Eve's Wine 101

Women, Wine and Aging – Sent in by a reader

by

Last night, one of my best friends and I were sitting in my living room and I said to her:

I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug.

She got up, unplugged the computer, and threw out my wine. She’s such a bitch.

A Night in Montalcino by Tomas & Jenny Lukas

by

The day after Christmas 2008, we found ourselves in Florence, Italy for one week as a result of having found an outrageously low airfare offered on the Internet. This time my wife and I took the opportunity to introduce another couple, who had never been to Italy before, to Tuscany during the 2009 New Years Eve celebration known as Cappodanno.

After a few days in Florence the decision to make a road trip for an overnight stay into the Chianti region came easy. The four of us squeezed into a bright yellow Fiat cinque cento and drove south on Route 222 (pronounced due-due-due) from Florence towards Siena. Skirting around Siena, we headed south to Montepulciano, home of the famous Nobile di Montepulciano.

Despite the fact that Montepulcino is a higher elevation than its neighboring hilltop villages, we were surprised to find the remnants of a recent storm had blanketed the village in snow. Montepulciano consists of a series of steep narrow stone streets that test the uninitiated – especially when covered with snow and ice.
However, you are rewarded for your efforts with numerous stores, restraints and entoca (wine bars). After fortifying ourselves at a small Osteria, we were ready to walk in the village, around the corner we ran into a local vintner named Adamo of the Contucci winery who asked us we would like to tour his winery and taste his wines. The weather had driven off the usual visitors in the area and we found ourselves alone with Adamo who was happy to show us the wine of his village.
The Nobile di Montepulciano prominent grape is (Prugnolo), the local name for Sangiovese, which is blended with the red Canaiolo grape to make wine. The wine is typically aged for 2 – 3 years in oak barrels and has the distinct rich flavor of the region – undertones of smoke and cherries with a good depth which gets better with age. After tasting numerous wines we purchased the 2004 Contucci reserve to take home with us.

We rented rooms for the night in Montalcino so we headed west driving by Pienza and arriving in Montalcino at sundown.
Brunello di Montalcino is reputed to be one of Italy’s greatest wines. The village is devoted to their wine. Montalcino was prosperous under Siena, but after the Medici family took control of the region the town became weak.
The village of Montalcino regained fame in the 19th century, when the Biondi Santi family created a rich, fine, dark red wine, calling it “the brunette”. The Sangiovese grape clone Brunello, which is a strain of Sangiovese, has a deep brown skin. Brunello is aged at least 4 years, the reserve at least 5 years. The aging process gives the wine a rich, deep, powerful structure.

We checked into Palazzina Cesira, a 13th century residence modified as a bed and breakfast. We met our gracious hosts, Lucilla and her American born husband Roberto, that were a wealth of information – seemingly knowing everything and everyone in the region. We took notes of this for future travels in the area.
Roberto referred us to an excellent restaurant that we ate several times called Il Grappollo Blu under the helm of Luciano served incredible local cuisine at reasonable costs. In Montalcino the typical Tuscan foods such as pici ai funghi porcini (local pasta with porcini mushrooms), ribollita (twice cooked bean/vegetable soup) and Cinghiale (wild boar).

Also with the advice of Roberto we found Enteca Piazza. There we met Nicolo who, although one of the youngest wine purveyors in Montalcino, offers more than 70 different Brunellos for tasting. By the time we had left, educated in Brunello’s by Nicolo, we had purchased bottles of ’97 Fontebuia Reserve, ’97 San Giacono, ’97 Asisano and ’99 La Rasina at wholesale prices.

We look forward to our next journey in September, and exploring in depth the region and what it has to offer to local vintners and foodies. For a week’s adventure in Tuscany – enjoying all the simple pleasures such as friends, food, wine, new cultures, meeting friendly people along the way – it made our whim holiday on a budget seem as though we were away for months living a rich, beautiful life (la bella vita).

