It’s been an interesting week as far as wine goes. Some really
good new wines were brought in and the usual rubbish as well. Interestingly the
usual rubbish is getting less and less and since we sent out feelers to some of
the really small local importers and distributors the level of some of the
wines we are tasting has leapt. Sometime today, for example, we’ll receive an
allocation of a few cases of wines from Calluna Vineyards in California. We
tasted the wines earlier in the week with David Jeffrey, the owner and
wine-maker and I was blown away. I had almost given up on finding a Californian
wine that had the boldness and structure of a great right bank Bordeaux but
wasn’t comparably priced – i.e. above $300. But the Calluna ‘Aux Reynaud’ was
in a world unto itself – for a more in-depth tasting note wiz over to www.everdayawine.com and either look up
Calluna or simply scroll down to the entry. We have very little of it so hurry.
On a similar subject, I had a great evening a few nights ago at a dinner to
celebrate the Gambero Rosso’s award to Tasca D’Almerita as Winery of the Year.
Many thanks to the importer for inviting me, and for sitting me next to
Guiseppe Tasca – he’s a character! When I told him how much I enjoyed his 1979
Rosso del Conte and mindlessly asked him how much of it he had left he said, in
the way only Sicilian men can “I have enough for the next 16 years…..if
I drink 1 bottle every 2nd year!” Love it.

It’s been a good week for the sales reps too. We began to replenish
empty bins with new and exciting wines – two great whites from Spain, a new
Albarino less than $18.00 and a new Verdelho at less than $15.00; a Grenache
Blanc from Napa, three new wines from Australia, new wine from Broc cellars –
come in on Saturday and have a look – or go over to www.everydayawine.com and reab about
what I’m drinking – many of the wines are still available for purchase over the
web.

It’s a long weekend this weekend so if you plan to continue
drinking past Saturday just remember we won’t be open on Monday. Have a
fabulous weekend  and in the new
vocabulary “link like you have never linked before – lincredulous wines from Line at Five! Way to go Jeremy
Lin!” (pathetic…I know)

I have been talking to a few sages in the wine industry lately and discussions have been set in motion about creating a new way to critique wines. I personally have been so anti any mass media criticism of wine for so long and I am beginning to see a shift away from the inflated 90+ rating game – it reminds me of the backlash against Californian chardonnay – over-priced, over-oaked and rubbish. We think there is a market for the honest to goodness written word. No rating stuff, but a jury of five independent writers each writing, in their own words, about the same wine. Edited in such a way that each critic is assigned the same ‘spot’ in the editorial but the critics are anonymous. The benefit, we believe, is that a reader will be able to read five separate and objective criticisms of the same wine, each written in a manner that speaks to the tasting characteristics of the writer. You won’t have to rely on a single critic who just spent 5 seconds tasting the wine; nor the aggregate of a bunch of tasters tasting the same wine over a period of time but being edited by a single writer. We believe that the time has come to allow the consumer to make his or her own determination based solely on the superlatives (or not) scripted by five writers. As I have often said in the store – all ‘pedanticism’ aside you either like the wine or you don’t – it’s just a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Simple.

As an experiment I am going to write about a wine that we tasted yesterday afternoon. I bought five cases for the store and we’ll see how many are sold after this blog has been read. There are two versions of the ‘description’ – the first I took straight off a web site and it is the typical wine critic descritpion of any-named wine; the second is my tasting notes the way I felt about the wine and what I felt needed to be know about the wine: remember, it’s an experiment!

“Faillenc Sainte Marie is a small property, with only eight hectares of vineyards stubbornly clinging to the rocky foothills of Mont Alaric. The vineyards are buffeted by the northerwesterly Tramontane wind which blows over Alaric and by the southerly Autan breezes coming off the nearby Mediterranean, creating an extremely dry climate. Syrah, Grenache Noir, and Cinsault are the red grape varieties raised here. A small vineyard (1 hectare) is devoted to white grapes: Roussanne, Macabeu, Bourboulenc and Clairette. The terroir is composed of inhospitable, rocky limestone terraces. Only vines, olive trees and some scraggly brush survive under these harsh conditions. As a result, yields are naturally low. The grapes are strongly marked by their environment and this powerful character shows through in the wines. The charming, quirky personality, sense of humor and creativity of Dominique Gibert, as well as the sensitive and diligent vineyard work of his wife, Marie-Therese Gibert, also mark these wines, both in their style and in their names and labels (all designed by Dominique who is a practicing architect as well as vigneron).” (Description from Rosenthal Wine Merchant – importer)

Domaine Faillene Sainte Marie 2009: As an initial example of what I mentioned above, this wine could not have been a more stupid choice. It is brazenly different to anything I have had in ages and I would have to strongly warn against any vegetarian drinking it. Unzip the cork and just wrap your nostril around the hole; breathe in sharply and savor a nose full of venison, merguez sausage, sage, back-room rugby stalls, and beef broth. You know what the kitchen smells like when you are cooking up a really potent beef stew – initially you brown the bones in the oven, bring them topside, deglaze with a bit of sherry and pour in the stock to make a really rich base for the stew. That’s the opening line with this wine – roasted beef bones, hint of sweet sherry cask aroma, and broth. Be patient with the wine, just like the stew. Let the aromas blow off, swirl the bottle, stir the stew, taste the wine, test the broth. Unlike the stew, this wine isn’t going to burn you. Even though it’s 14% alcohol there is so much going on inside you don’t even think about getting sloshed. First taste is still all about the meat – huge chunks of fall-off-the-bone beef. Swirled around the mouth you pick up the herbs – sage is abundant, rosemary definitely in the mix, even a hint of cinnamon and as the wine trickles toward the back of your mouth you get the burst of energy – like popping a cherry acid drop in your mouth (not the stuff from the 60′s, the stuff from the corner candy store!). Your mouth is overwhelmed with black and blue cherry flavors, raison, mocha, coffee – reminds me of a Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut bar without the Monty Python. This is probably going to be the wine that haunts me all year. It had so much structure and complexity and it evolved so many times during the brief period it was in the bottle (I think we drank the entire contents in less than 20 minutes), and even though there is a lot of unusual stuff going on with it it’s not a difficult wine to fall in love with. In lay terms it’s rather like a zinfandel meets Goldilocks, brazen fruit with a dewy soft cherry, blueberry and blackcurrant overtone. Goldilocks wouldn’t have bothered with the porridge after drinking this. I loved it and I bought it and what little I got arrives tomorrow. Price will be $18.00 on the shelf. Accept the inevitable and buy it buy the case – I think you will love it too. (My notes)

