Steamboat Pinot Noir

Just back from Steamboat, on the north fork of Oregon's Umpqua River and home to the annual Steamboat Pinot Noir Conference. The four day event is dedicated to pinot noir, attacting winemakers from Oregon, California, British Columbia, France and even Chile to taste through barrel samples of the most recent vintage, mostly challenged wines that can benefit from the group's collective intelligence.

This isn't a consumer event, and isn't open to media so most of what went on at Steamboat will stay at Steamboat. I was there as someone making wine who someday would love to be able to present his own sample for review. For now, I tasted, listened and contributed where I could, mostly asking questions rather than giving answers. I came away with several thoughts, a few worth relating here.

First, readers of this site should know that I'm launching my own wine label by making my first commercial pinot noir this fall. I've labeled my home made wine after myself, Vincent, in honor of my uncle and grandfather after whom I'm named, and of course the patron saint of winegrowers. How can you have Vin in your name and not use it on your label? Well, turns out I'm not going to. Too many labels out there include Vincent somewhere in their name. I'm not concerned about name confusion. Rather, trademark issues. I got some great advice all during the conference on this subject, and I came away figuring the smart move is to find another name. Any ideas?

Second, there is so much winemaking technology out there that it makes my head spin. I suppose drawing a purist's line would mean doing nothing but pick grapes, allow the wine to happen, age the wine, and bottle it, with no additives. Some people out in the world do that, but that's not my interest. I don't have a problem with sulfur, much less other time tested techniques for . Nevertheless, I hope to limit my use of winemaking techniques to preserving quality or fixing issues such as reduction, but stay away from quality "enhancers" that seem mostly to distort the attributes of a wine rather than improve things. In practice, maybe that's a vague and even wishywashy approach, but intention is important. I want to leave well enough as much as I can, not approach wine as something to control and sculpt. Steamboat gave me the opportunity and space to reflect on how I want to approach my wine, while appreciating the differences some others take to this craft.

Third, if you can, stay at the Steamboat Inn for any reason whatsoever. I actually camped out down the road, but mostly I was hanging around this old fishing lodge that's quite comfortable while being pretty nicely isolated. You're right on the Umpqua River, with steams and areas to swim, hike, fish (world class fishing here), bike, whatever. The rock formations along the river are amazing and great for scrambling. Crater Lake is a good hour's drive up the road. Or you can do nothing but watch the river go by. I can't recommend this area and this particular inn highly enough. I can't wait to go back.

2005 Evesham Wood Chardonnay Les Puits Sec

On this sweltering summer day in Portland, it's comforting to think back to an icy weekend in early 2005. I'd recently concluded a futile job search, figuring out that what I really wanted to do was make wine. I'd been experimenting with small lots of grapes at home, but I realized that I needed to begin working harvest at local wineries to really learn to make wine professionally.

Stuck at home one icy Saturday morning, I figured Russ Raney at Evesham Wood might also be stuck at home. So I looked up his phone number and called him. He didn't know me, and thinking back on it, I can't imagine what I really expected. Sure enough, he answered and I introduced myself, told him about how much I appreciated his wine and asked if I could work the 2005 harvest to learn more about what he does.

Russ is a super nice guy, and he seemed genuinely interested in me. He mentioned there might just be some room for me, that some Europeans who he thought were coming for harvest couldn't make it, but he'd figure out for sure over the next month. Sure enough, I got the job and worked several weeks during September and October 2005.

Looking back, I know I was even luckier than I realized at the time. I didn't work full time and my role in harvest ended a bit sooner than I was hoping, but I learned a ton. Mostly that Russ indeed makes excellent wine, that he treats everything the same whether it's the basic pinot noir up to his most expensive bottling and that he rolled with things no matter what happened, cool and collected. That's crucial for making good wine.

What did I do? I cleaned stuff. I sorted fruit. I did pump overs and punchdowns on fermenting wine. I loaded the press and cleaned it out. I washed barrels and filled a few with new wine. I cleaned everything again and again. It was pretty great.

What did I learn? That I could handle the work. That I enjoyed even the most mundane tasks, mostly. That I wanted to do it again, but somewhere else to learn how others make wine. That I was incredibly fortunate to call on that frozen day and essentially get my wish granted.

Now I have a variety of 2005 wines from Evesham Wood in the cellar. Let's be clear. I didn't do too much to help make these wines. I take a little extra pleasure having some slim connection to them. Really, I'm curious to see how what happened to the fruit and fermenting juice I .

Take this 2005 Evesham Wood Chardonnay Les Puit Sec, from the estate in the Eola-Amity Hills. I remember these grapes being clean and sweet, the juice golden and the wine fermenting in french oak barrels toasty smelling. The finished wine, having spent a couple of years in bottle, is light gold in color with a pungent aroma of pears, lemon candy, toasted nuts and nutmeg. This is nice Oregon chardonnay. The flavors are similar, with a soft and broad texture, ripe and rich but nicely balanced if not particularly edgy. The finish in long and soft, the wine still young and fresh but maybe not something I'd hold to too long given the structure.

Some people tell me they find Evesham Wood chardonnay too oaky. This does show some wood, but I think it's very appropriate for this Burgundy styled wine. Personally, I think this estate chardonnay is a completely underrated wine locally. It's inexpensive relative to the quality, and even in the hot 2003 vintage I thought it was excellent. Contrary to rumor, I haven't heard anything about these vines being replaced with pinot noir. Hope that's true.

