Warm weather is here and it’s time to start drinking Rosé. Our shelves are starting to see many new ones arrive. Most Rosés are dry, refreshing and great with food. The colors of Rosé vary between pale salmon to translucent purple. The color of the wine is determined by how long the skins sit with the juice. The Saignée method (bleeding) is done when a winemaker chooses to reduce his or her red wine. The pink wine is removed from the soon-to-be red wine and fermented separately.

Ice cold beer is tough to beat on a warm day, but Rosé is a nice change of pace. I think it would be funny, but appropriate to drink Rosé on a golf course. After a bad shot, cursing and trying to chop down a tree with my 9-iron would seize. I would just have a sip of Rosé and go hit my next shot (from the sand.) Anyway, below are some new arrivals we’ve tried and also some old favorites.

Bordeaux accounts for about a quarter of the wines I have in my cellar. It’s my first love. The Union des Grand Crus 2007 Bordeaux tasting was earlier this week, and it’s always great to get to taste through the representing wineries. 2007 was a tough year for red Bordeaux. A summer hailstorm and too many storms towards the harvest season was the main cause for the reds being diluted. The whites and Sauternes in 2007, however, were textbook.

Right off the bat I started with the 2007 Pape Clement Blanc. The nose had big, ripe and exotic fruit, along with toasty oak. It was medium to full bodied, very well balanced and smooth. This was my wine of the day and was worth the trip. The other whites from Pessac-Leognan were well made as well.

Bordeaux is one of the most prestigious wine growing regions in the world. It is tough finding that inexpensive gem from Bordeaux, mainly because they are not rated by major critics. Everyone thinks red when they think about Bordeaux. The white wines, including Sauternes are wines that should be explored as well. The dessert wines of Bordeaux are some of the most long lived wines produced, and the prices do not fluctuate heavily from vintage to vintage. Inexpensive Bordeaux should also be treated like an expensive Bordeaux.

The five main red varietals of Bordeaux are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. You Meritage fans should look at Bordeaux in your next visit to Binny’s. There is only one way to find a good inexpensive Bordeaux. Taste. With any young red Bordeaux, the wine will need air. My first experience with Bordeaux was terrible, then great because I revisited a wine 12 hours later. It does not matter if you spend $10 on a 2005 Bordeaux Superior or $1900 on a 2005 Chateau Latour, it needs to breathe before consumption. Decanting or aeration will do the trick. If you don’t like the wine after 3 hours, try it the next day.

Red Recommendations:

2005 Chateau des Judes: An absolute steal at $7.99. The wine is very fruit forward and well balanced.

2005 Chateau Brulesecaille: This is a Merlot based blend that drinks a lot better than its $15.99 price point. It will not disappoint.  Great quality!

The non-dessert white wines of Bordeaux can be light and crisp to oaky and waxy. The main white varietals of Bordeaux are Semillion, Sauvignon Blanc and a little bit of Muscadelle. If you like Sauvignon Blanc, I would definitely recommend trying a young, white Bordeaux.

White Recommendations:

2008 Graville Lacoste: This is a great pick with shellfish. There is a lot of citrus flavor and it has very refreshing acidity.  Look for the 2007 on our shelves as well.

2007 Grand Bourdieu: This has more toasty, leesy flavors along with a mineral driven, ripe finish.  Quantities are limited.

The dessert wines of Bordeaux can be amazing. The grapes in Sauternes and Barsac are naturally infected with a mold called Botrytis Cinerea, also known as Noble Rot. The mold reduces the moisture in the grape and intensifies the sugars and flavors of the finished product. The harvesting of one vine will produce a single glass of Sauternes or Barsac.

Sauternes Recommendations:

2006 Les Charmes de Rieussec: This is the second label of Chateau Rieussec, which is one of the second best producers in Sauternes. (The best being Chateau d’Yquem.) You get a sense of the Botrytis from this wine. You’ll get flavors of saffron and honey in the nose. This is a great value at $12.99.

2005 La Tour Blanche: This is a great valued, first growth Sauternes. This will age 20 plus years and beyond. There is nothing wrong with it right now, however.

Sauternes is an extremely sweet wine. A little bit will go a long way. Enjoy with bleu cheese, foie gras or fresh fruits.

I hope you get to try these wines from Bordeaux.