California Chardonnay Grows Up – link

by

and commented: It’s hard to imagine any region outdoing Santa Barbara for the sheer variety of chardonnay styles it offers.

I told him that I had always preferred Santa Ynez Chards to Santa Barbara but I will now be researching the Santa Rita Hills area…and seeing what our local vendors might be offering from that venue. (Most times people send me Chard articles it’s about how we in CA “over-oak” them…so this was a welcome change.)

From the Santa Clarita Vintners and Growers Association, a Dragonfly Update:

by

Dragonfly is glad to be a part of the newly forming Santa Clarita Vintners and Growers Association. This group of winemakers and growers really know their craft and are not only all very good friends but inspiration to each other as well. Dragonfly couldn’t have taken the next step without the involvement of this group of very passionate professionals.

Just a quick introduction to the winery and what the production focus will be for the Santa Clarita Valley to enjoy:

A tremendous passion for wine…this is what drives Dragonfly Winery’s Steve Lemley and Nate Hasper to dedicate countless hours producing what they believe are truly extraordinary wines. For years, these two winemakers perfected their craft from home. Now, they are taking their wine-making expertise to the next level, launching the Dragonfly Winery to share their passion with wine lovers everywhere.

What makes Steve and Nate’s wines so unique? They aren’t afraid to bend the rules. Indeed, after producing many award-winning wines, they learned the rules. And they also learned how to break tradition to produce wines that truly stand alone.

They started their business in the Santa Clarita Valley, a community known for their incredible love of wine. Determined to keep the local spirit of their wines, they are proud to be Santa Clarita’s first commercial wine producers.
Through the support of their friends, family and community, their love and dedication for making wine has been a success. They hope this support continues as they produce future wines now that the rest of the Santa Clarita community can purchase and enjoy soon.

Dragonfly Winery is focused on producing very small quantities of ultra premium terrior driven wines. There is no expense spared in finding the highest quality grapes and showcasing small vineyards that offer unique characteristics that would normally be overlooked by larger producing wineries.

Each vintage’s lot has a limited production of 50 cases or less. This philosophy allows them to manage the very complex tasks that are required to make world class wines. They believe in offering a true vision of the vineyard’s terrior paired with a unique winemaking style. The wines are kept in their truest form and free from any blending, fining or filtering.

This year’s releases will be lots of 25 cases or less and will more than likely only be available on the website and for wine club members through shipments. The club is building very fast and given the small amounts of wine that will be available, a waiting list may be made available for the club in the next few months.

To show appreciation for all of the support received, Dragonfly is offering a free bottle of wine shipped to new club members if they join by the end of March. They will also be working with the premier wine bars and restaurants in Santa Clarita to provide a small amount of wine.

Dragonfly is proud to be a part of this great cause and will be pouring some of their upcoming releases at the Wine Classic on May 30th. (Your favorite SCV wine writer will be hovering…)

The web address is http://www.dragonflywineries.com/. The link below will take you straight to the Club Membership page to join if anyone is interested in joining the club before it’s full. http://www.site.dragonflywineries.com/Location.php

The Young Wine

by

I am drinking while writing, like Stephen King’s early years: scary but with spell check!

Anyway, been contemplating the new “youth factor” of my Facebook Eve’s Wine 101 group that grows by over a dozen new members a day. They’re young. And extremely attractive. Drive motorcycles. Into beer and wine. Former bartenders. And for some reason, a lot of Realtors and leasers, toe ring bling and bikini designers…

Got me to thinking of what wine I had when I was young. Go back with me for a minute if you are an old friend…or a new one.

We had Reunite on ice because it’s nice. The only reason to ice a wine is to make it taste better. Beware of all labels that read. “Serve well chilled”. It’s a rouse, not a Champagne.
We also were blessed with Boone’s Farm fruit flavored strawberry wine. Mateus’s big squat green bottle. Boxed wine was a new concept in convenience. Manishevitz because somebody had a bar mizpah ten years earlier. Where a Carlo Rossi Burgundy was a blend, not a wine from Burgundy, France. Think on that…and how 2 buck chuck would have been a welcome respite.

