Wine and Watches

Last week the San Francisco Wine Center sponsored a tasting at Ben Shemano Jewelry, a beautiful second-floor showroom in Union Square that specializes in antique and custom jewelry.  For collectors of the finer things in life, the focus of the evening was on fine wristwatches from designers including Rolex, Patek Phillipe and Audemars Piguet.  For the group of about 30 people I helped pour an array of wines from around the world and shared stories about winemaking and travel. We even learned that the late owner of Pride Mountain Vineyards in Napa Valley was a former dentist. Wonder what toothpaste he’d recommend for wine stains? He actually wasn’t a practicing dentist but a consultant who advised other dentists on how to optimize their office layouts.

From the white wine drinkers we found many Sancerre lovers and even converted some to Riesling fans. It was a warm evening in San Francisco and many opted for the cold ones. We encountered those who thought Riesling was always sweet, so we educated them on the various styles of Riesling and the labeling term used to denote ‘dry’ in German, which is ‘trocken.’

Red wine fans enjoyed classic west coast examples of Pinot Noir, Petite Sirah, and Zinfandel, plus a Chilean blend dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon. A couple of magnums dared to impress bold palates and showed how the right amount of air can make a wine open up.

Inevitably, with an even number of wines it’s easy to find yourself comparing. 2 whites, 2 reds, 2 magnums. The Sancerre had a flowery nose and a rich palate. The Riesling had the distinct petrol nose that developed into stone fruit, followed by beautiful citrus and orange blossom on the palate. The Oregon Pinot Noir was earthy and leathery, while the Napa Petite Sirah had a flowery but smoky nose with spice, lead pencil and roses on the palate. The two magnums couldn't be more different; the Brown Zinfandel was immediately rich, fruity and lush, while the Chilean blend was super tight, smoky and herbal at first, eventually opening up to reveal warm spice, red fruit, and an herbal forest.  I found this one to be the most interesting, particularly as it evolved over the course of the evening.

Wine List

1. Gitton Sancerre 2012 - France
2. Peter Jakob Kuhn Riesling Trocken 2010 – Germany
3. Provocateur Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2003 - Oregon
4. Pride Petite Sirah Napa Valley 2003 – California
5. Brown Estate Zinfandel Napa Valley 2006 – California (Magnum)
6. Primus The Blend Colchagua Valley 2008 – Chile (Magnum)

Bites from The City Kitchen complimented the wines and provided a wonderful appetizer to later dinner plans. For some, the jewelry was dessert.  

Old World vs. New World

This week's class at San Francisco Wine Center was a comparison of Old World (Europe) and New World (everywhere else) wines, and I donated a sample of Hermann J. Wiemer Dry Riesling 2009 to the cause! The 2009 Dry Riesling was recently released, and I am very proud of this wine because I helped make it during my time working at Wiemer. I sorted the grapes, monitored the fermentation, racked the wine, contributed my sensory opinion in putting together the final blend from our 3 Riesling vineyard sites, filtered, bottled and labeled it. Last night, we pinned it against a German Kabinett Riesling from the Rheingau and I thought the Wiemer showed fantastically. I was excited to share this wine with the other employees at the SFWC and the students in the class.

The rest of the comparisons were interesting and intriguing:

Elegant white Burgundy led the way for creamy California Chardonnay:
Olivier Leflaive Puligny Montrachet Les Folatières 1er Cru 2009 (Cote de Beaune, Burgundy) vs. Deovlet Soloman Hills Vineyard Santa Maria Valley Chardonnay 2009 (Santa Barbara, CA)

Delicate Pinots from Burgundy and Oregon stumped many:
Erath Estate Selection Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2008 (Oregon) vs. Domaine Jacques Prieur Beaune Champs-Pimont 1er Cru 2008 (Cote de Beaune, Burgundy)

Popular Argentine Malbec found its roots in Cahors, France:
Château du Cèdre Cahors 2007 (Cahors, Southwest France) vs. Norton Malbec Reserva 2007 (Mendoza, Argentina)

Cabernet-dominated Margaux confused the California Cab drinker:
Blason D’Issan Margaux 2007 (Bordeaux, France) vs. Meteor Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 (Napa Valley, CA)

Wiemer vs. old and new - a wine dinner

This week some friends of Wiemer winery hosted a dinner for us featuring our wine. It was meant to be a comparison of old world versus new world for 3 varieties that we make: Riesling, Cabernet Franc, and Pinot Noir. We started with a tank sample of our HJW Single Vineyard Riesling, in the early stages of fermentation. Wine at this stage is called Federweiser in German. It is sweet and effervescent and very exciting at this stage.  With the traditional German onion tart, it was a delightful way to begin the evening.

The food was all delicious, and the pairings were excellent. Now for the wines...

The first course presented our 2005 Riesling next to one from Alsace, France (old world) and one from Oregon (new world).  Hands down, I enjoyed our Riesling the most, with its vibrant acidity and impeccable balance - a great compliment to the smoked rainbow trout. The Alsatian Riesling fell a bit flat, and the Oregon Riesling was a bit too rubbery for me.

The Cabernet Franc comparison was great, with our Reserve standing up quite well to the classic home of Cabernet Franc - Chinon, France. The California Cab Franc was very fruit forward but lacked the complexity of the other two. I'd say we tied with France in this comparison.

The last course was interesting and the results surprised me. Having taken a trip to Oregon a few years ago to explore their Pinot Noir, I had high hopes for the Benton Lane. However, I was taken with the German Spatburgunder (their name for Pinot Noir) from Baden. This was my favorite wine of the evening. Earthy, luxurious, balanced - it was a pleasure to drink. I believe this is the style we are going for with our Pinot Noir, and our 2008 is showing great promise. The Benton Lane tasted over extracted and thin, which was disappointing.

I've always known that I prefer old world wines - they tend to be refined, balanced, comfortable. This exercise reinforced the fact that we are going for this style at Hermann J. Wiemer, and I think we are heading in the right direction.

Thanks again to Ross and Heide for hosting such a delicious and educational dinner!