Dallas Wine Chick

Evening Land Vineyards: The Romance Continues

Last July, I became acquainted with Evening Land Vineyards through an event with Pioneer Wine Company.  So when I got the invitation from Natalie Vaclavik, the company’s Southeast Regional Sales Director of Evening Land, to attend a dinner at Bailey’s, I jumped at the chance.  When I got there, I found out that I was the first media outlet in Dallas to cover the wine.  Based on what I tasted, I’d make sure you try a bottle or two before the word gets out.

Originally, Larry Stone, master sommelier, president of Evening Land and one of only two Americans to have won the competition for International Best Sommelier in French Wines and Spirits from Food and Wines from France, was supposed to attend. However, as it often does, life got in the way. But, Natalie made up for his absence with her knowledge, passion and enthusiasm for the wines. And when you add the insight from Bailey’s Sommelier, Jennifer Jaco, you have created a wine lover’s dream. FYI – Jennifer has built one of the best wine lists in town at Bailey’s with over 715 labels and it’s on par with the Fairmont Hotel’s, which was the best I have found in terms of fun/unique and scope of wines.

The winery owns land in Occidental Vineyard in Sonoma and Santa Rita Hills Estate in California, Eola-Amity and Seven Springs in Oregon as well vineyards in Burgundy in collaboration with Dominique Lafon of Domaine des Comtest Lafon. Evening Land is committed to selling the best pinot noir and chardonnay possible. The wines have a color-coded, tiered label system of blue, silver, gold and white, which reflects pricing. Blue is the most affordable and starts at about $25 leading up to the white label, which runs about $120 a bottle. Isabel Meunier is the wine maker in Oregon; Christophe Vial is the winemaker in Beaune, France, and Sashi Moorman in California. Lafon continues to consult in France.

Executive Chef Grant Morgan created a number of dishes matched with the different wine regions from France to Oregon to California. We were served a pinot noir and chardonnay with each course.

Our first course was Foie Gras, Black Pepper Lavash and Apricot Jam served with the 10 Evening Land Vineyards Etoile Pouilly Fuisse ($28.99), France, which had notes of lemon, minerality, a little butterscotch and a nice mouth texture. It was fabulous with the food and the Old World style of white that I enjoy. The next wine served was the 10 Evening Land Blue Label Bourgogne Rouge ($25.99), France, which earthy with notes of black cherry.

The second course was served with my favorite white wine of the night, which is almost impossible to procure since only 100 cases are made. The 09 Evening Lane Vineyards Summum Chardonnay, Seven Springs Eola-Amity Hills from Oregon ($125.99) was a treat. Citrus, apple, tropical and minerality. Very old world style and my favorite chardonnay. When served with the cherry stuffed Oregon quail breast with creamy polenta and sweet onions, it was a match made in heaven. The 09 Evening Land Vineyards Seven Springs Estate Pinot Noir, Eola-Amity Hills from Oregon ($39.99) was the epitome of Oregon in a glass — earthy, Old World, black cherry. I really liked this wine.

We then moved to California with roasted duck breast, almond toast, braised California rhubarb and watercress. The almond toast was almost like dessert, and when I asked Grant about it, he told me I didn’t want to know how fattening it was because it was cooked in duck fat. Sigh. Oh, but it was worth it. The wines served were the 10 Evening Lands Blue Label Chardonnay, which was full bodied with some apple, flint and citrus. The 09 Evening Land Vineyards Santa Rita Hills Estate Pinot Noir, had ripe blackberry and dark fruit with a big finish.

We finished with a fabulous tray of desserts, that I couldn’t stop eating, and joined Natalie and Jennifer for a fun chat about wine and a rich 20-year-old glass of Ramos Pinto 20 Years Old Quinta do Bom Retiro Tawny Port from Portugal.

Brown Bagging: A Blind Tasting Experience

Before the holidays, a group of Dallas-based wine folks gathered together for our first brown bag tasting event.  We tried ten wines in an informal format at Campania Pizza in Uptown, who was generous enough to waive the corkage fee. 