Now, if you’re just starting out with wine…or 5-15 years into it…your choices are way cooler than ours ever were. You have Trader Joe’s, Costco, World Market and the friggin’ recession bringing down prices so that everyone can drink for less at the best things we never had: wine bars.

But, more importantly, your young palates are much more educated that ours were. Why? Because your forefathers (me and my friends) have demanded it!
So, what’s your wine story?

Everybody Knows Your Name

by

Our parents had neighborhood bars. If you entered one the day you turned 21 your eyes would have had to adjust to the darkness and the clouds of stale cigarette smoke. One long row of swivel bar stools turned just enough to view neighbors on either side hunched over grimy glassware. Cracked red vinyl made a valiant attempt to stretch over the short row of booth seating, each centered by the brown Formica table and its single adornment: a glass ashtray filled with wet butts.
How could that have been attractive? What did our parents want with that? It was a place for drunks.
By the time we were ready for bars, lucky for us, John Travolta brought us neighborhood discos instead. Harvey Wallbangers and Tequila Sunrise and the Sloe Comfortable…forgettaboutit. The only reason to order a glass of white wine was because it would last longer if mixed with soda over ice; as the white wine spritzer was what all the serious disco ladies drank. (At least those of us that only rested between sets.)
Fast forward to the wine bars we now enjoy. No need to adjust our eyesight. We can look at an array of wines brightly lit by our educated proprietors. Bar stools matched by equally tall clean glass or real wood tables. No dark booths hidden away but instead, open, patio seating. Ash trays were replaced by bud vases.
I’d like to believe that drinkers, and drinking, has evolved. Even 21 year olds just starting out seem to be mesmerized by educating themselves about wine. It’s not remotely tacky to have enjoyed a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon when you compare it to a bottle of rum. Yo – Ho.
But, have we, the drinking consumer changed? Do we still have a Kirstie Alley managing the place? A Ted Danson breezing about? Have I morphed into a postal worker or, gasp, resident psychiatrist? I’m curious Dear Wine Friends: Are we the same and our bars have changed or, have we both grown up?

OTBN Redux

by

When you marry a firefighter you learn that all that all of the “events” don’t actually occur when they are on a 24 hour shift. Valentines Day, birthdays, OTBN don’t take place when your loved one is blissfully laid back in a vinyl recliner in front of a 56 inch screen TV with nothing but a remote to cling to.

So you…pretend…that it didn’t take place for you either.

That was my plan. I’d open something (from the list a couple of posts down) for myself and really dedicate my blog post to the uninterrupted tasting. But…some non-winey people got in the way.

Earlier in the day I had decided to finally see Slumdog Millionaire (only escapist films take place when said firefighter is not on shift) and sent out an e-blast to a few friends. I got two church ladies, one husband and my sister. (The latter formerly of White Zinfandel fame.)

After the film, and so needing a drink, I raced home and pulled out the Joseph Phelps new Freestone label 2006 Pinot Noir. (Jammy at first pour.) Eddie had generously left that choice out for me. Not what I had in mind for OTBN but more than adequate for my guests and my fridge fare of cold pizza, artichoke dip and chips, cheese and crackers, one sliced apple, cut watermelon and some brownies end pieces. (Yes, they were all leftovers from another church party – for the kids that time.)

The guests were gracious about the wine, we discussed the film, all were equally put off by the violence of the film and the…watermelon.

