And once again, Les Cretes

As much as I liked their Torrette, I was looking forward to trying their Chardonnay. My expectation was that it would not lack for acidity, be very mineral and maybe even be built for some mid-term (5-7 years) cellaring. Sadly, it does not appear to be so.

The 2006 Les Cretes Chardonnay, from Val d'Aoste, is perfectly sound, decently made, fruity, boring Chardonnay. I give it credit for not being a Planeta international oak bomb chard, but the flavors in this wine are nonetheless rounded, pear and apple flavors - very similar to many Chards I've had from the Languedoc. I tried a second bottle which had been opened earlier, and it did come across as being a bit more mineral, with perhaps a little more acidity and nerve. Still, not quite what I expected.

Oh well. There is always Chablis and Chardonnay from the Jura....

My exploration into the '70s continues

This time the wine is a 1974 Louis Martini Cabernet Sauvignon. It was one of the big four Cab producers in those days (Beaulieu, Charles Krug and Inglenook are the other three). The first thing I noticed with this bottle was the mid-shoulder fill, which might have otherwise deterred me from purchasing it had the cost not been as low as it was. The second observation was that there was no foil capsule; instead, covering the cork there was a plastic closure with a place for you to tear it off, sort of like a plastic bottle of juice. Interesting...apparently low to mid-end wines used this type of closure back then.

So I poured a taste of this 33 year old Cab into my glass and noticed that the color looked surprisingly healthy, a mature, opaque brick color, with no noticeable browning at the edges. On the nose, there was lots of iron and beef blood at first. The palate showed very mature, but simple red fruit flavors, without a ton of complexity or length. As the wine opened up after 20 or so minutes, aromas became more complex, showing roasted coffee, green peppercorn, and some darker fruits. Similarly, the palate showed a greater depth of flavor, with dark fruits beginning to emerge and more complexity, greater weight and more concentration. By 40 minutes the wine was fading to what it was at first, and I imagine that had I drunk more another 20 minutes later the wine would have been going, going, gone.

Nevertheless, the '74 Louis Martini was no deadbeat cab, it proved to have just a little life in it yet.

Drink old wine. It's fun, and always an education.

Black Moon-Who Got The Propz

I'll tell you who got da propz. Why naturally, it's 5 F-T, Evil Dee and Buckshot! OK, the lyrics are so-so, flow is aiight, but this will always be a classic. Enjoy the video, and happy weekend.

OLD WORLD OLD SCHOOL GOES POP: BOYZ

Not only am I jumpstarting the weekend with an early youtube video, but it's a recent release! A rarity on this site. So much energy in this video, and the song is ridiculous - no, in fact it is RIDONCULOUS. The video reminds me of early De la Soul, with all the neon and pastels, images and messages scrawled onto the screen, and sense of movement. A bit more frenetic in this video, though. Filmed on site in Kingston JA.

My first wine from Val d'aoste

Les Cretes Torrette 2005. Located in the Italian portion of the alps, north (and west) of the Piemonte, east of France and south of Switzerland, the val d'aoste does not produce a lot of wine - it is the smallest region of wine production in Italy - and I can't recall ever seeing a Val d'Aoste wine, at least in a retail shop. Val d'Aosta lies to the east of France. As it borders the French alps, I wouldn't be surprised if the region's wines are reminiscent of Swiss wines and some of the wines of the Jura. This particular red val d'aosta wine, made from petit rouge, mayolet, tintorier, and coralin, is light in color, though not quite so light as a Poulsard. It had some very snappy mixed berry fruit, with an intense licorice note, about as intense a licorice as I've tasted in wine - it was literally like biting into a piece of black licorice. Distinctive, though it is not revealing a whole lot right now. With its moderately high acidity and apparent tightness, it might be interesting to lay a few bottles down for 3-5 years and see what happens. Cool stuff if you can find it.

Alpine wine - that's what's up.

QUINOA - it's what's for dinner

Quinoa is indigenous to the Andean regions of South America. It thrives in low nutrient, high pH soil, in conditions where no other fruits or vegetables will grow. Yep, it's similar to the vine.

Here is a lazy, last minute, no produce available, somewhat nutritious dinner recipe. It's vegan, throw it together, cuisine brut type cooking:

2c Quinoa
3.5c water
3 large cloves garlic, sliced into thin rounds
1/4 c olive oil
One half of one lemon
3 tbsp chopped walnuts
1/4c italian parsley, chopped
2 tbsp chopped sundried tomatoes
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2c white wine
salt and pepper to taste
extra olive oil to drizzle on top

Mix water and quinoa together in a pasta pot. Bring to a boil and then turn down to medium heat
Heat olive oil on medium in a large pan, and then add garlic. Cook for 40 seconds.
Add walnuts, sundried tomatoes, red pepper, white wine, salt and pepper and cook for 5 minutes. When finished, add most of parsley and stir into sauce.
When the quinoa has soaked up all of the water and is fluffy, add the sauce and stir well. Serve in a bowl and add a bit more olive oil on top. Garnish with parsley. Add freshly grated piave or pecorino if desired.

This dish would probably also be pretty good with a few tbsp butter in the sauce, and/or 2 sardines sauteed initially in the olive oil and garlic.