On to more pragmatic stuff, I tasted a bunch of spirits yesterday as well. Another forecast here for 2012 – the run-of-the-mill spirits that we have all bought for the last 15+ years will comee under attack from limited, small batch, artisanal spirits that capture the essence of the spirit without adding all the blin-bling. For example, No.3 is a gin made to a recipe from Berry Bros. & Rudd, probably the oldest wine merchant in the world. The name No.3 refers to the street address of BB, 3 St. James’s Street, London, the HQ of BB since 1698 (and briefly the site of the Embassy of Texas to the Court of St. James!). It also refers to the simplicity of the recipe – 3 fruits and 3 spices distilled in traditional copper stills. The stuff was amazing. Before we moved over here I had a farm in Berkshire – small holding is probably a better description! On this farm there was a little cottage and in the cottage lived an elderly couple who we adored. Especially since David introduced me to the King’s Ginger – a concoction of god knows what brewed by the aforementioned wine merchants. Together, every Sunday at noon David would bring out the King’s Ginger and I would arrive clutching a bottle of aged whiskey. He would do the honors and by lunchtime we were smashed. Memories! I brought a single bottle with me to the States and lovingly raised a glass to David for as long as there was liquid left in the bottle. Yesterday all the memories came flooding back because there in front of me was Berry Brother’s King’s Ginger. Drinking it with a splash of Scotch is one of life’s most satisfying moments. Rounding out the spirit tasting I tried an English Harbour Rum distilled in Antigua since 1932. No added caramel, this is the real McCoy. Very smooth, rich, slightly sweet with lovely toffee and nut flavors – I’m not a big rum drinker but this was extremely good. And of course since we were tasting the King’s Ginger we needed to crack open a bottle of whiskey and very fortunately the beautiful sales rep had a lovely bottle of Springbank 15 yearr Single Malt. If you are into whiskey this is the Holy Grail – one of the oldest, if not the oldest independent, family owned distilleries in Scotland. The scotch is barrel aged in not just sherry oak barrels but also oloroso barrels and blended just before bottling. It’s one of the most sought after whiskies from Scotland and now available in the US.

Yesterday was a great day! It’s amazing how quickly wine and spirits can put a smile on your face! I’m off to the UK again next week so no stories until the following week. Have a wonderful weekend, and remember, stay thirsty.

CP.

Unfortunately my travels back and forth to the UK did not help me begin the new blog over on www.everydayawine.com but I do have tasting notes for wines I drank during the last two weeks and when I get a chance I shall upload them to the web for all to read.

The New Year always heralds a rush of activity; fresh ideas that need to be planted quickly before the impetus runs out. I had plenty of time sitting on planes to think about the year to come and my inevitable prognosis was: if we thought last year was bad ‘we ain’t seen nothing yet’. Much of my despondency will be alleviated during the year through economic figures that will be sure to impress those that don’t look beyond the ‘chatter’. Already the employment figures released in December would indicate that all is well on the western front. And more and more statistics will be released over the coming months that have little to do with economic reality and much to do with political necessity. Sadly I’ve seen too many ‘politically adjusted’ statistics and I hold very little water with them. My prognosis for Europe is that we will see a break-up of the Eurozone, we will see a spiral decline in the euro and most European countries, England included, will fall back into recession by the second quarter. All of this will impact the US at some point, but further more I do believe that we have begun to see a fundamental change in US consumer spending – without access to free credit consumers are actually not spending and are enjoying saving money. Personally I would like to see all that saved money spent on building assets – such as wine cellars!

And so whilst I sat there high in the sky pondering the gloomy demise of Europe I tried to come up with fresh ideas for Wine at Five. I have already committed to new computers and a new POS system, I also decided to ramp up our Wine of the Month Club and beginning in February we will now devote an evening (1^st Thursday of every month) to holding a Wine Club members’ night where we will open each of the wine club wines and pair them with a few choice appetizers. Club members and their friends are all welcome. Over the next few weeks we will also be expanding our web-site by including a ‘shopping-cart’ section. We won’t be listing all of our wines on the web and nor do I want to create a web based sales business, but I do appreciate that the web is an important tool and if managed in a way that reinforces our commitment to supplying customers with small production, hand crafted wines then the benefits are there for all. We will begin by sourcing outrageously good wines from California, Washington and Oregon from producers who we have been introduced to who make tiny quantities of wines without the need for inflated ratings and paid criticism. We believe that there is a market for quality wines produced in tiny quantities that have not yet been afflicted by’ Parkerisms’. Rather like the Abeja wines that we introduced to customers last year and the wines from Tray Busch’s Sleight of Hands. When I look back over some of the wines that we have sourced from the west coast I realize that with a little more effort we really can introduce the east coast to wines that they have never heard of. Being that the quantities of these wines will be strictly limited the most equitable forum to introduce them and sell them will be on our web-site.

We will continue to emphasize quality wines from family owned wineries and we will continue to source new distributors and importers who share our common mantra. It is through these small channels that we will find great gems and since my hands are tied in the state of NY due to an archaic three tier distribution system we will weed out those importers and distributors whose interests are based solely on profit margin with a disregard for the wines they are selling.

I would like to increase the number of dinners we hold with selective wine-makers. We are always looking out for a new restaurant to hold these dinners in so if you have any suggestions please feel free to tell us.

We will continue to work with charities to improve the lives of others. In 2011 we donated goods and cash to the value of $35,000 to local charities and schools. This figure may be a little less this year (!) but we will continue to do what we can especially in our immediate community. In the interest of full disclosure I should also mention that I am a director of the Wainwright House in Rye. As finance director it will be my mission to ensure the longevity of this great institution and so please forgive me in advance if I come knocking on your e-mail door!

Coming up in the next few weeks we will be hosting two of our favorite wine makers. John Abbott, wine-maker of Abeja wines and Trey Busch the owner of Sleight of Hands winery. We were one of the first retialers in New York to introduce these wines and we are honored that both wine-makers will visit the store and maybe even crack open a few bottles with customers. As soon as I get dates and confirmation I’ll post them on the web.

In the meantime…stay thirsty.

All the best in 2012.

CJP.

So in the spirit of giving think on this: Free delivery of wine in the Rye and surrounding towns forever! Actually we’re not giving away anything new, we have always offered free delivery around Rye but it’s maybe more prevalent at this time of the year when you can’t find a parking space anywhere. I usually deliver before 10:00am but we also have on hand Dylan’s brother who can make deliveries for us during the day. So if you want the wine but don’t want to bother with the parking, call us, order up and tell us where to deliver – simple. Also, for all those commuters struggling with their shopping bags put them down for a moment and if you need wine text me: 2039472625. Text me from GCT, tell me what train you are on and arrival at Rye, text me what you want, sign with your full name and we’ll have yet another bag or box ready and waiting at the store – we’ll be open through 7:30 every night next week. If it’s impossible to get to the store and you want delivery to the main parking lot at Rye station let me know – we’ll have your bags/boxes waiting at the car park. How good is that?