The parameters were wide open – a red wine in the neighborhood of $20-25 a bottle.  I was really intrigued to see what the group would bring as it was a varied group of wine lovers – some formally trained and some self taught – all interested in continuing their journey with wine. 

Here was the line-up and my reactions:

• Cooper L’inizio – 2008 (Washington).  After hosting Neal Cooper on his first Dallas visit last year and being impressed with Washington State wine at the Wine Bloggers Conference 2010, I thought I’d bring something that the rest of the tasters couldn’t get in Texas.  Note that I did break the rules a bit and bring a bottle that is now estimated to sell around $40 in very limited quantities.  Definitely in my top three wines.
• Inwood Estates 2008 Cornelius (Texas) I admit it – I continue to struggle with the price point and payoff of this wine.  @jftxwine brought it as the zinger of the night and I tasted concrete and something sweet that didn’t work for me especially at $40.
• Petalos Bierzo 09 (Spain).  I tasted blueberry, spice and a hint of floral, which may have been lavender.
• La Vierge,” Cahors 07 (France), smoky, dark cherry, flinty, meaty and earthy.  This wine is referred to as the “French Malbec”
• Mollydooker The Boxer (Australia) – After having the ability to spend some time with Sparky and Mum late last year, talking about these guys is like talking about family.  I tasted big berry, licorice, oak and cedar.
• Bodini Malbec – 2010 (Argentina).  Berry, meaty, licorice abound in this juicy Malbec.
• Toasted Head Cabernet Sauvignon 09 (California).  Cherry, cassis, coffee and some spice.
• Haven’s Meritage 09 Rutherford (California).  Blueberries, vanilla, spice and a big juicy red.  Definitely in my top three wines.
• Domaine Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage Blanc 09 (France).  Raspberry, cardamom, smoky with a little pepper.  On my top three list.
• Pagos del Moncejo Garnacha 08 (Spain).  Cedar, spice, vanilla and cherry.

We had a great time, ate some really good pizza and enjoyed diverse wines from around the world.  Our next brown bag tasting is in early February and we’ll taste Pinot Noirs.  I just happen to have another surprise in store.

Celebrating Regional Wine Week with an Aged Texan

In honor of the fourth annual Regional Wine Week, which is scheduled from Oct. 9 to Oct. 15 this year, I wanted to write about a Texas wine that I picked up two years ago from Calais Winery in Dallas.  Regional Wine Week is scheduled to profile wines from “The Other 47” states that aren’t California, Washington or Oregon.

Back in September of 09 when I tasted the Calais, I wondered how it would age.  I am glad to report that this wine really evolved with time in the bottle.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I know Ben and his wife, Melynn, from the wine business and due to our almost daily class workouts at Equinox in Dallas.   They are delightful people.

Calais bills itself the French winery of Texas and it definitely uses an Old World method of wine production.  This wine is named after Commerce Street in Dallas, the location of Calais’ tasting room, and is an 85 percent cabernet sauvignon and a 15 percent syrah blend.  I tasted blackberry, currant, cherry and sandalwood with hints of mocha.  I enjoyed this wine and was glad to see time in the bottle equaled a more complex and well rounded glass of wine.

Traveling the World for a 100 Point Wine: My E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque Experience

Many of you all know that I’ve been on a new marketing assignment with a client based in Europe and have been on a few whirlwind multi-country tours over the past few weeks.  While most of my clients appreciate wine, it is rare to find one that has made it a priority to taste his way through first growth Bordeaux, the finest blends from Italy and California cult wine verticals.  Long story short – this guy knows his wines. 

We got together for dinner in Stockholm last week and I knew that he wasn’t a traditional Pinot fan, but I was up for the challenge.  I ordered a 07 Domain Serene and it didn’t disappoint.  It was a new world wine with an old world sensibility and I think my client will now give Pinot another try. 

