2003 Argyle Orgeon Sparkling Wine, Not So Much

Earlier this week I had the virgin experience of tasting an Oregon sparkling wine (BTW--it's only called Champagne if it's from Champagne, France otherwise it's sparkling, prosecco, cremant...you get the gist). I won't judge all Oregon sparklings by this experience, but if I did...let's just say that this is not something I'd likely repeat. I love sparkling, so I was just a touch saddened by this less-than-stellar experience.

The Wine: Argyle Sparkling Wine
Grape: They actually list the percentage on the bottle, which is unusual -- 85% Pinot Noir, 15% Chardonnay
Vintage: 2003
Price: $28.00 in Atlanta

Where It's From: Oregon, specifically the Willamette Valley, home to most of the quality producers in the state.

Normal Description: In the wine world, this wine is closest to what is known as a Blanc de Noirs, or literally, a "White of Blacks" because it's a white wine made primarily from a dark skinned grape (Pinot Noir). In Champagne, the home of all things yummy and sparkling, the Blanc de Noirs tend to be more costly, prestigious, and full-bodied, so that's what I expected from Argyle.

I sip sparkling pretty often because I think it's lame and ridiculous that people only have it on special occasions. And contrary to popular belief, like any other wine of quality, it's ok to lay down a bottle of sparkling for a few years to develop the tastes and aromas of the wine. Theoretically it should mature and create lots of flavors that are complex, different, and pretty awesome. So with all that said, I approached this wine with some excitement.

At first glance things seemed in line with expectation. The wine was brass colored, with nice, small bubbles (smaller bubbles=better wine quality) and kind of intense in color, which led me to think it would be complicated and interesting. The sniff test -- smelled like golden raisins, dried apple rings, and a strong whiff of yeast and baked bread. That's a pretty complex nose, and was about what I expected for the age of the wine, since dried smells and bready aromatics usually develop with age.

Sadly, the palate let me down. I did like that it was pleasantly effervescent without being too bubbly, but I found it really grape-y, which is not something that I like in a wine. It delivered in spades on the nose -- it had dried apple rings with some pear and even jasmine and agave nectar flavors (I only know that because I tried agave in my coffee at Trader Joe's, BTW). But that super-yeasty quality was not so great for me -- it overpowered my tongue and had a paint-like quality to it. Also, although it's labeled Brut (which is very dry), it seemed to be more like off-dry, with a little sugary character. This would have been ok, but I was not expecting it so I was underwhelmed on the finish.

Got snap or is it crap?: I may be plebian and just hate aged sparklers, but I think I prefer my bubbly to be fresher, more effervescent, and less heavy than I found the Argyle to be. If you like an aged, heavy white, this could be your new favorite sparkler. If not, spend the extra $14 and get yourself some non-vintage Champagne from the motherland.

Readmore »»

Dinner with B&A and 2007 Luzon Jumilla -- a Great Pairing

When McIce and I went to dinner with our beloved friends B&A at Dynamic Dish (great organic, local pizza and light fare and it's BYO), they brought a Monastrell/Syrah blend from Jumilla, Spain. Monastrell is the same as Mourvèdre, which is a red grape found a lot in Southern French Rhône blends (it's a big part of deliciousness in Châteauneuf-du-Pape). It's pretty dark, ultra yummy, and goes fabulously well with pizza with weird gourmet stuff on it...

The Wine: Luzon
Grape: It's a blend. I looked it up -- 65% Monastrell and 35% Syrah (this style is more like something you'd find in the south of France!)
Vintage: 2007
Price: B&A didn't tell us the price until we tasted the stuff. I couldn't BELIEVE it -- $6.99 in the ATL!

Where it's from: It's from Jumilla, Spain. Forgive me in advance, but I will dork out for a second on this one because I don't think a lot of people know the DOs (winemaking areas) of Spain outside of maybe Rioja, Ribera del Duero, and Priorat. Jumilla is in the Southeast corner of Spain and for a long time produced really crappy wines. It's uber hot there and they barely get any rain, so they used to just make thick, syrupy, alcoholic wines from Monastrell that they would sell for blending, not as finished wine we could sip. Recently, though, some good producers have been working in the region and they've created some kick-ass blends.

Ok, poetic waxing done.

Normal Description: After what I just said about the hotter climate and syrupy wines and stuff, you could probably guess that the color of this puppy was pretty dark. Hot climate wines tend to be riper and darker in color, this was no exception. The wine was pretty. Almost purple with a lighter more reddish edge, but it was almost opaque.

We had a fun time analyzing the wine together. The first sensation of this wine to us -- HOT. I could smell the alcohol (meaning my cilia were singed). Again, this is typical of a hotter climate wine so not a surprise. Beyond that, there were some light floral notes -- like a carnation or dried rose -- some black cherry and mocha smells that were awesome, and then a great river stream scent with (get ready for this...) hints of petrichor (I LOVE this word. It's so arcane, but it perfectly describes the smell of a ton of Old World wines. Check it out, use it often).

It's great when a wine delivers on the aroma, so I was so happy to taste similar things to what I had smelled. The wine had a really nice raspberry-coffee flavor. I loved the acid on it, which was fairly high and did a good job of balancing out the 14% alcohol (most wines are about 12-13%) that could have stolen the show. The wine had a medium finish, but on it's way out the door it left a little gamey-ness (like a barnyard) that was a really cool surprise.

