Creative Expression vs Economic Opportunism; Comparing wine to '80s music

Call me an idealist, a business novice, or just an idiot. But whenever I engage in a form of creative expression, I do it mainly to satisfy my criteria of what I would enjoy listening to, reading, eating, or, if I were to make wine, drinking. This seems logical, right? With stories like this one about Adam Tolmach of Ojai, one wonders how many folks in California are truly guided by a sense of personal aesthetics in their winemaking. It is not fair to limit this question to California; however, many people would contend that a whole lot of winemakers in California are guilty of making wines which lack originality and, to not mince words, are boring, sweet, and just plain suck.

The tide here is obviously turning, though. I see it in what most critics write about wines and in what many of my customers enjoy drinking.

I see 1984-1991 in the music business in similar terms as 2000-2007 in the world of wine. There are certainly many interesting albums and wines in both periods. But just as many wines now taste similar and lack inspiration, a whole lot of music was watered down, all featuring the same new genre of synths, and the same heavy handed production. Look at the list of established artists who made terrible albums in the 1980's. At the same time, new genres, most notably hip-hop, were continuing to evolve. If you looked carefully, the beginnings of what would be the new pop rock in the 90s was forming from the underground rock of the '80s. To return back to the vinous side of our discussion, natural wines and grower champagnes have never been more popular.

It will be interesting to see when this particular chapter in wine tastes will close, but it appears to be doing so quickly.

Afu-ra - Equality

Hmmm...what ever happened to Afu? This track was something of a hit back when the album was released 7 or so years ago. DJ Premier's production and Kymani Marley's raspy sing-jay vocals help support Afu-Ra's decent, but largely forgettable, flow.

Battle of the Heavyweights: Nigl vs A. Fernandez

Well, this isn't much of a head to head competition here. Two very full-bodied, intensely flavored wines, however, hence the 'battle of the heavyweights.' The Nigl I had a few nights ago was a 2001 Kremser Kremsleiten Riesling, and the Alejandro Fernandez wine was 2004 Tinto Pesquera. OK, so clearly an apples and oranges comparison, actually more like apples and carrots: White vs red, Austrian vs Spanish, bottle aged vs current release. Both are very good wines from producers for whom I have an enormous amount of respect.

The '01 Nigl was a beautiful 18K gold color. Its nose was rich, honeyed, and showing a good bit more maturity than I had expected, with strong buckwheat flower honeyed notes, mandarins, apricot glaze, and some woodsy, floral aromas (maybe I should say 'manly flowers'?). Thankfully, the wine showed a lot drier than what the palate suggested, though the fruit was of such a rich and ripe character, that it was almost over the top for my taste. On the plus side there is just enough acidity to keep things balanced, and the finish is a very long one. Drinking this wine, you can taste what must have surely been a warm, sunny vintage in the Kremstal.

'04 Pesquera is of course a little baby. All of the classic Ribera dark fruit, licorice, and grip are on full display here, but with the added dimension of spice on the perfume that always make this bottle distinctive, and easy to detect if poured out of a brown bag. This spice and aromatic complexity is not yet on full display. It should begin to emerge after another 1.5 to 2 years in bottle. Drunk with a thick, grilled, Pittsburgh rare New York strip steak (to honor my recently deceased grandfather, Pepa), the '04 Pesquera was delicious and savored immensely with my immediate family.

Goodbye, Pepa.

Some people knew him as Dr. Copeland, others as Herb, Grandpa Herb, or Dad. To me he always was, and always will be, Pepa. He passed away this morning at 87 years old after what has been at least a 6 year battle with ALS.

Pepa was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, one of three children of Yetta and Herb Copeland, Sr, who were both from Odessa, Ukraine. He went on to serve in the army and start his own radiology practice at Franklin Square Hospital in Baltimore. With his first wife Myra, he had two children: my mom and my Uncle Jack. After Myra passed away, he married Elaine Rogers, or my grandmother, Me-ma, who would fall ill with lung cancer and died in 1994. Pe-pa married Jeanne a few years later, and I do not recall ever seeing him as happy as he was at that time.

Playing catch in the backyard, appreciating a rare steak, going on a drive in his latest luxury car of choice (he gave me his old Lexus 3 years ago), and a fridge stocked with his favored Coors Light, are just a few of the things I will always remember fondly about Pepa. That and the sweet, easy-going, gentle manner he had of dealing with anyone who knew him.

I will repeat here what I told my grandfather, after saying goodbye to him for the last time this past July 4th holiday: Goodbye Pepa, I love you.

1979 DUCRU BEAUCAILLOU

1979 is the year of my birth, and since I can name the number of wines I have tasted from this watershed year on one hand (ok, on 3 fingers) I figured I should treat myself and get something special for my birthday. So while the Walt Clyde Frasier leather pumas and Onitsuka Tigers comprised the gift to my wardrobe, the '79 Ducru was the gift to my palate and continuing wine education.

It was a good gift. The nose was full of currant, blackberry, rich, spicy dark cherry fruit. Secondary aromas of lead and very subtle green peppercorn emerged after some air. I decanted the wine right before serving it as it seemed so fresh, lively and primary at first. Probably not a necessary decant, though, as the tannins were almost completely resolved and the wine was fairly uniform; it didn't change much. It was elegant in that mature claret sense: silky smooth, intense and pure fruit with a suggestion of roasted meat. But really more fruit on this one. Elegant wine, and it did its job with my simple dinner prep: boneless leg of lamb with sauteed hedgehog mushrooms. It made the lamb more gamey and lamby and the mushrooms more earthy and shroomy, if that makes any sense.

Mature Bordeaux is still really good....