But then he went and raised the gauntlet.  He picked up the bill for a Robert Parker 100 pointer – the E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Turque 1999 and had the sommelier serve it to us blind.  While I guessed French and Old World, there was no way I’ve sampled enough top-tier wines to have a multitude of reference points.  I tasted it and the different layers and textures seamlessly integrated to make every sip different.  The wine evolved in the glass with notes of vanilla, espresso, blackberries and tea.  It was perfect, lush and powerful.   

My first “a ha” moment with wine occurred long ago when I sampled Stag’s Leap Cast 23.  I’ve been searching for a similar palate ignition every since and the stars aligned last week in Stockholm.

Matching Wine with Beef Tongue: My Chefs Under Fire Culinary Experience

The Winning Dish - Courtesy of Steven Doyle, Crave DFW

I attended the third annual 2011 Dallas/Fort Worth Chefs Under Fire Regional Culinary Competition last month at the Milestone Culinary Arts Center.  The contest, which is sponsored by the Keep Collection, LLC, was won by Kevin Martinez of Tokyo Cafe with a dish of seared tilefish, fresh peach and tomato salsa on a corn and okra-yuzu succotash topped with crispy shallots.  It looked great.  However, only the chef judges – Chef Tim Byres of SMOKE, Katie Natale of Four Seasons Resort and Club and Sharon Van Meter of Milestone Culinary Arts Center got to try the dishes.

The Wine Matching Challenge of a Lifetime

The rest of us had an array of appetizers to taste and a wine and food demo from Commissary Chef John Tesar, who prepared beef tongue, and Sommelier Scott Barber who had to match the dish with wines.  The question of the day is what wine do you serve with beef tongue?  Barber recommended two whites and a red.

Scott Barber, the Man with A Plan — Courtesy of Steven Doyle, Crave DFW

The Line Up

• 09 Château de Sancerre “Passe Avant le Meilleur” Sancerre, Loire Valley.  The minerality, pepper and smoky taste came out when paired with the beef tongue. A very crisp and subtle wine that stood up to the green notes in the salsa verde sauce.
• 2007 Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Spätlese.  This wine paired surprisingly well with the spices used on the tongue and with the floral, honey and tropical notes.
• 09 Château St. Jean de la Gineste Vieilles Vignes Corbières.  The lone red paired with the black fruit and Asian spices used in preparing the dish.  It was a mix of fruit and earthiness.

Gene and Julie Gates of 103.7 Lite FM cracked me up as guest emcees of the event.   

Chef Martinez will now advance to compete at the Chefs Under Fire final competition to be held on October 16 in Austin, TX.  There, he will compete against Chef Daniel Valenzuela, a student at Escoffier School of Culinary Arts who won the Austin/San Antonio challenge, as well as the Houston Regional Winner for a one week stay in Los Cabos.

Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais and Burgers: Yin and Yang

The day after I got back from the Wine Blogger’s Conference I quickly prepared for the Burgers with a side of Beaujolais #GDandBurgers event.  As many of you know, I do not cook.  Ever.  So, when the itinerary called for burger preparation and my husband was out of town, I called in the big guns — my friend, Jennifer Schuder. 

Jennifer prepared a fabulous turkey burger with a fried egg perched on top of the patty.  It was absolutely to die for.  I also learned that Beaujolais wines match pretty well with burgers.  Other participants followed along with burger recipes by Chef Bob Waggoner that matched each wine.   To follow some of the chat that evening, check out www.winetwits.com and clink on the link.

We tried three Georges Duboeuf wines that night. 

• Georges Duboeuf Beaujolais-Villages 09 – this was the least complex of the wines offered and the least favorite of the group.  I tasted berry and currant and some spice on the end.  This wine went well with our cheese plate.  $9.99
• Georges Duboeuf Brouilly 09 – lots of plum, currant and other stone fruit. The more this developed in my glass, the more I liked it.  This was the most divisive wine of the group.  $13.99
• Georges Duboeuf Julienas Chateau des Capitans 09 – This was the favorite and the most complex wine tried.  Floral notes, mocha, vanilla, big berry and spiciness.  $17.99

This was a great event to really get a feel for the diversity of wines from Beaujolais.  And, I now know what wine will work splendidly the next time my husband fires up burgers on the grill.

