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Stop Bottling Wine — at the estate

Becky Sue — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 17:01:47 +0000

Climate project and wine guru Pancho Campo suggested this week that we might want to go back to the olden days of wine commerce. In order to avoid the tremendous amount of emissions caused by transporting crates of heavy wine bottles, we might want to return to the time when wine was shipped in bulk from the producer, and bottled in the city where it would be sold. Of course Campo didn’t put it exactly like this when speaking at Vinoble, the biennial sweet wine fair in Jerez, Spain; he simply put out a general call to rethink the wine industry’s carbon footprint.
Remember that only a few decades ago wine was still being shipped from France and Portugal to England, where it was bottled by local merchants like Harveys in Bristol (Sherry) and Berry Bros & Rudd in London (Bordeaux, etc.) before being sold their customers. Shipping was handled this way for hundreds of years. So now, do we really need to ship bottles that can weigh up to two pounds each? Except for Champagnes and sparkling wines which are finished in the bottle, maybe not.
For centuries, wine merchants — such as Berry Brothers and Harveys — were the guarantors of authenticity for the wines they sold. The custom of estate bottling wines which gathered steam during the 20th century is supposed to be a guarantee of authenticity. It also became a mark of prestige when in the 1920s Baron Philippe de Rothschild first used it to set his Bordeaux wines apart from the rest – and soon everyone followed his lead.
With the current technology for temperature-controlled, non-reactive shipping containers, would we now be better off bottling our wines at least in the country they are shipped to, if not in each individual city? Lighter bottles, screwcaps, tetrapaks and bulk wine in restaurants: all these methods of conveying wines to consumer can now be put in play. It’s started already. Champagne producers are cutting their bottle weights by 7% this year. In the UK, Berry Bros & Rudd is (again) supplying their labeled “Own Selection Wines” while in the US a few restaurants on the east and west coasts are reported to have wine on tap. Now, it’s up to the rest of us to decide how to save the planet – while sipping the wines of our choice, of course.

Wine for Haiti — Donate to Online Auction for Haitian Earthquake Relief

Hallmark goes family-friendly with wine in ‘Uncorked’ March 6th

Becky Sue — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 23:03:45 +0000

A young kid in a winery? Never thought I’d see it on the Hallmark Channel.
Though UNCORKED is a generic romance movie, the background is wine. The male lead (Scott Elrod) is a chef and his parents (Jo Beth Williams and Elliott Gould) run a small Northern California winery.
His very young son also helps out there, even explaining how wine is made. Part of the solution in the romance has the female lead (Julie Benz from “Dexter”) figuring out how to keep the family winery going. Family values and wine – love it!
UNCORKED, The Hallmark Channel, March 6, 2010

Puglia

Becky Sue — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:52:52 +0000

Still trying to get my head around the wines of Puglia, where I spent several days last week. All sorts of great native grapes — negroamaro, primitivo, uva di troia, bombino bianco, malvasia, fiano — and some chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon.
As with many emerging wine regions, Puglian winemakers are caught in a dilemma: should they be promoting their indigenous grapes or concentrating on wines made with internationally-known grapes? They have an added handicap because Puglia has been producing bulk wines for decades.
What do you think they should do?

Wine for Haiti — Donate to Online Auction for Haitian Earthquake Relief

Becky Sue — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 01:31:53 +0000

PALATE PRESS: The Online Wine Magazine and Brother, Can You Spare a Bottle? announce a joint program to help the relief effort in Haiti following the devastating earthquake that rocked the country earlier this week. Wine for Haiti is an opportunity for wine collectors to make a contribution not through their pocketbooks, but from their wine cellars.
The idea is simple: wine lovers contribute a special bottle that is then included with other donations into a mixed case. Those interested helping out the cause, and getting some great wine as a bonus, can then bid on the cases in an online auction. These generous contributions of wine lovers will all be turned directly into money for disaster relief.
In the spirit of giving, donations have already started rolling in with some very desirable bottles, including a 1976 Dr. Loosen Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Beerenauslese and an etched 6.0 liter bottle of 2003 Cornerstone Cellars Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon. PALATE PRESS: The Online Wine Magazine will pay all administrative and overhead costs of receiving the wines and running the auction.

Bottles should be sent to:
Wine for Haiti
Palate Press: The online wine magazine
9425 Meridian #201
Indianapolis, IN 46260

Please direct all inquires to WineForHaiti@palatepress.com .

Six Chilean Sauvignon Blancs

Becky Sue — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:35:08 +0000

We’ve been buying good, moderately priced Sauvignon Blancs from Chile for the past few years, so I was happy to try half a dozen more from all over the country, when I got the chance. All six are vintage 2008, which means they’ve been on the market for several months. They’ve lost that ultra-new quality and are ready to drink. The first three wines are lighter, while the last three are more complex, better with food.

Bio Bio Valley is not only a great name but a region with a lot of buzz, and its Gracia de Chile Reserva 2008 Sauvignon Blanc “Luminoso” opened gracefully into a medium light wine with gooseberry notes, minerality and plenty of acid in its finish.

Francois Lurton’s Hacienda Araucano 2008 Sauvignon Blanc comes from the Valle Central, and its emphasis is on fruit, with a touch of minerality and underlying notes of what some call “cat’s pee” – not necessarily a negative in this wine.

Also from the Central Valley is Xplorador 2008 Sauvignon Blanc produced by Concha Y Toro. This wine is crisp, crisp, crisp, with citric accents.