2005 Gauthier Chirobles Chatenay

I've neglected Beaujolais of late. It was nothing personal. Simply my own failing. How can any reasonable person neglect Beaujolais?

I was reminded of this while reading Wine Berserkers today, which included some discussion of the 2007 Lapierre Morgon. I have a bottle of that in the cellar, but it was upside down, full of sediment and not ready for drinking.

So on to another upside bottle, this one mysteriously without any sediment. It's the 2005 Domaine Laurent Gauthier Chiroubles Chatenay Vieilles Vignes. Should be perfect with chicken roasting in the oven.

And it is. Dark, fresh ruby color, with a sweet cherry and light soil aroma. It's quite ripe but nicely so, with a fine balance of savory and sweet. The flavors are tangy, with fine tannin and a clean, somewhat long finish. Nothing complex, but oh so delicious with the chicken dinner with a vegetable gratin and garden salad. This is terrific cru Beaujolais, one of the few Chiroubles I've ever tried.

Searching for information on the wine, I see that I've unknowingly tried it before. Here's my note from a blind tasting of 2005 Beaujolais, posted on this blog more than two years ago:

Then another dark, cleanly earth smelling wine with deep rich black fruit. In the mouth, this one has softer acid, fine tannins like the others, some gummy fruit like the first wine, in the words of our host, “big and lucious.” This was the [2005] Laurent Gauthier “Chatenay” Chiroubles V.V.

I remember it now, so fruity and plush I thought it had a little shiraz blended in. A couple of years have lightened the wine so it's classic (to my taste) Beaujolais, substantial but not top heavy or overdone. I liked it fine back then, but I see in this bottle that some age can allow a wine to stretch out without losing freshness, growing into itself after seeming a bit too babyfat on release.

Must...drink...more...Beaujolais.

Oregon wine from Matello

I've long heard about the Matello wines of Marcus Goodfellow. That last name is apt. Marcus is known all around the Oregon wine community as a terrific guy, and I would agree having met him a few times recently.

He and I have a little bit in common, making wine being one thing and working with Russ Raney at Evesham Wood being another. It stands to reason that someone who excels at making wine, as Marcus clearly does, and who sees Russ as a role model probably makes wine I would love. What took me so long to figure it out?

A month or two back, I tried a recent release Pinot Gris from Matello that was really nice. Minerally and focused, with nice cut and no cloying sweetness that too much local gris seems to have. That made me notice.

Then earlier tonight I stopped by Michael Alberty's Storyteller Wine Company in SW Portland to see Marcus and taste a line up of his wines. I was impressed, starting off with the 2007 Matello Chardonnay Willamette Valley. This old oak aged wine (18 months in barrel) is exceptional Willamette Valley chard sourced from the Autumn Wind vineyard on Ribbon Ridge. Crisp apples and sweet cream notes with lovely focus and intensity. This is a steal at $17.

I didn't pay too much attention to the rose (pinot noir I presume) but it was nice for a hot day like today. Moving on, the 2007 Matello Willamette Valley Pinot Noir is a great example of this pretty vintage. Nice perfume, medium weight with nice length and delicate, nuanced flavors. This is drinking very nicely right now.

In comparison, the 2007 Matello Pinot Noir Souris was a bit tight, with very juicy acid that I expect needs time. Marcus admitted it shows better on day two or even day three. I'm noticing this with some other 2007 Oregon pinot noir. Don't be afraid to decant them a while, or leave them while you drink things like the regular Matello Willamette Valley bottling.

Finally we tried the 2003 Matello Pinot Noir Hommage a A&D, apparently named for Amy Wesselman and David Autry of Westry, mentors to Marcus. (By the way, Westry also make terrific, under the radar wine.) This wine was a whole different story. As Marcus put it, 2003 saw about as much heat as a summer and fall could give here in Oregon. I liken this wine to zinot noir, a mix of zinfandel and pinot flavors. Tasty and lush, holding together pretty well for this early drinking vintage, but definitely not showing the grace and perfume I look for in pinot noir.

But so what! How generous for Marcus to open this, and what excellent wines he's making. Matello wines aren't widely available, but they are among the better wines produced locally, and even better values given their low pricing. Again, wines worth searching for.

Two whites from Washington

In the last year, I've discovered the wines of Washington state. Not literally, of course. Washington's long had a reputation for excellent wine. It's just that nothing much had really connected with me.

Part of that was that I didn't taste as much as I should. Part was that what I did taste never much excited me. And part is certainly that the wines are getting better and better. Mix that together and you're ripe for a sense of discovery when you finally get it that Washington state really does produce delicious wine.

Of course, Washington's best known for big red wines, something I'm not usually fond of. It stands to reason then that I'm more interested in things off the beaten path. Such as, white wines.

First, something fairly mainstream but delicious in the 2005 vintage. I'd tried the Ch. Ste. Michelle riesling collaboration with Ernest Loosen of Mosel wine fame, but I never thought much of it. A bottle of the 2005 Ch. Ste. Michelle Riesling Eroica the other night, however, was exceptional. Young and fresh looking with lightly sweet lemon cream and petrol aromas, it had such focused and clear flavors that I was taken aback. Could this be so good? I tried more and understood at last this wine's reputation. Not sugary, not so petrol as to be vulgar, not fat and wan in the mouth. This was excellent and something I wish I had a few more bottles of. This isn't a new release so it might be hard to find these days.