WBC 11: Bus Trip, Virginia Wine Takeaways and General Musing

The tough thing about doing a series on an event like the Wine Blogger’s Conference is that by the time you reach the fourth article, your story is old news.  You already know about the well received keynote from Jancis Robinson, who has a list of accomplishments including www.JancisRobinson.com, writer for the Financial Times, and editor of The Oxford Companion to Wine and co-author with Hugh Johnson of The World Atlas of Wine.  That was a good thing for me as I was stuck in my room on a work conference call and was glad it was well documented.  Also, Eric Asimov of The New York Times had some great things to say about responsible journalism, democratization of wine and paths of wine knowledge and appreciation.

You already know that it was unseasonably hot – even for a Texan — in Virginia, at the wineries and at Monticello.  If you’ve been following closely, you might even know who decided to learn about Virginia wines and those who decided they had better things to do and ignored all things Virginia while attending the conference. 

You’ve heard that speed tasting was met with mixed reviews.  It’s hard to put a box wine up against a $90 reserve Cabernet and expect positive results.  There has to be a better way to make this a fair game.

My biggest takeaway on Virginia wine was the European influence on its winemaking.  From Barboursville to Tarara to Breaux, European winemakers and wine consultants are the norm here, and Virginia seems to be on the map as a destination for U.S. entry. Winemakers like Dennis Horton of Horton Vineyards traveled to Southern France before planting a single Viognier grape. Bordeaux, Portuguese and Spanish varietals are abundant.  Wines I would consider to be non-traditional to this region like Albarino, Nebbiolo and Petit Manseng are being offered.  This will be an interesting place to watch as some of the top European wine makers and wine families are playing here.

And now for the fun stuff – the winery bus tour.  Attendees are broken into seven groups and each group visits two wineries and has lunch.   Last year, we had a great experience at one winery and the other seemed to be bothered that they had to deal with us.  This year karma smiled upon us as we found out we would be visiting Horton Vineyards and Barboursville Vineyards.  Score! 

Dennis Horton, Horton Vineyards

We started our tour at Horton Vineyards and got to meet one of Virginia’s innovators, Dennis Horton.  Dennis started with a home vineyard in 1983 and founded Horton Vineyards in 1989.  Horton Vineyards is a 110-acre estate that has more than 20 grape varieties.  He is credited for the first viognier from Virginia (1992), the first cabernet franc (1991) and reintroducing the Norton grape (1992).  I also had a chance to try the Norton Sparkling Viognier during a Twitter tasting prior to the conference.  It was my favorite viognier that night and it remains my favorite of the Horton wines.

We started with a demonstration of methode champenoise to show the hand-crafted nature of the Sparkling Viognier.  In Dennis’ own words, “It’s hard to label this shit. “  Yes, Dennis, I agree – what a labor of love!

We tried the following nine wines – six reds and four whites.

• NV Sparkling Viognier, entitled Dom Virginion, um… ok.  Again, this was a great sparkler and one I definitely appreciated, $25
• 10 Rkatsiteli – this was very fruity tasting of banana and anise, $15
• 10 Viognier – tropical fruit, crisp and light, $20
• 08 Petite Manseng –  tropical, creamy and dry, $20
• 08 Cotes d’Orange – interesting wine that used the Tablas Creek clone from Chateau Beaucastel; $15
• 08 Nebbiolo – lots of cherry, plum and smokiness, $20
• 07 Pinotage – berry and acidity with mocha on the end, $20
• 09 Tannat “The Art of Darkness” – lots of leather, spice and dark fruit, $20
• 09 Norton – stone fruit with some spiciness.  As a said before, I really wanted to love this grape for its history, but I couldn’t, $15

Winemaker-General Manager Luca Paschina

Our next stop was Barboursville, which was exciting enough until we found out about lunch at Palladio, its James Beard award-winning restaurant.  Winemaker-General Manager Luca Paschina and Owner Gianni Zonin, greeted us at the front of the winery and talked to us about the history of Barboursville Vineyards.  The second-generation estate house at the Barboursville plantation was designed by Thomas Jefferson for his friend, James Barbour, who became the governor of Virginia and a Senator.  Sadly, the estimate burned down in 1994 and the family returned to the residence that today is the 1804 Inn.

