Dallas Wine Chick

Arnaldo-Caprai Grecante Grechetto, Cloudy Bay and Terrazas de los Andes Reserva Malbec Wine Reviews

I gathered a group of good friends together right before the Thanksgiving holiday with the purpose of sampling several wines — many off the beaten path of the California staples they normally enjoy.

The first that we tried was an Arnaldo-Caprai Grecante Grechetto.  Grecante Grechetto is a white wine made in Umbria, Italy, from the indigenous Grechetto grape.  It was a well balanced and fruity wine, but had enough acidity to be soft.  This was a new grape to me, and it will definitely be on my list of refreshing white wines that I will buy in the future.

The second wine was the 11 Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, known as one of New Zealand’s top Sauvignon Blanc classics.  I discovered this by chance on a wine list several years ago and it was one I would always order when I could.  This wine had a stronger grapefruit taste than I remembered, but it still had notes of stonefruit, grass, pine nut and lots of acidity.  Our gang of four was divided on this one, but I still am a fan.

The third wine was the 09 Terrazas de los Andes Reserva Malbec.  This was a very concentrated wine with notes of licorice.  I liked its smokiness and this was one that unified all four tasters.  And, since Malbec is one of the fastest growing grapes in the U.S., this is an affordable and tasty way to try one.

Decent Glass of Wine At A Chain Series: Russo’s Coal Fired Italian

As a part of my ongoing and often sporadic “Can You Get a Decent Glass of Wine from a Chain Restaurant” series, I was invited to Russo’s Coal Fired Italian Kitchen, a chain of more than 25 Italian restaurants.  I’d never been to Russo’s before and so I made the ride to Richardson, TX, with my friend, David, who graciously agreed to be a part of the taste experience.

This series started after I told my husband that I did not want to meet him for drinks after work at Mi Cocina due their very pedestrian wine list.  While I have been pleasantly surprised  with the results of this series (I’ve had two good experiences at Cafe Express and The Olive Garden),  I wasn’t sure what to expect from a pizza and pasta chain.  Again, I found that I need to check my pre-conceived notions at the door.  

We were warmly greeted by Chris Demers, director of operations for Russo’s, who began talking passionately about the wine program.  Russo’s offers twelve wines by the glass — one prosecco, five whites and six reds — and ten of those rotate monthly.  All of these wines retail for $7 for a 5 oz. pour.  When we visited the restaurant, there were some other specials including Ferrari Carano for $6 and Masi for $9.  Demers has a background of helping bring The Wine Loft, a national wine bar concept, to fruition so when he came to work at Russo’s he immediately overhauled the wine program.

He told us that, overall, Richardson (Dallas) wine drinkers were adventurous and while he needed to have some traditional Italian Chianti’s and Pinot Grigio’s on the menu, people were also willing to try Argentian Malbec and Chilean Sauvignon Blanc.  After checking his website, we realized the list Demers has is different from the Russo’s wine list.  That is by design.  Half of these wines aren’t available via retail as he’s trying to encourage a positive adventure in wine for his diners.  It is paying off — since he overhauled the wine program, sales are up over 50 percent.  There has only been one exception — Mark West Pinot Noir.  He tried to replace this crowd favorite and quickly realized it was a sacred cow.

Here’s the line-up that we had the night of our tasting:

White:

• Cavit – Lunetta Prosecco 09.  I tasted peach and pear with a mineral ending.  A very nice drinkable sparkling to start your meal.
• Castegio – Pinot Grigio 10.  This is a crisp and tart pinot grigio.  This grape isn’t my usual first choice in wine, but it was a good representation.
• De Martino – Sauvignon Blanc 10 (Chile).  This was my favorite white.  Lots of citrus and pineapple, but with the minerality that I like.  If I tasted this blindly, I would have said this was a sauvignon blanc from New Zealand.  Note this one is very hard to find in Dallas.
• Alias – Chardonnay 09 (California).  Loved the story behind this project by eight un-named wine makers who wanted to make a good wine.  This was made in Old World style with lemon, tropical fruits and honey, but without being a butter bomb.  This was David’s favorite white and a very nice chardonnay.
• Chateau Ste. Michelle – Riesling 10 (Washington State).  Always a critics’ favorite — especially at this price range — this had lots of stone fruit flavor and was a great value riesling.

Red:

• Mark West – Pinot Noir 09 (California).  The people have spoken.  No comment.
• Ruffino – Sangiovese 10 (Chianti).  You have to have a by the glass chianti, but there are much better options on the list.
• Ca’Momi – Merlot 09 (Napa).  This is one of them.  A big jammy, food-friendly wine with notes of plum, cherry and menthol.  A really nice merlot and David’s favorite red.
• Altos – Malbec Classico 10 (Mendoza).  A very nice representation of a Malbec with vanilla, mocha and chocolate. 
• Blackburn – Cabernet Sauvignon 08 (Paso Robles).  Run, do not walk and see if you can find this wine in Dallas (if I don’t buy it all first).  This drank like a $30 cab and was off the charts good.  Big notes of plum, cherry, earth and menthol.  

We also got to sample a few of the menu items, prosciutto with buffalo mozzarella, which I didn’t try because I’m allergic to pork, and the spinach and artichoke dip, which was off the charts good.  My advice for you is to come from 3-6 for Happy Hour or on Wednesday’s when wines are $5.  Order the dip and the Blackburn and savor the fact that not only can you get a good glass of wine from a chain, but you have found a cabernet that is a fantastic price to taste ratio.

Salud.

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.