Then with dessert we had a half bottle of 2008 The Curtain Call Late Harvest Gewurztraminer. This wine comes from Trey Busch, formerly of Basel Cellars and now on his own under the Sleight of Hand label. What a terrific wine. Very pale in color, it smells pure, honied and varietal but not too much so. Sometime gewurz can be so floral and aromatic it lacks nuance. The flavors are nicely sweet but again not too much so, with pure gewurz flavors but just a hint of balancing bitterness that sometimes overwhelms this grape. Think the white pith of grapefruit. The finish is long and again pure. What a nice effort. I just bought this new release wine, so if you're interested, look for it locally. I imagine there isn't much, but it's worth a search.

2001 Edmunds St. John Los Robles Viejos Red Wine

It shouldn't be a surprise, but I'm astonished by how Gigondas-like the 2001 Edmunds St. John Los Robles Viejos red wine smelled and tasted over the past two nights.

This southern Rhone blend from the Rozet vineyard in the Paso Robles area of central California is classic Edmunds St. John -- uniquely Californian, but with a savor and earthiness that you just don't see much in wines from the golden state.

Initially the wine isn't very aromatic, but with about 20 minutes it seemed to wake up and gently fill the air with a dark, earthy and perfectly herbal fragrance that reminded me of some Domaine Cayron Gigondas. There's a bit of age showing, with a leathery sweetness but no loss of fruit or freshness.

The flavors are similarly dark, stoney and just a bit herbal, with smoothed out tannin and a long finish. Perhaps the acid is a bit high to make this an easy sipper without food, but with roasted vegetables one night and pizza the next night I loved it. So complex, so interesting, so delicious.

I would have guessed this was simply dark fruited grenache. I see it's half mourvedre with the balance being grenache, syrah and counoise, and that makes sense. The slightly hard acid, the earthy, undergrowth quality, that's classic mourvedre. If you have this and you think you like Edmunds St. John wine, definitely try one now. Just give it a little time to blossom in the glass. Excellent.

Terrific new Burgs from Pernot and Rapet

Recently I had the chance to taste through current releases from two excellent Burgundy producers. First, I sampled whites from Domaine Paul Pernot. Then (mostly) reds from Domaine Rapet Pere et Fils. What terrific wines across the board. I have enjoyed Pernot wines going back about a decade, but this was my first chance to taste through a variety of Rapet wines. Exciting stuff on both counts, what good Burgundy is all about.

First, Pernot. The 2007 Bourgogne Blanc showed nice straightforward chardonnay character, pure white Burgundy aromas with maybe a touch of figgy botrytis? Good white Burgundy flavors, harmonious, low oak, just lovely stuff. Next the 2007 Puligny Montrachet, with a similar aroma but a more lactic/creamy in the mouth, in a good way. There’s definitely a step up here in quality with the fatter texture and good flavors with acid in harmony.

Then the 2007 Puligny Montrachet Folatieres 1er cru, which showed more yeasty, beery notes at first, then nicely integrated with some subtle oak notes with sweet cream and apple fruit notes. There’s more barrel influence here, perhaps a bit sour edged at this point but it’s so mineral and tight, I think the nice balance of elements portend nice ageability.

Finally the 2007 Bienvenue-Bâtard-Montrachet Grand Cru. What another step up, with green apple aromas and some barrel notes but just pure finesse and great balance of elements. Better length here, just a touch sweet/sour, with a notable burst of flavor on the finish, very nice wine.

For a nice comparison, check out Brooklynguy’s write up of similar bottlings from 2005.

Then on to Rapet. First a white wine, the 2007 Pernand Vergelesses En Caradeux Blanc 1er cru, with a nicely stoney, bright and perfumed aroma. The flavors are delicious with lively green apples and a sense of richness. Things are a bit compact but this is clearly young, high quality wine.

Next came the 2006 Pernand Vergelesses Les Belles Filles, a red wine that’s fragrant with a pretty red cherry pit aroma. In the mouth it’s nice with a lighter intensity but everything in its place. Stylish, feminine village level Burgundy.

Then the 2006 Pernand Vergelesses Rouge 1er cru. Was this Les Vergelesses? I thought so but my notes don’t say. Anyway, reminds me of others from this vineyard, slightly herbal smelling but with a subtle richness than you don’t find in the Belles Filles. Nice soil and stalk notes with a bit of a furry texture to the lovely red fruit flavors. All these Rapet red wines are lighter colored but have intensity that creeps up on you. Very nice.

Next came the 2006 Beaune Champs Pimont 1er cru, with a very transparent aroma, more of that subtle fruit richness, turned soil, cherries, really nice in the mouth with great harmony and verve. There’s more ripeness than you think but this is nicely restrained wine, classic red Burgundy that tastes like no other place.

Next the 2006 Beaunes Greves 1er cru, again with beautiful balance of richness and finesse, with a worsted texture and just more depth than the others so far. I love these Rapet wines. Absolutely stellar burgs.

Finally the 2006 Corton Pougets Grand Cru, ok, not my favorite. It’s a bit vulgar with a warm, roasted aroma and fat, rich but less finessed flavor. Not tight and tannic like Corton tends to be, but otherwise a bit obvious as I think is typical of this appellation. This isn’t a favorite, but what can I say? It’s still very good. I’m going to make an effort to try more Rapet wines.

2001 Falesco Montiano

Here's an IGT wine from the Lazio region of Italy, near Rome. The producer, Falesco, is well known for its inexpensive Vitiano blend of sangiovese, cabernet sauvignon and merlot made in the modern style that the largely untraditional grapes suggest. Montiano is a the premium bottling made in the same style, from 100% merlot.