Fugazi - Turnover - (Live 1991)

This is Live in DC, during what looks to be an anti– Gulf war concert. DC was an entirely different, arguably a much cooler place to live back then, from what I have heard. Anyway, 'Turnover' is the lead track to the Repeater album. Thanks to my older brother I was listening to a lot of Fugazi in my pre-teen and early teen years. They are a great band and a group with integrity. If Guy, Ian, Brendan and Joe were wine drinkers they'd probably be drinking lots of real wine.

Post New Year's, Pre Bday Champagne.

Yesterday my tasting group and I were bringing in the New year in the traditional PMW tasting group style, with some champers. Usually it's a December event, but with the overarching sense of frenetic holiday activity prevailing this year, we put it off until the new year. Which is fine by me because it doubled as a bday celebration of sorts as well. And if any sort of celebration goes down tonight (today is bday proper) it will definitely be low key and on the early side. I'm partied out.

Our first champagne: Charley Heidseck Brut NV. It was not offensive; simple, crisp and celebratory enough, if lacking on the mid-palate and falling very short on the finish. A textbook middle of the road grand marque NV champagne without much character. But you can do a lot worse. I'd like to retroactively strike the LP Brut on my 'in a pinch' champagne post and replace it with this one.

Next would be a Blanc de Blancs from Gaston Chiquet. Didn't even know they made one, though their NV is always a favorite, especially for a good all around party wine. It's full of flavor and easy to like. Well this one was the exact opposite. It was a bit one-dimensional as well, though in a more interesting, lean and mean way. A cool, shy and mineral nose led to a very tight BdB that just isn't showing too much right now. Though I think this was the prevailing sentiment in the room, there were a few defenders of the wine.

No such divergence in opinion on the next guy: Methode Traditionnelle sparkling wine from Marin county! Point Reyes Winery's flagship (I think) sparkling wine, brought courtesy of Chad, was a unanimous pick for MOWOTN (most offensive wine of the night). Elmers glue and bananas foster. Not so fresh, not so clean clean.

Chad, however, knowing full well that this would likely be a dud, came through with another bottle that I think might have been WOTN. At least according to me and Chad. 1996 Gaston Chiquet Special Club had all of the delicious ripe and intense flavors of the vintage, balanced by the off the charts acidity that '96 also shows. This '96 was a bit more integrated, less angular, and probably will be quicker to mature than others I've had from the vintage. It's drinking really well right now.

Before Chad's 'redemption bottle' we had a few others. '98 Pierre Peters Blanc de Blancs Millesime showed classic brioche aromas and lead to a tasty palate that is probably, both in terms of texture and flavor, one of the softest and most mellow Peters champagnes I will drink. Which was fine, and probably a reflection of a merely ok vintage. But when I drink Peters, I kind of want to taste that searing acidity, you know? This was a good reminder of the fact that, when it comes to vintage champagne, occasionally any notion of house style needs to be tossed out the window. Bonville Cuvee Prestige NV was a solid all round blanc de blancs, produced from the '02, '00 and '98 vintage chardonnay in Oger and Cramant. It was also well-rounded, with agreeable flavors and gentle mousse. Definitely another good party and 'gateway' champagne, to which my co-worker and first time PMWer David would attest, as it's the bottle that converted his girlfriend into a champagne drinker. 2000 Aubry "Le Nombre d'Or Campanae Veteres Vites" Brut is what Nadia and I brought, and definitely a funky number. It's a blend of primarily black skinned grapes including Fromenteau (pinot gris) Petit Meslier & Arbanne (endless mileage on the nose in the glass and declaring, 'yep, that's definitely Arbanne' joke) which are all nearly extinct in Champagne. There's a bit of chardonnay and PN in there as well, which I'm guessing is due to not enough supply of the other grapes, and an effort to make the wine somewhat more normal tasting. I couldn't put a finger on this one. The fruit was definitely tangy and full of life, but there was a real salty minerality here. Usually just the sort of wine I love, but for some reason I wasn't digging this. To me it was jarring, angular, and possibly just in a weird place? Definitely not bottle shocked, as the bottle has been comfortably resting on our shelves at K&L for the past year.

There were a few rose sparklers, one a cava whose name escapes me but was really dark colored, austere tasting, and tannic. The other was Taittinger Brut Rose NV. A bit off and almost reductive at first on the nose, it eventually shedded this and was a mediocre, over manipulated, over dosed rose champagne. The wine tasted contrived and lacked energy.

We had a few reds and a riesling after before the night was out. I had brought a 1976 Santenay 'Clos Rousseau' 1er cru from one Rene Fleurot, which smelled absolutely lovely but was a bit tired on the palate, with stewed red fruits that were kind of hanging in there but not enough to want to finish the glass. Then Mark ventured down to the cellar and grabbed a few wines. First, a bottle of '78 Sterling Cab which was as mature Napa cab should be. Green pepper and cherry fruit. It wasn't the best bottle; we had drunk the same thing at a Bdx tasting a few months ago that was a bit more delectable and intense. Next, a bottle of 1998 Elio Grasso Barolo Gavarini 'Vigna Chiniera' which was delicious, young, and with a solid, long future ahead of it. Check back in 10 years. Finally we finished things off with a bottle of Koehler-Ruprecht Riesling Kallstadter Steinacker Kabinett 2002. Very smoky, delicious Kabinett from the Pfalz. It was woodsy and floral on the nose. Dry palate with Pfalz burnt brown sugar but plenty of acidity and savor. Thanks, Mark, for cracking this one open - I love 2002 German riesling and this was a great wine to finish the evening. Like the dude's rug, it really tied the room together.

OK, off to pick up a bottle from my birth year. Hope you all are enjoying your Thursday - it's my Bday so it's gonna be a good day for all of you out there as well, I know it will.