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SUMMER WINE -- a companion piece for our Sprouts Farmer's Market webinar/virtual tasting

As we settle into the warmer months, we tend to eat a little lighter, perhaps indulging in a few more delicious fruits and vegetables, and somewhat less in heavy meats and starches. Along with this lighter summer fare, the accompanying wines also change. The whites may become a little lighter, fruitier, with lower alcohol levels--the reds a little juicier and rounder, complementing the perennial barbecue tang and pepper rubs. Finally, summer is the time for exploring the rich and varied universe of rosé wines, which is populated by everything from light, sweet trifles, to ponderous and weighty wines of structure and seriousness, each projecting its own unique pinkish hue.  The summer season offers ample opportunities to broaden our horizons, offering us perhaps a wider range of options than winter's usual "big red by the fire."

Tonight's tasting offers four super-affordable, competently crafted wines with particular relevance for summer use.  The whites and reds fall neatly into two categories that I find helpful for understanding the wider world of wine: our whites--Macaron DOC Prosecco, and 2011 La Crema Chardonnay, Sonoma Coast--represent to some extent wines of terroir (land); our red wines on the other hand--2010 14 Hands "Hot to Trot" Columbia Valley Red Blend, and 2011 Save Me San Francisco "Drops of Jupiter" California Red Wine--can be seen as wines of craft (winemaker).  The key to understanding this distinction lies in understanding the way that a wine label describes the place in which the grapes were grown.  Sometimes this can be highly specific, even to the point of designating a single source vineyard. In other cases, the grape source may be generalized, even to the point of covering an entire state. We will examine such a case in our fourth wine, "Drops of Jupiter."

Our first wine, Macaron Prosecco, is specified not only to have been made within a specific area of northeastern Italy--straddling the regions of the Veneto and Friuli Venezie Giulia--but also to have been produced from 100% Prosecco grapes, known in Italy as glera.    
The La Crema Chardonnay utilizes varietal grapes grown within the Sonoma Coast American Viticultural Area (AVA). Both wines show characteristics of the relatively specific areas from which their grapes were sourced. The Prosecco displays notes of stone fruit (e.g.  peaches and apricots), and a hint of saltiness and citrus acidity (lemon and grapefruit) that balances its sweet fruit. These characteristics are typical of many DOC Proseccos, and lead us to conclude that this wine displays some typicity of place.

La Crema sources its chardonnay from an even wider area, Sonoma Coast being one of the larger AVAs (2000 acres-under-vine) in the four famous counties north of San Francisco (Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, and Lake).  It does display some of the cool climate characteristics for which Sonoma Coast grapes are known: lower alcohol, leaner body, brighter acidity, to name three.  By contrast, the La Crema also exhibits certain specific signs of craft wine making through its dill and vanilla notes, which suggest that some percentage of the wine (the tech sheet says 22%) was treated in new oak barrels. This chardonnay also offers a round, creamy mouth feel often associated with secondary, malo-lactic fermentation, a process that is stimulated by the winemaker through the introduction of specific bacterial strains after alcoholic fermentation (sugar-into-alcohol) is complete (again, La Crema's tech sheet confirms this).

In contrast to tonight's white wines, our reds represent prototypical examples of wines of craft, or wines whose character is determined more by what the winemaker has done than by any specific place from which the grapes may have been sourced. Wines of craft are usually more affordable than wines of terroir, though various winemakers, especially in the new world, offer more than a few pricey examples of craft wines.

Tonight's first red, 14 Hands "Hot to Trot", is blended mostly from Bordeaux varietals such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, but also contains some Rhone valley varietals such as Syrah. The fermentation was achieved with carefully selected strains of yeast, which were then introduced to the "must" (or raw grape juice) via a process known as inoculation.  Inoculation with selected yeast(s) is a primary sign of craft winemaking.  The tech sheet provided by 14 Hands also yields evidence of the wine's craft identity: the section covering the vintage is six lines long, the section on winemaking 17 lines encompassing 7 separate bullet points. Though the wine bears Washington's Columbia Valley AVA, the tech sheet lists grape sources "throughout Washington state, including the Horse Heaven Hills, Columbia Valley, Wahluke Slope and Yakima Valley."

