In case you missed my earlier post, or were too lazy to click on the link, here is Boston in all of their long time, bearded, big haired, open satin jacket glory.
ROCK! YEAH!!!!!!!!!
Friday, July 18, 2008
BOSTON - Long time (REPRISAL!)
Does a leaky capsule always indicate bad wine? A surprise from the SCM in '79
One of my favorite things about working where I do is that we buy lots of wine from private collections. The way it works is that we (rather, my co-worker Joe) will inspect a cellar's condition, check out the wares, and if there are wines of some perceived value in the marketplace that have been well stored, Joe will make an offer. As he will offer to buy entire collections, not just cherry pick the highly sought after stuff, there may be some '78 Amador zin mixed up with all of those nice '78 burgundies and napa cabs. We take it all in. Which means that every so often we come across some really interesting stuff on the shelves of the old and rare section in the shop. Sometimes, a few bottles are leakers, have low fills, and never make it to the shelf. I spied one such bottle whilst bullshitting with the great Joe Z yesterday, and asked his permission to open it. He obliged, I opened, and here's where it gets interesting....
The wine? A magnum of 1979 Santa Cruz Mountain Vineyard Cabernet. Nearly 30 year-old wine produced from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from Bates Ranch in the Santa Cruz Mountains AVA. To be honest I don't recall the fill exactly, though it was at least upper shoulder (i.e. almost filling out the rounded part of the bottle, but not making its way into the narrow neck part). A decent fill for a bottle stored almost 30 years in a private cellar. However, the foil capsule and area below it was sticky with what was clearly wine which had leaked out of the bottle. Upon cutting the foil and catching a whiff of the cork, my hopes dwindled. It smelled very oxidized, port-like but sour. When I pulled the cork, or most of the cork (I needed to push down a crumbly portion into the bottle) I promptly poured a small amount into a glass. The color was still deep and did not suggest a wine well past its prime. On the nose there were notes of intense dark fruit, some spice, cedar; the wine was more than alive, it was alive, kicking, screaming, and begging for attention. When I tasted the wine, it had all the vibrancy, flavor intensity and freshness of a wine half its age. Loads of sweet dark fruits, hints of prune, and a strong cola aspect came across on the palate, which also still had some tannin structure. While the wine was not the most nuanced or complex, it certainly reminded me of a few things:
1.) Wine is sometimes as resilient as it is fragile
2.) CA Cabernet can pack a whole lot of richness and flavor, and still be under 13% alc
3.) Santa Cruz Mountain wines, when they're good, age every bit as well, and often better than, wines from Napa.
What a cool experience. I ended up pouring myself a glass to go with my lunch of leftover Bastille Day lentils and bread. After lunch I returned to the sales floor, one happy wine dude.
UPDATE: This very day, almost to the minute (ok, it was several hours earlier - David is apparently more of a morning person than I am, and he's on the east coast) David McDuff over at McDuff's Food and Wine Trail happened to post a TN on a bottle of '87 SCMV Cabernet. This just might be the most unusal wine blogging coincidence of the year.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
24 - some favorites of the past day
Dinner of savory lentils, green salad, bread and cheeses, served with good, honest red wine
This was how we celebrated Bastille Day at the homefront. Puy lentils, sauteed with garlic and chorizo, accompanied by a large salad, a trio of cheeses (which were, come to think of it, mainly Spanish) and bread. Our wine accompaniment, though, was absolutely French, and a wine I have written up a few months ago: Beau Thorey Vin de Table 'Bogus,' a delicious, biodynamically made, low sulphur wine from Pic-St-Loup, consisting of grenache, syrah, carignane, oeillade, alicante, carignane blanc, and perhaps others? According to the bottle it is produced 'a echelle humaine' which you can probably deduce means 'a human scale.' 40-80 year old vines yield great fruit concentration and aromas which are intensely redolent of lavender, other flowers, and mixed berry fruits - especially olallie berries which are sort of like mulberries. A light, nuanced pretty wine on the palate, with gentle acidity and excellent overall balance. 12% alcohol. Perhaps it was not assertive enough for the lentils, which were very full flavored and seasoned with pimenton. Not the best match, but it worked ok.
