Forstreiter DRY Riesling: Fabulous Wine From Austria Keeps On Coming

I love Riesling. Especially dry Riesling.

Not the crap in the blue bottle (one big brand for which I may or may not have been responsible when I worked for large hulking winery...), but the good stuff. It's the little brands that you may not know about but that are out there just waiting for you to discover.

I've got some news for ya...Riesling isn't all sweet wine. Some of it is aromatic and dry with searing acid that will have your eyes watering. When I find a Riesling like this-- not too sweet, great aroma, great acid -- I kind of get giddy (these usually hail from places like Australia, Alsace, France and Austria).

So it makes sense that after tasting their (mainly dry) wines at the Wine Enthusiast Event in Atlanta, I signed up for the blogger list for Destination Riesling, a marketing organization that's dedicated solely to Riesling and to letting us know how great the stuff can be when properly handled. They sent me some samples and included was Forstreiter Riesling from Austria. Although not always the case with samples sent to me, today, I am a lucky woman.

Before I talk about the Riesling, I want to pause for a minute and address Austria (which was home to about a quarter of my relatives before they headed to Ellis Island and took Brooklyn by storm).

First things first, just because you haven't really seen or heard of Austrian wines, doesn't make them new. This country has been making wine for 4000 years. There were actually grape seeds found in urns from like 700 BC (according to Wines From Austria), and like everywhere else in Europe, the Romans had a hand in viticulture here too, where they planted vineyards along the Danube River.

Between the Romans and the 19th century wine grew and grew in Austria. Like the rest of Europe, globalization took its toll in the 1800s and diseases brought across the Pond courtesy of the USA -- powdery mildew, downy mildew, and the toxic insect phylloxera-- decimated a lot of vineyards to the point of no return. This proved to be a blessing -- some vineyards were replanted with quality vines, mostly of Austria's native grape, a white wine with a kind of peppery flavor called Gruner Veltliner (not for everyone but damn good if you like a little bitter spice).

You may think I'm full of it, but after World War I, Austria was the world's third largest wine producer. Was it good wine? God, no. It was bulk wine, exported to Germany and other countries that can't grow big volumes of grapes because of sketchy weather conditions. Even though it sucked, this reign of crap winemaking lasted clear into the mid 1980s. And that's when things got REAL bad.

So here's a wine business pop quiz. What do you do when your niche is crap wine that, suddenly, no one wants because they have access to better wine at a similar price? Well, if you're a handful of bigger Austrian producers (no jokes from the German peanut gallery who already think their neighbors are blathering idiots) then of course, you add diethylene glycol to your wine to sweeten it and add body. If you're the smartest of that handful, apparently you claim the chemical on your tax return, the media finds out and, being particularly dumb about chemicals, they all say you used anti-freeze (ethylene glycol) in your wine. Poof, your wine industry is devastated and most of that nasty wine that no one wants goes to the toxic dump.

Sounds really bad, right? Actually not so much. Without this scandal Austria wouldn't have the fabulous wines it has today. Out of this indiscretion, vineyards were replanted, the Austrian Wine Marketing Board was established, and the winemakers became aligned with a single-minded purpose -- make quality wines and don't compromise (seems like Hollywood should take a page from this story of redemption...Lindsey Lohan, are you listening?).

Today Austria is 17th in world production and the country cranks out insanely good wine.... evidence Forstreiter Riesling.

The Wine: Forstreiter Riesling
Where It's From: Kremstal, Austria
The Grapes: 100% Riesling
Vintage: 2008
Price: $17.00

Color: An absolutely brilliant golden color like 14 karat gold. A beautiful wine with small bubbles at the bottom of the glass, probably from a touch of CO2 added to keep the wine fresh and bright. It was reflective and beautiful. The darker color made me a little worried though -- could this have sugar in it? That's not really typical of Austrian Riesling, so I hoped it was just ripe fruit and not sugar I was dealing with here.