Barboursville Vineyards is Virginia’s first wine estate dedicated to growing European, vitis vinifera wine varietals.  Zonin’s family has been involved in wines since 1821.  Barboursville is the family’s only venture outside of Italy (they have seven estates there) and consists of 900 acres. 

I had the chance to meet Luca, who has been at Barboursville for 21 years, at a conference event prior to the tour.  He told me, “Like a chef loves to work in the kitchen, I love to work in the cellar.”  His passion for wine and dedication to the vineyard showed immediately and I was thrilled to have chosen my bus well. 

Gianni’s Toast

We were led through the winery into a room where several culinary stations were set up and Chef Melissa Close Hart and her fabulous team enticed us with an antipasta station, a pasta station, a pork loin with a cherry sauce and a to-die-for dessert table.  My heartbeat sped up when I found tables set with verticals of most Barboursville wines.  Gianni Zonin led us in a lovely toast in Italian, that was translated by Luca, with the Barboursville Brut sparkling wine.

Chef Melissa Close Hart

I didn’t try everything as there were so many to try, but  David Honig and I had a fabulous time trying to describe the wines.  I think if there’s ever a market for a comic duo to taste wines, we might get to quit our day jobs.  And, we tried to some fabulous wines – ranging from Viognier to Cab Franc to Nebbiolo to the much lauded Octagon wines and with reason.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I also shipped home a case of Barboursville wine because I enjoyed them so much.

Some of the verticals of wines that I tried included:

-          02 Viognier Reserve, (also 04, 09, 10) which was my favorite white.  This was a classic Virginia viognier and found interesting the changes in fruitiness and minerality depending on the age.

-          98 to 09 Cabernet Franc – the smokiness eased and I really liked this wine in both vintages.

-          02, 06, 07 Octagon, their Bordeaux blend wines that were labeled flagship for a reason. 

• The 02 had notes of licorice, earthiness and “murderous blueberry” notes that would be perfect with game. 
• In the 06, we tasted spearmint, espresso and dark chocolate.  This wine would be perfect with a steak.
• The 07 was full of tobacco, violets, floral and the same dark chocolate finish, but muted.

-          01, 06 and 07 Malvaxia Reserve Passito, the dessert wine.  The 01 was darker, caramelized with butterscotch notes and more acidity.  The 06 was much fruiter, but less floral with notes of orange blossom and honey.  The 07 had a tough of clover honey, was less aromatic and had more floral notes.

We also had the chance to sit with viticulturist Fernando Franco, who has been at Barboursville for 13 years and very patiently answered any question we had and suffered through David and my descriptions of the wine.  It was a delightful day.

The Remnants of Our Afterparty on Sunday Night

Now some conference advice for next year.  For those who are new, I would urge you to immerse yourself in the experience.  Get out there, meet folks, watch Twitter for party updates and put yourself out there.  Bring wine and host a party in your room if you want to meet folks (and apologize profusely if it is corked)!  While the wine experience is fun, it’s the people that make the best memories.  Also for the love of god, attend the pre-conference!  I can’t emphasize this enough. Twenty bloggers are much easier to manage than 300, and I can’t tell you the value that $95 bought for my Loudoun County wine experience.  I walked in the conference with a familiarity that can only be gained through experience of tasting wines from some great wineries I may have missed.  I dare say that I would have had a very different Virginia conference experience if I had missed this trip.