The economic state of Napa (and pretty much all well established wine producing regions) is hurting. Auction Napa Valley 2008 raised over $10 million. In 2009, they only raised $5.7 million. Some wineries aren’t really feeling the economic pinch, but most are. Throughout my week-long trip, I encountered many industry people struggling in the wine and restaurant businesses. Just about all of them said that business was down.

Shafer’s Hillside Vineyard’s in the Stag’s Leap District

Joseph Phelps is also a well renowned producer in Napa. The grounds are beautiful and the majority of the wines are solid. The 2005 Cabernet is sourced mainly from Rutherford and gives the wine a warm, earthy quality. There is terroir in Napa. The flagship 2005 Insignia needs some time to show its real stuff. It is mass produced wine. 15,000 cases times $200 per bottle equals A LOT of money.

O’Shaughnessy is relatively new player located on Howell Mountain. Their Howell Mountain estate vineyards are 1,800 feet up. The drive up is treacherous! O’Shaughnessy only produces two Cabernets and a Merlot. The other Cabernet comes from Mount Veeder. It was fun to taste the difference between the two Cabernets: The 2005 Mount Veeder was more gamey and structured. The 2005 Howell Mountain was more perfumed and was more approachable.

 

The 2006 O’Shaughnessy Merlot is awesome. Unfortunately, it was only available at the winery due to it’s 100 case production. (I think Merlot is going to start making a comeback. Every Merlot I tasted in Napa was great quality.)

 

Considering the quality and high ratings of O’Shaughnessy’s wine, they could ask for a lot more per bottle. They are a newer winery and maybe that is why they don’t jack up their prices.

O’Shaughnessy Vineyards

O’Shaughnessy Barrel Room

I find myself seeking out true value more and more. Has the sticker shock of Napa Valley wines affected you in this economy? Love to hear what you have to say…

Next time, I shall tell a tale about Quintessa and Ridge. I will also talk about my favorite winery, Kapcsandy Family.

Recently, I took my fourth trip to Napa and Sonoma.  I visited many wineries and tasted some great wines.  The main reason for my trip was an introductory Sommelier course. There was an examination site in Chicago, but if there is any excuse to go to Napa, I’ll make it. 
 
My first visit was Chateau Montelena.  Binny’s has recently received a lot of new wines from Montelena.  The wines were the real showcase, here. 

The 2007 and 1995 Chardonnay’s were great.  (It’s wonderful to taste library wines, and the 1995 Chardonnay is one of the oldest white wines I’ve tasted.)  The 2006 Zinfandel was tasty.  Same for the 2005 Napa Cabernet.  They were very fruit forward and bright.  The 2005 Estate Cabernet needs a few years in the bottle before it shows more complexity.  It was well balanced, however.  You can find our stock of new and older Montelena wines, here.

As you can see, the Montelena Estate is pretty photogenic.  It was a great start to my trip.

My next visit was Carter and Envy  They share a winery.  The gentleman pouring, Jim, was outspoken, opinionative and incredibly funny.  The wines of Carter I tasted were stellar.  Envy was pouring some 2007 vintage Cabernet and Petit Sirah.  This was my first indication that 2007 is going to be a great vintage for the Napa Valley. 

I spent about two hours at Carter and Envy talking to Jim and wine geeks like me.  I decided wine is more enjoyable when you enjoy the company you are drinking it with.  Next time, we’ll talk about the state of some higher end wines from Shafer, Joseph Phelps  O’Shaughnessy and Quintessa. 

It’s not everyday you get to meet owners wineries. I’ve met three in July, alone. First was Joel Gott as Greg Versch mentioned, here. Then I met David Clark of Milton Park and Thorn Clark in Australia. This past week I met Gunther Schlink, as well. It is really exciting to meet down to Earth wine makers and vineyard owners.

First off, if you have not tried any Thorn Clark wines, I would suggest doing so. Even their entry level label, Milton Park produce great $10 bottles of Shiraz and Chardonnay. Before meeting David, the Thorn Clark Shotfire Shiraz is my favorite Shiraz under $25. I told him this and have gave me a big smile and thanked me. Here are the notes from what I tasted.

2008 Thorn Clark Terra Barossa- They are starting to make these liter sized bottles for economic purposes. I think it is a great idea. Bright and fruity nose, with blackberries and pepper dominating. Bright and refreshing in the mouth. Very solid QPR.