Smell: Typical of Riesling, this wine is all about aroma. White jasmine flowers (like the tea), white peach, apricot, and honey, ahhhh! So good. It smelled tropical too -- like a pineapple lifesaver, and like this tree that grows on St. John (where I lived for a little while, but that's a story for another blog) called a Frangipani tree with a delicate, scented yellow flower. All this floral goodness and wet rock smell to boot. This was a characteristic Riesling smell and it was heady.

Taste: Wow! Honeysuckle, tangerine, and honey flavors. This wine is not bone dry, but it's got a very low level of sugar which is needed to balance the enamel eroding acidity. I felt the acid in my teeth, and I'm blessed with good teeth so that's saying something. Searing acidity is typical of Riesling, but it's often hidden in gobs of sugar. Here you could taste it and it was such a pure expression, it made me feel alive. All things considered, this was perfectly balanced. Yin and yang of acidity and fruit to make it so satisfying.

Food: Risotto with zucchini and English peas -- OMG. You need to try this pairing. The acid cuts the creaminess of the risotto, the floral aromatics complement the sweetness of the peas. I'm sure this could be a better pairing with something, but I'm at a loss to tell you what that is.

Drink or Down the Sink?: The Forstreiter Family has been making wine since 1868 in vineyards along the Danube River in some of the best areas for Riesling in Austria (Kremstal, which is adjacent to Wachau -- the best region). The climate is mild, at the intersection of cool humidity and dry air, and the soil is old granite and mica that provide the wine it's mineral spiciness. Riesling from this region is glorious, and the Forstreiter was absolutely delightful. If you haven't had a dry Riesling before, but enjoy the aromas of the wine -- try this wine. It is simply wonderful. I'm adding it to my stable of favorites! Readmore »»

Friday Limerick: Silver Birch, New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc

I said it last week and I'll say it again, I polled Facebook fans (please "like" my Wine For Normal People Page so you can get regular updates!) and it seemed to go over pretty well, so here's the newest idea. I'm adding a Friday wine limerick each week.

I'll get the ball rolling and then I would love for you to participate! Send me your entry, I'll review it (nothing dirty please) and if I love it, I'll post it on the blog with credit to you! Here's this week's:

Silver Birch New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, The Zip Is Gone

A New Zealand Sauv Blanc must have zip

Tastes of acid, grapefruit, cut grass; it's quite hip
But the box of Silver Birch
Kind of left me in the lurch
It was too watery, light, and lacked grip

The Wine: Silver Birch
Vintage: 2009
Where's it From: Marlborough, New Zealand (where all New Zealand Sauv Blanc hails from, for the most part)
The Grapes: Sauvignon Blanc
Price: $24 for the equivalent of 4 bottles ($6/bottle)

Quick notes: Although the best wine of the Octavin wine series by leaps and bounds, this is still a watered down version of New Zealand Sauv Blanc. Its convenience can't be beat and it's great for large parties (although MC Ice and I had a hard time getting the last morsels out of the bottom), but for $7.99 you can get Picton Bay from Trader Joe's and that's bursting with much fuller fruit flavor.

This wine is just ok, in my book...and I say that with the full disclosure that the box was sent to my by the winery (for which I am quite grateful, even though I don't love it).

Readmore »»

Torii Mor 2008 Pinot Noir: A Gem from the Willamette Valley of Oregon

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinot Noir. It's a damn complex grape -- in the growing, in the making, and in the drinking -- and so much can go wrong with it, it's a little alarming.

Sometimes I drink Pinot and all I taste is tart, sour cherry. No nuance, just bitterness. Other times, I notice that American producers have taken full advantage of the fact that in the US only 75% of the grape mentioned on the label has to be in the bottle. Hence my Pinot tastes a lot like Syrah or Merlot (which it often is given how cheap these grapes are). Another annoyance: the producers often leave the Pinot on the vine so long that it becomes jammy and full -- nothing like what I'd expect from this light-to-medium bodied Burgundy native, which should be replete with complex layers of earthy flavor. It's all a big turn-off for me and makes me want to drink something more reliable.