The Wine at Five Best of the Best has been published – our choice for best wines in a tidy little Wine at Five six bottle recyclable, environmentally friendly bag. We filled the bags with our Wine of the Month choice (we get to each review and propose our best wine of the year), and then we added two more wines we thought would be special for Christmas – Bench Cabernet Sauvignon and Cyprus Pinot Noir from Brack Mountain – these can be swapped out for wines of your choice. A tidy little bag to stick under the tree. We also geared up on Longboard Wines – one of our old time favorites from California – the Longboard Merlot is quintessential west coast merlot and the perfect pairing for a beef wellington; the Longboard Russian River Pinot Noir was one of our biggest sellers last Christmas and I suspect it will be again this year. For those looking for half bottles, I brought in a beautiful little Molotov cocktail bottle of Luiano Chianti Classico – the bottle looks cute but the wine is pretty damn good too – consider this for a stocking stuffer – all ages from 21 up! Another very tasty white wine for the holidays is Viognier – more commonly found in the Rhone Valley it has all the hallmarks of an oily Burgundian chardonnay with a little more floral note but we liked the Six Hats Viognier from South Africa – lighter than its sibling from France it’s great for aperitifs or better yet, for keeping in arms reach whilst prepping dinner. Along similar lines, the Illahe Pinot Gris is back with a new vintage, 2010, and it’s as good as ever. Bruno also found more cases of the Broc Cellars Carignan, this from our favorite wine-maker in 2010 Chris Broc, an incredibly talented young wine-maker from California. The Chante Cigale Chateauneuf du Pape I talked about last week had huge response and we are left with only a few cases – there are few wines as adaptable as a really good Chateauneuf du Pape and this one won’t be shy at a table of goose, duck, beef or just cheese. The kid (he’s not yet 28) that makes it is viewed as an idiot savant in the Rhone and will probably become something of a superstar status from critics. It’s worth buying up while supplies last, the stuff is amazing. We did sort through a bunch of promising magnums and we have so far brought in a tiny amount of Paul Chapelle’s Santenay Gravieres 1985 – kick ass wine still unbelievably vibrant after all these years and ridiculously priced at $110 per magnum. We are also trying to get some more Abeja Cabernet mags – presently only have 2 left, we have Double Black Cabernet from California and a few of Allan Shoupe’s Chester Kidder 2004. Not in magnums but worth mentioning, the Chateau Rieussec 2005 – possibly one of the greatest Rieussec’s this century, seen on-line at $180.00 we still have it at last year’s price of $110.00 per bottle. If you know of anyone who has, on occasion, bathed in Laurent Perrier Fleur this is absolutely the gift to get them. No question. It’s an outrageous example of how good sauterne is.

Very excited now, but with restraint because the wines haven’t actually been delivered yet, but a promissory note says they will be here today – we snagged a vertical of Dunn Cabernet Sauvignon! Here’s a little quote from the Iron Chevsky blog:  Mike is a “dude” with worldly sensibilities. Well educated, he invests no time in making himself appear an important figure of California wine industry. He is content being a village worker in the small town of Angwin, 15-min drive from St. Helena, where his Popeye-like forearms swell and ache tending to the Dunn family vines. You sit down with him, no white table cloths, no fancy glasses. He hardly even talks about the wines, he just lets you experience them,” I love that. I met his dad once, Randy Dunn – an icon in Californian wine making and one of only 5 vintners to have been asked by the equally iconic Allan Shoupe to make wine for his Long Shadow group of wines. I also personally think that Dunn Cabernet is one of the sole survivors of the ‘I want a Lear Jet’ set of wine-makers. The wine is equivalent to a first growth Bordeaux priced at the fifth growth level – insane but great. We should be receiving a few bottles of every vintage of Dunn Cabernet from 2000 through 2007 (latest release). Awesome. No idea about price yet but as mentioned above, they’re not priced at first growth levels – the vertical can be broken up but if you are interested in taking the entire vertical let me know as soon as possible – as an indication I suspect the price will be around $750 – $850 for all vintages, 2000-2007 – great gift for the man who doesn’t have a vertical yet!

Also in the goody bag this week –some terrific white Burgundies – Puligny’s, Chassagne’s Clos’s…loads to choose from – such fun; really brings the spirit of Christmas in – customers fidgeting in front of the Burgundy section trying to figure out which beauty to buy – just buy them all, and I promise, we’ll open the door for you!

Enough rambling, too much coffee and it’s still dark outside. This Saturday we’ll be opening some bad boys from California – step in and have a taste (don’t forget your friend in leather tucked in your pocket), should be fun.

Safe shopping, have fun – enjoy the moment and have a terrific weekend. And don’t forget…stay thirsty.

Twice. And the year hasn’t come to an end yet. Twice our state electrical company has been thrown into madness. Someone at the top should go and help out Greece; at least there they couldn’t be blamed for doing a worse job. This time though the wine cellar was pretty well stocked, being that it was so heavily depleted the last time we had no power. And bearing in mind that it’s a lot colder now, the reds have been coming upstairs to see the light. Pretty little reds too. It was interesting yesterday – I had a conversation with one of our sales reps about The Prisoner wine – that battlefield wine from Orin Swift’s fabled vineyards in California. The sales rep wanted me to try it, again, so I did. He then eloquently went on about how Swift is trying to combat the internet discounting policy (show it on the web at $5.00 below cost but never have it available via an internet purchase and pay $5.00 above retail to buy it at the store). I tried to explain that a wine like this is of no interest to me. It’s a wine that will immediately garner a 1,000,000 point rating from you know who; it will be wine that will hit the internet at close to or below cost; and it will be wine that will sell out before you can say boo. Personally I thought it was horrible; about as fat a wine as you could make, covered in sugar coated sweet cherry with added saccharin in the mix – there are better home-made jams than this at a fraction of the price. And there’s so much alcohol in the bottle that anyone who tells you it will cellar for years is hallucinating. I marveled at a Robert Sinskey POV that had been lurking in my cellar for a number of years (was a 2001 I think) on Sunday night – the first night after ‘the storm’. That’s a proper wine; balanced, refined, fruit, acidity, oak – the parts that create an awesome whole. And at 10 years old it’s still singing the blues.

