Category: Wine

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Summer Pairings for Picnics

rich mauroThis summer when you prepare for a picnic, don’t forget the wine. While most people still turn to beer or margaritas to beat the heat, to my palate, there is no better environment for wine than a leisurely picnic or a backyard barbecue. One general guideline I follow is to match modest wine with modest foods. And I extend that to include modest circumstances, like picnics. Most picnics feature an eclectic variety of appetizers and snacks. Consequently the wine choices are myriad. Given the warmer weather and lighter foods, my thoughts turn to crisp, fruity, aromatic whites, such as these:

– 2006 Newhaven Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough ($12)

– 2006 Hogue Pinot Grigio Columbia Valley ($11)

– 2006 Chateau St. Jean Riesling Sonoma County ($15)

– 2006 Chateau St. Jean Gewürztraminer Sonoma County ($15)

A full-flavored rosé, such as the cabernet sauvignon-based 2006 Rosé Napa Valley ($13) from the Michael Mondavi family, also will do the trick.

Spicy appetizers like salsas and buffalo wings are a pairing challenge, to say the least, but wines with higher acid or some sweetness, including those just listed, can hold up to the heat. Other good choices include:

– 2006 Hogue Late Harvest Riesling (screw cap, $12)

– 2006 Kenwood Gewurztraminer Sonoma County ($14)

– 2006 The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey Sauvignon Blanc Reserv ($19)

If you insist on red wine, try the vibrant fruit of an Australian shiraz, like the 2005 Rosemount Diamond label ($10).

If cheese is being served, especially fresh and tangy cheese like goat’s milk, a brisk white, such as the 2006 Hogue Sauvignon Blanc Columbia Valley ($10), is my first choice. The Dry Creek Vineyards Dry Chenin Blanc ($12), 2005 Covey Run Pinot Grigio Columbia Valley ($9) or a Rhone varietal like the 2004 Marc Kreydenweiss “Perrieres” (biodynamic, $14) also would do nicely, especially with moderately aged cheeses.

Salads may present the toughest challenge for pairing, mainly because of the presence of vinegar. But it’s not impossible. Again, the acidity of a sauvignon blanc — say the 2006 Rosemount Diamond Label ($10) — or pinot grigio, such as a 2005 Tamas Monterey County (screw cap, $12), are most likely to stand up. The 2006 Martin Codax Albarino Rias Baixas ($15) from Spain world be an intriguing alternative.

The options for sandwiches are similar to those for appetizers. Just about any snappy, fruit-forward wine (red, white or pink) should do nicely. But this is where dry rosés really shine. I suggest looking to southern France, where rosé never went out of style. I recently tasted four excellent ones from Provence.

– Domaine Houchart 2006 ($10)

– Château de Pourcieux 2006 ($11)

– Commanderie de la Bargemone 2006 ($13)

– Domaine de la Sauveuse 2006 (organic, $18)

Of course, grilled and barbecued meats and fish often are the centerpieces of a picnic. Here is where the red wines take center stage. For beef or lamb, cabernet sauvignon is a classic choice but I suggest a Bordeaux-style blend: 2003 Kendall-Jackson Vintner’s Reserve “Meritage” ($12) and 2005 Robert Mondavi Private Selection “Vinetta” ($11). More interesting would be a Sangiovese-based wine like Gabbiano’s 2005 Chianti ($10) and 2004 Chianti Classico ($13) or the 2005 Col d’Orcia “Spezieri” ($13).

Actually, my favorite wines for grilled foods (especially chicken and sausages) and barbecue are zinfandel and syrah. Their jammy fruit, good structure and spice form a beautiful chorus with the smoky, juicy flavors of the grill. These will get you started:

– 2005 Dry Creek Heritage Zinfandel Sonoma County ($16)

– 2005 Rosenblum Zinfandel North Coast ($18)

– 2005 Covey Run “winemaker’s Collection” Syrah ($9)

– 2005 Kendall-Jackson Syrah “Vintner’s Reserve” ($12)

– 2005 Archetype Shiraz Barossa Valley ($15)

– 2004 Marr Syrah Tehama Hills ($19)

Finally, grilled seafood always seems to be less delicate than when cooked in the oven. White wines still work fine, Rosés even better. Best would be Pinot Noir like the 2005 B & G “Bistro Wine” ($9), 2005 Kali Hart Monterey County ($18) or 2005 Tolosa Central Coast ($18) for their earthy, low-tannin character. What are your favorite pairings and suggestions for summer fare? I would welcome your comments and thoughts!