I've posted on Pinot before and have discussed the grape in detail, but as a quick refresher, Pinot Noir is a many-splendored grape that only the most dedicated (and crazy) of producers can handle. If ever there was a grape that I wish could have stayed lower down on the popularity list, it's Pinot. Why? Because this grape is incredibly picky, and production for the masses isn't this grape's core competence (look, I went to b-school so every now and then I've got to whip this stuff out).

Pinot mutates incessantly (and is responsible for Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Pinot Meunier, to name a few) so if a winery isn't using a good clone, you can get bad wine that's akin to chewing on a plant stem. It's a weak vine, it's victim to pests, diseases, birds, and weather. Its quality depends on site selection and soil (limestone is best) -- you can really taste the flavor of the earth in this wine. You've got to get the right area for it, or fuggedaboutit. Oh, and did I mention that it only produces small crops? That means there is less raw material to work with in each vintage. Grow it in the wrong place -- you've invested lots of time and money and wound up with a small amount of bad to mediocre wine. Who wants to do that?

Well apparently many people. After Sideways came out, we all bought Pinot like dorks buying the iPhone 4 (even if they didn't see the movie. This is partly due to word of mouth, partly due to insane marketing from big wineries who pushed their crap Pinot to the mass consumer market, regardless of quality). Hundreds of versions came out. Newer producers under-cropped their vines to create big volumes of thin, flavorless wines. Many producers opted to make their Pinot in an overripe style -- jammy, and full-bodied -- to get Merlot and Cabernet lovers on board. Fewer and further between came the complex, earthy, exotic spiced Pinot Noir. You could get them but you were going to pay a big premium. It kind of sucked for pre-existing Pinot lovers.

Now Burgundy's gem, this rare and delicious wine, has suffered from over-exposure. You can never be too rich or too thin, but you can be too popular. For instance, California Pinot. Very popular wine and I can find very few that I still like these days. France has pumped out a bunch of crap Pinot (from and not from Burgundy) to fill demand and every country around the world is trying to get their piece of the action. I find few to be successful yet most sell. Since I can't afford fine red Burgundy (which is Pinot Noir, BTW), I now rely on two regions, from where I have yet to have a bad Pinot: New Zealand (love Picton Bay at Trader Joe's for $7.99, BTW) and the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Today, I'll talk about the latter.

As my fellow blogger and friend the Surburban Wino points out, Willamette kind of sounds like "dammit" (he gives a great description of the Valley and wines here too so check it out after you finish with this post!). Will-AM-it Valley stretches from the Columbia River in the north, to south of Eugene, and from the western Oregon Coastal Range to the eastern Cascade Mountains. Most of the wineries in the state are here because, well, this is the best place for vineyards.

The climate of the Willamette Valley is great for Pinot. It's cool there -- temps don't really get above 90 degrees and don't get below zero. It's kind of mild year round, except for winter when it's cool, wet, and miserable. All in all, a climate not too far from Burgundy (or parts of New Zealand for that matter). It's no wonder that a few very prestigious producers from Burgundy have set up shop in the Willamette Valley (notably, Joseph Drouhin, one of the finest large winemakers/exporters in Burgundy).

So on to a wonderful wine that I was given by the winery owner, Margie Olson, while she was in Atlanta at the High Museum Wine Auction a few months back. My friend MH, who has one of the best palates I know and who is just all around fabulous told me told me to head over to the table. MH has 100% hit rate with me! I was so enamored of Torii Mor during the tasting that Margie offered a bottle for me to take home. This bottle is an '08 and just released so I held it to let it relax a bit (wines can get bottle shock, or temporary "stiffness" while getting used to being in the bottle. It can last a few months, so I just opened it last night). The results were great!