IGT means Indicazione Geograficia Tipica. It's a designation for wines that don't fit Italy's traditional "DOC" or "DOCG" categories (think appellations in France), either because the grapes come from an area outside specific regions, or more likely because the wine includes grapes that aren't allowed in those specific regions. For example, you can put a little merlot in Chianti and still be Chianti DOCG. But if you want to make a wine with lots of merlot from the Chianti region, you can't call it Chiant. You can label it as an IGT wine from the Toscano region, and more and more producer do just that with their wines that blend traditional sangiovese with lots of cabernet and/or merlot.

Falesco makes its living off IGT wines, from the lesser regarded Lazio region but well known now for high scores from Robert Parker's Wine Advocate newsletter, among other wine publications. The wines are clearly modern in style, but have an Italian signature that no new world wines made from similar grapes ever seem to have. I don't ever love the Falesco wines, but I see their appeal. And it's clear they taste "Italian." For all their modern sheen, I've never had an Amercian wine in this style taste anything close to what Falesco achieves. Maybe terroir isn't dead in the modern world?

The 2001 Falesco Montiano is dark colored in the modern style. The aroma is rich with red and black berries and a green bean streak, ripe and focused with tar and truffle notes that are distinctly Italian. At nearly 8 years, the wine is still youthful, suggesting at least that these modern wines can last a while in bottle.

The flavors are ripe and rich, with fine tannin and sufficient acid. There's spicy red and black fruit, oak marked but not dominated. You wouldn't call this traditional in any way, but next to an unnamed Washington state merlot that features lots of candy fruit and caramelly oak flavors, this is nicely Bordeaux-like with tightly wound, proportioned flavors that trade the gravel of Bordeaux's left bank for the game and balsamic notes of Italy.

This won't make me forget great Chianti or Brunello, much less the best of Piedmont. But I like this wine. I'm not sure if it will develop greater complexity with age, or if its appeal is its intensity and ripeness. But it's clearly well made wine with a pleasant dryness that fits the table better than most fruit-centric wines. I have one more in the cellar, and we'll see what it does with another 5 years or more.

2008 Torbreck Cuvee Juveniles

I've recently had a couple great experiences with Torbreck wines from the Barossa Valley of South Australia. But I'm conflicted about this bottling that was sent to this humble blog as a review sample.

Named for the famous Juveniles Wine Bar in Paris, the wine began nearly a decade ago as something of a house wine for the establishment. Demand for the wine grew along with production, and now it's a standard issue in Torbreck's portfolio.

Think about it. Australian red wine at home in a Parisian wine bar? Sounds crazy to me. So perhaps I brought too much expectation to this grenache, mourvedre and syrah blend. It must be a dead ringer for French wine. How else would the French accept it?

Well, the 2008 Torbreck Cuvee Juveniles smells and tastes like good, but very classic, Barossa red wine. It has a dark color with fresh fruit and light eucaplytus aromas, with some pleasant herbaceousness and just a hint of Rhone funk complexity (hard to describe). The flavors are all Australia. Not hot and alcoholic and over the top, but fresh, ripe and almost sweet with a moderately thick texture and not much complexity. The finish is short with a mild acid streak. In sum, not bad but not what I"m looking for in red wine. Not nearly as exciting to me as the Torbreck Woodcutter's Semillon I wrote about recently.

In fairness to the wine and you readers, I took some over to my neighbor who thinks I like overly dry wines. She didn't swoom over the Cuvee Juveniles, but she really liked it. So you might too. Still I wonder what the French think of it. I know the Brits love Aussie wine. But the French? Maybe I'll have to check this out myself.

Thinking about Willamette Valley AVAs

Today I listened to the latest podcast from the guys at Graperadio. The theme? Trying to taste the uniqueness of the six sub-AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) of Oregon's Willamette Valley. For the unintiatied, that's Dundee Hills, Chehalem Mountains, Ribbon Ridge, Eola-Amity Hills, Yamhill-Carlton District, and McMinnville.

The episode wasn't my favorite. It's hard to taste wine on the "radio" and make it as compelling for the listener as some of their interviews. But I'm geeky enough to have enjoyed it, and it made me think of a provocative article in the May issue of the Oregon Wine Press by A-Z co-owner Bill Hatcher questioning the basis for these sub-AVAs. Visiting the OWP website tonight, I see that four prominent local vintners have posted rebuttals to Bill's article.

Bill essentially says that Oregon is a niche brand among wine drinkers across the US, but a strong one to those passionate about what our state produces. Yet most of them couldn't tell you where Oregon even is, much less where Yamhill-Carlton is compared to the Dundee Hills, or why wines from the two areas would even taste distinct for anyone to care. The AVAs aren't helping. We should instead promote "Oregon" on every wine label and not worry about essentially meaningless sub-AVAs, at least at this point. Obviously, others disagree strongly.

The Graperadio piece exemplifies both sides of the argument well. In pairings of pinot noir bottlings from each AVA, Jay, Rusty, and Eric try to pinpoint (pun intended Jay) the essence of each area. The Dundee Hills signature of red fruit and bright acidity comes through clearly. Mostly, however, they find it difficult.

Perhaps the ripe 2006 vintage that they largely tasted from obscures the subtlties of each AVA. Or perhaps Bill Hatcher is right. The overly large AVAs with varying soil types and exposures simply don't bring anything specific or consistent enough to the profile of the AVA's wines to do the consumer much good. You just can't taste the difference.