It’s like the Barolo’s we tasted this week. You can sniff the modern styled ones with their heady oaky nose, versus the classic, rustic styled Barolo’s. And yet, in both cases, the wines we tried were as complicated as War and Peace. It’s only recently that I began a love affair with Barolo. Prior to starting this shop my experience with the wine was subject to whose corporate account was it going on and which steak house I was squirming in. Last year my wife and I stayed in Barolo for a few days. I began to see the land as a topological Renoir – how the famous slopes all faced south, the interesting slopes ran due east to west and how Barbaresco et al were left to the northern and eastern slopes. I saw that the majority of Barolo wine makers are family owned, family farmed. I began to understand the argument proffered y Domenico Clerico and Elio Altare, leaders of the modernist faction, using small barrique barrels, versus the classicists who believe in using the old styled monolithic oak barrels. At a glance the difference in style is quite clear – small oak barrels allow more oak flavors to muddle into the smaller amount of wine; huge oak ‘foudres’ do the reverse. But the argument is not just about the size of your barrels – what is at stake in Barolo is where the modernization ends. Already there has been talk about allowing cabernet and Barbera and even merlot into the mix – Angelo Gaia has declassified several of his most expensive wines in the neighboring Barbaresco zone so that he can do his own thing (as he has always done). The argument splits families like the civil war in the states – Conterno vs. Conterno! Interestingly though both sides of the argument have enjoyed almost two decades of uber-fantastic vintages and whether the wine was barrique aged or big balls aged hasn’t made much of a difference in their overall quality. This meteoric rise in quality has both sides agreeing that global warming has had a measurable effect on their grapes; they point out that the rise in temperature has allowed farmers to ‘green harvest’ more efficiently (green harvest is the practice of dropping fruit just after the bunches begin to color – leaving the larger, more advanced colored grapes to remain on the vine unhindered by the weaklings – Darwinism at work in the vineyards!) and it has allowed them to harvest later (Nebbiolo grape needs a seriously long amount of hanging time). Better quality wineries, rising temperature, greater advancement in manufacturing, aging and bottling techniques, and loads more profit because of their back-to-back winning vintages – this is why Barolo is on a roll right now. And when you get into the minutia of life behind the barrels you begin to understand why this wine is truly ‘noble’. I would far prefer even one bottle of great Barolo lying in my cellar to a whole case of the Prisoner. So there!

Here’s what we tasted this week:

Azienda Agricola Scarzello: A small 12 acre vineyard located in the heart of Barolo. Since its very beginning some 300 years ago Scarzello has prided itself on its independence and individuality. The current wine-maker is Federico Scarzello who uses traditional cultivation and wine-making techniques with a few modern twists.

             Barolo Classico 2005: Lovely nose of toasted vanilla bean, cedar and allspice. Perfect clarity in the glass. On the palate, dried cranberry with Marachismo cherry and woody mushroom. As an entry level Barolo it surpasses the price-quality test: $70.00

             Barolo ‘Vigna Merenda’ 2004: Great white truffle nose. Wild mushroom compote – it’s a rustic, dry Barolo style that even now is still a little young. On the palate super ripe red and black currants with incredible depth. Full frontal fruit with voluptuous curves all round. Incredible now, will be amazing in another 5 years: $96.00

Azienda Oddero: Founded in 1878 in the Santa Maria hamlet of La Morra. One of the oldest producers in Barolo, the family has kept the distinctive traditional style of wine making for over a century. Their vineyards stretch across the famed sits of Brunate, Rocche di Castiglioni, Villero and Mondaca. It certainly doesn’t hurt to have the daughter of the owner pour the wine – even at 10:00am in the morning!

             Oddero Barolo Villero 2006: One of the few sites grown on heavy clay soil. South facing; a really vibrant wine with an open aroma of spice, vanilla and dark chocolate fudge cookie. On the palate, dense, saturated blue fruits, touch of marmalade even (this is the clay/acidity balance coming through), with a dry, persistent finish. Lovely jubbly: $75.00

Ferdinando Prinicipiano

             Barrolo Serralunga 2007: A blend of the old and the new – seamlessly. On the nose an earthy quality with truffles and fresh mushroom. Slovanian oak barrels give the aromas a sense of forest – slightly damp, musty but rich. On the palate the wine dances a different tune – vibrant, fresh, clean and distinctly terroir driven. Young blackberry and blueberry fruit with a touch of cedar and baking spice: $50.00

Cantina Sant’Agata

             Barolo La Fenice 2006: Not your typical Barolo. Rusty tinged color in the glass; musty, wet leather aroma – sweaty saddles for the horsey set. Loads of truffle, mushroom, duck fat going on. Very traditional style with some funk going on behind the scene. Fascinating Barolo if only because its so different.

Poderi Colla Dardi le Rose

             Barolo Bussia 2007: Much more modernist – this is a Barolo for the young hedonist. Lovely aromas of hot chocolate and whipped cream (not that horrible pumpkin chocolate stuff from the corner coffee house). Soft and lush with a huge mouth feel brimming with black fruit and mocha. Definitely a Barolo for everyday drinking – cash the bonus check first: $70.00

G.B. Burlotto: One of the oldest family owned wine-makers in the region. This is where I stayed last year and will always remember Fabian suggesting a wine-tasting early one morning. We began at 9:00, my wife and I and finished at noon. During the intervening 3 hours we drank almost ever Barolo that Fabian makes and then some, and then some older stuff he had – just for the hell of it. What a morning!

             Burlotto Barolo 2007: One of the great classicist styled entry level Barolos. Compact at first but explosive at the finish – a rush of dried fruit with slurps of Ribena (if you’re English you’ll know what that is). Probably wouldn’t be wasted if you poured it over vanilla ice-cream – wow, what a thought! $60.00

             Burlotto Barolo Monviglieri 2007: the new vintage of this great classic style perfectionist Barolo. Make room in your cellar, take out a second mortgage and buy as much of this as you can. Unlike your stock portfolio and your diminishing return pension plan you will never be disappointed when you taste this wine – until you only have one or two bottles left and wish you’d sold the kids as well. Unmistakable flavors of creamy scrambled egg and white truffle with wild mushrooms cooked in duck fat. Perfect ‘assemblage’ for breakfast!  Girls – you know how Diamonds are a girl’s best friend? Trust me, this is what a man wants. $69.00 whilst stocks last (stupid price!).

After five years of listening to my ranting and ravings most of you know by now how I feel about wine and the wine industry, and how we, as a team, me and my two colleagues, Marina and Bruno, feel about really exceptional wines. The month of September is ‘Trade Tasting’ month where I get to taste through hundreds of wines from all over the world in the sometimes forlorn hope of finding something different. This year, as I have mentioned, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the wines. For the most part prices had remained steady but one constant that I am never thrilled at is the price to quality value of Californian wines. Prior to tasting many of the west coast wines I could have pinpointed where they came from just by their absurd price. $600 for a bottle of dubious Californian Cabernet is not my idea of a ‘find’. Combined with my preference for a wine that excites as opposed to barging into my mouth with a sledgehammer, these wines were just not on a par with some of the European wines I tasted.

Until today. And this is where the title line of this comment comes into play. I love wine when it’s really well made – and I go beyond the French distinction that well made wine is born in the vineyard and then made by ‘man’. I honestly believe that passion plays an enormous part and that the character of the passionate wine-makers can be seen in their wines. It doesn’t happen often and therefore I revert to the standard ‘it has to be really good wine’ before I buy it. When the wine combines everything great and has a massive dose of passion then it’s a wine that I’ll buy for the store, happily, and for my cellar in anticipation of wonderful nights ahead. Wines from Sheldon Winery are such wines.