Before I move on to the wine, the name of the winery is a little different, so I thought I'd explain. To quote their Web site:

The name TORII MOR was chosen by Dr. Olson as he felt it conjured a feeling of unique elegance. Borrowing from the Japanese, the “Torii” refers to the ornate gates most often seen at the entrances to Japanese gardens. “Mor” is a word in ancient Scandinavian that means “earth”. By integrating these two distinct languages, the romantic image of a gate to an earth space, or passageway to beautiful things, is formed. We believe that Pinot noir, more than any other varietal, is that beautiful gateway to the earth.

So there you have it. With that out of the way, let's get to the stuff in the bottle. Sourced from the northern Willamette Valley, the 2008 Pinot Noir is similar to a Burgundy in style, in no small part due to the fact that Jacques Tardy, experienced winemaker and native of Nuits-St.Georges in Central Burgundy makes these wines. With a terroir (a French word that means the land, soil, climate, general environment of the vineyard) driven philosophy and a light hand in the winemaking process, this wine is a quality Pinot Noir. Jacques did a nice job of integrating New and Old World styles here, and the wine is a winner. Here's the rundown:

The Wine: Torii Mor Pinot Noir
Where It's From: Willamette Valley, Oregon
The Grapes: 100% Pinot Noir
Vintage: 2008
Price: $22.00

Color: Ruby in the center with a nice light, rose-colored rim and a shiny, reflective gleam. The darker color in the center made me think this wine would have rich flavor, but the lighter rim told me it wouldn't be overbearing or jammy. Great for a Pinot Noir.

Smell: This was like smelling dew in the morning in a mountain cabin. How do I know? I went to one last week and it smelled like this. A mix of fertile soil and dark dried flowers hopped out of the glass right away. Dried strawberry, boysenberry, and cranberry overlaid a really interesting bacon-y smell. There was a sharp spice in there too -- like white pepper (stronger than black pepper) and then a nutmeg, maple aroma. The wine was like a collection of random things that somehow flowed together seamlessly. It was like a bottle of perfume. My mouth watered at the smell.

Taste: 2008 was a challenging vintage for Willamette, but we benefit from it -- a smaller yield of grapes meant survival of the fittest. Only the best grapes made it into the bottle, and you can taste it in this wine. It is certainly a French-style wine -- dirt first. The wine was so earthy -- like a mushroom that had been in rich, damp soil but it was balanced by flavors like dried strawberries, sour cherry, black raspberry, and tea leaves. The wine had a pepper character, with a little pleasant bite. It had good mouth-drying tannins and lively and bright acidity. It's medium-bodied and a rich texture. This is what I want in a Pinot Noir and I was happy this delivered.

Food: I'm not gonna lie to you -- we didn't eat with this, we just drank it before dinner. We did discuss food though (do I get points for that at least?). MC Ice thought it would be a great match with grilled pork loin, I thought it would be great with a grilled portobello mushroom and eggplant tower with mozzarella and basil. Let me know if you find something more suitable. This is theory. Sorry about that... we really are normal people so sometimes we just drink the bottle without food. Is that so wrong?

Drink or Down the Sink?: Most definitely drink. This is a great Pinot Noir. $22 is a fair price, and it's well worth a try. That said, I do think the wine could use a little time to evolve and become less tannic and acidic. I'd get this and hold it until this time next year. By then it will have evolved into something magical -- and that's well worth the wait!

As a bonus, I'll be doing a shorter review of Torii Mor's Pinot Gris next week! Look out for it!

Thanks for reading!
______________________________________________________________________
***If you love Pinot and are on Twitter, put July 15th on your calendar! It's the Pinot Noir Twitter Tasting, where you can drink your Pinot with other Tweeters around the country, learn about the varietal from online friends and experts, and share your own opinions. I'll warn you that I find that these "tweet offs" are often chaotic and there are not a lot of normal wine people on them (they are really rude because they are hiding behind their computers...urgh), I always learn something so I think it's well worth at least observing the conversation! Check out the event at http://pinotnoir.eventbrite.com/ Readmore »»

Check Out My Radio Interview on How to Enjoy Wine and Press Interview on New Trends in Wine!