Wine Quest: Decent Wine at a Chain Search Continues at Olive Garden

I fully admit that I had some trepidation going back into an Olive Garden Restaurant, especially to taste wine.  But, I had willingly committed to doing a series about the possibility of finding a decent wine by the glass at a chain.  So, I grabbed my friend, Jennifer, and off we went.

Danny and Jeff

We were met by General Manager, Danny Gabaldon, and Certified Wine Trainer and a guy you want to work for you, Jeff Kidd, and seated in the bar area.  The restaurant had recently been remodeled with a Tuscan influence and was not the dark wood, dark place that I remembered from about 15 years ago.  We were presented with the wine list, which had 38 wines total with 35 offered by the glass at all price ranges.  The wines ranged from the house Cabit to the more interesting Italian wines.  Master Sommelier Andrea Immer Robinson helped create the wine training program for the Olive Garden and you can definitely see her influence.   So I’m sure you wondering which three bottles aren’t available by the glass – Zonin Prosecco , Bertani Amarone Della Valpolicella ($100) and Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montacino ($65).

Danny pointed out the featured wines list, which changes every six weeks, is matched with seasonal food items.  The wines are 6 oz pours or for another $2.50, they will pour 9 ozs.  The restaurant puts a sticker on each bottle that indicates the day the bottle was opened and when it is no longer consumable.  In addition, air is pumped from each open bottle nightly.  They brought us some bruschetta, Italian cheese and some individual sized desserts and we began to taste. 

We tried the following wines:

• Rocca delle Macie Sasyr 07, a blend of Sangiovese and Syrah.  This is a very fruity, tangy and easy to drink wine that pairs well with Italian flood.  This was our favorite red wine.
• Feudo Arancio Nero d’Avola Sicilia IGT 09, cranberry, berry and lots of fruit.
• Mandra Rossa Fiano 09, nice nose with lots of pear notes with tropical fruit and citrus.  This would be a great pool wine.
• Pinot Grigio Delle Venezie Sartori di Verona 10, a very typical Pinot Grigio that would pair well with Italian food.

We also sampled the Moscato and the Roscotto, a sweet red made only for Olive Garden, with the desserts.  I think I’m going to stick with my dessert wines favs, but it’s nice to know that these are around when Great Aunt Stella is ready to have some vino.

I must say that I’m impressed with the effort that Danny, Jeff and Darden Restaurants are putting effort into making sure diners have the option for a good glass of wine with their meal.  At least at Olive Garden, you can get a decent glass of wine at a chain.  Bravo!

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.

Brown Bagging: A Wine Twits and Barone Fini Pinot Grigio Tasting

I had the opportunity to attend the Wine Twits Barone Fini Pinot Grigio Blind Taste Challenge last week.  I loved the premise of the brown bag challenge, happily removed my wrapped bottles from the wine tasting kit and eagerly anticipated putting my taste buds to the test.  Count Giovanni Bonmartini-Fini, the winemaker, graciously hosted a large group of bloggers and wine enthusiasts.

The Barone Fini family has been making wines since 1497 with a focus on producing quality wines with a family focus.  I fully expected that the tasting would focus on the Barone Fini Valdadige and the Barone Fini Alto Adige, the winery’s two Pinot Grigio wines that are made in different styles.

However, the organizers had different plans for us.  I gathered several folks at my house and we opened the first wine at the appointed time.  I was not a big fan.  It had a creaminess to it, but was somewhat flat with some apple and tropical notes.  I couldn’t quite reconcile the flavor on my palate.  I think if I had the right pairing, I would have liked this wine more, but I didn’t want to just sip it.

The second wine had notes of green apple, citrus, floral and almond that appealed more to my palate.  The wines were so different that I made the remark at some point that evening that this appeared to be an old world vs new world tasting.

At this point the tasting was still blind and it was entertaining to watch the live simulcast from New York.  Finally, the unveil.  The first wine was Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, an overproduced and overpriced wine that is not on my favorite list.  As a blogger, I was so glad that my pre-conceived notions stayed true or this would be a column about eating crow.  I was surprised that how many bloggers that I respect preferred the Santa Margherita.   

The second wine was Barone Fini Valdadige.   Of the two wines, this was my personal preference as well as my entire group of wine tasters in Dallas.

Cheers to Wine Twits and Barone Fini for putting together an interesting and informative tasting that challenges wine styles as well as pre-conceived notions (see if you also can find the surprise visitor who did not taste wine that evening).

A Matter of Taste: An Evening of Review Wines

I had the opportunity to taste a number of wines with several of my girlfriends a few weeks ago.  As a wine blogger, it is always a pleasant discovery to find deliveries in your office full of new goodies to taste.  Our line-up that evening included the Banfi Vintners Rosa Regale, a sparkling apertiff with strawberry notes that was immediately claimed by one of the attendees as her bottle of the evening.  We also tried the line-up of Folie A Deux wines including the Merlot, Chardonnay and Cabernet as well as the Soave DOC “Re Midas” from Cantina di Soave and Soave Classico DOC “Castello” from Cantina del Castello.

The winning wines were the Soave Classico DOC and the Folie A Deux Merlot.  With its balance of tropical fruit, pear and mineral notes, the wine continued to develop in the glass for the entire evening. It was a great match with the cheeses and other appetizers set out for the evening.  The Folie A Deux Merlot was almost creamy with notes of cherry, raspberry and mocha. The wine reminded me of the style of Merlots that made me realize how much I liked this grape, which coincidentally occurred right around the debut of the movie, Sideways, which almost single-handedly wiped out Merlot sales.

If you are looking for some value wines, both of these are good options.  Personally, the Soave Classico DOC was my favorite.

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.