
91 points | $23 | 400 cases made | White
Though still compact now, this is really juicy and ripe with a great core of yellow apple, melon rind, jasmine and white peach notes backed by a bracing edge. The long, quinine-tinged finish needs a little time to settle in. Drink now through 2013.—J.M.

HERMANN J. WIEMER
Riesling Finger Lakes Late Harvest Select 2008
90 points | $62/375ml | 50 cases made | dessert
Very fresh with an invigorating feel to the dried apricot, ripe peach and creamed melon notes, with a flitter of green tea weaving in on the sweet, succulent finish. Lush, but with good snap for balance. Drink now through 2012.—J.M.

Argentina, Chile, Uruguay: My Wine Awards

I drank a lot of wine in South America! So I thought I'd wrap up the trip with a recap of my favorites. It can be tough for me to choose favorites since I believe wine-drinking is very circumstantial, but I tried my hardest to find my top picks. I've paid homage to the signature grapes of each country plus my other favorites in the major color categories. And I've rated my best food pairings and wine experiences in each country.

ARGENTINA
Fave Malbec: Colome Malbec Estate 2007
Fave Torrontes: Miraflor 2009
Fave other Red: Los Vencejos Aleteo 2006 (Tempranillo)
Fave Rose: Melipal Malbec Rose 2009
Fave Dessert wine: San Pedro de Yacochuya Late Harvest Torrontes 2007
Fave wine/food pairing: O. Fournier Urban Uco Sauvignon Blanc 2009 with steak tartar
Fave overall wine experience: Barrel sampling at Los Vencejos

CHILE
Fave Carmenere: J. Bouchon Carmenere Reserva Especial 2007
Fave other Red: Casa Marin Pinot Noir Lo Abarca Vineyard 2006
Fave Rose: J. Bouchon Cabernet Sauvignon Rose 2009
Fave White: Casa Marin Gewurztraminer 2009
Fave Dessert wine: Errazuriz Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2007
Fave wine/food pairing: Errazuriz Merlot 2007 with pastel de choclo
Fave overall wine experience: J. Bouchon Winery and Mingre Lodge excursion

URUGUAY
Fave Tannat: Bouza Tannat A6 2007
Fave other Red: Alto de la Ballena Merlot-CabFranc-Tannat 2006
Fave Rose: Alto de la Ballena CabFranc-Tannat Rose 2008
Fave White: Stagnari Chardonnay 2009
Fave wine/food pairing: Bouza Chardonnay 2008 with creamy spinach ravioli

Fave overall wine experience: Wine tasting and barrel sampling at Alto de la Ballena

Thanks for following my journey! If anyone ever tries any of the wines I tried please feel free to leave a comment with your impressions.

Goats and blackouts and floods, oh my

On the drive back to Mendoza from Salta, through red mountains and cactus-lined streams, we stopped overnight in Villa Union, a tiny town in the San Jose valley that produces some wine and sometimes loses electricity.

















As soon as we got into town we noticed this sign in front of a restaurant, and I said, free goat? But it means all-you-can-eat goat. So we knew what we were having for dinner. AC on in the hotel and all electricity apparently working, we went to dinner and ordered the chivito libre with a salad and a bottle of locally made wine called Syros Syrah 2009. The wine was very fruity, young and simple, with plum, raspberry, and light oak. The goat was simple as well but tasted very fresh and just about perfect with a little lemon juice (from that classic green bottle) and salt. The waiter also brought us a glass of the Syros Torrontes 2009, which was surprisingly sweet and lacking acidity, but we imagined it was intended to be like this, juicy with some residual sugar and no acidification, unlike most wines in the area (it's often too hot to hold onto the natural acidity during the grapes' ripening).

After 4 plates of goat the lights went out and the fans went off. You can't imagine such darkness or such heat. The waiter came over and offered us a candle. We weren't quite done eating, but after a Junebug kept diving for my plate I was ready to quit. We had the waiter clear the plates, but then I remembered our goal was 6 plates and we were still hungry after 4, so we decided to continue the effort. We ordered another round and got through it, but the heat got the best of us and we called it a night after the 5th plate. We got flan to go and ate it back at the hotel with a 2007 late harvest Torrontes that we'd picked up in Cafayate at San Pedro de Yacochuya. It was surprisingly Sherry-like, with pronounced alcohol, a nutty creaminess, and sweet vanilla and orange blossom. Not what we expected, but we liked it!

  



San Pedro de Yacochuya's Coquena line of wines is named for the supernatural protector of the vicuñas, animals of the camel family that are native to the Andes and are prized for their fine but rare wool. Coquena is a little man dressed in white who travels at night driving large herds of vicuña. He punishes those who wantonly kill these animals.