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What Makes a Wine Great?

rich mauro the people's palateThere must be something in our nature as human beings that drives us to a fascination with greatness. Whether it is athletics, business, politics, science, music or art, we seem to be preoccupied with the best of human endeavor. This certainly is true with wine connoisseurs. Witness The Wine Spectator’s April 30, 2005 issue that features a cover story on wines the magazine has given perfect 100-point scores. Last fall, Wine & Spirits magazine devoted a complete special issue to the subject of “What Makes a Wine Great?”

So how do we know someone or something is the best of its kind or otherwise qualifies as great? I think we all, consciously or subconsciously, employ both subjective and objective criteria. Both magazines acknowledge the same is true with wine. The subjective aspect recognizes that different people have different sensitivities and preferences and may experience a wine in different circumstances. The objective component asserts that there also are basic criteria with which to judge the quality of a wine. As for objective criteria, there seems to be consensus that a great wine begins with a great vineyard. James Suckling, writing in The Wine Spectator, says a great wine communicates something about its terroir (basically the vineyard). Taylor Antrim, writing in Wine & Spirits, adds that the vineyard is what gives a great wine its unique personality.

Well-know wine critics Matt Kramer, in “Making Sense of Wine,” and Robert M. Parker, Jr., in “Parker’s Wine Buyer’s Guide,” agree emphatically. I also remember a seminar Parker gave at the Food & Wine Magazine Classic at Aspen a few years ago call “What Makes Wine Great?” He emphasized the importance of well-placed vineyards (ideally south facing, with not too much heat or cold) and conservative viticultural practices (pruning in the winter, dropping fruit in the summer to keep yields low and achieve very ripe fruit).

The vintage is the next critical component. Even a great vineyard will produce less than perfect grapes if the weather does not cooperate at key points during the growing season. When nature cooperates to produce perfect raw materials, the role of winemaker is to make sure the true character of the grapes and the vineyard where they originated and the characteristics of the vintage are translated in the final wine. In other words, to not screw it up. According to Parker and others, minimal intervention is the watchword here. That means little or no clarification (fining) or filtering. Winemakers should intervene only when something goes wrong. Great wine is not the result of a manufacturing process.

As for the characteristics of a great wine, Matt Kramer identifies complexity, balance, proportion and finesse. Suckling also names complexity and balance and adds concentration and a flawless structure in general. For reds, he recognizes extraordinary richness of fruit and superb tannin structure, while pointing to layers of fruit and balancing acidity for whites. Most agree the wine ought to taste not only like the grape variety from which it is made and that it should taste like the place from which it comes. One way to judge this is to rely on benchmarks or, as Parker would say, reference points. For instance, judging a Napa Valley cabernet sauvignon relative to red Bordeaux or an Oregon pinot noir relative to red Burgundy. Most experts assert, though, that the point is not necessarily to imitate these standard bearers. One can compare and contrast such wines but a wine’s greatness should be judged in terms of its own origins. Parker declares a great wine has the ability to please both the palate and the intellect, hold a tasters interest (think complexity), offer intense aromas and flavors without heaviness (balance), taste better with each sip, improve with age (requires adequate fruit and acid structure), and offer a singular personality. Some go so far as to assert that a truly great wine is an expression of a single vineyard, as contrasted with a regional blend or reserve style.

Despite highlighting these objective standards, each of the above authors acknowledges the role of subjectivity in classifying a wine as great. Suckling notes early in his article that it is difficult to describe what it takes to be a 100-point wine, except to say it has “a little extra, everything and even more.” Antrim writes of a near supernatural quality that is hard to measure. Antrim adds that people he interviewed for his article also spoke in metaphysical terms of a “bolt from the blue” experience. Kramer identifies such surprise as a critical element of great wine. And Suckling describes a “wow factor, that spellbinding quality that makes your jaw drop in amazement.”

What makes even more sense to me is to think in terms of a great or even perfect wine drinking experience. Relying on ratings (i.e., receiving 95-100 points from a wine critic) is too authoritarian for me. I prefer a more egalitarian approach. Antrim, for instance, writes “a great wine is often the result of a singular context, a happy coincidence of people and place (and usually a meal) in which a wine becomes something grand and memorable.” Here memory is the key in deciding if a wine is great to you. It may or not be objectively remarkable, let alone monumental, but the whole experience and your memory of it is what make the wine great. Certainly the 1966 Chateau Cheval Blanc I drank with college friends in 1979 was a great wine. It was such a revelation at the time, I still remember how delicious it was. So was the 1990 Dom Perignon that accompanied a banquet at the Moet & Chandon estate in Champagne. That wine is objectively great but talk about an amazing wine drinking experience.