Our second red tonight, Save me San Francisco's "Drops of Jupiter" bears the even more general "California" AVA, which means simply that a minimum of 75% of the fruit comes from somewhere within the borders of California. This is often the case with wine produced in large volumes, where no single vineyard or even an entire county or  sub AVA could provide enough fruit to meet production levels. This wine is the project of Jimmy Stafford, of the band "Train," and winemaker James Foster.  Their goal was to produce a fruity, accessible red to pair with various chocolate confections. It can also serve as complement to sweet barbecued meats. A portion of the proceeds from Drops of Jupiter sales supports Family House, a non-profit organization providing temporary housing to families of seriously ill children. For more information on Family House, please visit www.familyhouseinc.org.  This craft wine certainly makes an effort to give back to the community, and make the world a little better place.

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The Pleasures of Rosé

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 As we get into the swing of spring, with rising temperatures and growing things beginning to vibrate with life, my mind turns to the pleasures of pink wine. For decades, rosés have been dismissed as cloyingly sweet and/or inconsequential. This was probably never the case; but especially as of the twenty-first century's second decade, this could not be further from the truth. The world of wine contains myriad examples of balanced, nuanced examples of pink wine made from a wide variety of grapes. For example, Elk Cove makes a pinot noir rosé from Oregon's WillametteValley, Robert Sinskey makes one from his famous Carneros pinot noir. Each of these producers has adopted a distinctive style that leads to  wide variation in their respective finished wines. While Sinskey opts for fuller flesh, yielding notes of peach and apricot with a floral perfume that lends itself most readily to stand-alone applications, Elk Cove's effort is more reserved, with notes of tart berries and bright, food-friendly acidity. These wines are sufficiently different from one another that none but the most cunning palates could identify them as being made from the same grape variety. It is partly this panoply of styles, as well as varieties, that makes an exploration of rosé so utterly intriguing.

Rosé derives its color from at least two techniques: it may be tinted with surprisingly minimal amounts of still red wine--this is the cheaper, simpler approach; more frequently, the juice remains in direct contact with the grape skins until the desired color is achieved, after which the juice is bled off of the skins. This latter method is referred to as saignée (sen-yay), and allows the winemaker to determine very precisely the coloration of the finished wine. Almost any grape can be utilized to make rosé, but some of the more common are of course pinot noir, also grenache, syrah, cinsault, even cabernet (franc or sauvignon), merlot, or even the tannic and rustic tannat grape. These varieties determine many fundamental characteristics of the rosés to which they may contribute, either as single varietal wines or blends. And yet, as I noted above in the case of the two pinot noir rosés, more than variety, style determines all.

Some of the more exotic and interesting varietal rosés come from Italy's Campania region, and are made from Aglianico grapes, which are more frequently used to make rich, robust reds. I have been regularly drinking a very balanced, dry rosé of Aglianico from Campania producer Terredora. In contrast to my prior experience with Aglianico rosé, the 2009 Terredora release is surprisingly pale to the eye, and crisp and lively on the palate. This wine has more in common with Elk Cove's rosé of pinot noir than with its varietal peers from Campania. In the case of rosé, one could argue that style and craft winemaking take an even more central role in determining aroma and flavor characteristics. So when shopping for rosé, you may want to avail yourself of the tasting experience of your local wine shop staff. They can help you find a pink wine that both fits your palate, and pairs optimally with your menu.

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Godello, Aglianico and . . . Tandoori?

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Two more stellar wines over dinner last night. First 2008 Godello from Vina Godeval in Valdeorras in northern Spain. Substantial weight defined by notes of stone fruit and pear. Next another wine from Vesevo, this time an IGT Aglianico de Beneventano exhibiting a family resemblance to Zin with rich black and red fruit..., but also showing clove and cardamom. Fun, easy, and great with Tandoori Chicken.