I've had a little bit of press lately...and more is in the works. I recently did 2 interviews, with Atlanta-based reporter Susanne Katz (who is just terrific!):


I was on the Web Talk Radio's show "What Women Want Now" discussing how to evaluate wine and how to buy wine. I hate my own voice on radio (just like we all do), but please the interview was fun so give it a listen: http://webtalkradio.net/shows/what-women-want-now/


Also, I was interviewed on "New Trends in Wine" for the Atlanta Jewish News (please, you had to know I was a Jew -- my peeps are known for our humor, right? I'm no Seinfeld, but I try): http://www.atlantajewishnews.com/newsarticles/new-trends-wine

Enjoy! There's more coming!
Elizabeth Readmore »»

Friday Limerick: Chateau du Donjon Rose

Ok, so I polled my Facebook users (please join my Wine For Normal People Page so you can get regular updates!) and it seemed to go over pretty well, so here's the newest idea. I'll still do my weekly post on wine in-depth, but I'm going to add a Friday wine limerick or haiku.

I'll get the ball rolling and then I would love for you to participate! Send me your entry, I'll review it (nothing dirty please) and if I love it, I'll post it on the blog with credit to you! Here's my first one:

Ode to Chateau du Donjon Rosé

To refreshing Rosé we say "Ahhhhhh...."
Especially when from Minervois
Light red, tastes like staw- and raspberry
Crisp acid was fab, not contrary
Donjon we toast your terroir!

The Wine: Chateau du Donjon
Vintage: 2008 (it's a little old, don't buy Rosé that's more than a year old, I messed up)
Where's it From: Minervois (pronounced: min-hare-vwah), in Southern France
The Grapes: 40% Syrah, 40% Cinsault, 20% Grenache
Important note: * This wine is dry, not sweet! Readmore »»

Delicious, Delightful Alsace Pinot Gris (Or Why I love Alsace Wines)

I am horrified by myself. How is it possible that in a year of blogging, I haven't reviewed wine from a beloved region that I recommend to everyone? I should fire myself for this gross oversight!

When I first discovered Alsace in the Boston Center for Adult Education wine class that started my love of wine, it opened the world of white wine to me. Drinking wines from Alsace for the first time was like discovering an unexpected waterfall in the middle of a forest. It was like seeing Michelangelo's David. I swear if I close my eyes when I drink this stuff I'm transported to a sensory paradise. For me, the wine of Alsace is a pinnacle of whites.

Ah, Alsace. If there was a contest to find a wine region of maximum bloodshed and conflict in Europe, this tiniest of all French wine regions would be a top contender. It's a good thing so many people appreciate it because the region has been through hell and back and it deserves recognition! Germany and France have been fighting over this wine gem for centuries. I'd love to tell you that it was because of the vineyards, but that would kind of violate my overly honest nature so I can't. It's just old-fashioned imperialism and land grab.


Why? Location, location, location. You see, poor Alsace is nestled between the Vosges Mountains on the French side and the Rhine River, Germany's pride and joy. The folks there have been part of a ping-pong match for centuries and most speak 3 languages -- German, French, and their own dialect Alsacien. You never know who may be ruling you next, so you better cover all the bases, I guess.

Taken by the Germans in both World Wars, vineyard sites were decimated and the best vines uprooted so that the luscious Riesling of the area wouldn't compete with Germany's wine crown jewel. It wasn't until Nazi Germany fell that Alsace was able to replant its best grapes on the premium, steep hillsides. And for the last 65 years things have been getting better and better. Alsace seems firmly part of France now, and Strasbourg is the seat of the EU Parliament and a very strategic, important center for European political life. It's a calmer, gentler place.

