Dallas Wine Chick

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

This is Planet Bordeaux: DA, DA, DA, DA, DA, DA, DA, DA

Enough of the Duran Duran flashback, let’s talk about wine.  When I received the invitation from Michael Wangbickler to participate in #planetbordeaux Twitter Taste Live event, I eagerly accepted.  I knew that I’d have the chance to expose a group of people to the white wines of Bordeaux and the wines would be selected with care. 

I secured the cheeses and various appetizery things and set up the glasses.  Our first wine was a Dourthe Grand Cuvee Sauvignon Blanc 2010.  Dourthe, a Bordeaux negociant, also owns several other interesting properties including Haut-Medoc’s fifth growth estate, Belgrave, and the St Estephe cru bourgeois property St Estephe cru bourgeois.  This wine was full of lemon and grapefruit and lots of fruitiness.  It was fresh, crisp and a great summer wine for $12.

Our next wine was the 2010 Chateau La Freynelle Blanc.  This vineyard was established in 1789 and has been passed through seven generations.  In 1992, Veronique Barthe, the first daughter in the family since the revolution, inherited the family estate.  She uses a sustainable vineyard management program.  This was also a crowd pleaser and was comprised of a classic blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and a hint of Muscadelle.  The wine had lots of citrus and minerality, but an almost creaminess that made it linger on your palate.  The bargain of the year at $13.

We also tried two roses and I must disclose that unless it is a sparkling rose, I personally struggle with most roses.  Our first was the Chateau Ballanhttp Larquette Rose 2009 at $16.  Chateau Ballan Larquette has been making wines for generations by the Viognobles.  One member of our  group described the wine as tasting like “dusty strawberries,” but another friend  claimed this one immediately to take home.

The second rose was the Chateau Fontenille 2010 ($14), a Bordeaux claret.  Chateau de Fontenille has been making wines since the Middle Ages and has a long list of accolades.  We tasted more raspberry than strawberry on this one and there was an almost spiceness to it.  Of the two roses, this was my favorite and one that the group preferred.

For a little French sophistication, a change of pace from the norm and for a different spin on your summer wines, I recommend giving these a try.  A future column will be the red wines of Bordeaux and I suspect I’ll have a new stable of well priced, well balanced wines to share.

Kid In A Candy Store: Serendipity Portfolio Tasting

Occasionally I get the opportunity to truly be a big kid in a “candy store.”  In the wine world, these opportunities are known as portfolio tastings, where a distributor displays all of its wines for sale to a particular market.  For me, it’s like receiving the Barbie Townhouse that I got when I was seven.  That was one fabulous Christmas.  Spoiler alert: Incidentally this was the same year I learned about the reality of Santa.  While putting together the aforementioned Barbie Townhouse, my father let out a stream of words that I never heard from him before, and still have not heard since.  This caused me to leave my bed to investigate.  I have to say that since I have become a parent and dealt with “some assembly required.” I totally understand the reason for his outburst.

Last week, I arrived at the Palomar Hotel for Serendipity Wine Imports Texas Tour of 2011.  There before me were approximately 250 wines that I could taste.  Yes, 250 wines.  Absolutely overwhelming.  When I go to these I always try to peruse all the information in advance so I can make informed decisions.  My checklist usually starts out simple – am I familiar with the wines, are they new to Texas, what is the buzz from the other folks attending and what just looks interesting?  I try to hit those first.  Then, I start the reconnaissance portion of the mission by asking the folks who are pouring – if I was to try one or two of your wines, which ones do you recommend?  You avoid kissing a lot of frogs this way.  But, you also miss out on the opportunity at times to try new vintages – but did I mention there were 250 wines?

Sometimes you run into some old friends. I was thrilled to finally meet Mitch Bakich from Donati Vineyards and taste his new vintage of Claret, which was a delightful big red blend.  I hosted some of his former co-workers a few years ago when they came to Dallas and set up some events for them to gain Dallas exposure.  We ended the day with a party at my house.  At one point we figured they were lost as there was a long delay in them getting from the wine bar to my casa.  I later found out they had “committed a random act of wine” by stopping a neighbor and gifting him with a leftover bottle of vino.  My kind of people.