Thankfully the electricity was still working at the hotel and the AC was still going. We didn't lose it until the next morning around 8am during a thunderstorm that flooded the town and sent us packing - but not until after visiting 3 gas stations before finding one with enough power to pump gas.

Viva Villa Union!

HJW in Argentina

After a long journey from the Finger Lakes to Long Island to Argentina, it was about time for Peter and me to drink the wine we made during the 2009 harvest at Hermann J. Wiemer. In October we had harvested Gewurztraminer from the HJW vineyard at Wiemer, the original and oldest planting on the property. We had separated out the botrytis-affected bunches and used only the shriveliest bunches for our wine, fermenting it and yielding just one 375mL bottle. It was ready by the end of October, so it´s been aging (and traveling) for about 3 months.

When we took it out of the fridge today we noticed the sediment in the bottle right away. When we first poured it there were some bubbles, so we worried that it had started to re-ferment. But the nose was developed and very pretty, with white flower, orange, grapefruit, and a touch of botrytis spice and minerality. On the palate it had a luscious mouthfeel, complexity, and a really good integration of sweetness, acidity, body, and alcohol. The flavor reminded me of honeyed grapefruit and the finish was crisp. It tasted very different from when we first tried it in early November; the 3 months of bottle aging definitely served it well. We were so excited by the result! We are so proud that we made a good wine. If only we had been able to make some more. Maybe next harvest...

Meat me in Mendoza (Part 2)

After the visit to Achaval Ferrer we had lunch at Norton - but not just any lunch - a 7-course lunch with 7 wines: 3 appetizers, 2 mains, and 2 desserts. It was so ridiculous because we didn't realize it was happening until they brought out the second main and then we figured out that we weren't splitting the tasting menu, we were basically getting all of it. The food was delicious. Fresh salmon ravioli, empanadas, lamb, etc. For the wine pairings they sometimes contrasted regular wines with reserve wines - Chardonnay, Malbec - and interestingly we preferred the regular wines in these cases because they were more fruity and less oaky.

After that we didn't think dinner would be necessary, but we ended up at a wine bar later that night and did a delicious wine and cheese pairing. My favorite pair was the Urraca Familia Langley Blend 2005 - Malbec, Merlot, Cab Sauv - with Sainte-Maure goat cheese, followed by the Enamore Blend 2007 - Malbec, Syrah, Bonarda, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc - with blue cheese sprinkled with black pepper.

Errazuriz: it's a tongue-twister

Funny coincidence about this place in Aconcagua Valley, Chile. The owner of Paumanok Vineyards in Long Island (where I have been before and written about in the past) married a Chilean and had their Chilean marriage ceremony at Errazuriz. You can see from the pic that this is a beautiful building, and the vineyards set in the hills are even more beautiful. I had lunch first - an unexpectedly delicious 3 courses with 3 wines as follows:

1. Sauvignon Blanc 2009 - gooseberry, herbs, fresh acidity - paired with caperberries on cream cheese toast followed by an appetizer of fresh mushrooms with red pepper and cilantro. I happen to strongly dislike both mushrooms and cilantro BUT since I had prepaid for the lunch and didn't even know what I was going to get I gave it a shot. It was actually really good; the 'shrooms were super fresh and didn't have that mushroomy taste and smell that I don't like, and the cilantro just worked. With the wine - a match made in heaven.
2. Merlot 2007 - medium body with strawberry and chocolate - a great complement to the classic Chilean dish pastel de choclo, which sounds like a dessert but is a corn cake pie with beef, chicken, hard boiled egg and a few random raisins. I was psyched to try this because my tour guide had been telling me about it. It was hearty and yummy.
3. Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2007 - heavenly honey and baked apple - perfectly paired with flan/creme brulee.

Energized and buzzed, I climbed one of the hills with my PR guide Pedro, noting the sandy soil with rocks underneath, and we talked climate and terroir. He told me that they use very modern techniques to guide their viticulture techniques, including vigor maps that use radiation to determine which plants to harvest first. The property is undergoing expansion and I saw the new buildings and winemaking facility.