1997 Kalin Cellars Pinot Noir Cuvee DD Sonoma County
'97 is the current release for proprietor Terry Leighton's sonoma pinot noir. So they are even slower than LdH in releasing their wines. Not that super late releases make the wine good, but you've got to support people who are holding back their wines a decade because that's when they think they'll begin to taste the way they should. Besides the fact that this is delicious, and released ridiculously late, I don't know much about the fruit source, vinification, or other pertinent details of this iconoclastic wine [after a bit of research I can say that the fruit comes from David Demostene's ranch in the Alexander Valley. Wine is fermented in wooden cuvees and aged in 50% new French oak]. Bright, but developed, nose, with red fruit jam and burnt brown sugar nuances on the palate. Racy, mouthwatering Pinot Noir, with the acidity and structure to possibly age another decade. Who knows, maybe longer. I recently drank a bottle of the '79 Kalin Cellars Santa Barbara Pinot Noir and that tasted great. You should try this wine, Robert Parker gave it 91 pts and said that he should review Kalin Cellars' wines more often....
'Foreplay/Long Time'
A classic rock radio staple, Boston truly brings the rock here, with some prog flourishes as well. Specifically I'm a big fan of the breakdown section with hand claps (love those hand claps), and the bass playing, especially the repetitive quarter notes - further proof that sometimes just playing the same note over and over again sounds really good. If songs this good were played on the radio in succession, I might develop tendinitis from banging my steering wheel too often.
Facebook
I had been more aloof, as opposed to resistant to, the whole facebook thing until recently. It's amazing how so many people come out of the woodwork. People I barely knew in high school, cousins galore, fellow wine bloggers...who could be next?
This was how we celebrated Bastille Day at the homefront. Puy lentils, sauteed with garlic and chorizo, accompanied by a large salad, a trio of cheeses (which were, come to think of it, mainly Spanish) and bread. Our wine accompaniment, though, was absolutely French, and a wine I have written up a few months ago: Beau Thorey Vin de Table 'Bogus,' a delicious, biodynamically made, low sulphur wine from Pic-St-Loup, consisting of grenache, syrah, carignane, oeillade, alicante, carignane blanc, and perhaps others? According to the bottle it is produced 'a echelle humaine' which you can probably deduce means 'a human scale.' 40-80 year old vines yield great fruit concentration and aromas which are intensely redolent of lavender, other flowers, and mixed berry fruits - especially olallie berries which are sort of like mulberries. A light, nuanced pretty wine on the palate, with gentle acidity and excellent overall balance. 12% alcohol. Perhaps it was not assertive enough for the lentils, which were very full flavored and seasoned with pimenton. Not the best match, but it worked ok.
1997 Kalin Cellars Pinot Noir Cuvee DD Sonoma County
'97 is the current release for proprietor Terry Leighton's sonoma pinot noir. So they are even slower than LdH in releasing their wines. Not that super late releases make the wine good, but you've got to support people who are holding back their wines a decade because that's when they think they'll begin to taste the way they should. Besides the fact that this is delicious, and released ridiculously late, I don't know much about the fruit source, vinification, or other pertinent details of this iconoclastic wine [after a bit of research I can say that the fruit comes from David Demostene's ranch in the Alexander Valley. Wine is fermented in wooden cuvees and aged in 50% new French oak]. Bright, but developed, nose, with red fruit jam and burnt brown sugar nuances on the palate. Racy, mouthwatering Pinot Noir, with the acidity and structure to possibly age another decade. Who knows, maybe longer. I recently drank a bottle of the '79 Kalin Cellars Santa Barbara Pinot Noir and that tasted great. You should try this wine, Robert Parker gave it 91 pts and said that he should review Kalin Cellars' wines more often....
