Dallas Wine Chick

Behind the Scenes at Mumm Napa

After waking up to a great breakfast in our beautiful room at the Harvest Inn (another first for us, but a great place to stay with its good food and wine receptions nightly), we set off for our trade tasting at Mumm Napa. We were warmly greeted by Charles, our host, who took us for an in-depth hour-long walking tour of the interworkings of Mumm Napa.

Mr. Wine Chick, aka, “I am in a boot, but I can do it without a wheelchair,” deserves a gold star for being a great sport during the tour. But then again, we got to try a lot of great bubbly.  We began the tour with a glass of the 08 Devaux Ranch sparkling, which was full of vanilla and fig with a yeasty yumminess and hints of almond.

First some background on Mumm Napa.  In 1979, the French champagne house of G.H. Mumm began looking for a place in the United States after the success of the French-American tasting.  Guy Devaux, an experienced winemaker, looked for four years for the perfect terrior ideal for the méthode champenoise process of winemaking.  Napa was the right place due to the grape growing friendliness of the climate and land.  Mumm winery was completed in 1986 and Guy stayed at the helm until his death in 1995.  Today, Champagne-born master winemaker Ludovic Dervin leads the wine making in the same handcrafted method.

During our tour, we stopped in several different locations – the first was a representation of the grapes and soil types present in Napa Valley – Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Meunier and Pinot Gris – all grapes used to make the sparkling wines.  We talked about irrigation, water stress management and harvest.  Mumm is a Napa Green Certified winery.

Mumms takes a dual approach to their wines.  First, is the vintage approach, which showed big depth and character – these were the most interesting to me.  The second, which has very wide distribution and features some good wines, is the multi-vintage approach where you’ll find the consistency of the wines tasting the same from year to year.

As we went through the tour, each stop underscored the care taken with each grape cluster – from the selection of only Napa Valley grapes to transportation to pressing to bottling to fermenting every bottle separately.   We had the chance to do our own blending session to create different versions Mumm’s sparklers.  What they couldn’t personally show us, we saw by short video, which gave a behind the scenes look from grape to bottle.

Our last stop before the patio, was the Fine Art Photography Galleries featuring Ansel Adams’ and Jeffrey Davis’ amazing photos.  Then we enjoyed a beautiful cheese spread complete with the full Mumm wine line-up.

We tried eight sparkling wines and I absolutely loved the 07 Blanc de Blanc, which tasted of crème brulee, bread, vanilla and almonds.  I also shipped home the 2000 DVX, a wine made to honor Guy Devaux, which tasted of apple, flowers, nuts and had a spicy character, as well as the Devaux Ranch served to us at the beginning of our tour.  Of interest, was the Santana Brut, a partnership between Carlos Santana and Mumm Napa that benefits the Milagro Foundation, Santana’s charity for children in Mexico.  This wine will be released in May.

Trust me – if you think about Mumm only for what you can find on a grocery store shelf – think again.  There are some wonderful sparkling wines to be found and the tour is definitely worth the trip.

First CultureMap Dallas Post – What Do A Cadillac Dealership and High End Wine Bar Have in Common?

My first CultureMap Dallas post about a Fort Worth Cadillac dealership … with a wine bar? Check it  out and click through so they ask me back to write.

Max’s Wine Dive: Fried Chicken, Champagne and Why The Hell Not?

I never expected arriving around 5 p.m., the first official day at Max’s Wine Dive, that there would be a question of finding a place to sit.  The place was absolutely packed with a who’s who in the wine (including winemakers), food and spirits industry.  And there’s good reason.  You put a dream team of Paul Pinnell of Dali and Nana fame; Patrick Russell formerly of Craft; and Juan Pablo Trabado (JP) who never got to spread his talented wings at Decanter and people will attend.

The vibe is cool and laid back.  The people are helpful, knowledgeable and enthusiastic.  How could it not be with great wine, gourmet “comfort” food and a mantra of “Fried Chicken and Champagne?  Why the Hell Not.”  Nuff said.  I see myself quickly becoming a regular here.

The wine list is well thought through (150 selections) and there is an extensive by the glass program.  Also, if you commit to buying two glasses of wine, you can get anything on the list at a by the glass price.  A word of advice is to ask the price and see if the bottle is a better deal.  We started with a glass of sparkling, moved to a wonderful (and complimentary) glass of Sauternes paired with our bison sliders and a great carpaccio taco, which rocked with our red.  And try the Brussels sprouts – even if you hate Brussels sprouts – trust me.

 JP bearing Sauternes

The Texas-based restaurant has locations in Austin, San Antonio and Houston.  Also of note is the reverse happy hour with $2 off wines by the glass from 4-7 and then the last two hours before closing.