Single Blind Arneis Tasting

This past Thursday night my tasting group met at the usual spot, Chez Mark in Oakland, for a single blind tasting dedicated to the little rascal, the proverbial Pacherenc to the Piemonte's Nebbiolo, Arneis. Before going any further, I'd like to thank Mark Middlebrook for once again hosting the group, and for organizing what might have been the most educational of our tastings to date. Mark, who has been to Piemonte on numerous occasions, is a passionate advocate of the wines, food and people of the Piedmont. In particular Mark loves the Roero, which came through in Mark's stories about some of the winemakers with whom he has visited, helped with harvest and spent much quality time in the past 7 or so years. To go with the wines, there was some basic Mortadella, a meatier Fra Mani Mortadella (I preferred this one), Fra Mani salametto, Piave (delicious cow's milk cheese from the Veneto, not the Piemonte), a Piedmontese goat cheese (Bra tenero, I think), good bread and Piedmontese styled sardines with parsley, olive oil, lemon and garlic. Perfect for Arneis. Mmmm - it does go well with the sardines. Delicious again, Mark.

Here are the wines, seven in all, listed in order of service. We tasted everything single blind (i.e. we knew that each wine would be an arneis, but did not know the producer or vintage):

Fillipo Gallino Roero Arneis 2006 - A very impressive start. Clean, crystalline and vivid, with good length and purity in its appley fruit. This was my #2 wine and was in most people's top 3. At about $11 it's a killer value.

Cascina Val de Prete Roero Arneis 2004 - This one was richer, with golden delicious apples and lemon curd on the nose. Mario Roagna apparently ages 1/3 of the wine in new oak (not sure for how long) and there is extended skin contact prior to fermentation. No wonder given the wine's richness. Somehow I found this to be OK, in the middle of the pack. Not so with other folks, as it was ranked last.

Bruno Giacosa Roero Arneis 2006 - Relative to the other wines, this one struck me as being richer, with a fatter, more rounded mid palate. Also more spice and a slightly sweeter pear/apple fruit profile. After re-visiting the wine on its own (after the line-up), accompanied by the sardines, it definitely was tastier and not as ponderous. We ranked this one 6th.

Giovanni Almondo Roero Arneis 'Vigna Sparse' 2006 - Ar-NIIICE! (delivered in the Borat style). A ton of mineral opens to very discreet citrus and lemongrass on the nose, which then leads to one hell of a nervy, racy, squeaky clean wine. With tremendous minerality and focus, this one really reminded me of a young Nigl Gruner Veltliner. Others mentioned Chablis and Muscadet. This was clearly the WOTN for me, though it was ranked second by the group. Mark was explaining that Domenico Almondo, who now makes the wine here, is mentioned by everyone in the Roero as making the most serious Arneis in the region. This wine is clearly not dumbed down with any Chardonnay like some of the other wines in this line-up. Get it if you can find it. Good luck finding it.

Ceretto Roero Arneis 2006 - Nose a bit funky, and very distinct from the others. Starfruit and gentle citrus fruits on the palate. I am embarrassed to say that it somehow squeaked into my #3 spot, as this is a fairly softened style of Arneis, and further as it is an LVMH product, Oh well. On behalf of my palate, I'm pleading temporary insanity. Though it's not an archetypal Arneis, I must admit that the wine is soundly made and agreeable. Someone mentioned that the wine reminded them of Vermention; someone else thought the wine to be leesy.

Vietti Roero Arneis 2006 - A bit closed on the nose, at first this arneis seemed a bit clumsy. After opening up a bit there was more freshness and classic Arneis appley fruit and snappy, biting finish. Upon further review, this would have been my #3 wine. I typically really enjoy Vietti's Arneis for its typicity and overall deliciousness, and look forward to it each summer when the new vintage arrives in the States.

Cascina Val de Prete Roero Arneis 2006

This one was darker in color than their '04. In fact I thought that this wine was an '04 or '05. Given the advanced color and very mature aromas, as well as the flabbiness of this wine, I showed little mercy in calling it 'over the hill,' and reminiscent of two-year old Godello that should have been drunk already. Easily my least favorite wine, though others ranked it 4th. Viva la diference. Though the wine recently arrived from Italy and might have been bottle shocked, this was just part of the problem. There is a lack of life, acidity and varietal character that is disturbing for an '06 white wine. Maybe it was cooked en route?

After all these whites, Mark brought out a Roero red, a 2004 Mateo Corregia Val dei Preti Nebbiolo d'Alba made by Mateo Corregio. Apparently everyone in Roero congregated around Mateo, who was only in his early 40's when he died of a tractor accident in the vineyards. He was serious about his craft and other vintners sought him out for his opinion (often times brutally honest) on their wines and what they should do to improve their quality. The wine, composed of 100% nebbiolo, is modern, tamed slightly by some new oak, but not over the top, with pretty, pure dark fruit. Not quite as firm, nuanced, or haunting as young Barbaresco, Barolo, or even really good Langhe Nebbiolo, but very tasty all the same.

Thanks again to Mark for organizing this great tasting and doing such a good job with it. It made me want to visit the Piedmont.