'Foreplay/Long Time'
A classic rock radio staple, Boston truly brings the rock here, with some prog flourishes as well. Specifically I'm a big fan of the breakdown section with hand claps (love those hand claps), and the bass playing, especially the repetitive quarter notes - further proof that sometimes just playing the same note over and over again sounds really good. If songs this good were played on the radio in succession, I might develop tendinitis from banging my steering wheel too often.
I had been more aloof, as opposed to resistant to, the whole facebook thing until recently. It's amazing how so many people come out of the woodwork. People I barely knew in high school, cousins galore, fellow wine bloggers...who could be next?
Monday, July 14, 2008
Bastille Day Special! A 3rd growth Splurge at the new French local
Saturday night I headed to L’Ardoise, with a recently purchased bottle of ’99 Chateau Lagrange St Julien in hand (well, in backpack to be more precise). Conveniently located on Noe St, between the Castro and Hayes Valley, L’Ardoise is a small, cozy, classic neighborhood bistro. Since there are only about 40 seats and the warm, congenial atmosphere occasional encourages lingering over a leisurely meal, you may need to wait 10-15 minutes for an open table, even with a reservation. Another couple who was waiting ahead of us left. Unfortunate, as they probably would have eaten very well if our meal was any indication.
While we waited for a table, we were given a glass of sparkling wine and some complimentary frites at the bar. Everyone was friendly and apologized for the wait: our hostess, the owner, our server to-be. We enjoyed the fries with a very mild aioli (which seemed all the more tame compared with the head of garlic version I made earlier in the week). The sparkling wine, however, was cheap cava from Segura Viudas, which we probably would have been better without - we both suffered minor headaches later in the night, which I am tracing back to the cheap bubbly. Which brings up my major gripe with the otherwise spot on L’Ardoise: the wine list. There is very little of interest, especially by the glass. We followed our comped glass of headache bubbly with a so-so ’06 Chablis and a strangely medicinal Bordeaux Blanc (sorry – mediocre wine and no note taking means that I forget the produers for both). Wines by the bottle mainly consist of mediocre French, and industrial, boring California wines. Exceptions would be ’05 Tempier Bandol, ’04 Jasmin Cote-Rotie and ’04 d’Epire Savennieres, which are all fine but not exactly things I’d want to drink now, even with food; they’re too young. Oh, ’01 Chateau Meyney St-Estephe is good, but not exactly a value at $78. Hopefully, a wine rep in the SF area is reading this and will help L’Ardoise to re-tool their list with Muscadet, chenin, cru Beaujolais, etc.
Dinner was delicious. A succulent petite filet mignon, cooked rare, accompanied by an intense red wine reduction, and served with crisp, thinly sliced, fried potato rounds drizzled with white truffle oil. The intermingling of truffled potato and juicy, cooked to perfection beef is just a ridiculousy delicious, elegant flavor combo. I know, it all sounds a bit decadent but at $27 it’s a steal to me. Some people like BMWs, Diesel jeans…I like eating and drinking well, you know? We also had some haricots verts and sautéed baby spinach, both tasty and adding some necessary nutrients to this beef and potatoes dinner.
As for the wine…it showed young but very well. St. Julien, along with St Estephe and Moulis-en-Medoc, is generally amongst my favorite communes. 3rd, 4th and 5th growths are usually more to my liking than 2nd’s (as of yet I do not know from the first growths, I hear they’re a bit expensive these days). So the 1999 Lagrange, a 3rd growth St. Julien, was quite enjoyable. 1999 left bank bordeaux are generally very juicy, fruity wines, and the Lagrange did not prove to be an exception. It showed lots of savory dark cherry fruit on the nose and palate, with a bit of noticeable development – a touch of wet tobacco on the nose, some roasted and raw meat on the palate. Tannins are smoothing out and fairly well balanced with the fruit, but could use another several years to soften and integrate just a bit more. Overall, though, this is a tasty drink. Not a mind blowing bottle of claret, but solid. At $40 plus $15 corkage, it was a good deal.