Best of all, though, was probably the humble red wine served in a carafe at a restaurant in the small Piemontese town of Nizza Monferrato drunk with a wonderful lunch, my wife and a dear friend. That wine is to this day more memorable than the single vineyard Barolo we tasted while visiting wineries later that afternoon. So, I have concluded that ultimately, while there are certain qualities that make a great wine great, what makes wine great is the pleasure it delivers in the context of a social experience.

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Can We Taste Terroir?

rich mauro the people's palateWinemakers love to talk about terroir, both of their own vineyards and often that of the region in which they are located. There is a long history of interest in the subject in Europe and especially France. This is probably because of history and culture, but lately one can scarcely talk to an American winemaker without the topic being raised. It can be a challenging subject, though, for consumers. The contribution to a wine of the elements that comprise a vineyard’s or region’s terroir – the soil, climate, weather, environment, winemaker, even the culture – can be difficult (though, not impossible) to identify in the finished wine.

I have found a resource that can help us wade through this complex and often confusing world – an online publication called Appellation America that can be found at www.wine.appellationamerica.com. The journal describes its mission as reporting the “Terroirs of North America.” It covers the wines and wine regions of every state in North America, with an emphasis on the identity and uniqueness of the different growing regions (or appellations). In addition to weekly feature articles, the website also offers an extensive database of the appellations and varietals growing in North America, individual pages and satellite imagery for more than 3,400 wineries, and daily reviews of wine by a group of regional correspondents. I was particularly struck by the Dan Berger’s thought provoking article of December 27, 2006 called “Why Terroir is Essential To Wine Evaluation.” Berger argues that ratings focused wine evaluation has driven winemakers to seek riper, even overripe, fruit that ultimately overwhelms the distinctions of terroir. He says wine critics tend to be impressed with wines of great weight, intensity, richness, and hedonistic flavor, while qualities like varietal character, balance, structure, regional distinctiveness and food compatibility are less important. He further asserts that many wine critics (including the most influential ones) often evaluate wine simply on whether they prefer the flavor or style without considering the wine’s origin, its terroir.

Another article, “Cabernet at its Peak” by Alan Goldfarb on November 22, 2006, which describes the new mountain Cabernet Sauvignon program from Atlas Peak Vineyards, also caught my interest, both because it is a good illustration of Berger’s advice and because I have tasted these four wines. Spring Mountain. The Spring Mountain District is located at 400-2,200 feet elevation on the eastern slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains, directly west of the town of St. Helena. The vineyards, which are comprised solely of residual sedimentary upland soils, are subject to Pacific Ocean influence. This wine shows the red fruit and fine-grained tannins typical of Spring Mountain. It was Goldfarb’s favorite.

Mount Veeder. The Mt. Veeder appellation sits on the eastern slopes of the Mayacamas Mountains (400-2,600 feet), which separate Napa Valley from Sonoma Valley. The appellation is cooler than Spring Mountain to the north, because of winds from San Francisco Bay. Its sandstone, shale, ash and clay soils of volcanic origin are relatively high in acid. This wine has a purity of fruit and is well balanced. It also displays the characteristic chewy, spicy and wild qualities associated with Mt. Veeder. Goldfarb thought it showed the most definitive terroir expression but, ironically, it was his least favorite.

Howell Mountain. Howell Mountain is located east of Calistoga in the northern end of the Vaca Range that forms the eastern boundary of the Napa Valley. The vineyards are at 1,400-2,400 feet elevation and are comprised of mostly volcanic soils. This is the biggest, oakiest, most tannic wine of the group. Yet it also has the most complexity, finesse and balance and deepest fruit. Goldfarb says, “It is the one with the most of everything.” Maybe that is why it was my favorite. Atlas Peak. Atlas Peak is located at the southern end of the Vaca Range due east of Yountville. Cooling afternoon winds from the San Francisco Bay influence the vineyards, which range from 1,400-2,400 feet. The soils are mostly upland volcanic with some alluvium (gravelly loam). This yields a Claret that is powerful and structured, yet quite drinkable right now. That could have something to do with the 34 percent Merlot and 15 percent Petit Verdot in the blend. Goldfarb thinks it is one of the better wines of the vintage and would put it up with great Bordeaux. I wouldn’t go that far but it was my second favorite wine.