Andy Reagan, Jefferson Vineyards

Stay on Sunday after the conference.  We had a delightful visit with Andy Reagan from Jefferson Vineyards who hosted a small group of remaining bloggers for lunch and poured his lovely Pinot Gris, 07 Cabernet Franc, 07 Estate Reserve, 07 Cabernet France Reserve and the 01 Cabernet Sauvignon.  It was a fun, non-pressure gathering of good friends and good wine.  Again, another positive Virginia wine experience gained in a small, casual setting.

An Evening Spent With Evening Land Vineyards

I was already excited to get the invitation for the Dallas Evening Land tasting hosted by Pioneer Wine Company.  But, when I found out that renowned chef Sharon Hage, formerly of York Street, was providing Pinot friendly matches, I was almost giddy.  You may recall some of the great parties that I’ve blogged about hosted by Pioneer owner Greg Kassanoff, who has become a good friend.

I wasn’t familiar with the Evening Land wines, but judging from the blogger response on Twitter, I knew I was in for a good tasting.  I had a chance to chat with Mark Tarlov, founder of Evening Land vintners during the event.  Tarlov started his career by writing speeches for Warren Burger and decided to go to Columbia for his law degree.  He served in Washington, D.C., as a federal attorney, but it didn’t fulfill his need to tell stories.  His next job as was at Warner Bros., where he worked in operations and started his own production business, Polar Entertainment.  He spent about 20 years in the movie industry and produced about 20 movies including “Copycat” and “Serial Mom.” 

An avid collector and wine drinker, as it often goes, when he had the chance to buy Occidental Vineyard, a 5-acre panel in Sonoma in 2004, it was going to be his retirement project.  But this storyteller kept hearing about other opportunities to buy other cornerstone vineyards in great locations – Seven Springs in Oregon as well as Santa Rita Hills Estate.  Another big opportunity soon presented itself.  Over dinner one night with legendary Burgundy producers, Dominique Lafon, of Domaine des Comtest Lafon, and Christophe Roumier, he was given the offer to enter Burgundy.  All of these wineries were packaged into Evening Land Vineyards.   

Evening Land makes Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from vineyards in Oregon, California and France.  The wines have a color-coded, tiered label system of blue, silver, gold and white, which reflects pricing.  Blue is the most affordable and starts about $20 leading up to the white label, which runs about $120 a bottle.   Isabel Meunier is the wine maker in Oregon; Christophe Vial is the winemaker in Beaune, France, and Sashi Moorman in California.  Lafon continues to consult in France.

So let’s talk about the line-up of wines for the event.  We tried seven wines that night and each one had a very different story to tell:

09 La Source Chardonnay, Seven Springs Vineyard Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon (Gold) – Floral, apple, peach, lemon and flint.  Definitely more New World in style.

08 Summum Chardonnay, Seven Springs Vineyards in Oregon (White) — citrus, apple, tropical, minerality.  Very old world style and my favorite chardonnay

09 Santa Rita Hills Estate Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills Tempest Estate, California (Silver) – blackberry and dark fruit with a big finish

08 Seven Springs Estate Pinot Noir Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon (Silver) – earthy, Old World, black cherry.  My favorite of the reds

09 La Source Pinot Noir Seven Springs Vineyard Eola-Amity Hills, Oregon (Gold) — blackberry, cherry, plum and floral notes

09 Evening Land The Tempest Pinot Noir, California (Gold) — black fruit, great balance, blackberry.  A big Pinot and my favorite “New World” style

09 Evening Land Bloom’s Field Pinot Noir, California (Gold) – blackberry, spice, very fruity

A great line-up and it was interesting to see the same wine making techniques applied to different terriors with such a range in wine styles.  And judging from the number of Dallas-based sommeliers in the room, I’ve stumbled upon a great “insider” winery that I’m happy to share with you.