Some may remember a few years ago that I wrote about a young girl and her husband making wines in a ‘homeless’ state. They were the true essence of the ‘garagiste pioneers’. They mountain biked up impassable ravines to spy on vineyards that had been untouched by mass productivity protocol. They pleaded, begged and maybe stole grapes from farmers who grew some of the finest grapes in California. They hand touched everything they made, because they had to. Their ‘winery’ is no such thing and whilst they are a family owned ‘winery’ so too is Gallo. What they made was unconventional. Why? Because it was so damn good and they made it in a rented corner of an industrial warehouse. Jump forward a few years and Tobe Sheldon and her husband Dylan are still making wine but they now call themselves a ‘micro-winery’. I just tasted eight of the most compelling wines I have tasted from California this year. I had to make sure that Bruno was tasting alongside me in case my infatuation for the wine-maker was clouding my ability to taste the raw juice. It wasn’t. It might have helped but nothing clouds the taste of truly exceptional wine. Below were my tasting notes:

Sheldon La Naris Viognier Blend: Tasting note: OMG

Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow: Tasting Note: OMFG

Pinot Noir Roma Vineyard: Tasting Note: Wetting myself

Pinot Noir Kendric Vineyard: Tasting Note: Did

Grenache Santa Ynez Valley: Tasting Note: Gotta have a party – blow ‘em away

Graciano – Ripken: Tasting Note: WTF

Weatherly Cuvee: Tasting Note: Died. Gone to Heaven. Booty.

As you can see, my notes were considerably more professional than most critics I know. When you are in the presence of great wine who cares that it tastes like forest floor or has a bouquet as elegant as a ballerina’s perfume? These are raw, unadulterated, unfiltered under the radar wines. Basically, all hyperbole aside, they bless you.

If, however, you would prefer to read the more ‘sensible’ reviews, here are the notes from Tobe Sheldon herself:

Sheldon Sleepy Hollow Vineyard Chardonnay 2007: Wine Making: Hand harvested October 4^th at an average of 24 brix.  Slowly barrel fermented over six weeks in a cool cellar.  The lees were stirred every ten days.  Bottled unfiltered and unfined. Winemaker Tasting Notes: Rich golden color, upfront impressions of a lush and creamy body with intense pineapple and snappy notes of lemon zest.  Mid palate fills out with toasty brioche, hints of ginger and a dash of chamomile tea. Resident Wino Tasting Notes: The Marilyn Monroe of Chardonnay; lusty, sought after and misunderstood– 195 cases handmade.

Tanzer Review: Deeply pitched, smoky aromas of peach nectar, tangerine, honey and herbs, with building florality and a hint of anise.  Lush and creamy but assertive, offering gently sweet pit fruit and honey flavors leavened by a note of bitter blood orange.  Shows red wine-like texture, with serious finishing power and lingering smoke and saffron notes.  There’s something about this wine’s depth, power and smokiness that reminds me of a vin jaune from the Jura, but the fruit here is fresh. Wild and singular, and a great match with rich, creamy fish, offal (sweetbreads, especially) or poultry dishes. 92

Sheldon Grenache Santa Ynez: Wine Making:  We harvested on October 3^rd 2007.  During crush we allowed 30% of the grapes to remain whole-cluster. Fermented in ½ ton bins for 14 days, with “3 a day” punch downs by hand. Basket pressed into one new and 9 seasoned French oak barrels. Bottled unfiltered, unfined. Winemaker Tasting Notes: Introducing a juicy ripe youthful Grenache:  This wine displays the agility and grace of a trapeze performer.  Mouthwatering notes of black cherry and boysenberry swing through the nose; medium bodied plum skin tannin back flip to a balancing pop of sweet-tart candy. Resident Wino Tasting Notes: Like your first crush; flirty, innocent, and full of youthful joy! 240 cases handmade

Sheldon Pinot Noir Kendric Vineyard Marin County: Wine Making: The Kendrick vineyard is a North-East facing 8.5 acre vineyard that straddles the Marin & Sonoma County Line. This location benefits from the warm days, as well as the cooling Pacific breezes. The row by row harvest took place in stages between Sept. 24th and 28th. The blend of three clones, 677, 115 & Pommard were grown on the well draining sandy loam soils. Crushed into small 1/2 ton open top macro bins leaving roughly 20% of the clusters whole, we cold soaked the grapes for three days before starting fermentation. The fruit was fermented on the cooler side to retain the delicate aromatics and varietal character of Pinot Noir. After 13 days we loaded the must into our 3/4 ton hydro-basket press, gently pressing off into a mix of 1 new Mercier Vosges & 5 seasoned French oak barrels. Resident Wino Tasting Notes:  An evening with Betty Boop and Jessica Rabbit hanging out at the soda fountain . . . an adult sensory experience with child like whimsy. 145 cases handmade

Sheldon Viognier La Naris: Wine Making: Picked in three stages from mid September to early October. Crushed and Basket Pressed on whole-cluster. Cold fermented in small stainless tanks, racked down into 3-5 year season barrels. No Malolactic fermentation.Winemaker Tasting Notes: Clean bright tones of peach, apricot & white nectarine. Mid palate of mandarin orange, guava. The finish develops into an interesting minerality suggesting chalk rock, and lingering floral notes. A lot going on, it’s a constantly moving target. Resident Wino Tasting Notes: The blonde that has everything: style, charm and legs that go on forever . . .’ 120 cases handmade

Sheldon Weatherly Cuvee: Wine Making: The Petite Sirah for this blend was grown at the Collier Vineyard, a single acre planted roughly 75 years ago at the north end of Calistoga near the Silverado trail. This head pruned, dry farmed site is slow ripening allowing for good ‘hang-time’ and inclusion of 100% whole clusters into the fermentation. Harvest took place on the 29^th of September at an average ripeness of 23.5 brix. The Cabernet was grown in the Louvau Vineyard which lies in the North end of the Dry Creek Bench. Two Cabernet lots were harvested, coming in on October 10^th and Oct. 17^th respectively, at a ripeness of 22.8 and 23.2 brix. Both lots were cold soaked, crushed and fermented in small, open top fermentors with-out the use of sulfur. After two weeks of fermentation we gently basket pressed off into a mix of new and previously used French Oak Barrels. We kept the individual lots separate during the elevage of this wine. One month prior to bottling the final selection of these 8 barrels were blended together to go into the final to cuvee. Winemaker Tasting Notes:  This is a well balanced yet full bodied wine displaying rich, mouth-filling texture, fine grained tannins and great complexity. The nose offers notes of Violets, sun warmed Blackberry, grilled Plum, and Cacao, finishing with hints of freshly cracked Pepper. I find delicate threads of both Lavender & Walnut which are planted thought the Collier vineyard and lend their resinous, softly herbaceous quality to this wine. As these wines age, natural sediment may form over time. Our wines are unfined and unfiltered because sterile wines have no soul. Resident Wino Tasting Notes: The booty wine!  Sultry and seductive this wine is sure to please with velvety soft tannins and rich warm fruit. 195 cases handmade