They make a couple of wines that they call 'wild ferment' - these wines undergo natural fermentation without the addition of yeasts the way most wines are made. Instead they let the natural yeasts on the grape skins do the work when they are ready. I tried their wild ferment Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and, not to be trite, they did taste a bit more 'wild,' or like something that I'm not sure I can describe, something funky. Their Carmenere reinforced my earlier opinion that it is very similar to Cab Franc, and I learned that it was originally suspected to be as such when the ampelographer noticed something amiss in some Chilean Merlot vineyards in 1991. By 1994 it was confirmed to be Carmenere, and after the vines were separated the first single varietal Carmenere was released in 1996. Now they know that Merlot ripens more quickly than Carmenere, and the earlier distinct taste of Chilean 'Merlot' could be attributed to the Carmenere being harvested too early and having 'green,' unripe flavors. Carmenere is now the last grape to be harvested in Chile, as it should be, during May. Harvest usually begins in February with the whites.

Ok I think that is enough wine-geekiness for one day! Chau for now (yes in Latin America they say Chau - at first I thought people were mistaking me for Italian and saying Ciao, but it seems they say the same word and spell it their own way).

Can't wait for '08

We've been slowly rolling out the '08 vintage and they have been fantastic - I've mentioned how much I love the '08 Gewurz and the '08 Late Harvest Riesling. Last night I got to taste some more '08s, including the Dry Riesling, Reserve Dry Riesling, HJW Dry Riesling, and Magdalena Dry Riesling. What a crew! These wines are delicious. I particularly love the HJW and Magdalena single-vineyard bottlings. It is so interesting to taste the differences due to the variances in these 2 vineyard sites. Soil and mesoclimate are the main factors that contribute to the contrast in these 2 wines - the Magdalena site is a few degrees warmer, and note the soil differences here between all 3 sites: 

Of course, it's the blending from the 3 sites that results in the consistency and vibrancy of the Dry Riesling and the elegance of the Reserve Dry Riesling.

Check out what James Molesworth of Wine Spectator had to say about these members of the 2008 Riesling lineup:  http://www.winespectator.com/blogs/show/id/41236

A couple more unreleased wines that I got to try: 2008 Select Late Harvest Riesling (a beautiful dessert wine with honeyed apricots on the palate) and 2003 Blanc de Noir (85% Pinot Noir and 15% Chardonnay - sparkling wine) that sat on the lees for 4.5 years before disgorging (nutty, brioche character with really fine, well-integrated bubbles on the palate).

Spotlight: Peter, the Argentine

This post is dedicated to Peter, who left a week ago to go back to his vineyard in Argentina. Peter is actually from the States originally but bought a vineyard in Mendoza about 5 years ago. He grows Malbec and Tempranillo and came to Wiemer to learn about white wine production and sweet wine production - he loves the sweet stuff and is considering planting Torrontes, a white grape, in his vineyard for sweet wine production. So our little mini cuvee of TBA Gewurz was a special project for him. (As a side note, we got a little more than one 375 ml bottle, so we had everyone here sample the extra. We are going to let the bottle chill out for a couple months and then meet up to share it. We suspect that the alcohol is around 12%, which is a little higher than we would have liked, but the wine has pretty aromas of lychee and grapefruit with a nice texture and sweetness on the palate. We are pretty proud of our efforts and the result!)

Peter's vineyard is called Los Vencejos, and it is named for the white-collared birds who swoop in after rainfalls. We tried his 2007 Malbec before he left and it was just beautiful - a full-bodied red with blackberry jam and spicy notes rounded out by vanilla flavors from new and old French oak. Peter imports the wine to California for shipping to certain states around the country - including NY! (http://www.losvencejos.com/)

At the winery we could always count on Peter to brew a pot of coffee before the night shift, and he was a champion when it came to polishing off the locally-baked donuts that Tim and Sandy would bring us. Although, I once ate 5 donuts in a day and everyone seemed to think that was excessive, but I bet Peter came close on some days and just never counted. On the days that he wasn't at work they never seemed to go quite as fast. Hope you aren't missing the donuts too much, Peter! I think we decided the closest Argentine equivalent would be churros... not quite the same...

A noble end to the harvest

This week we finished harvest by scouring the vineyards for botrytis. We had left certain bunches on the vines to allow the botrytis to develop so it could be saved for Bunch Select Late Harvest Riesling (a TBA style). Maressa and I trolled Magdalena and Josef to collect the last shrivelly bunches, and then the rest of us spent a couple days sorting for the best stuff. We used the old Rotapress to press the bunches, and the thick syrupy juice tasted so good. This is going to be a great dessert wine.

As the harvest has now officially ended, I can say that I am really excited for the 2009 vintage to come out next year and in the years that follow; we brought in some beautiful fruit, and the juice and now-fermenting wines have been tasting amazing. So excited!