I was left hoping for a redux the next night. I told Eddie what had happened and he agreed to have OTBN again on Sunday just for us. We decided to have a 1998 Silver Oak with dinner. During that morning I went on Facebook and lived through a friend’s OTBN:

“We also made it into a movie night. My husband surprised us all by opening an 02 Hart Cab, an 03 Chateau St Jean Cinq Cepages (which was still massive!!), an 04 Justin Isosceles and topped it off with an 05 Sea Smoke 10..we had a great time enjoying all of the above! We had a small gathering … Michael (the hubs), our oldest daughter, Tawnee, Michael’s mom, Pat, and his Aunt & Uncle, Nikki & Tom…We did however manage to finish all of the bottles! Lots of water was on hand and we started early!”

I read the above to my husband and, unable to wait another minute for the N of night in OTBN, we headed out to a local wine bar and started with Dampierre NV Champagne and Chateau De Candale Bordeaux .

From my iPhone Wine Log program the abbreviated tasting notes were as follows:

Chateau De Candale Bordeaux 2005: Soft nose, soft tannin, subtle fruit, pomegranate, balanced,earthy, Bordeaux character, approachable. (Larry M. contributed to these tasting notes. We both bought a couple of bottles.)

Dampierre Grand Cuvee NV Champagne – perfection as always, and quite the nose tickler.

From the wine bar we went over to Bristol Farms. While Eddie (yes firemen are the best cooks) chose the Filet Mignon, fresh beans, potatoes, bacon, garlic, eggs, lemon, some kind of green leafy looking spice that might have been … tarragon to make my Bearnaise sauce, I ventured into the wine department.

(For you local yocals I found that they are doing Thursday night Wine and Food Tastings starting this Thursday March 5 from 6-8pm with J Lohr wines, Trio of Brie cheese, poached salmon with Bearnaise sauce, roasted sweet potatoes, prosciutto asparagus, fruit sorbet with apricot tartlet. March 12 is Bogle, March 19 is South American – primarily Argentina and Chile – and March 26 will be Sauvignon Blancs. Reserve by calling the catering department: 284-5970.)

When we finally got home for Ed to cook, I decanted my Silver Oak and hungrily waited for the chef to say it was time. (You can see by the photos that the chef was cleansing his palate with Balvenie single malt Scotch and was in no hurry to appease said wife.)

So, after a lot of pretend-helping in the kitchen I had finagled my first glass. More iPhone tasting notes:

Black cherry nose like a rush of a fire engine’s hose, tannin on first taste, long finish, zinfandel qualities, clear garnet color. It was an A+.

And I did manage to save save a glass, or two, for the meal Eddie had prepared. It turned out to be a perfect OTBN. Even though I had to clean up the saddest thing in the world: an empty decanter waiting for the next OTBN…

Click me baby

by

I would bet that there has never been a post, on a blog or website, about…Google Adsense. Never mind that I now have carpal tunnel clicking on my own Google ads so that I can earn a buck. Never mind that they are tucked way down deep at the bottom of this page. What I want to know is how in the heck they know, in this huge world wide web, my demographic? And, that I’d be the first to buy what they are selling?

First is Culinary Career Schools .net. Of course everyone reading a Wine 101 blog would want to be a sommelier! And in three months. I jest you not. I would love this. I would love all my readers to click on the ad so that I could afford it. How cool would that be?

Next up is The Perfect Glass .com. that “Host Wine 101 tastings”! I’m about to knock over my stemless glass! They do bachelorette, champagne and pairing parties. 1-25 guests for private consultation to public parties. I’m so there!

Burdick Vineyard Tours .com has sommelier lead vineyard tours, meet winemaker tours, catered lunches, Napa and Sonoma tours. Can you see why I need you to start clicking? I get my degree from Culinary Career Schools and I’m getting a gig at Burdick!

And finally, The Wine Coach .biz , Private wine tastings Elegant Corporate & Private Events Great wines and and artisanal cheeses. Yes, we all need cheese, every day. My mouth is a-watering (hole).