Santa Carolina 2008 Sauvignon Blanc from the Valle del Rapel is nicely balanced, and very pleasant to drink with a medium-light tropical fruit quality enduring through aromas, body and finish.

Casas del Bosque 2008 Sauvignon Blanc Gran Reserva comes from the Casablanca Valley. It’s very nicely balanced, with light touches of lemony acidity and plenty of the meadow-herb qualities I particularly enjoy.

The Leyda Valley’s Luise Felipe Edwards “Family Selection” 2008 Sauvignon Blanc appealed to everyone, and went on to be enjoyed with dinner, balancing tropical fruit and herbs very satisfyingly as it opened up. At the end of the evening, this bottle had the least left in it.

Winetasting at 35,000 feet

Becky Sue — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 13:01:19 +0000

I asked so many wine questions I had to come clean.
When I confessed to the crew of Singapore flight 25 I was going to the Singapore Airlines wine forum, an off-duty crew member overheard and took me through an impromptu wine-tasting at 33,000 feet — or whatever the actual altitude was. It was also 2:30 am, or perhaps 2:30 pm, depending on whether you’d changed your watch yet.
Anyhow, there I was with Faizal, who is a young and very polite air-sommelier-in-training. He took me through several whites and reds. In his experience, some wines become “dumb” or closed at high altitudes, showing much less aroma and flavor than the exact same bottle sampled on the ground. I’m hoping to find out more about this from Steven Spurrier and the other wine judges for Singapore Air in the next few days.
One of the best wines to drink in the air — especially with the spiced Thai dishes on the menu — is a Riesling from Balthasar Ress, 2006 Rudesheim Rheingau Spatlese. Its floral and fruit aromas wafted up pleasantly in the glass, and a bit of sweetness pairs well with Thai spices.Bouchard’s Beaune de Chateau 2006 Premier Cru was enjoyable with Western flavors including cheeses, though some of the aromas seemed lost in the altitude.
With hearty meat dishes, Faizal favors the Rive Barbera d’Asti 2006 Il Cascione or the Dry Creek Vineyard 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Dry Creek Valley. It was a treat for me to taste the Cos d’Estournel 1999 St. Estephe and we had an interesting discussion about what people expect from “older wines” these days. Twenty or 30 years ago, knowledgeable wine drinkers looked for these secondary developmental characteristics in “properly aged” wines; today’s consumers favor bigger fruit flavors from younger wines and perhaps don’t even understand how a wine does evolve over time because they never experience this.
Faizal and the whole crew regret recently running out of the Clos de los Siete 2007 cabernet sauvignon-malbec-merlot blend. Apparently this was a great favorite of passengers as well as crew.

Firestone reminds me of my first ever…

Becky Sue — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 17:00:59 +0000

…Santa Barbara County Sauvignon Blanc — tasted 20 years ago and never forgotten – with its heady aromas of sweet grass meadows and herbs, its balanced body and crispness. I’ve sipped it for the past few evenings with simple and complex salads, and it holds up beautifully paired with a variety of flavors. Super-easy too, as it’s a screwcap. Firestone Vineyard Santa Ynez Valley 2008 Sauvignon Blanc

Rothschild (Lafite) in Corbieres: Blason d’Aussieres

Becky Sue — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 20:37:22 +0000

Curious about what’s going on the Languedoc, I had a chance to try both the 2006 and 2005 Blason d’Aussieres this week. I almost wish I hadn’t had the two togeher, because they are both very good wines but one always has to suffer by comparison – and it shouldn’t.

The 2006 entranced us with its moderate power, and lovely fine fruit and structure. Yet compared to the 2005 it felt almost restrained. The 2005 – a great year just about everywhere — was huge, nicely structured and disappeared much faster with dinner. Both have cedar, spice, dark red fruit.

Very well-made wines – and especially for these prices: the 2006 is under $15 and the 2005 under $20.

Rare 2000 Sancerre found downstairs

Becky Sue — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 20:52:09 +0000

We never get Sancerre more than a few years old, in the course of normal events here. Yet somehow a bottle of 2000 Sancerre appeared in the forgotten section of my vast cellar (cardboard box) so I brought it up to try last night. The label also reminds me it is Vieilles Vignes [old vines] and Mis en bouteille par Patient Cottat MG a Verdigny.

Not an expensive wine to begin with, but it held up delightfully.

The cork was very long and a bit wet, indicating there might be spoilage, but a first whiff of wet cork dissipated quickly. In the glass, the wine was a light tan-yellow. Sweetness in the nose was followed by flavors that had turned from crisp to rounded fruit with some nice citrus, finishing in a hint of sweetness again, but minerality too. A light-medium body, with medium-long finish. And very pleasant with summer-fall vegetables and fish.

Anyone else know this wine?

testing wine gadgets

Becky Sue — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 03:01:31 +0000

With the help of several excellent wines, I’ve been testing fun wine toys: wine enhanchers, an instant wine chiller, and even red wine cleaners.

Having had the red wine version for a while, I love the sound the Vinturi makes when you pour wine through it into your glass. Vinturi’s new white wine enhancer works if the wine is intended to improve with age, like J’s 2007 Russian River Chardonnay. (It immediately looses some of the pop vanilla, and the flavors start to mature.)

This week, Mike Phillips and his wife gave me a bottle of their 2006 Earthquake Zinfandel. The Earthquake line is designed to age, so I tested it with the Vinturi for red wine, Philip Stern’s elegant little crystal and glass wand, and the Soiree glass aerating bulb…

Read more in this fall’s Intermezzo Magazine [issue #23]