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Ahhh . . . Falanghina

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Beautiful 2006 D.O.C. Sannio Falanghina from Vesevo last night, consumed with Joanie's delicious Salmon crab cakes (these have fins!), couscous, and a salad of cukes, toms, organic greens lightly dressed w/rice wine vinegar . . . The wine was a lovely copper color with notes of golden apple, body similar to certain Rou...sannes, and balanced acidity that made it ideal with the food. This one is a winner!


Vesevo is apparently the ancient name of Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that regularly decimates southern Italy from Rome to Puglia. The mountain taketh away, but also giveth--providing some of the more fertile volcanic soils on the Italian peninsula. The mountain certainly gave us a beautiful Falanghina . . .

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Siduri Oregon Pinot Noir

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Siduri Pinot Noir, Chehalem Mtns, Willamette Valley is a small but impressive support for the hype surrounding the 2008 Willamette Pinots. Rarely have I tasted such a nuanced PN at release that didn't cost two or three times Siduri's asking price. Especially today, after being opened last night, the wine showed extraordinary non-fruit palatal components: earth, truffle, green herb and loam to name only a few. It suggested to me that this stelvin closure product has substantial potential for bottle aging . . . say goodbye to the purists. Siduri is the Oregon project of the Talbot family, and so possesses a pedigree of committment to quality and terroir. Thanks to JC for the recommendation.

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April 2010 Feature : Wine Cocktails

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A Simple Approach : Infusions - Part I

Joan Lucci
April 29, 2010

This week our test kitchen discovered the secret to simple wine cocktails: simple syrup. It’s not just the simple syrup that makes a a great wine cocktail. But simple syrup may be the best secret ingredient to a great cocktail when you think in terms of “infusion.” Like any liquid, just about anything organic and edible can be used to transform a simple syrup to a burst of flavor.

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Fiesta Blog: The Present

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As usual, events and my tendency toward procrastination have collided to turn past into present. This is a chronicle of my experiences at  last September's Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, the  highlight of which was attending a seminar on Vega Sicilia Winery, chaired by North American Sales Manager for Vega Sicilia, Puri Mancebo.

The seminar was held in the gorgeous Las Terrazas ballroom of Santa Fe's venerable La Fonda Hotel. Known as "The Inn at the End of the Trail," La Fonda served as a way-station for travelers who were persistent and lucky enough to have reached the end of the storied Santa Fe Trail.  These sojourners would rest their weary bones in the cool comfort of La Fonda's five-foot thick adobe walls while they pondered continuing their journey,  usually to points west of Santa Fe.

The ballroom affords an extraordinary close-up view of the Catedral de Santa Fe, which stands directly across the street, as well as stunning vistas of the Sangre de Christo mountains, whose verdant slopes soar into the background. Puri convened the seminar by invoking the status of Vega Sicilia as one of the world's foremost wineries, where low yields, quality and hygene are watchwords. It interested me that the north american sales manager should be named Purificacion, or Puri.  Many have commented on the almost obsessive attention to sterility and purity in the maintenance of the Vega facility in the Ribera del Duero D.O.. This may have stemmed in part from a cork taint problem that led to the recall of the 1994 Valbuena blend. Puri did nothing to dispel Vega's reputation for meticulousness.

We tasted six wines in all. The first of these was 2002 Pintia. which is the little sister of the collection, being sourced from and produced in Toro D.O..  Toro is less prestigious and less temperate than Ribera del Duero.  Mostly known for rocky soil, and prodigiously hot summers, Toro, the Spanish word for "Bull," is aptly named. Puri somewhat sheepishly offered the adage that the Alvarez family, proprietors of Vega Sicilia, sought in founding Pintia to "tame the beast," that is Toro. Indeed, the overall terroir of Toro is represented as "red clay under schist." The wines of Toro are generally of a rustic style, with abruptly tannic hardness. At Café Pasqual's, we poured a Toro recently that filled a niche for clientele that appreciate boldly tannic (some might say cumbersomely so) wines. By contrast, the Pintia showed (for a Toro)  fine tannins, the fruit framed within an elegantly soft structural envelope. The rusticity of the terroir was reflected in the wine, but not excessively. It appeared from my experience that Vega has indeed "tamed the beast."

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