Got snap or is it crap?: SNAP. Go B&A! You guys can pick wines for the blog any time. I enjoyed this wine and for the money it's a complete steal. Rarely can you get a wine with some complexity (i.e., it's not a one-note!) for a such a bargain. I think this one is widely distributed, so my northern readers -- go out and get it and let me know what you think (but wait until that heat spell is over, it's not a hot weather wine unless you are in a cold restaurant!).

Readmore »»

Quick musings on wine blogs and wine books...

As you all know, I've packed in the day job and decided to pursue wine as a full time career -- doing consulting and pursuing my true love, wine education.

Today, I've been doing a lot of research and background reading, as I try to get my materials together on the types of tastings I'll do with people, and I figured something out.

Most wine writing falls into 2 camps -- it's either high level for dorks, or it's all about demystifying wine and dumbing it down. Many people who write on wine claim that they are not wine snobs and that they make wine simple. But you know what? I think they make it too simple.

Here's the deal: don't we all drink wine, in part, because there's a mystique about it? You may love the taste (I know I do), but don't you also love the fact that it's hard to figure out and that you don't know that much about it, even if you think you know a lot? Let's face it -- everyone in the wine industry could do a better job of organizing wine aisles, writing better descriptors on the bottle, and making it easier to find stuff, but don't we normal people appreciate the selection and the fact that you actually need to take your time to evaluate what you want? Isn't the nuance and the adventure of choice in wine enjoyable?

Personally, I think it's ok that wine is mysterious and that it's hard to figure out. If it wasn't, it would be like shopping for or drinking milk.

Is there a need to be a snot-nose jerk about it? No, but that goes for anything in your life. If people could just be normal about wine and treat it like the complex yet interesting, cool, many-splendor'd beverage it is, I think we'd all be better off. Readmore »»

All Hail the 2003 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel…It Rocks

A few years ago, when on a wine training in the Central Coast of Cali, I had the honor of being introduced to Tablas Creek.

Located west of Paso Robles, the site for this winery was selected as a partnership project between a California wine company and the Perrin family, owners of Château de Beaucastel, widely recognized as one of Châteauneuf-du-Pape's finest domaines (you may know this region either from tasting its wonderful wines or through the line in the Beastie Boy's song "Body Movin'"-- either way, it's awesome). The site was selected because these dudes were pretty sure it would make wines similar to the blends of their fabulous wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The wines are all grafted from the south of France and are 100% USDA ORGANIC (LOVE IT!).

Ok, in all honesty I remember, at the time, not being wowed by the Esprit de Beaucastel. Despite my dislike, the tasting room staff encouraged me to buy and hold a few bottles, insisting that the wine improved with age and that '03 was a great vintage. The price was about $30, so I thought I’d be courteous (read: standard wine country guilt purchase) and buy a few to see how this tight, tannic, minerally red blend could change over time.

I stuck the bottles in 2 paper bags with the date they should be consumed: 8/09. Over the next three years I moved cross-country, got married, bought a house, and started my business…and forgot about the wines. But when our dear, awesome, wine knowledgeable friend was over last week, I was looking for something interesting so I followed my own instructions to open in 8/09 and cracked open a bottle.…and here’s what I found.

The Wine: Tablas Creek, Esprit de Beaucastel

The Grapes: According to the tasting notes, the wine is 50% Mourvèdre, 27% Syrah, 16% Grenache, 7% Counoise

Vintage: 2003

Price: Around $40 now, you can get it from the tasting room.

Normal Description: Given the age, this one was a bit watery and brown around the edges (we get wrinkles and grey hair, wine turns brown – age gets us all, no?) but the center color was a deep, intense purple. I expected BIG flavors from looking at that color.

Uncommon to a New World wine, this wine had low fruit but a streamy (like water on a rock) aroma. Very common to New World wine, however, the wine smelled hot (cilia charred=high alcohol=warmer climate for growing the grapes=a lot of the New World). That said, with a few more minutes of swirling to get the oxygen in it, I finally got some plum aromas and then tons of descriptors came to mind: cedar, old leather, fresh thyme. From this yummy, complex, exciting nose, the wine geek radar was going off.

And I was right!

What a freaking rockstar wine! Smooth as Cary Grant. A total classic! This thing really had changed in the 3 years since I bought it. It was like warm plum pie and SOOOO smooth. There were some great licorice flavors and a little bit of that thyme that I had smelled. It was so flavorful but the licorice and herbs, and the cedar aromas were an uber complement to all that plummy goodness. The nose didn’t lie -- it tasted hot, and it was tannic and super acidic – but the balance of all the textures and the flavors rocked our collective worlds. This was a butterfly of a wine (I’m terrified of butterflies, BTW, but not of this wine).

Snap or crap? Clearly, this wine is a snap. Most wines that I review are $7-$15, but every now and then I drink well. And for $40 this is well worth it. I was so impressed! I would recommend ordering some new vintage wine and holding it for a while. I’m saving my other bottle to drink in 2 years…Yum!

Readmore »»