Sheldon Pinot Noir Roma Vineyard: Wine Making:  The fruit for this 5 Barrel lot of Pinot Noir was grown at the Roma’s Vineyard, a ridge-top location planted at 1,800 feet elevation at the north end of the Anderson Valley. This vintage was cooler than average, pushing harvest back by 3 weeks. This slow and late ripening allowed for tremendous ‘hang-time’ and flavor development even though sugar levels were somewhat low. Harvest took place with two tons coming in on October 19^th and a final half ton arriving Oct. 21^st, at an average ripeness of 22.5 brix. Both lots were cold soaked, crushed and fermented in small, open top fomenters with-out the use of sulfur. The second 1/2 ton lot was fermented on whole cluster for added spice and structure. After two weeks of fermentation we gently basket pressed off into 2 and 3 yr previously used Barrels. We choose to forgo using any new oak in the elevage of this wine to best show the full array of aromatics and pure varietal expression from this vineyard. Winemaker Tasting Notes: This is an extremely vibrant, fragrantly high toned cool climate Pinot. Piercingly aromatic notes of Wild Strawberry, Kirsch, Rhubarb, with a nice layer of exotic Spice. The palate is classically proportioned and tightly focused. Firm mid palate tannins that remind me of tart plum skin are followed by bright mouthwatering acidity. As these wines age, natural sediment may form over time. Our wines are unfined and unfiltered because sterile wines have no soul. Resident Wino Tasting Notes: The Tron of Pinot Noir.  For Wine Geeks:  delicate, beautiful, precise, complex and futuristic…it is what is in my glass all day. 125 cases handmade.

A mention here about what it takes to devote yourself to making less than 1,000 cases of wine. You spend on average 7 days a week outside tending the vineyards; you spend 16 hours a day tending the juice in the fomenters – hand stirring, and God know what else; 6 hours a day wondering where the money is; 1 hour a day wondering if you ever had any; and 1 hour a day for life. 1000 cases on their schedule probably nets you $65,000 per year. An average of 110 cases per wine for the world. If they were Domaine Romanee Conti they would be flying a Lear Jet. But they are not. They are two young, beautiful people who are making ridiculous wines. You have to try them and you have to buy them. And as an incentive – I got between 2 and 3 cases of each of them – that’s all, with maybe a promise of more if I’m good!

Viognier La Naris – 2009: $35.00 per bottle. No case discount (not enough bottles)

Chardonnay Sleepy Hollow Vineyard – 2007: $45.00 per bottle. No case discount (3 cases purchased, 1 is going home with me)

Pinot Noir Roma Vineyard – 2010: $52.00 per bottle. Don’t even bother to ask about a case discount (18 bottles)

Pinot Noir Kendric Vineyard Marin County – 2006: $56.00 per bottle. Don’t be silly (24 bottles)

Grenache Santa Ynez Valley – 2007: $25.00 per bottle. 10% on 12 but be quick. 3 cases only

Graciano – Ripken – 2009: $38.00 per bottle. 2 cases promised, maybe 3 if I’m lucky.

Weatherly Cuvee – 2009: $50.00 per bottle. 3 cases requested, if I get them 1 case goes home.

Call me if you want to order them – the Viognier, Pinot Noir Roma and Weatherly Cuvee are coming direct from the winery so will be here toward the end of October. The rest will be here on Wednesday and probably be gone by Saturday.

All the best – Cai – a not so well known wine critic

914-921-5950

Many of you know that I advocate wines for immediate drinking. And whilst ‘immediate’ is a subjective term for any period that comprises supreme enjoyment without drooling, I do prefer to be able to drink a wine purchased today, today. Some wines will definitely get better with age but nowadays I am all for buying wines that will drink beautifully now and the bonus will be if they stay this good for ten years. The 2009 Burgundy is, IMHO, such a vintage. I loved pretty much everything I tasted and my overall impression was of wines with enormous charm, elegance and femininity. There were also wines that had ample rusticity and wines that powered you to a higher dimension, whilst sitting in your leather armchair. There were wines for lunch, wines for Tiffin and wines for supper - and wines for serious dinner parties! 

I spent the weekend collating what I had tasted and I have put together a huge price list of pretty much everything. This price list is good only until September 28th and only whilst stocks last. Some of these wines will sell out within a few hours so we will accept orders on a first come first served basis. All orders must be received before noon on September 28 and ‘in-stock’ wines will be available for collection or shipment the following week. A note on prices – Burgundy has defied the global recession and some of these prices are stratospheric; the Euro hasn’t helped, nor has the Burgundian sense of entitlement. However, these wines are extraordinary and they can be drunk now but with the added bonus that I believe many of them will last beautifully for the next 5+ years. I have tried to lessen the financial burden by reducing the number of bottles needed to purchase per wine – we are required to buy in cases of 12 for 750cl and in boxes of 6 for many of the really expensive wines. We will take some of the risk by allowing customers to purchase in 6 and 3 bottle minimum packs – think of that as a 50% discount! I have also priced the wines as fairly as possible and where I can I have ousted the middleman’s profit margin – but this does mean that orders must be placed before September 28. I know that I am buying some for my own home and so I have begun to organize a cooperative of friends where we can share the cost of cases; reducing my financial burden even more. If you really want some of these wines but don’t want to buy the minimum quantity I can put you on a ‘coop’ list and try to arrange with others to share in the cost of each case – no guarantees but it might help. 

Please look through the list carefully before making your choice – if you need additional information don’t hesitate to call and we will pass on tasting notes etc. Once the order has been processed we will have to charge a 25% cancellation fee on any cancelled orders. 

Click on the link below to open the PDF Burgundy Wine Offer.

Have fun reading – have more fun drinking.

 Wine at Five Burgundy 2009 Offer

 It’s been six days. Night falls sooner with each passing day. Stream water is running dangerously low. Morning coffee is a phrase from a distant memory I dare not lose. The natives are getting restless – the cats fear their tails may become candle wicks; the dogs are confused that the fridge door never opens anymore.

It’s been six days of drinking wines from the cellar. Corton, Pichon. Tuesday night we paid tribute to the late Peter McCoy and finished off my last two cabernets, with a can of baked beans. Wednesday night was fried rice and Meursault. Thursday night was reheated (BBQ) rice with Drouhin 2002 NSG. The cellar doesn’t care that there is no power. It likes the dark. The cellar doesn’t care that its damp, the cellar likes the damp. The cellar doesn’t care that its being depleted of its worldly goods – at some point it will meet new friends brought in to replace those that were drunk. 

It’s been six days. Nothing much has changed. We still have a bottle of wine with dinner every night (maybe two). We don’t shower at home but other than that its life as normal. What about you? Any stories to tell? Did all those local to Rye survive? Anyone celebrate survival with something good? Anyone need more wine? 

The store suffered slightly. Only because of the ineptitude of whomever brought power into this building in the first place. Why they thought to hook us up to the Harrison grid baffles me. So when the wind sneezes over in Larchmont we lose power. Chaos Theory working well in Downtown Rye. Power came back on Wednesday, minutes after the ConEd Information Officer stationed outside City Hall told me that I should expect power on Friday evening! God Bless the power of useless information. 