Still, I've never been there (it's high on the list), but apparently history is preserved. Dotted with tiny villages with castles and fortresses from pre-Roman days forth, wine is big business here. There are 2000 growers in the area and 90% of the wine is white. The Vosges block the rain and storms from continental France, so Alsace has a long, cool, dry growing season. The vineyards are high on hills and the whites grown here have time to ripen but not bake in the sun. The result is a style that's fat and oily (I'm not making this up), with juicy flavor but still a great dose of mineral and acid texture. It is nirvana for white.

Part of the reason I love Europe is because most of the wines are blends. That means that you get the best of all worlds because the flavors of each grape can complement the others. That said, every rule does have an exception, and Alsace is it. The Germans like to keep things very cut and dried and their influence on wine is certainly felt -- nearly all wines are labeled with the grape name, making those who are uncomfortable with European regions feel right at home.

There are a bunch of different grapes grown in Alsace, but only 8 are considered high class. Riesling (the most widely planted), Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Muscat, Pinot Blanc, Sylvaner, Chasselas and Pinot Noir are the main grapes of the region. To be honest, you really won't see any Sylvaner, Chasselas, or Pinot Noir en masse at the wine shop or on menus. These are more for domestic consumption and are secondary to the first 5 on the list. You will see Muscat, and although Pinot Blanc is bottled alone, it is also made into Cremant d'Alsace -- an amazing alternative to Champagne for a much more attractive price.

The real gems of Alsace are dry yet fantastic Riesling and Gewurztraminer (if you think of this wine as sweet, you need to seek out a dry one from Alsace. It has all of the teashop flavors with none of cloying sweetness), and unbelievable Pinot Gris. Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are the same grape, but are worlds apart in style. Where Pinot Grigio is acidic and tart with a zippy, acidic finish, Pinot Gris is...well, let me show by example and talk about Jean Albrecht.

To quote my sister, for this winery "this ain't their first rodeo." Romanus Albrecht started his vineyard in Alsace in 1425. Jean Albrecht is an 18th generation winemaker. Let that sit for a second. EIGHTEEN centuries. These folks were pioneers in the region and they have stuck it out through thick and thin to make great wine. Jean Albrecht has it in his blood and when he says his philosophy is to "respect the grape," I believe him. Here's what I think of his Pinot Gris...

The Wine: Jean Albrecht Pinot Gris Reserve
Where It's From: Alsace, France
The Grapes: 100% Pinot Gris
Vintage: 2008
Price: $18.99

Color: Seriously, this wine was the color of a saxophone. Golden and brassy and shining in my glass. I hoped this rich color (not from oak since they don't oak wines in this part of the world) meant that the wine would be rich and ripe.

Smell: Honey, honey, and more honey! Pooh Bear would be happy. Green apple, which is typical of Pinot Gris and some nuttiness overlaid with melon and jasmine tea had me salivating. MC Ice was looking at me like I was crazy because I just kept "mmmmmmmm...." -ing. A final sniff and the coup d'grace for me -- it smelled like a rocky, freshwater stream. What a contrast of fruit and mineral, and what a stunner. At this point I was so into the nose it was hard to taste the stuff. If I could smell this wine everyday, I would be in heaven. Maybe they'll make a Pinot Gris air freshener someday.

Taste: So I guess I wouldn't mind tasting it everyday either. I kid you not, this wine tastes like a pan of green and red apples, baked, with butter and honey on them and just a touch of almond liqueur. That would be good alone, but then there's this rich texture. Acid and minerals like the stream I smelled were in the backdrop and then this round, full, oily, smoother-than-satin texture just coated my mouth. It didn't hang around or cloy, because the wine is fruity but definitely not sweet (people confuse these two things but if you plug your nose and put your tongue in the wine, you'll find that your tongue senses no sweetness). Everything I'd expect from a Alsace wine and more.

Food: This was heaven with grilled halibut. The richness of the fish and the simplicity of preparation (a touch of too-old-to-drink Sauvignon Blanc, butter, lemon, and herbs with the fish allowed this pairing to shine!) was pure magic. A classic pairing is Alsace Pinot Gris with game and rich autumn stews, but I'm not going to stop drinking it because of the weather, so halibut it is for me! That and mild cheese with crackers -- killer pairings both.