(I lied, actually they have a wrinkle cream ad that I didn’t want you to know about. There’s not enough for all of us. I’ll be 50 in a month and I’ve just recently stopped getting the “No, you don’t look 48.” or “Wow, you sure look great for 49.” When I tell people that I’ll be 50 they just say…nothing. But at least they have the decency to offer me a wrinkle cream to enjoy…after I enjoy my wine.)

Don’t Wait for a Birthday…do OTBN

by

It’s a wine holiday! Since 2000, a special Saturday night in February has been designated Open That Bottle Night. This year, the special day falls on February 28.

A little bit of History about Open That Bottle Night: Most winos have a bottle of wine sitting around that is too fancy or expensive to open on just any old Saturday night. After years of saving, the perfect moment never seemed to come and the bottle is just collecting dust in your ‘under the sink wine cellar.’

That’s why two Wall Street Journal wine reporters* created Open That Bottle Night eight years ago. Open That Bottle Night becomes the reason to pop open a bottle that, for one reason or another, you just have not gotten around to drinking. So dust off that gem you’ve been saving and Open That Bottle!
*Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher of WSJ

So here’s the dilemma…what to open? And…make it a party or a party for two?

I e-mailed a wine guru to suggest he make an evening out of it. No response – so I guess he’s not sharing.

Today’s my sister-in-law’s birthday…do I ask her to hold off a week before she opens that second bottle of her new favorite: Duckhorn Migration 2006 Pinot Noir?

Do I take a nice ready-to-drink bottle from my mini storage, formerly the garbage-compactor space in my kitchen, or from my sub-zero sized cellar in the garage? (The second option means I have to TELL MY HUSBAND.)

Can I even convince my husband?

I have a week to make decision…but here are some choices:

Joseph Phelps Insignia 2001
Silver Oaks 2001
Pride Mountain Merlot 2002
Phifer Pavitt Cabernet Sauvignon 2003
Lynch Bages Bordeaux 2000, 2003
Banfi Brunello 1999
Poggio Antico Brunello 1997
Costello Banfi Brunello 1997
Chateau Ducro Bordeaux 2000
Marcarini Barolo 2000
I’m stopping here as instead of OTBN it’s going to become OTB(EVERY SINGLE)N! I await your comments…with thirsty palate, empty wine glass and an-ti-ci-pation.

Yes, we have a SCV Vintners & Growers Association!

by

And here is the report to prove it:
The Santa Clarita Vintners and Growers Association held their first meeting of the new year at Ristorante Cavi on Thursday, February 12th.
Twenty local growers and wine makers were in attendance all with their hand-crafted wines in “tote.” The excitement level was high as the group had not been all together since our Christmas meeting and dinner held at the home of Chris and Jeannie Carpenter.
As members arrived hugs and hand-shakes were shared, the excitement and energy of the group’s combined passion for making wine was felt throughout the room. The evening started with sharing their wines with one another and commenting on the characteristics of the wine.
The group finally settled down at the long table for a family style dinner prepared by Cavi owner and chef Tonino. As the night prolonged, wine flowed and the energy increased.

With business at hand, the group scheduled to help with pruning at two of the members vineyards, the next two Sundays (22 February & 01 March) in longing for good fruit for picking in the fall.
The next meeting will be held in late March at the home vineyard of members Darrin & Lisa Fetterolf.
Respectfully submitted, Jenny Lukas. (Hello Eve, Sharing report from the evening. It was a fun evening. Sorry you missed it…maybe next time.)
Last year, as Jenny mentioned above, these local winemakers had the opportunity, for the first time, to meet and pour for an event that benefited our local Assistance League.
The mood, again as Jenny so aptly described above in this week’s meeting, was equally charged last year at the wine event. Many attendees were stunned to find such an array of local winemaking talent. And I don’t think there is anything better at a tasting than actually having an opportunity to listen, and learn, from winemakers.
For myself, having attended so many wine-tasting events I was charmed by the uniqueness of this one and am compelled to follow this group…next time!