Deliveries to the store have been disrupted. We also had no idea how much, if any, wine we would sell this week so we were light on inventory going into Irene. But we did get about 40 cases late yesterday and I was very happy to see some old favorites. Rest assured this weekend, for the holiday weekend, we have loads of great stuff just begging to find a new home!! 

On Thursday, September 15 we plan to host our first Fall Wine Dinner. We are going to highlight the wines from the Marche region of Italy and we are thrilled that the superstar of that region and arguably one of Italy’s most beautiful and powerful women in wine, Angela Velenosi, has agreed to come to our small hamlet to introduce the wines from her vineyard. Some of the most highly rated wines to come out of the Marche region; the dinner will begin with hors d’oeuvres served alongside her stunning sparkling Passerina: a fusion of soft fruity nuances and fresh flowery sensations. With the first course we will be pouring her Pecorino; not the cheese but the wine with the same name. Indigenous to the high craggy hill slopes of the Marche, the wine brings forth hints of exotic fruit, citrus fruit, acacia and jasmine flower. With the I secondi course we shall pour her Lacrima di Morro d’Alba, a fabulous variety rich in rose petal fragrance and a mouthfeel of delicious marasca cherries, violets and rosebud. It’s a really exciting varietal that if you have never tried it you’ll ask yourself why not? For the main course Angela has agreed to pour her Ludi – a perennial winner of the coveted Tre Bicheri award in Italy and always a highly rated Robert Parker score. The wine is a blend of Montepulciano, Cabernet and Merlot and in tasting the wine a few days ago it just blew me away. Intense ruby red color with seductive aromas of baking spices and fleshy black fruit. It’s a wine to go to bed with! And finally, with dessert we will introduce you to her Velenosi Visciole – the base of this dessert wine is the traditional cherries Visciola. The historic recipe consists of gathering the cherries in the first week of July and allowing them to macerate whole with sugar, triggering a fermentation process that slowly produces a final syrup, soft and fragrant. This syrup is mixed into wine and left to decant for a few days and then filtered. Its extraordinary and such fun to try. All of this will take place with a four course dinner cooked by Executive Chef Richard Corbo whose resume reads like a Hollywood Superstar, including early stints at Union Square Café, Gary Danko and Ducca. I met with Richard this week and together with his partner Godfrey Polistina and his pastry chef we have put together a fantastic menu to pair with the wines. The event will take place at Chef Corbo’s restaurant, Arrosto, in Port Chester on September 15 at 7.00pm. Cost per person is $105 plus tax and gratuity. We only have 32 spaces available and Arrosto are also inviting some of their most frequent customers. So if you are interested please call Peggy Chang at Arrosto on at 914-939-7200 to make your reservation for the Wine at Five/Arrosto “Velenosi Wine Dinner”. It’s going to be a fabulous evening, and I think we need it! 

During the last few days we have gift wrapped a large amount of champagne for people who helped others during the hurricane. I want to thank our customers in turn for turning to us to come up with suggestions and ideas for these thank you bottles, and for your support during the last few days. We lost power for a number of days, we lost revenue because of it but we did not lose our customers – so thank you. We will be open this weekend and we will be open on Monday from noon-6:00pm to ease your pain, if pain it is that needs easing.

Stay thirsty this weekend…really thirsty!

Another heavy hitter this week has been my new love affair with Muscadet. Not to be confused with Muscat or Moscatel or any other similar sounding wine that has a connotation of being sweet. Muscadet is made only in France, from the northern reaches of the western Loire valley where it borders Brittany. Nor is Muscadet the name of the grape. It seems that the word derives from the aroma given off by the grape used to make the wine – Melon de Bourgogne. Historical archives mention Kings of France sniffing musk scent in wines made from melon-de-Bourgogne. The Kings were obviously not very good sommeliers because there is no such smell given by the wine that comes close to road kill. There is however a vibrant aroma of white melon, white peach and actual grapes. The flavors are tantalizing and in the case of my new found love, Domaine du Haut Bourg, they encompass lovely minerality, white stone fruit, hint of honey-suckle and the more you drink the more adjectives you can discover. And it’s so damn easy to drink. If there was ever a wine that should be bottled in a 5 gallon jug this is it! When you think about it, this is a wine made on the border of Brittany. That’s a few thousand miles away. It’s made using French oak barrels – not cheap, its aged ‘sur lie’ anywhere from 3 months to 10 years, bottled, labeled, corked and shipped to the US. It sells for $13.00 (on a very small margin). How can you not buy this by the case? That’s $140.40 for 12 bottles! And there’s more…(like the TV commercials say), when a wine is aged ‘sur lie’ which is to say it’s allowed to rest on the dead yeast cells left after fermentation, it inhibits oxidization. This in turn means that the wine can last for a long time. We have had a Domaine du Coing Muscadet from 1999 – it’s different but exquisite. So here you get a wine that tastes beautiful, doesn’t harm the wallet and if you have a few bottles left over – don’t worry about it! That to me is great wine!

Another heavy hitter that just arrived is Robert Sinskey’s POV. My colleague, Marina was in Napa last week and had the great fortune of staying at Sinskey’s little guest cottage. Of course that required a private tasting of his wines, which we have always known are spectacular, but the one that really shone was the new POV. At $46 its not a light weight but quality to price is unmistakable. In the same realm, I was fortunate yesterday to taste the new Sleight of Hands Illusionist. It was terrific – gobs of fresh black and blue fruits, lovely touch of cedar box and cigar, hints of cocoa and chocolate powder – this could replace the double espresso in the morning. Along similar wines, the Abeja Cabernet will make a short appearance tomorrow – we snagged a single case of this wine – a wine that I have mentioned in the past as a 100 point wine if any wine critic has an ounce of actual sense. And the new Bruno’s Blend rounded out the tasting – definitely worth every penny. 

The ‘yang’ side of the price ratio includes a brand new pinot noir from France – Belterre Estate Pinot Noir. Mid-week we had Thierry Seve from the Colin Bourisset winery in Beaujolais. When we weren’t gabbing about French rugby we were sipping on this little pinot – now one of my favorites and quite possibly the least expensive great Pinot I have ever tasted. $12.00 a bottle and even I make a little money on that!! His Macon-Village ‘Rive Gauche’ chardonnay was another fabulous find in the $15 and under. All chardonnay, combined with minerality, touch of acidity, white fruits and that ethereal sense of being in a little café in the heart of the French countryside. It doesn’t get much better.

Looking back over the last few months of tasting wine I am amazed at how good some of the wines we tasted and bought have been. The little sparkling rosé we found in Italy, the Conti di Buscareto $20, (in the oversized tear-drop bottle) has been an enormous success, my own Prosecco, Botter ‘Olivia’ $20, blew away my projections for selling Prosecco this summer; the wine made from 3 almost extinct varietals “Les Vignes Retrouvees” ($14); the Broc Cellars Central Coast ($25) – just a few of the great wines we have been fortunate to try, drink and sell to our customers. It’s been a great summer! 