I also was thrilled to run into Ginger Dollins from Domaine Serene, one of my favorite Pinot producers from Oregon.   The full line up of Pinots (06 Evenstad Reserve, 07 Yamhill Cuvee) and one Syrah (07 Rockblock SoNo) were delightful and topped my favorite list.  The Domaine Serene Pinot Noir Grace Reserve was elegant, silky and filled with rich stone fruit.  This wine rocked.

Some of my other favorites included:

• Blue Rock 06 Cabernet Alexander Valley.  Big fruit, cherry, licorice – this wine continued to evolve in the glass.  The name Blue Rock comes from the soils where the vineyards are planted on top of rock.
• Blue Rock 05 Syrah.  Full of vanilla, currant and blackberry.  Sadly, this is the last vintage since I heard several times over the course of this event that syrah doesn’t sell.  That’s a damn shame as this is a great wine.
• Monmartre Brut Sparkling, which just debuted in Texas last month, is a fresh light sparking that is perfect for an aperitif from Montmartre, the heart of Paris.
• Bonny Doon 06 Le Cigare Volant.  This earthy Rhone blend is full of ripe fruit, but with almost a rosemary herbal nose to it.  A nice and well balanced wine.  And, one of my favorites folks on Twitter @megmaker works here, so I was very excited to try the wine.
• Bonny Doon 09 Ca’ del Solo Muscat. This one is delightful but hard to describe as it is a dry Muscat, with the floral nose you would expect, but with a crispness you don’t.

On my way out, I was given a secret handshake from my friend, Eddie Eaken from Veritas, and led to another table.  Behold was a decanter and I had the chance to taste the 06 Poderi Aldo Conterno Colonnello Bussia, Barolo DOCG, Italy.  It was a symphony of flavors in a glass – cherry, earth, herbs, licorice — and it kept me smiling the whole way home.  While I probably only sampled less than 20 percent of the wines featured, I can tell you I am looking forward to continuing my Serendipity research.

Beating a Path Toward Wines Off the Beaten Path

Several months ago I had the opportunity to meet Hunter Hammett, sommelier for the Pyramid Restaurant & Bar at the Fairmont Hotel when we were seated at the same table during the NY/Texas Gridiron challenge.  Hunter impressed me with his passion for wine, his knowledge of wine, and his commitment to giving lesser known grapes their due. A few months passed and my intrigue about putting together a tasting for “wines off the beaten path” did not wane, so last week I grabbed a group of wine loving friends and we ventured to the Fairmont.  It’s always exciting when you look over a list of wines and have to research the grapes, the vineyards and the geography just so you can have some baseline knowledge.  It’s what makes wine geeks tick and I was anticipating this tasting like a kid waiting for Christmas. 

We started with the white wine line-up.  Our first pour was the 08 Txomin Etxaniz, Hondarribi Zuri, Getariako Txakolina.  It was bright in the glass with citrus and pear flavors.  There was almost a fizz to it making it a great patio wine on a hot Texas day.  This was one of my favorites of the tasting.  The second wine was the 09 Tollo, Pecorino, Terre di Chieti from Italy, which was described as one of the group as “the non-Chardonnay Chardonnay lover’s wine.”  It coated your mouth and had almost a honeysuckle taste to it with lots of nutmeg and pear flavors, but with minerality that made it really interesting versus being overwhelmed with oak.

The third wine was the 07 Ottella di Lodovico Montresor, Trebbiano di Lugana, which had some chalkiness due to its terrior with citrus, lemon and floral notes.  I could see this wine pairing well with fish, but it wasn’t something that I would drink on its own if I were looking for a crisp glass of white on a hot summer day. I did, however, enjoy the drama associated with this wine.  Apparently the experts and wine books cannot agree on what grape this truly is as recent studies have debated if it is actually Verdicchio Bianco vs. Trebbianco.