Drink or Down the Sink?: Oh, I'm sure you were guessing on this one. I love it. I'm thrilled to have tried this wine and if you haven't had a wine from this part of France and you like white wines with some oomph, get this or any other from the region ASAP!

I kind of like the blog and I think some of you do too, so I'm not going to fire myself, as I posited at the beginning of this ode to Alsace, but I will make a vow to write more on Alsace. There's so much more to taste, and to share about the producers and the history of this place that I just adore.

Thanks for reading! Readmore »»

Concannon's Conservancy Tier Wines: Así Así

A few years back when I worked for a monstrously large winery, I refused to live in the factory town in which it was headquartered. Perhaps it was fact that two women from the town were sadly murdered in very public, national incidents, or maybe it was the alarming number of meth addicts, or possibly it was the tallow plant which coughed out the most vomitanous smell in the entire world, but any way you slice it, I wasn't doing it.

What was my other option? Living near the Livermore Valley -- a 55 minute commute and right in the neighborhood of wine country. So when Concannon Winery, one of the oldest wineries in this valley, recently sent me some samples of their new Conservancy Wines, I was happily nostalgic for times that MC Ice and I tasted wines locally and hit some of the 40 or so wineries in Livermore.

Livermore Valley, about 50 minutes east of San Fran, has produced wine since the late 1800s. It's inland, but it still gets coastal fog and cool breezes from the San Fran Bay so although it's hot during the day, the cooler nights allow the fruit to gather up a little acid and actually have something going on besides overripe apples and wood. The valley boasts the distinction of being home to the first California wine to win a French competition, taking the prize at the 1889 Paris Exposition (World Fair).

After effectively being closed down due to Prohibition, Livermore Valley sprang back and had as many vineyards as Napa in the 1960s, but I guess it lacked the moxy or the quality or both to get the street cred it needed to be a "hot" area. It's a relatively small region -- Wente, who I've reviewed before, makes 300,000 cases of wine and is the giant of the area (to put this into perspective, I managed a smaller brand for the monstrous winery and it sold around 300,000 cases per year). Concannon is the second largest, but with just 30,000 cases a year.

Concannon has been around since 1884 and survived prohibition by making wine for the church. Petite Sirah is what it's know for, having introduced the first varietally labeled one to the market in 1961. James Concannon is the fourth generation winemaker, and still works with his father to ensure consistency in the wine.

The wine was sent my way because it's part of a new Conservancy Tier. This means that the winery realized that suburban sprawl was taking over the Livermore Valley, so it set aside some land to protect it from home builders. The fruit for the wine is sourced 100% from Livermore Valley vineyards.

The web site boasts that the winery is sustainable and part of the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance, which, although I respect Concannon, I have to say is a bunch of hooey made up by big wine companies so they can get a marketing bounce for using the word "sustainable" but do very little for the environment (let's just say that the world's 2 biggest wineries are on the board of this organization and criteria like shutting off lights when you leave a room count towards your score, and I don't think there are consequences for dumping in the rivers or polluting streams). I'm not impressed, but I'm also kind of a green advocate, so take it as you will.

Regardless of this last comment, I do love the Concannon story and I like the winery, but I'm kind of lukewarm on the wines I received, as you'll see. Here's the skinny on both:

Wine 1: Concannon Conservancy Chardonnay
Where It's From: Livermore Valley
The Grapes: 100% Chardonnay
Vintage: 2008
Price: $15.00

Color: California Chardonnay rarely strays from form on the color -- it's golden yellow and shiny and bright. Why? Because the oak tannins darken up the color of the juice from straw-colored to that rich yellow. You just know you're going to be plucking a proverbial splinter or two from your gums from all the oak.