Two weekends ago I took the BMW 1200GS for a quick spin up to the Finger Lakes. I had always wanted to visit Hermann Weimer’s winery at the edge of Lake Cayuga and the weather was perfect. Way too many cops on the road sunbathing behind their little speed-guns but other than that a perfect riding weekend. And to stop at the Weimer winery was perfect. I would strongly urge anyone who wants a great afternoon away from everything to drive up to Dundee and head over to the winery. Give my friend Oskar Bynke a call ahead of time, mention us, and set yourself up with a great afternoon tasting the best wines from the Finger Lakes district. Failing that we have in stock these wines: 

• Hermann Wiemer Pinot Noir 2007                                   $25.00
• Hermann Wiemer Dry Gewurztraminer 2010              $26.00
• Hermann Wiemer Dry Riesling 2009                               $22.00
• Hermann Wiemer Cabernet Franc 2008                        $26.00

These wines represent how great the wines from Weimer are. We have always loved the pinot noir, but the whites were intoxicating, and the cab franc was one of the best expressions of this lovely grape that I have had from the US. Treat yourself to a Weimer this weekend! 

Have a fabulous weekend and stay very thirsty.

That little wine we brought in two weeks ago that I was raving about – Les Vignes Retrouvées was a huge success. So much so that I just had another round of cases delivered. If there’s a wine to beat the heat this is it. For those that didn’t read my earlier description this is a little white wine from the heart of Gascony blended with three kinds of ancient, almost extinct grapes; Arrufiac, Gros Manseng and Petit Courbu. It’s a wine with hidden depths and it just dances on the palate like Isadora Duncan. And I use her deliberately – considered  by many to be the creator of modern dance, she fashioned an entire lifestyle around her individuality. Quite probably one of the first ‘fashionable’ ladies of her time to publicly announce her bisexuality and one of the few prominent artists at the time to announce her communist affiliations. To her it was all about the spirit of her individuality and this wine draws on that approach. Who would have considered blending three completely esoteric and unknown grapes to create an astonishingly fresh summer wine? Someone with a free spirit I suspect.

As enamored as I am about that wine, I wanted that sense of discovery to continue and we were fortunate this week to rediscover some varietals that just beg to be drunk in 100+ degree weather. This morning I unearthed a Muscadet from a reps goody bag. My notes show that we tasted a previous vintage that I didn’t buy but the new 2010 was ‘abfab’ as they say in the English version of the Hamptons.  Located in the heart of the Muscadet appellation, Côtes de Grandlieu, the Domaine du Haut Bourg was built by four generations of winegrowers. The first vine was planted in 1945 and today brothers Hervé and Nicolas Choblet run their 40 hectare estate vineyard together. Fourteen kilometers southeast of Nantes, the “Côtes de Grandlieu” AOC is formed by nineteen townships that surround the Lac de Grandlieu. The Lac de Grandlieu, a wildlife preserve that houses 250 species of birds, is the largest natural lake in Europe and spans 6,300 hectares at its peak in winter. The appellation, created in 1994, benefits from the distinct microclimate created by the lake. Thanks to this large body, the sun’s daily heat is retained, a compounding benefit to the wine crop that gets to ripen a little longer while avoiding frost. Muscadet is NOT SWEET wine. Au contrair, this wine is bracing – think off-shore sailing, force 4 gale, but you’re winning! This wine has all the salinity and minerality you can muster, beautiful  length filled with very soft white/cream fruit, a hint of winter melon….it reminds me of those ads on TV that show the guy chewing a piece of gum and everything freezes over. That’s this wine. And it’s $14.00! Damn, that’s some good juice Harry. [Coffee kicking in now].

Late yesterday afternoon Pierre Bories wandered into the store. Pierre is the wine owner and maker of Chateau Ollieux Romanis in southern France close to Montséret. We chatted about rugby, as one does with the French and discovered that we played the same teams but sadly quite a few years apart – he’s much uglier than me, but he is younger! He’s also friends with the twins from Domaines La Laurie – those tremendous wines we brought in last year made by twin daughters with stunning personalities! Anyway…Pierre convinced me to try his wines and so begrudgingly I took down some glasses and accompanied him on a trip along the byways of small French vineyards. First stop was his Capucine Rouge. A blend of carignan, grenache and hints of merlot and syrah. Great bottling, powerful aromas and just superb mid-body flavors. The wine bursts with energy – cocoa, bit of espresso, some rich marachismo cherry, almost a hint of herbal liquor but then I thought, slightly chilled this would be outstanding. So the French were winning 15-love. On to his carignan/grenache blend called Alice. He didn’t wow me with this one – too much Alice I suspect. Sweeter fruit and a little too intense for 100 degree weather.  15-all. Then the Ollieux Romanis Cuvee Classique. Ace serve – 30-15. Beautifully balanced, just scraped the net but landed with loads of black fruit, light acidity and bounced around like a happy little Tigger. Another great summer slam. Looking to break even he served me up the Ollieux Blanc Prestige. Another ace. I did the John McEnroe bit, had a tantrum threw down my racket and drank, very happily, in silence. It was like sipping on a great white Burgundy that had age. Loaded with waxy fruit the aromas hit you with a heady smell of hickory cigar box, then the sesame oiled oak tickles the tongue and that gives way to a hedonist rush of white stone fruit. The wine is a blend of Rousanne and Marsanne, two of my favorite French grapes, and in the hands of Pierre they blend seamlessly. Great wine and a fraction of the price of great Burgundy. All of the Ollieux wines will be here sometime tomorrow (in refrigerated truck).

Prices:

Cuvées Capucines Rouges – $14.00

Ollieux Romanis Cuvée Classique – $19.00

Olliuex Romanis Blanc Prestige – $32.00 (this is a steal for what you get)

One last noteworthy piece. At the request of numerous customers I did some research and opened up my check book and bought a bunch of high end Burgundies – both red and white. Seems that many Rye residents trip out to the Hamptons and need to take a little something for the host. Here’s the skinny on what I bought:

Patrick Javilliers Mersault Tillets 2009 –

Roger Lassarat Pouilly Fuisse Vergisson 2009 –

Chateau de Puligny Montrachet Chassagne Montrachet 2008 –

Chateau de Puligny Montrachet Meursault 2008 –

Bernard Moreau Chassagne Montrachet Rouge Vielles Vignes 2009 –

Bessin Chablis 1er Cru La Fourchaume La Piece 2009 –

Domaine de Montille Meursault Vireuil 2008 –

Domaine de Montille Mersault Narvaux 2008 –

Any one of these would be a Hampton House owners wet dream so next time you need something a little ‘Victoria Secret’, call me, we can hook you up with one of these luscious wines, gift wrap it and pack it snugly into your weekend bag.

Have a wonderful weekend, stay cool, stay thirsty.