Fourth of July, Family & Fireworks Meet Bordeaux and Chilean wines

Fourth of July.  It’s more American then apple pie, mom and tasting French and Chilean wines?  Let me explain.  I found myself over the Fourth of July weekend on a beach trip with my husband’s family.  Picture one beach house in Sandestin, eight adults and six kids (with all six under the age of six and a half).  Usually not ingredients for a successful wine tasting, but my husband’s family had indicated an interest in wine tasting.   In the beginning, I had my reservations with my husband blasting beach music, a Pixar movie on the screen, kids eating dinner and the family gathered around a small coffee table with one glass in hand.  But soon, the kids were happy, the electronics were off and we were discussing the wines.  

Due to a schedule mix-up, the Planet Bordeaux people had sent over some samples earlier this year for a Twitter Live Tasting while I was out of town.  We discussed conducting a tasting of my own at a later date and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.  The Planet Bordeaux folks are trying to get the word out about what Bordeaux and Bordeaux Superieur AOC wines have to offer.  Superieur Bordeaux’s are inexpensive, but come from a specific vineyard with a set amount of age.  I was surprised at the differences in appellations, blends and tastes of the variety of Bordeaux wines provided.  And that was a good thing because the folks in the room couldn’t have more different palates.

The wines tasted included the following:

• Chateau de Parenchere 07 Bordeaux Superieur Rouge ($15) – liquorice, blackberry, chocolate, tar and plum.  This wine screamed for a food pairing.
• Costes du Chateau Feret-Lambert 07 Bordeaux Superieur Rouge ($16) – this wine was fruity, but an earthier, chewier mouth feel.  I tasted cassis and blackberry.
• Chateau Cablanc 06 Bordeaux Rouge ($11) – this was smooth, elegant and the definite favorite of the group.
• Chateau Lamothe de Haux 09 Bordeaux Blanc ($11) – very grassy with big notes of grapefruit, lemon, crisp fruit and refreshing.  The crowd favorite of the whites and a fabulous price for a good white. 
• Chateau Marac 09 Bordeaux Blanc ($11) – This one had a lot of minerality, almost a little effervescence to it, muted soft stone fruit.
• Chateau de Lisennes Cremant de Bordeaux ($17) – This one was described as the “non champagne drinkers champagne” by my brother-in-law.  We were split on this one as half of us liked the dry palate and half wanted something with softer bubbles.  A great brunch or food wine.

The next day we decided to expand our journey to Chilean summer white wines provided by Banfi Vintners.  We first focused on the Casablanca (aka Carneros South, which is north of Santiago), region of Chile, which is known for cooler temperatures and compared on occasion to California’s Carneros region.

Emiliana Organic Vineyards, the world’s single largest collection of estate-grown wines, produces their wines from organically grown grapes.  Their winemaking is directed by Alvaro Espinoza, known for being a visionary for organic, biodynamic and eco-balanced wines.                                          

We started with the 10 Natura Sauvignon Blanc ($11) and Chardonnay ($11).  I smelled oranges, citrus, grapefruit and something floral.  I enjoyed this wine better on the second day as it was more balanced.  The Chardonnay had lots of tropical fruit and almost a nutty flavor.  My mother-in-law named this as her favorite.

We then moved to the 10 Casillero del Diablo Sauvignon Blanc ($12) once named “Devil’s Cellar,” after the owner spread a rumor about his cellars being haunted by a devil after a robbery.  It’s crisp, fresh and tropical – definitely the favorite of the group.  We followed that up with the 10 Casillero del Diablo Chardonnay ($12), which had lots of tartness, fruit, citrus and a crisp finish.

Our final wine was the 09 Marquis de Casa Concha Chardonnay ($18), which is from Limari, the “Land of Cold Light” known for the presence of limestone soil.  This was a much meatier wine with buttered toast, vanilla and citrus flavors.  This was also a divisive wine with half of the tasters naming it one of the top wines and the other half in disagreement.

It may have not been the most traditional thing to do on a fourth of July weekend, but then again, what better time to experience different wine with your family?  And, sometimes wine is the ingredient needed for all that togetherness.