Then I read the rebuttals and I can't help but think David Adelsheim, Ken Wright, Ted Casteel, and Harry Peterson-Nedry make terrific counter-arguments that admit the current limitations of our AVAs but emphasize their role on the path to greater meaning.

Adelsheim makes the point that wineries are in the business of educating consumers they sell to, and that in time we'll have more and more meaningful "sub-sub-AVAs" like Ribbon Ridge. Places limited in geographical area with fairly common soils that might have the best chance to reflect meaningful commonalities among producers in the area.

Wright speaks to the deep, involved process that led to the creation of the AVAs. It wasn't slam bang marketing. It was meaningful collaboration largely focused on common "mother rock" in each area. There may be enough exceptions to dispute that, but if Hatcher's argument is correct that the market may be confused by the various AVAs, it's hard to argue at the same time that the AVA initiative is all about marketing. Clearly there's honest passion for the uniqueness of our viticultural areas behind the AVA movement.

Casteel makes the interesting point that the AVAs are akin to "neighborhoods" that naturally develop as the original, tight knit industry has grown. Everyone doesn't fit in the Tigard fire deparment for industry meetings anymore. It's right and good to sub-divide into regions that can provide the local scale for an industry that no longer fits into one house.

Finally, Peterson-Nedry emphasizes a point the others touch upon. Hatcher's business with A-Z is big by local standards. He needs to find lots of customers in a highly competitive, almost commodity driven price range. His concerns are not the same as a smaller, more premium wine focused enterprise. Peterson-Nedry gives a baseball example. Hatcher is looking for people to get on base with Oregon wine. But many others are after customers who are already one base, looking to advance beyond the entry level of brand Oregon to something more meaningful and specific to them.

In the end, it's clear our AVAs have a long way to go to show real distinctness in their wines. And it's true. Do people in Illinois really know (or care, yet) about McMinnville vs. Ribbon Ridge? Yet I think the industry is right to be forward looking. If you're reading here, you're probably a wine lover. Do you know Oltrepo Pavese from Valtellina? Perhaps, and I applaud that. Perhaps not, but it's not because there isn't something to learn and appreciate about those distinct districts in northwestern Italy. I guess it might just depend on how much wine you have to move.

Champagne from Prevoteaux Perrier

Last week I had the chance to try some well priced and absolutely delicious, terroir-driven, essentially grower Champagne from Prevoteaux Perrier.

I say "essentially" because apparently most but perhaps not every grape in one or both of these bottles is grown by the producer. I'm not sure, but this is close enough for me. Does it really matter?

First is the NV Brut Tradition, with nice mushroom and yeast aromas and bright, slightly oxidized flavors. This has good length and finesse for a non-vintage wine, with a saline quality I only get in real, good Champagne. What a nice value at just over $30 retail locally.

For just a few bucks more, the NV Grande Reserve Brut is amazing. That saline note from the Tradition is downright chalky here, with deeper mushroom aromas. The flavors are stone fruit and chalk with great finesse, meaning a combination of flavor complexity and intensity with a sense of weightlessness. There's some roundness from oxidation, perhaps from barrel aging in old wood. Overall, this is really good stuff. Highly recommended if you can find it. Vin de Gard brings it into Oregon. Not sure if this producer makes it anywhere else in the US.

2007 Burle Cotes du Rhone

From the samples I tried and what I've read from other wine people out there, the 2007 vintage of red wine in France's Rhone Valley is sizing up to be like the 2005 reds of Burgundy. Uncommonly intense and rich without over-ripeness or anything to mask the underlying terroir. I'm typically reluctant to talk about vintages, but rules have exceptions. 2007 in the Rhone looks excellent.

Take for example the 2007 Burle Cotes du Rhone. Sadly this grenache-dominated wine doesn't seem to make it to much of the United States, but it's a favorite here in Oregon thanks to importer PS Wines. Still around $10 as its been for nearly a decade, this is unbeliveabley good wine for twice the price.

Saturated dark ruby in color, it's still translucent and lacking the purple highlights of overextraction or too little exposure to oxygen in the winemaking. The aroma is strongly black cherry, showing the ripe fruit of the vintage. But there are floral overtones, with gravel, black pepper and scrub brush notes that give the wine great succulence.

Things are much the same in the mouth, with fine, ripe tannin and good acid freshness. Nothing harsh or cloying about the fruit sweetness here. The finish is a pleasantly dry and tangy, with good length to the flavors and remarkable intensity for such an inexpensive wine. I'm going to get a few more of these for any time we have roasted food. They will certainly last a few years in the cellar, maybe more.

A note on succession. Old man Edmund Burle died a few years back, and I see the names Florent and Damien Burle on the cork. Looks like this small producer is staying true to its roots despite the new generation. No oaky sheen or creamy fruit sweetness here. Just clear southern Rhone red wine that for me is a benchmark of what the Cotes du Rhone AOC is all about.

2007 Biggio Hamina Syrah

Tonight we tried a very interesting, ethereal syrah from here in the northern Willamette Valley of Oregon. The 2007 Biggio Hamina Syrah Duex Vert Vineyard is from a site in the Yamhill-Carlton district known for unusal (to our area) grape varieties such as melon de bourgogne. While this vineyard produces pinot noir, I'm most fascinated by its syrah, something you don't see much around here. This must be a warm site to ripen such a grape.