Smell: This wine was very typical of Cali Chardonnay -- bright red and green apple and ripe, juicy, dripping pear nectar oozed from the glass. A second sniff and we're in some Caribbean town, smelling a guava, papaya, and pineapple fruit salad. And then the two by four -- big oak, chemical and paint, mineral, and caramel smells abounded. Not unpleasant, but not surprising either. It's what I find kind of typical of a wine from this area.

Taste: Interestingly, the wine tasted a lot more like lemon and lime than the tropical fruit that it smelled of. It was pretty fresh-tasting and seemed like it had high acid (although the wine note shows that it's moderate acid, so I'm not sure why it was so clean). But there was literally an oak tree and stick of butter living together in this bottle, waiting to be uncorked. That said, the wine wasn't that heavy -- it's an interesting one for sure.

Food: Some sort of light meat in an herb sauce or heavy fish, or heavy vegetarian dish with a cream sauce, or potatoes or cheese is the way to go with this. Because the wine is pretty flavorful, I'd say your best pairing is complementary, not contrasting -- this would drown out a light acidic sauce in a heartbeat.

Drink or Down the Sink?: I don't usually prefer big, oaky wines, but this was ok. I liked the lemony, herby qualities of the wine and found they offset the overt creamy, oakiness. Would it be my first choice in Chardonnay? Probably not, but it's certainly at the top of the list when it comes to $15 California Chardonnay because it's not the typical profile.


Wine 2: Concannon Conservancy Petite Sirah
If you're not familiar with Petite Sirah, generally it's a dark, acidic, full, and tannic grape that's fruit forward. It’s related to true Syrah from the Rhône Valley of Southern France, and is the love child of this grape and another more obscure variety (Peloursin). Although originally from France, it's frowned on there (where it's called Durif) and it really has found a home in Cali, where it smells and tastes like fresh herbs, black pepper, plum, and blueberry. Compared to Syrah, it is less complex, and fruitier.

Where It's From: Livermore Valley
The Grapes: 97% Petite Sirah, 3% Petit Verdot
Vintage: 2007
Price: $15.00

Color: This is a dark daddy of a wine. It was almost opaque in color -- a deep, dark ruby -- inky. There were heavy, stained tears running down the glass showing that this was a wine of high alcohol (13.5% is pretty high). I expected big things -- when a wine has that much pigment, flavor usually follows. Optimism for good tastes by the looks of it.

Smell: A pretty complex smell wafted out of this glass -- black pepper, wet earth, mocha, and vanilla came first. Then there were some sweet smells of black plum, blackberry, cinnamon, and tobacco leaves. It was a nice nose, but a little bit of a cilia singer -- the alcohol went right up my snout and nearly made me sneeze (or maybe that was the black pepper? I kid, it's the alcohol).

Taste: Urgh. I had such high hopes. Why didn't this deliver? Orange sherbet came to mind first, them plum, dark flowers/rose petal, black tea, and a little bit of clove. The wine was creamy and had moderate tannins. It all sounds great, but there was just something missing: POWER. I expect Petite Sirah to have a certain brawn, and this one was watered down. There wasn't the brash, unapologetic flavors I want out of this wine. Even if I suspended what I knew about Petite Sirah, I would still find this wine slightly flat. I've had Concannon's Petite Sirah (not the Conservancy line, obviously, since this is new) and it's got might behind it. This one -- just too light bodied and not enough gusto to make the cut for me.

Food: Normally, I'd say grilled meats with Petite Sirah, but for this, you may want to do roasted chicken, or salmon, or veggie kabobs.

Drink or Down the Sink?: I didn't pour it down the sink, but I didn't savor this one either. It was a real snoozer.

Although I applaud the efforts of the Concannon family for trying to preserve land and use it for traditional farming (and I appreciate them for sending me the wine), I hope that future vintages have a little more finesse to them. This winery knows Petite Sirah, so there's no reason they won't get it right. But I'll have to wait until the next vintage to see...
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