Austrian Wines: World Class Whites and Unique Grapes

I meet lots of great people through this blog and it always amazes me how small the wine community in Dallas truly is. One person, who I actually have gotten to know on both a personal and professional level, is Jeff Irish, Wine & Spirits Broker for Magnolia Wine Co.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I first met Jeff long before my blogging days as he is the brother of a dear friend of mine.  He’s always impressed me with his wine knowledge, quest to bring smaller wineries and wines off the beaten path to Dallas and his willingness to teach others about wine.

We talked about his passion for Austrian wine and my lack of knowledge about this region.  Jeff generously agreed to come to our couple’s wine tasting group and bring some great wines representative of Austria.  But, we had a few surprises in store for him as well ….

Jeff started with an overview about Austrian wine.  I was surprised to hear that this region makes less than one percent of the world’s wine production.  In fact, there is more wine made in the Loire Valley than all of Austria.  These wines have been made for over 900 years using many of the same methods.  The industry was turned on its head in 1985, when a few producers added diethylene glycol, an antifreeze agent, to enhance body and sweetness and justify higher prices.  This resulted in Parliament enacting very strict wine regulations that modernized many of the age-old wine making processes.  

Photo Courtesy of Jeff Irish

We started with three Grüner Veltliners, one from Franz Etz, one from Stift Göttweig and one from Ludwig Neumayer.  Grüner is an easy drinking wine (especially in hot Texas summers) and Jeff said Texas really seems to be warming up to these wines.

• Franz Etz 09 Grüner Veltliner – a crisp white with notes of floral, pair and green apple.  Nice, easy to find and affordable.  Comes in a full liter bottle that is pretty cool.
• Stift Göttweig 08 Grüner Veltliner – lots of Asian pear and literally blessed by Benedictine monks from the Stift Göttweig monastery.
• Ludwig Neumayer 08 Grüner Veltliner – I tasted lemon and herbal notes.  This was the most elegant of the three tasted.

Photo Courtesy of Jeff Irish

We then moved to Rieslings.  We started with a 2008 Josef Hogl Riesling Federspiel Bruck.  I tasted green apple, honey, caramel, tropical fruit and peach with lots of minerality.  Some sweetness, but the wine ended with a dry finish.  Our host couple, Marcus and Shannon, who have to have one of the most interesting and obscure collections of vintage wine from Europe that I’ve ever seen, brought out a fascinating wine for comparison – 1993 Freie Weingärtner Wachau Riesling.  This one was very different than the first – much more mineral in nature with hints of green apples and citrus, but sadly was probably past its prime.

Photo Courtesy of Jeff Irish

We returned back to try Moric 08 Blaufrankisch, our first red wine.  I tasted vanilla, raspberries, dark fruit, sandalwood, pepper and lots of earth.  Of the reds tasted, this was my least favorite.  Our next one was the 08 Umathum Zweigelt.  I tasted blueberry, smoke, spice and lots of bright fruit. 

We ended the official part of the tasting with the Feiler-Artinger 06 “Pinot Cuvee” Ruster-Ausbruch, a dessert wine, with big notes of caramel and marizipan.  Sublime with an almond cookie.

At that point, Marcus decided to bring out some Austrian treasures from his collection.  We tasted several wines to get a comparison of what happens when Austrian wines age. 

Our first wine was a 2000 Weingut Willi Bründlmayer Grüner Veltliner Auslese Ried Loiser Berg.  I liked this wine and tasted lots of caramel, maple syrup, cassis with touches of citrus.  We then tasted the same wine from 1983.  It was remarkable – the caramel notes were there, but not as prominent and this was a wine that benefitted from its age in the bottle.  Very nice!

We then sampled one last wine – similar in nature, but from France.  The 85 Domaine Huet Vouvray Clos du Bourg Moelleux showed citrus, figs and big spicy notes.  A perfect ending to a fabulous night of touring European wines from a backyard in Dallas.

Photo Courtesy of Jeff Irish