2007 of course was a relatively cool year with a rainy harvest, challenging for earlier ripening pinot noir. One would surmise that local syrah would have been a washout, but not so. Not at all, and I find that particularly exciting given my interest in local alternatives to the lovely but ubiquitous pinot noir.

Here's a wine that's light bodied and translucent in color, a product of the vintage but perhaps showcasing the style of a producer that wants to make "challenging" and delicious wine. They've succeeded here on both counts.

The aroma is all syrah (with 8% viognier actually), smokey with notes of cured meat, cranberries and raspberries, white pepper, flowers and sweet smelling earth. It's not intense and deep, but so complex and savory I could smell this all night.

In the mouth, it's nervy and lean, clearly built for food. It was delicious with grilled copper river salmon on a cedar plank. The wine is light in body, but captivating and piquant with a sense of meat and iodine and nicely gripping tannin. The finish is long and lean, a complete opposite to most domestic syrah that overpower with flavor but lack finesse.

In sum, I love this wine. Yet my wife and a neighbor both found it more challenging than satisfying, at least this night. They didn't hate it, but just make sure you want this kind of thing. If so, you might find again as I do that the future of syrah in these parts is very promising.

The Parker Brouhaha

Are you as worn out as I am by the Wine Advocate's ethics flap? Yet somehow I am compelled to write to try to figure it all out so you and I can sleep at night.

Head Wine Advocate Robert Parker has long championed his critical independence from the wine industry. That's to be applauded. Yet there's more to the story now, with the Wine Advocate featuring several other writers who apparently aren't asked to uphold quite the same standard as Parker.

In recent months, everyone in the wine internet-o-sphere seems to be frothing at the mouth. ETHICAL LAPSE! Bloggers have uncovered the goods. The Wall Street Journal has now weighed in. The story is blowing up.

Only one problem. Where are the bodies?

Ok, let's back up. More than year ago, Wine Advocate writer Mark Squires was featured prominently in a CNN report on Israeli wine. According to reporter Atika Shubert's voice over narration:

Israel wants the world to know [about its wines]. In March [of 2008], the government launched a PR offensive to literally wine and dine critics and diplomats the world over. Mark Squires is one of the traveling critics.

The video continues with several comments from a notably happy Squires, whose affiliation with the Wine Advocate is highlighted and perhaps the reason for the face time.

The smiles continued back at the erobertparker wine discussion forum that Squires runs. In a love-fest of a thread posted when the video went public, several regular posters congratulated Squires on his CNN appearance, among them former longtime Wine Advocate writer Pierre Rovani. Only one person asked who paid for the trip, and Squires answered the question clearly. No one else seemed concerned with the potential conflict of interest.

Then last month, Dr. Vino published a bit of an expose that brought up another potential conflict of interest. Mike Steinberger had published an article in Slate questioning the direction of Australian wine. Squires rebutted on the discussion group, but the thread was locked (and deleted) before Steinberger could respond. Dr. Vino published the private correspondence from Steinberger and Squires, where Steinberger brought up another thread (also now deleted) on the discussion group about Wine Advocate writer Jay Miller's high profile dinner at Bern's Steakhouse in Tampa, FL, with three Spanish wine importers. Miller's beat for the Wine Advocate includes Spain. Needless to say, Squires appeared less than gentlemanly and perhaps gave the story additional legs for his defensiveness and outright rudeness. Where's there's smoke there may be fire, and Squires was smokin' that day.

Now comes the Wall Street Journal with a summation of the story delivered on the doorstep of the mainstream media. Wine may be a niche subject, but Parker's had movies and books made about him. Something tells me this story isn't done.

Yet where are the bodies? Where is the meat? So far, the issues are two, neither than impressive to me.

One, there's the potential for conflict of interest. But so far, the best people seem to have is that Miller was brought to Australia on a junket and now he's published high ratings for lots of Australian wines. What's new? Miller's busy publishing gobs of high ratings on pretty much everything he reports. It's a new running joke. "Jay Miller didn't like the wine. It only got a 93." The issue here isn't proven conflict of interest. It's grade inflation.

Two, there's a lack of transparency and consistency in the Wine Advocate's ethics policy. Perhaps. It is puzzling that Parker has published a policy now that sets one standard for himself and another, less rigorous standard for his writers. Really though, the junkets haven't been a secret. Sure, the newsletter could (and probably now will) be especially clear about who's paying for what, but it's not like these were deep, dark secrets. From the WSJ article, it sounds like a few of the trips in question were unearthed with a phone call. Others were hidden in places like...CNN and on the Parker web site!

If -- and it's a big IF -- if more news comes to light, perhaps this whole to-do will seem more worthwhile. I'm sure people will keep digging. It isn't helping that Parker's been calling out bloggers as essentially worthless parasites. Maybe that will bite him in the rear. If there is pay to play in the Parker kingdom or any other kind of major dealbreaker, well wouldn't that be interesting. But that's not the case yet, and I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it. Just a hunch. Meanwhile, if you're really worried about all this, why not taste wines for yourself and give up worrying if something's a "92." Spend more effort of your food match.

NZ Sauvignon and a Rhone

I found the 2008 Isabel Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand's Marlborough region at a local store and bought one to try. What a delicious wine. Screwcapped and fresh, with a fragrant vegetal aroma of green peas and a bit of stinky reduction notes that unwinds to a more golden fruited, leesy but still pleasantly vegetal fragrance. It's hard to explain but I really enjoyed the changes and overall complexity this wine showed. In the mouth, it's a bit fat from lees aging and maybe some barrel time, but crisp and focused too. I suppose "well balanced" would be the right thing to say here. Just delicious, and a search of internet notes suggests this wine can age. I don't usually think of NZ sauvignon as something for the cellar, but who knows, maybe this has some potential to last.