Despite their differences, these mountain appellations do have some things in common. Their high elevation translates to more sunlight, though cooler daytime temperatures than the valley floor. This elevation and the slopes of the hillsides result in thin, well-drained soils, which make it is easier to control vine growth and achieve in lower yields. The four wines, all from the 2003 vintage, also have some things in common. They are inky dark, intense and tannic, all qualities often attributed to mountain-grown wines. They also all would benefit from about three years of cellaring. While not unqualified successes, they are all very good to excellent and, more importantly, fascinating studies in terroir – although, at $86 each, admittedly expensive studies. The point here is that understanding more about a wine’s origin will help us appreciate the wine better. I came across two more examples of this recently with wines from Carneros and Dry Creek Valley.

Carneros is located at the northern end of San Pablo Bay (it once was under the water) about 45 miles north of San Francisco. The region straddles Napa and Sonoma counties and naturally is heavily influenced by this large body, which, ironically, serves both to cool and insulate the area. So, while Carneros generally is cooler than the more northern areas of Napa and Sonoma, it also is given to less extreme climactic conditions. Overnight lows are warmer and daytime highs are cooler; winters are warmer and summers are cooler. Proximity to the water also means fog and winds further lower temperatures and dehydrate the vines, while low rainfall challenges the vines furthers and the generally shallow heavy clay and gravel soils make it difficult for the roots to grow deep to find much needed moisture. All of this stress conspires to challenge the vines, delay ripening, and make for a longer growing season, ideal conditions for extra flavor development and acidity. It also means Carneros is ideal for growing chardonnay and pinot noir.

Which brings me to Buena Vista Estate, situated right in the middle of the Carneros region. Buena Vista was one of the first wineries to invest in the region when it began planting vineyards in 1969. The winery now has the largest vineyard holdings in Carneros. Buena Vista has released a fascinating new portfolio of limited-production, clone-specific wines that showcase the winery’s estate Ramal Vineyard. These wines (all from 2004) are made from grapes planted in small vineyard blocks with the rootstock/clone combinations dictated by soil type and exposure. The Chardonnays (all $34) display typically crisp Carneros acids, yet a medium body and elegance, with tropical (I sensed pineapple) fruit. The “Ramal Vineyard” also offers nutty and citrus notes and a viscous texture. The “Dijon Clones” also has citrus with toasty, mineral elements. The “Clone 17RY” is the most complex, with a steely quality, brown butter, crème bruleee, and citrus. The Pinot Noirs (all $38) exhibit characteristic Carneros elegance with earthy cherry and strawberry qualities and a silky mouth feel. The “Ramal Vineyard” also carries brown spices, blackberry, raspberry, and a hint of fennel. The “Dijon Clones” leaned more to cinnamon, strawberry and watermelon. The “Swan Selection” was smoky, with pure cherry essence, a velvety texture, and bright acidity.

Dry Creek Valley is a stark contrast to Carneros. Although a large body of water and fog also influence this region, they do so much less than in Carneros. This has a lot to do with its farther north (approximately 70 miles north of San Francisco Bay) and more inland (20 miles from the Pacific Ocean) location, as well as its topography of coastal hills. That topography is a product of uplifting and folding of Pacific tectonic plates, resulting in a long, narrow valley with quickly changing slopes. Thus, there are a high proportion of benchland and hillside vineyards relative to the valley floor. The soils on the benches and hills mostly are gravel and clay loam, while the soil on the valley floor, deposited by Dry Creek over thousands of years, is primarily gravel and sandy loam. Dry Creek Valley also warms up earlier in the day and reaches higher average temperatures than almost all the other growing areas in Sonoma County but also gets cooler at night. Although, cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel are roughly on a par as far as acreage and sauvignon blanc and Rhone varietals show promise, Zinfandel is the most important grape. The terroir of Dry Creek Valley yields fruit that makes for intense, jammy Zinfandels, with crisp acidity and a fruitful finish.

I could have spent the whole column (and have in the past) on the many wonderful Zinfandel producers from this appellation. But I think the 2004 Zinfandels (all $24) from Mazzocco Winery, make a good case in point. Although I have found Mazzocco’s wines uneven in the past, these new releases represent significant improvement and reflect their origin well. The “Home Ranch” has spicy, oaky notes with briary cherry and plum. The “Quinn Vineyard” leans more to toast and brown sugar, cassis and crisp acids. The “Cuneo & Saini Vineyard” also offered toast and brown sugar notes but added black cherry compote. So, bottom line, I recommend taking some extra time to learn a little about what you are drinking. I think you will enjoy the wine more.