We then moved into the line-up of reds.  Our first wine was also from the same region as the aperitif that began the tasting.  The 08 Gorrondona, Hondarribi Beltz, Aldape Vineyard, Bizkaiko Txakolina was earthy with almost a silt taste. It was a tart fizzy wine.  You could taste the red fruits and it paired well with the goat cheese on the lovely cheese tray provided by Chef Andre Natera.   I am a big fan of Heitz reds, so I was eagerly anticipating trying the 07 Heitz, Grignolino, Napa Valley.  What a change from the big, bold flavors that I was used to in Heitz wines.  This was much more subtle with orange notes, rose petals and berries. 

The final wine was a Texas wine.  The 09 Sandstone, VII, Touriga Nacional, Mason County, Texas, was my least favorite. Granted, it was better than many of the Texas wines that I have tasted, but Hunter mentioned that he decanted this wine three hours before we got there.  It was still tannic and needed more time.  I tasted port, berries and jam and an almost tarlike essence.  I want to support these wines based on my geography and advocate the “Go Local” movement through my position on the steering committee of Chefs for Farmers, but our Texas wine producers must raise the bar to make wines that invite an even competition.  This week I’m going to a Texas Hill Country Wineries Road Show tasting and I hope to find a few “diamonds in the rough” when these wines are previewed for the press.

When we were wrapping up, Hunter told me about an Albarino that he just secured that is produced from vines that are over 200 years old. It’s on my “must try” list and I know that I’m going to be back to continue my “off the beaten path” education.  It’s much more fun doing it this way than reading a wine book to research a region.

Photos courtesy of James Freeman

Côtes du Coeur: Fine Wine Can Help Your Heart

I recently had the opportunity to attend the kick-off party of Côtes du Coeur, a series of wine and celebrity-chef food events that lead up to an annual black-tie fine wine auction and celebrity dinner benefiting the American Heart Association.   

Since I developed a passion for wine, I have wanted to get involved in this organization. The fact that my younger brother developed a heart condition in his teens, makes the AHA’s goal of improving cardiac health for all Americans while reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease and strokes by 20 percent, resonate even more for me.

The Big Bottle Party is the kick-off for the season and is thrown to collect large format bottle donations for the “Big Bottle Alley” section of the silent auction of the Gala.  As I pulled up to the lovely home of Pam and Gary Patsley, I knew there would be some treasures gathered.  I was met by AHA Volunteer Melissa Anderson, who I happen to know from the paying gig and from painful exercise classes at Equinox.  After choosing a 08 Cabernet from Groth Vineyard over the 07 Chardonnay, I went exploring or should I say, drooling….  Sea Smoke, Shafer, Dominus and Opus – all the U.S. greats were well represented as well as the major Italian and French labels – many at least 15 to 20 years old.

I hoped to spend a little time with Steve Ellis, the wine chair, but he was in process of judging the donated wines, so I agreed to hook up with him as the Gala moved closer.  The goal of the entire event is to raise funds for a worthwhile cause, and they do that well.  The spring Gala is the largest of its kind in the Southwest and is the number one Gala in the nation for the AHA. During its 19-year history, Côtes du Coeur has attracted more than 16,000 attendees and has raised more than $14 million. 

Judging from some of the bottles that I saw collected, Dallas collectors hungry for top-tier, bottle-aged treasures are going to keep that tradition going.

She’s leaving on Midnight Train to Saint-Emilion

I know you’ve heard the old saying, “Be careful what you wish for….”  About a month ago, I was lamenting the fact that review wines were stacking up in my kitchen and I posted on Facebook that I needed some tasting assistance.  Naturally, several people immediately jumped to help and the next thing I knew, Lea Cromer had arranged for our tasting to be held at Saint-Emilion Restaurant.com in Ft. Worth, TX for a nominal fee. 

First, I had to figure out how to get a bunch of folks from Dallas to Fort Worth without having to drive.  We were planning to drink 16 review wines and we were ready for some fun.  Sure, we could have paid for a driver, but since it was the midst of the holidays we didn’t want to spend the funds.  In most metropolitan cities, this would not be that big of a deal, but in Texas, public transportation is not an easy feat.