Then another excellent Cotes du Rhones from Domaine Milliere. This, the 2006, is darker colored, more extracted and intense than I remember older bottlings (going back to the stunning 1996), with a bit of a gummy, fruity syrah/shiraz aroma. Still, this is all southern Rhone wine with minerality, pepper and a sense of savor to the aroma that more modern, purely new world wines just don't usually show. In the mouth, there's rich berry flavors with chewy tannin balanced by a fresh, sweet impression. There's a bit of alcoholic warmth here, in a good way. This is wine for a cool, sunny evening when you're out back, feeling the need for a sweatshirt at dusk but still enjoying some grilled food and hopefully your friendly neighbors. If this was from California, people would be drooling over the mix of complexity, intensity and finesse, and paying a handsome price. From the lowly Cotes du Rhone appellation, this is inexpensive, somewhat ageworthy and unquestionably interesting red wine. Hard to go wrong here.

More Valtellina

Robert Parker doesn't like Valtellina. At least, that's how it appears to this reader. Any time I've read him comment on these nebbiolo-based wines from far northwestern Italy, he doesn't just sound unimpressed. Rather, he sounds inspired to criticize in a way he hasn't in years in the pages of his Wine Advocate newsletter. It's kind of refreshing, even if I might not agree.

Tasting another wine purchased from Wine Expo in Santa Monica, CA, where Parker got the Valtellina he mentioned above, I think I see what was objectiving to. The 1998 Balgera Valtellina Superiore Grumello isn't a Sforzato-style wine like he tried, those made from dried grapes a la Amarone. But this has all the dried fruit, leather, and baked fruit aromas Parker seemed to like, and all the piquant flavor and tannic texture he seemed to hate. Sipping wine this isn't.

But then with galettes of feta and farm cheese with dill and thyme, this wine was absolutely gorgeous. Perfumed with fragrant herbs and fresher seeming cherry fruit, then silky, complex and refreshing in the mouth. What a terrific match, where again the earthy and herby flavors of the food brought out the freshness and sweetness in otherwise earthy, herby wine. It just goes to show how important food is with old school wines. Parker didn't mention trying his Valtellina with food. I wonder how that might have changed his impressions.

White and red

With summer weather in Portland, we got the dry season off to a nice start last night with dinner in the backyard with neighbor friends. After a little Blind Pig ("Swig a Pig") ale from Russian River Brewing, we tried two very interesting and delicious wines.

First, the 2008 Torbreck Woodcutter's Semillon from the Barrossa Valley of Australia. I found this for $8 locally, which is aberrant pricing. Still, at $15 or so, this is a seriously nice wine for summer. Light gold in color with a slight greenish cast, this is fresh smelling, lemony with light wax and mineral notes. Nothing complex but just so beautiful and pure, I loved this. The flavored followed, with bright, crisp lemon and steely notes, pure and focused but with just enough fat to give a sense of richness. This is excellent Aussie semillon, exemplifying yet another wine category beyond the usual shiraz that merits your attention. I don't know if this is worth aging, but semillon from down under can have surprising cellarworthiness.

Then the 2000 Thunder Mountain Star Ruby, a Bordeaux variety blend from the Cienega Valley of California. Check out this old Elevage post from 2005 when I detailed the sad but uplifting story of this winery. Sad in that Milan, an old acquaintance from wine board days, is no longer with us. Uplifting because he was a homebrewer who went pro and made excellent wines like this one.

So how's this bottling holding up? From that old post, I see that I found this wine tight and needing age. Nearly four years later, it's rocking good. Certainly in no danger of fading, but this is drinking really nicely. Lots of berry, cassis and barrel toast on the aroma, all nicely integrated as age does for good wine. There's some tobacco in there and other spicy notes. The flavors follow, with lovely fine tannin that's beginning to resolve. This has terrific balance and a long finish, just what I look for wine a wine. Four years ago I said this could easily go for 10+ years, and I still feel that way. You can drink it now or over another decade. Thanks Milan.

Bodega del Fin del Mundo

I found a cheap bottle of red wine the other day from an Argentinian property with a strange name that I somehow just had to try. So I bought a bottle of 2006 Bodega del Fin del Mundo Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva, which came to Portland all the way from the arid plains of Patagonia. I find I don't often try wines from South America, so here's a chance to find something new and different.

I didn't look too closely at the back label until getting home. Get this:

The mysticism and romance expressed in the wines of Bodega del Fin del Mundo (From the end of the earth) come from the vast landscapes of Patagonia our wines pay honor to this land of immense beauty where the final touches of creation can still be traced.

The sand and rocky soils. Intense sunlight. Dry breeze warm days and cool nights. Plus the use of drip irrigation yield grapes of uniform ripeness and excellent color.

This wine is the perfect expression of its orgins. Bright in color. With full fruity aromas. Fresh and rounded in the mouth. With persistent length.

WOW! The obvious translation issues aside, can we get an editor? Grammar is universal I think. But who knew the selling powers of ... DRIP IRRIGATION. I must say, I've never seen boasts about drip irrigation on a wine label. Makes me want to drink straight from the little black hoses down each vineyard row.