And I feel the same way about L’Ardoise. What it lacks in exciting wines it more than delivers in the quality of food, service and typical neighborhood French bistro ambiance. Stop by and celebrate Bastille Day, the continuation of the Tour, or finishing another day at the office. You’ll be in good hands.
While we waited for a table, we were given a glass of sparkling wine and some complimentary frites at the bar. Everyone was friendly and apologized for the wait: our hostess, the owner, our server to-be. We enjoyed the fries with a very mild aioli (which seemed all the more tame compared with the head of garlic version I made earlier in the week). The sparkling wine, however, was cheap cava from Segura Viudas, which we probably would have been better without - we both suffered minor headaches later in the night, which I am tracing back to the cheap bubbly. Which brings up my major gripe with the otherwise spot on L’Ardoise: the wine list. There is very little of interest, especially by the glass. We followed our comped glass of headache bubbly with a so-so ’06 Chablis and a strangely medicinal Bordeaux Blanc (sorry – mediocre wine and no note taking means that I forget the produers for both). Wines by the bottle mainly consist of mediocre French, and industrial, boring California wines. Exceptions would be ’05 Tempier Bandol, ’04 Jasmin Cote-Rotie and ’04 d’Epire Savennieres, which are all fine but not exactly things I’d want to drink now, even with food; they’re too young. Oh, ’01 Chateau Meyney St-Estephe is good, but not exactly a value at $78. Hopefully, a wine rep in the SF area is reading this and will help L’Ardoise to re-tool their list with Muscadet, chenin, cru Beaujolais, etc.
Dinner was delicious. A succulent petite filet mignon, cooked rare, accompanied by an intense red wine reduction, and served with crisp, thinly sliced, fried potato rounds drizzled with white truffle oil. The intermingling of truffled potato and juicy, cooked to perfection beef is just a ridiculousy delicious, elegant flavor combo. I know, it all sounds a bit decadent but at $27 it’s a steal to me. Some people like BMWs, Diesel jeans…I like eating and drinking well, you know? We also had some haricots verts and sautéed baby spinach, both tasty and adding some necessary nutrients to this beef and potatoes dinner.
As for the wine…it showed young but very well. St. Julien, along with St Estephe and Moulis-en-Medoc, is generally amongst my favorite communes. 3rd, 4th and 5th growths are usually more to my liking than 2nd’s (as of yet I do not know from the first growths, I hear they’re a bit expensive these days). So the 1999 Lagrange, a 3rd growth St. Julien, was quite enjoyable. 1999 left bank bordeaux are generally very juicy, fruity wines, and the Lagrange did not prove to be an exception. It showed lots of savory dark cherry fruit on the nose and palate, with a bit of noticeable development – a touch of wet tobacco on the nose, some roasted and raw meat on the palate. Tannins are smoothing out and fairly well balanced with the fruit, but could use another several years to soften and integrate just a bit more. Overall, though, this is a tasty drink. Not a mind blowing bottle of claret, but solid. At $40 plus $15 corkage, it was a good deal.
And I feel the same way about L’Ardoise. What it lacks in exciting wines it more than delivers in the quality of food, service and typical neighborhood French bistro ambiance. Stop by and celebrate Bastille Day, the continuation of the Tour, or finishing another day at the office. You’ll be in good hands.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Diamond D - Sally Got A One Track Mind (1993)
I likes this track. Gotta love Diamond D. All you fellas makin' dough, watch for Sally, aiight?
Listening to this makes me miss New York. So the dedication is to everyone in New York city in the summer, no Hampton's or Martha's vineyard or whatever, I'm talking about everyone who stays in the stanky city during the dog days. This one's for you. Peace.