Dita Von Teese, Spirited Libations and European Men

You may ask what Dita Von Teese, the International Queen of Burlesque, and Cointreau Liquor have in common.  More than you would think.  I had a chance to talk to Dita again last month during her trip through Dallas where she served as the brand ambassador for Cointreau at a poolside event at Ku de Ta.  You may recall that she came through Dallas last year, where she paid homate to Margarita Sames, the Dallas socialite who created the original Cointreau Margarita in 1948.

Dita and I talked the synergies – she does her burlesque act in a giant cocktail glass, the brand is sophisticated, it’s international and Cointreau supports her vision for her brand.  Of course I had to ask her about her favorite wine and she enthusiastically declared it as champagne.  When pressed a little more, she told me that she dates mostly European men and that they know good wine. 

The party , with about 200 guests, was fun and included a special synchronized swimming performance by the Aqualillies who definitely had a “Mad Men” 1950’s vibe.

Domaine Carneros: Le Rêve and Pinot Noir Tasting

I received a welcome package recently from Domaine Carneros with a two pack of Le Rêve 2005 ($95) and Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir 07 ($35) to review.  I have always been a big fan of Domaine Carneros wines from all price points and find that they make delightful sparkling wine and pinot noir.

 The Le Rêve, the winery’s flagship blanc de blanc, was how I remembered it.  Lots of pear, lemon and toasted almond on the end with a fantastic finish.  While this is a splurge wine, it is definitely one that I will buy again. 

 The Domaine Carneros Pinot Noir was a strong, but elegant pinot with juicy red fruits like raspberry and cherry combined with cedar and chocolate.

Wine-ing Through Europe

Many of you know that I recently took a marketing role at an international company based in Stockholm which requires that I spend at least once a month on the road.  While this sounds fabulous and glamorous, it usually ends up being planes, taxis, conference rooms, airports, little sleep and interesting dinners – some good, some really bad.

It’s rare that I get to take in the local sites – let alone the local wine bars, but this trip proved to be an exception.  It also turned into quite the adventure – from bomb threats at the airport in Amsterdam to a sad Cupid trying to buck tradition in Valentine’s Day apathetic Stockholm.

After finding out that British Airways had Tattinger by the glass, I happily accepted a few glasses on my DFW to London leg of the trip.  However, while the flight attendant on the London to Amsterdam flight tried very hard to convince me to have champagne, it was only 8:30 a.m., and even I have my standards.  I was very thankful that he convinced me to take the split of Pommery to drink at a later time.

We landed in cold and snow in Amsterdam and were greeted by our tour guide and colleague, Rose, who had set up a wine and cheese tasting of a well-known, Holland-based cheese maker, Reypenear.  We had two very drinkable French wines – a La Croisade Viognier and a Syrah that were nicely priced around $12 a bottle and port that rocked with the cheese.

After touring the heart-breaking Anne Frank museum, we went to a wine bar named Wine & Bubbles that had fabulous flights.  Our group sampled bubbles, French and Italian flights and everyone was very happy.  There was a great line-up of very fun wines and a cool atmosphere.  That’s where the culture ended and a very interesting night out begin.  Let’s just say that seeing the various sites of Amsterdam is very different by night than by day.

After the meetings, I headed to the Amsterdam Airport just a few hours after the bomb threat happened.  Security, chaos, lines that were more than two hours long and lots of very angry people that had no chance of making their flights.  Thankfully, the two million miles that I have on American/British Airways served me well and I found a frequent flyer line that only took 45 minutes.  And then I discovered the wheel of wine in the lounge. 

Fast forward to the Stockholm portion of the trip that happened to take place over Valentine’s Day.  Stockholm is not as “Hallmarked” as we are in the U.S. and I saw no flower deliveries of general giddiness at the office during the day.  However, as I ate dinner in the hotel, I did see a little guy with a bouquet of roses waiting and waiting and waiting for his date.  Sadly, she never showed.  I hope she met him elsewhere.

My Valentine’s night included lots of work emails and a very hearty battle with the aforementioned split of champagne that refused to open.  However, there is nothing that stands between me and champagne and I’m happy to say that I triumphed.

My trip ended with a child seated in business class who cried for nine hours straight.  This time, glasses of Tattinger, Bose headsets and a string of movies kept me sane.

The Palate Evolution Begins

You never know when the development of a palate will occur.  Around the New Year, my daughter invited several friends and their parents to our house for a celebratory dinner.  Morgan requested that she and her friends have “kids sparkling wine” a.k.a. non-alcohol sparkling.  So we grabbed a bottle of Ariel Brut Cvuee and the kids raised a toast.

It was interesting to figure out that my super taster decided that the aforenamed non-alcoholic wine tasted like “and to quote non-usual wine terms” – her throw up.  Actually, of the three kids involved, only one declared it “palatable” or at least good enough for another sip.  With all due respect to Ariel, they have won numerous awards and the individual who sold my husband the bottle told him it was the best non-alcoholic sparkling they carried (my husband did not inform him it was for youngsters).