Great rot

This week has been busy with sorting, pressing, and racking Riesling. After sorting out the 'bad' stuff - bunches affected by botrytis, or noble rot - we've then been sorting through that to find the 'best.' The best botrytis bunches are the shriveliest and fuzziest because they have the most concentrated juice and will make the best dessert wine. This is the same sorting process that Peter and I went through for our Gewurz, which I'm happy to say is finally fermenting, a week after inoculation! To get it going, we simply added some already-fermenting 2009 Gewurz to our juice. After no action, we transferred it to a clear bottle, gave it a good shake, and let it sit overnight. Next day, we could see bubbles and knew that fermentation had begun. We are so excited! Now we just have to decide when to stop the fermentation based on alcohol and sugar levels. Stay tuned!

As for Wiemer's 2009 TBA Riesling, there is still more sorting to do.

Winemaker-in-Training

I mentioned in an earlier post that Peter and I are making a mini-cuvee of TBA Gewurz. The process is going great so far - after letting the grapes sit on the botrytis skins overnight, we found this old-school basket press that belonged to Hermann and used it to press off the juice. We wrapped the grapes in cheesecloth first to filter out the juice, and then we pressed it twice. We were happy to get about a liter of juice, almost filling this gorgeous magnum bottle. We then let the juice settle out for a few days, and last night we siphoned off the good juice and left behind the murky sludge. This was not an easy task, and we still have some sludge left so we are letting it settle out again today before we ferment the batch. (Btw, the juice tastes amazing, even the sludge, so if it ends up not being crystal clear we are confident the wine will still taste good!) Over the next few days I'll be keeping my eye on the recycling bucket to look out for a couple of 375 mL bottles, since we're going to need them soon. In the meantime we have some tough decisions to make, like how long to ferment, how much sugar and alcohol we want to have leftover in the finished wine, and what to call it!

I heart my job

(Joe, Oskar, me, Maressa, Peter, Alex)
Even though my whole body aches from picking, pressing, standing and bending, and even though I just cannot get the dirt off my hands, I love my job. Today was a great day. We chased the Riesling for several hours and had lunch on the back of a truck overlooking the Magdalena and Josef vineyards with Seneca lake in the background. Even though picking grapes is labor intensive, it is also quite relaxing because you can chat with each other or get lost in your thoughts. Either way there is fresh air and it is a beautiful setting. After picking we sorted the Riesling and the rest of the Gewurz that the Mexicans had picked. Since we machine harvested the Riesling today we had to look out for staples that may have gotten picked off the rows. We also had to be on the lookout for these ginormous caterpillars that are red/pink with white spots. Literally they are bigger than slugs. I actually spotted the only one today and had to remove it from the bunches - it was so gross, let me tell you.

(Alex, the German intern, looking for staples and other non-grape objects)

For the Gewurz we just had to remove the unclean or unripe fruit. Peter had set aside the botrytis-infected Gewurz bunches to make a mini-cuvee (special blend or selection), and he asked me if I wanted in on it. So once we were done cleaning and the grapes were being pressed, he and I sorted through it. We're going to make a TBA dessert wine (TBA is a German abbreviation for trockenbeerenauslese, which is a type of very sweet wine made from grapes that have been affected by noble rot, or botrytis). We're hoping we have enough to make a half bottle for each of us, but that may be ambitious.

Meanwhile, Wiemer is going for employer of the year with a new employee dining area and these silly pins:

Cleaning out the wine fridge Part 3 - Life is uncertain; eat dessert first!

Tonight after a long day of packing I decided to have a little dessert before dinner - dessert wine that is! The sweet stuff included a bottle of Rhode Island ice wine and a NY strawberry wine.

My sister got me this bottle of 2007 ice wine from Newport Vineyards. Ice wine is a treasure because it is made from grapes that have been left on the vine long enough into the cool months to freeze. The frozen grapes are then picked and crushed, and the resultant juice is very concentrated and sweet. The whole process takes patience and care, and yields are usually low. This ice wine was made from Vidal Blanc, a white hybrid grape with a thick skin, well-suited to this chilly style. The ice wine was delicious - with a silky texture, fresh apricot, pronounced honey and elderflower flavors. A really pretty wine for this summer night. Thanks, sista!

The strawberry wine, called "Fraise," was from Alison Wines and Vineyards in the Hudson Valley and was a gift from my old boss. Wine is technically a fermented beverage made from grapes, but other fermented fruit beverages can call themselves wine as long as the fruit base is specified. So, there are no grapes in here - just strawberries. It smelled intoxicatingly like strawberry jam and tasted only slightly less sweet. It reminded me of these fresh dried strawberries I used to get from Fresh Direct - yum! It would probably be even better over vanilla ice cream or chocolate cake... maybe I'll go out and get some of that now. Who needs dinner?