Wine for young lawyers
This blog, just like ODB reminded us about Wu Tang during the grammy's several years back, is for the children. In that spirit, I conducted an informal tasting for an IP law firm last night, sort of a 'lets show the summer associates a good time' type of event. Hopefully there was some value added as well, so that they learned a few things about wine, can at least fake intelligence on the subject during a date or dinner function, and, if I really did my job well, can develop better taste than a few of the partners of their firm (if you guys are reading this, I am only joking. Sort of. Well, not really, but who am I to tell you what to like and not like). Anyway, the structure of the tasting was to taste a classic French wine, give some background info on the region, and then taste a California example of the same grape variety. The only notable exception was a bottle of 2005 Mollydooker Enchanted Path Cabernet-Shiraz McLaren Vale, thrown into the mix by special request of one of the partners (which explains my previous gentle jab about taste).
A list of the wines:
FLIGHT 1 - Sauvignon Blanc
2007 Kathryn Kennedy Sauvignon Blanc
2007 Domaine Cherrier & Fils Sancerre
FLIGHT 2 - Chardonnay
2005 Chandon de Briailles Pernand Vergelesses Iles de Vergelesses 1er Cru
2005 Au Bon Climat Nuit Blanches Au Bouges XXV Chardonnay Santa Maria Valley
FLIGHT 3- Pinot Noir
2005 Domaine Gerard Seguin Gevrey-Chambertin Vielles Vignes
2006 Paul Hobbs 'Ulysses Valdes Vineyard' Pinot Noir Russian River Valley [another one that was not my pick, I wanted to do Calera, but this was another partner special request]
FLIGHT 4 - Bordeaux/bordeaux blend [at least it was going to be before the 'dooker request]
2004 Langoa Barton St Julien
2005 Mollydooker 'Enchanted Path' Cabernet Shiraz McLaren Vale
There was some engaging, interesting conversation with the summer associates. They show a lot of promise. They noticed how different the French wines tasted from their CA counterparts and asked why (I gave them the short answer: more sun, warmer weather, riper grapes, predilection towards toasty new oak in CA; less sun, cooler weather, higher acidity in grapes, hundreds of years experience in France). We discussed the role of the AOC system in France and compared it to patent law. We talked about sourcing grapes from different vineyards, why this tactic is employed, and why sauvignon blanc from Potter Valley will be different from the same grape variety grown in Napa.
Thank you to Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal for allowing this wine geek and aspiring arbiter of good taste to teach the children. To the summer associates, I encourage you to finish up law school without any scandal, drink good wine, and hurry up and make partner, young men.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Pairings of the weird
I was in a sherry type of mood tonight, so I tasted a few manzanillas and one fino that I recently bought. From that bunch I selected the La Gitana Manzanilla Pasada to drink with dinner, which so far does not indicate any lack of natural order, normalcy, or rational thought. However, the pairing is where things got a bit wacky. Dinner was spicy sauteed purple cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, garlic, onions , sauteed with coriander, sichuan pepper and the searingly hot african bird pepper. There was also broiled okra with red bhutanese rice. Now I love my vegetables and spice, especially when I have a cold as I do now. But this ad hoc stir-fry dinner has all the stylings of a hippie vegetarian dinner: nutritious but lacking in harmony of flavors.
Dinner tonight was spicy, and while it did not totally cancel out the delicious manzanilla pasada, it came really close. My fault for insisting on a sherry liquid diet tonight, all the way through dinner. Young German kabinett or spatlese, or a beer, would have been the proper choice for dinner. Oh well - sometimes when you have your mind set on drinking something, you just want to drink it. In that respect, you could say that tonight was my wine geek equivalent of drinking oaky Napa chard with fish, or Turley zin with any sort of food.
Dinner tonight was spicy, and while it did not totally cancel out the delicious manzanilla pasada, it came really close. My fault for insisting on a sherry liquid diet tonight, all the way through dinner. Young German kabinett or spatlese, or a beer, would have been the proper choice for dinner. Oh well - sometimes when you have your mind set on drinking something, you just want to drink it. In that respect, you could say that tonight was my wine geek equivalent of drinking oaky Napa chard with fish, or Turley zin with any sort of food.
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