2007 Thorn Clark Shotfire Shiraz- Nose of vanilla, tart blueberries, plums and licorice. Medium to full bodied, huge amounts of fruit and a long balanced finish.

2008 Thorn Clark Shotfire Shiraz- Wow! David said the 2008 was one of the best Shotfire’s they have ever made. It was bottle 3 weeks before I tasted it. Ripe nose of Chambord, vanilla and baking spice. Full bodied, young, mouth coating tannins and almost sweet in the mouth. Fantastic.

It was great to meet David and talk with him about his wines. 

I was alone in the wine department last week, and a distributor representative, said, I have someone for you to meet. This is Gunther Schlink.

I was quite surprised.  Binny’s has recently received a few lower production wines from Gunther Schlink. They include a Dry Riesling, Pinot Blanc, Gewurtztraminer, Dornfelder and a great Pinot Noir. The beautiful thing about these wines is you can drink them any time of year, they are food friendly and most of them are around $10 per bottle.  Here is more information, here. 

In these harsh economic times, a lot of people in the wine industry are out and about promoting their wines.  It’s a good thing to see.   

When you shop for wine, are you set in your ways? Do you only drink one particular brand of California Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio? How about you Cab and red blend drinkers? Have you ever tried a Bordeaux? If you only drink one type of wine, I want you to do something for me the next time you visit Binny’s. I want you to try something new. We have all tried wines we didn’t like. Do not write off that particular type of wine. I sure did, and I really wish I didn’t.

When I started drinking wine, (and before working at Binny’s) I wanted to try as many different wines as possible. I started off with the sweet stuff and then ventured into dryer whites and reds. The more I tasted the more I got used to dryer wines. I was reading about how Spain was making incredible wines. I went to my local wine shop and randomly picked up a Spanish red. I got it home and popped it. It smelled like burned rubber, tar and bandaid’s. It didn’t taste much better, either.

This experience made me avoid Spanish wine until I started working at Binny’s. The Spanish wine I had was just bad. There are bad wines made in all countries, and unfortunately I picked a bad one. Now, my favorite wines come from Spain. There are a lot of wines that drink much better than they cost; especially from Spain.

If you are a Pinot Grigio drinker, try a Sauvignon Blanc. If you are a Sauvignon Blanc drinker, try a Torrontes from South America, Hungarian Furmint or a Spanish white. If you are a Chardonnay drinker, try a White Burgundy or a Viognier.

For reds, if you drink Pinot Noir, try a Spanish Grenache, Cru Beaujolais or Red Burgundy. If your drink Merlot, try Spanish Monastrell. If you drink higher end Cab’s, try a higher end Bordeaux.

The next time you’re visiting Binny’s, don’t do your usual bottle. Talk to a wine consultant, (we’re friendly) and we will help you out.

I’m making Sangria, and I need a red wine. I’ve been hearing this a lot from customers, lately. A few years ago, I tried making Sangria. I used a recipe that called for a Rioja. Rioja is a Spanish wine growing region that makes mostly dry and Earthy red wines. It didn’t turn out well at all. It was funky and tasted like stale grape juice. I am lucky I had this experience.

The Earthiness of red Rioja wines get in the way of the fruitiness and freshness of a Sangria. It will also taste funky if you use an oaky red. Stay away from Cab’s and Merlot’s. Do not go expensive either. Any young, unoaked Spanish Garnacha or blend will work out great.  Click the links for recommendations.  Below is a foolproof Red Sangria.

2 750ml bottles unoaked or lightly oaked red wine (Garnacha, Pinot Noir, Beaujolais)

12 oz Simple Syrup

1 large Lemon, sliced

1 large Orange, sliced

1 pint fresh berries

4 oz. Brandy

4 oz. Cointreau

Mix the liquids in a large punch bowl, and add the fruit.  Chill at least an hour to let the fruit “marinate.” Serve on the rocks.  You can also use any fruits of your choice.  If you do not have the time to make Sangria, try the Spanish Real Sangria and add fresh fruits.

I was in Napa last February. My favorite winery visit was a place called Kapcsandy Family Winery. Louis produces some great Bordeaux varietals including the highest rated Merlot in American history. Look it up, it’s a great wine. Louis also imports Bordeaux and Hungarian wines. We carry three of the Hungarian wines he imports by Grof Degenfeld.