Happy New Year and here’s a resolution to age appropriate people drinking age appropriate beverages that taste good.

Freixenet and Ferrer Sparkling for the Holidays

I have been way too quiet lately and I broke my cardinal rule last week to blog at least once a week. Therefore, I owe you an apology, but I hope you understand. Last week I left my longest job to date where I had worked for six and a half years at one of the largest global public relations firms. I had this amazing opportunity – to go back to the client side and become the chief marketing officer of an enterprise software firm based in Sweden. No, I’m not moving, but it is going to be a definite career challenge. And, so clearly I’m excited. But distraction set in and while I drank a lot of celebratory wine, I just wanted to be a normal consumer for a change.

When I was invited to a TasteLive event featuring Freixenet and Gloria Ferrer sparkling wines, my need to celebrate took over. We were supposed to pair these with cheese, but I was in diet mode so I decided to use Mediterranean food, which paired ridiculously well.

Our group of four started with the Freixenet Cordon Negro Cava, which we universally agreed was a good budget, easy drinking sparkler. It was nice on its own with apple, pear and citrus flavors, but it was almost begging for fresh squeezed orange juice.

The Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut tasted of brown toast, citrus, green apple and had a nice minerality to it. It was described by one of my group as the one that she would drink for the evening because it was the most interesting and had some depth.

The Segura Viudas Brut Rose Cava, which is always a sparkling stand-by at my parties, was fruity with notes of raspberry and cherry. It paired perfectly with the hummus. I really like this wine and think it is a fabulous value for the price.

In a month where celebrations abound, pick up some sparkling that will be easy on your palate and wallet.

Food/Wine Matches Made in Heaven: The Mustard Surprise

A long-awaited gathering of our wine club took place this month with a fun theme – food/wine matches made in heaven.  Ok, technically that wasn’t the theme, but when it worked, it was a good description.  We were all assigned food pairings to bring and the wine was taken care of by the couple hosting the party.  Because my husband was out of town and I don’t cook, I begged for ingredients that required little to no assembly.  So, I came bearing foie gras pate, a baguette and black truffle butter.

The format was to pair two wines with variations of one food.  Our first pairing was an Old World Chablis (08 Isabelle et Denis Pommier Chablis) and a traditional oaked chardonnay (09 Neyers Carneros) with  smoked and fresh mozzarella.  Hands down the smoked mozzarella went best with the Neyers and we all couldn’t come to an agreement about the Chablis pairing due to the citrus/mineral notes.

Our next pairing was my favorite – fabulous yellowtail and tuna sushi along with blinis and caviar matched with  Iron Horse Sparkling and 10 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand.  I liked them both, but was surprised how versatile the sauvignon blanc was with the sushi. 

The next pairing was a surprise to us all.  We tried sausage (veggie and Italian) paired with Dijon mustard and then just crackers with mustard coupled with 08 Domaine Zind Humbrecht Pinot Blanc and the 07 Chianti Castilla.  Who would have thought that my second favorite pairing would be Dijon mustard and crackers? 

We followed with black bean burgers with a sour cream/lime sauce with onion rings paired with 10 Les Plautiers Du Haut Brion White Bordeaux and the same Chianti.  The onion ring paired well with the white, not the red.  The black bean burgers, which were fantastic on their own, were even heartier with the chianti.

We then matched a guacamole and tenderloin with chimicurri sauce with a 05 Samuels Gorge Syrah and the 05 Abel Rioja.  I personally liked the tenderloin and rioja pairing better, but it was interesting to see what flavors the guacamole brought out in both wines.

Next, we paired a simple grilled piece of baguette with black truffle butter with a 05 Chauvernet Chopin Nuis St Georges fer Cru Burgundy.  This was a classic example of the symphony in your mouth that happens with the right food and wine pairing.  Divine.

Our last pairing was a foie gras with a 05 Chateau La Tour Blanche Donation Osiris.  Bliss on a cracker and another example of a food/wine match that had to be made in heaven.

VOVETI Texas Launch: A Night of Italian Wine/Design

I recently attended an evening of “contemporary Italian wine and design” that married the Texas launch of VOVETI Prosecco with a tour of the incredibly cool Scott+Cooner designer showroom of Italian designers.  The product is a result of a partnership between Freixenet, one of the main Cava producers in Spain, and the Collavini family in Italy.

Brand manager Liz Hartley talked about how the Ferrer family wanted to expand and create an “authentic Italian Prosecco by going to the source” and the labor of love that went into this project.  Because the end goal was to keep quality tight, showcase the caliber of the fruit and launch a higher-end product, only 7000 cases were produced.  I tasted lemon, almond, floral and a little minerality at the end.  And, for $17, this is a great alternative to other higher priced sparkling wines.  You can find VOVETI at Mr. Gs and Sigels.