We found out the Trinity Railway Express would get us from point A to point B in less than an hour.  Seemed easy.  Notsomuch.  My friend, Julie, and I took a taxi from my house to the station and found it difficult to navigate with someone else driving.  Actually, that’s an understatement.  Do you remember the scene from National Lampoon’s European Vacation?  We had our Look kids.  There’s Big Ben.  There’s Parliament moments.  The real irony occurred when several of my friends tried to (gasp) drive their cars to the station and park.  That’s when we found out that the ample lot located next to the station is closed and they wanted three women driving separately to park 15 minutes away and walk… because that is safe and makes sense? 

I must admit.  Once we got on the train we planned to clandestinely pour some wines into coffee cups to toast the journey.  The train was so packed that was not a reality, but I know some of the conversations that we had definitely were not what the daily commuters were used to overhearing.  Once we hit Fort Worth, we piled (and I mean piled) into the taxi where we were finally en route to Saint-Emilion Restaurant, one of Fort Worth’s treasures.

In the past, I haven’t spent a great deal of time in Fort Worth outside of client business or the arts community, but I can’t put into words how lovely and hospitable the owner, Bernard Tronche, was to us. He truly rolled out the red carpet.

Bernard had arranged for the tasting wines to be properly chilled and stemware was waiting when we arrived.  Our aperitif was the Biltmore Estate Blanc de Blancs Methode Champenoise.  Made of chardonnay grapes, it was floral, had a touch of honey and some citrus notes.  A very nice sparkling for $24.99.

Once we had finished our sparkling, Bernard began to bring out lovely plates of cheeses, frog legs, escargots and freshly baked warm bread to complement the food.   There were arsenal meats, goat cheese rolled in spices, almonds, olives and an amazing bruschetta appetizer that I couldn’t stop eating. 

My favorites of the 16 wines that we reviewed:

Favorite Wines

• Cupcake Sauvignon Blanc 09.  At $13.99, we were pleasantly surprised with this wine.  Lots of citrus, but with a touch of pineapple that made it balanced. It was named by one of the attendees as her 2011 “lakehouse wine.”
• Blackstone Sonoma Reserve Rubric 07.  I had a bit of a bias against the Blackstone wines, but really enjoyed the Rubic.  Big notes of blackberry and a caramel smoothness made this a nice drinking experience. Priced at $22.  The Blackstone Sonoma Reserve Cabernet 07 also received some good table reviews.
• Caviste Carneros Pinot Noir 07.  Lea, who reps several wines with retailers, brought this one made by Acacia.  It had notes of licorice and a lavender note that I really liked.  Priced at $17.99.
• Albino Armani Corvara Pinot Grigio Valdadige 09. This was an interesting wine.  I tasted pears, peaches, honeydew and a touch of bubble gum.  Definitely one to be served as an aperitif.  Priced at $19.99
• Bodegas Osborne Tempra Tantrum Tempranillo/Cabernet 09.  Very fruity with blackberry notes.  We deemed this a great picnic wine at $11.99.
• Robert Mondavi Merlot Napa Valley 07.  Raspberries, blueberries and black tea made this a well balanced wine.  Priced  at $23.
• Dona Paula Estate Malbec 09.  Hands down – our favorite of the wines to be reviewed.  Velvety smooth and notes of cherry, herb and licorice.  Very nice.  The quote of the night occurred here – “I want to sleep with this.  I want to bathe with this.”

Right as the Dona Paula Malbec was poured, Bernard and crew came with the grand finale – a fantastic steak, pommes frites and grilled asparagus.  The meal was absolutely heavenly and I don’t think I left a bite.  Saint-Emilion opened in 1985 when Bernard, a transplant from France, decided that he wanted to open his own restaurant after working at restaurants in New York, New Orleans and Dallas.  Mark Hitri serves as the Chef de Cuisine and joined last September. 

Bernard and I enjoying the evening

We wrapped up the night with a few wines from our own collections.  The Summers Adrianna’s Cuvee Cabernet Sauvignon Napa 07, the 00 Chateau Margaux Pavillon Rouge and the 05 Marquis Phillips S2.  This time we planned ahead and filled out “to go” cups before arriving at the station for the long ride ahead.

I can tell you one thing – the food at Saint-Emilion is worth the trip.  I will be back – and might even take the train again to do so …