Ok, seriously, the wine's ok for what it is. Manufactured and adjusted for inoffensiveness, with a glossy texture akin to highly conditioned sandwich bread. I wouldn't call it "bright in color" and the "full fruity aromas" have a 'vegetal, we cropped this high but still pushed for high sugars so its rich but still not quite right' edge. In the mouth that glossy, candy texture has just the right amount of tannin, a sweet / tart edge of acidulation (I'm guessing on that), and a sense of harsh intensity like poorly mixed fruit juice from concentrate.

So I'm not a huge fan of the wine, but it's certainly good in the cheap wine for a party idiom. For more information on this producer, check their highly interactive website or Jamie Goode's write up from a couple years back on his terrific Wine Anorak site.

Du Vin and Ott Bandol

Two days ago I drove around west LA on a quest to see my dad's childhood home in Hollywood. On the way I stopped at a couple of wine shops.

One is the relatively new Hollywood location of Bay Area leader K&L Wines on Vine Street near Hollywood Blvd. K&L was long a favorite of my when I lived in San Francisco. K&L Hollywood has a parking lot, which is saying something these days in LA, and a deep selection of mostly conventional domestic and international wines. It lacks the depth that the Redwood City store has in the rarities section, but I'm sure I'd be here regularly if I were still an LA local. Prices are very competitive.

The other is a store in West Hollywood that I found back around 1992 called Du Vin. It's on North San Vicente just below Melrose and is one of my favorite wine shops ever. Not because it's big, because it isn't. And not because it's particularly inexpensive, because it isn't (though there are some exceptional values if you dig around).

Rather, Du Vin is great because it's like entering another world, one authentically rooted in French wine but squarely LA. From the tile-roofed San Vicente frontage, you walk down a red brick driveway to a shady courtyard with the wine shop in a rear building. Past the "Ouvert" sign, the shop is dimly but satisfactorily lit and cool, bottles arranged everywhere, the most prized in plastic bags to protect fragile labels.

Back in the early '90s the shop featured sandwiches and other light snacks, and the courtyard made for a nice place to grab a bite to eat and catch up on the LA Weekly. These days things are focused solely on wine, high quality wine that's mostly from Europe and well selected. The Burgundy selection is nice, the Champagne well chosen, Rhones attractive, and the Bordeaux deep for a smallish shop.

But for me, the prizes are in the lesser traveled appellations, like Bandol or Rasteau Vin Doux Naturel, which Du Vin seems to specialize. On my last visit five years ago, I found 500ml bottles of Trapadis Rasteau VDN that apparently aren't available in the US anymore. This time I found the oddly shapes bottles of Bandol from Domaine Ott at relatively discount prices (Ott isn't ever cheap).

Since I was leaving the next morning for Portland with only carry on luggage, and I wasn't looking to ship a bunch of wine, I purchased only a half bottle of 2001 Domaine Ott Bandol Chateau Romassan to try back at my Mom's. What a terrific little Bandol, very interesting and quite good if not great.

The color is bricking and the perfume woodsy, very mourvedre, with some fruitness but much more to the earthy side of things. In the mouth it was much softer than I expected, but pleasantly so. Mourvedre can be so tannic when young, and while this isn't new wine, even at 10 years a true vin de garde can still seem primary and ungiving. This wine was flavory with a round but natural texture, nothing glossy or candied, and fine tannin that's nearly resolved.

My brother tried the wine and described it as having different flavors after a few moments in the mouth, which I interpret as "finish." This wine has a finish, which so many big, bold wines lack. I think that quality alone makes a wine interesting and worth drinking. I wouldn't keep this wine in the cellar too long, but what a delicious Bandol for the dinner table. If you're in LA, head down to Du Vin and pick some up. And for those Sine Qua Non fans flush with cash, I noticed some bottles of the Raven series wines for a clean $200 per. Some might find that a bargain.

2004 Don Jacobo Rioja Crianza

I picked up this bottle yesterday here in LA thinking it might be nice for dinner tonight. What a terrific, traditional Rioja it turned out to be. Check out Wine Expo in Santa Monica if you're interested. I don't think you'll find this wine many other places.

I wrote about Wine Expo last year. It's unusual in that you probably won't recognize many producers and possibly appellations. The store undoubtedly has more Oltrepo Pavese than Napa cabernet. But be careful about prce, at least for the wines you can find elsewhere. On this visit, the Valpolicella of Vaona caught my eye as something I'm familiar with but can find elsewhere for much cheaper.

Nevertheless, the store has an amazing selection of Champagne, among other things. (I salivated at the big bottles of Scaldis Noel beer.) And pretty much everything is going to be in a super-traditional style, meaning drier and winier in character than the typical dark colored, fruit sweet and powerful wines so in favor these days.

I figured this was a good place for traditional Rioja. That is, ruby red colored, with floral aromas of pepper, tobacco, cherries and old wood spice. Then bright, racy flavors that mirror the aromas and come alive with a plate of lasagne and bread. This is the 2004 Don Jacobo Rioja Crianza. There's no jelly doughnut, pain grille or alcohol burn here. Just spicy, racy wine. Perhaps a touch dirty, with musky notes, but delicious and right like mildly stinky cheese.

I understand this kind of wine isn't for everyone. You're not a better person for liking this kind of thing. I just find an uncommon joy in such a wine. Simple and delicious, yet also subtle and complex. And this is just the crianza. I'll have to try reservas and gran reservas from this producer. The few notes I've found online suggest good things, but a look on winesearcher doesn't show anyone in the US carrying it (obviously not true, but clearly this isn't common stuff). Thanks Wine Expo.