Sensuality in a Bottle

LXV labels, enlarged on the walls of the tasting room.

In November, I spent a glorious week in Paso Robles, California, an area that Wine Enthusiast Magazine named the 2013 Wine Region of the Year.* (“Duh!” said one of my friends who owns a small vineyard up there.) I visited several vineyards and tasting rooms, doing private tastings and barrel samples, and I ended the week at the 3^rd annual Garagiste Festival, held at the glorious 280-acre Windfall Horse Farms.

I’ve said before that the Garagiste Festival (www.http://californiagaragistes.com/) is my favorite wine event, and this year's was no exception. Why do I love it so much? It gathers together, under one roof (in this case, the gabled variety, of an impeccably designed brick horse stable), over 60 winemakers who are just about the most enthusiastic, artistic, and in many cases experimental vintners on the planet. These are my people. I love talking with them, tasting their elixirs, and sharing the love of the grape with them and the discerning crowd that attends the event.

     

Sensual artwork adds to the experience.

Among those pouring this year was a new wine label, which captured my fancy. I got the buzz early about LXV Wines (http://www.lxvwine.com), and was told I must visit their new downtown Paso tasting room, which had opened in October. And so I did.

The LXV tasting room is a work of art. Its royal blue walls, sumptuous couches strewn with bright throw pillows, and erotic yet tasteful artwork on the walls said to me, ‘Come in, relax, and enjoy the pleasures of wine.'

“We wanted a tasting room where people just go ‘Ah’ when they walk in the door,” says Neeta Mittal, co-owner of LXV with her husband Kunal.  She adds that she wants customers to recognize the “zen-ness” of the place. 

The wines and the labels of LXV are inspired by the arts of Kama Sutra, the ancient Hindu writings on human sexual behavior. There are 64 arts, and Neeta says the 65^th is “you,” hence the name of the label.

It all began about six years ago when Neeta, a former dancer and choreographer, wrote a comedy film script set in Victorian England, about a secret copy of the Kama Sutra that finds its way into uptight Victorian nobility. While the script never made it to the big screen, the Mittals have brought the story to life in their wines. 

LXV owner Neeta Mittal provides a lovely tasting room experience.

“Our winemaker, Amy Butler, has an old world approach to wine — restrained, with respect for fruit and  where it comes from, and very little intervention when making wine,” says Neeta. “Amy believes she’s more of an artist than a techie wine maker, and I think this expresses itself in the wine. They are hand crafted.”

With names like Heart Note, Summer Satine, Crimson Jewel, and Rising Tempo, LXV wines are full of character yet subdued, and sensual but not brash. Each label features the portrait of a female artist – a dancer, an artist, a jewelry designer – captured in a moment of sensuality, as she indulges in her art.  The back labels carry quotes from the artists about what sensuality means to them. “The idea is to pay homage to an artist with every wine,” says Neeta.

You don’t just taste wine at the LXV tasting room, however; you experience the sensual art of pairing wine with food. First, you sip the wine, then you savor a neutral-flavored sheep’s milk cheese dipped in a spice mix with a second sip, and you finish with a third sip of the wine. The pairing makes the wine blossom in your mouth.

Spice mixes dipped in sheep's cheese enhance the wine's flavors.

For instance, Viognier is paired with exotic peppers; Rosè (a blend of Syrah, Grenache, Merlot, and Viognier) is paired with cinnamon; a Sangiovese/Petit Syrah blend is paired with lavender or pumpkin spices (think Thanksgiving); and  a Grenache/Syrah/Tempranillo blend is paired with a spice blend of cumin, cinnamon, nutmeg, and exotic peppers

“The reason for spice pairings is to experience wine at a deeper level,” says Neeta, who worked with a food designer as well as Lori Foster of Spice of Life (http://www.pasospices.com/), the shop next door to her tasting room. “This allows customers to experience the wine three times, and they all admit that they are able to unlock flavors that they did not before.” Neeta claims that the ambiance of her tasting room combined with her specific way of tasting keeps the customers in the room longer than they normally would stay. Did I mention that Neeta is also a marketing genius?

The pièce de rèsistance was the pairing of Francois Payard and Christopher Elbow** chocolate truffles with a barrel sample of the yet-to-be-bottled 2012 Cab Franc/Syrah/Merlot blend. It was divine.

By this point in the tasting, you will be ready to curl up on one of the couches and dream away, or maybe buy a couple cases of this handcrafted wine.

Visit the LXV tasting room at 1306-B Pine Street (13th and Pine), Paso Robles, CA 93446; I suggest you go with someone you love. 

Until next time, cheers!

* Read the full articles at http://www.winemag.com/Web-2013/2013-Wine-Region-of-the-Year-Paso-Robles/).

** Francois Payard’s and Christopher Elbow’s chocolates were both named Food & Wine Magazine’s 2013 Best Chocolates in the US (http://www.foodandwine.com/slideshows/best-chocolate-in-the-us).

Wine Shortage? Let’s Focus on Quality, Not Quantity

Languedoc, France, where "vine pull" has reduced acreage

It seems everyone is in a panic this week in response to Morgan Stanley Research’s report that a global shortage of wine was coming. “Data suggests there may be insufficient supply to meet demand in coming years, as current vintages are released,” says the report, according to various news sources.

With the bleak outlook for France’s 2013 harvest fresh in their minds, I was just picturing the hordes of wine aficionados running to the store to stock up their private cellars.

Many wine industry experts are dismissing this report, citing such facts as California’s record-breaking 2013 harvest and the stabilization of global wine consumption – it seems that while French citizenry’s yearly consumption has fallen sharply in the last decade, us thirsty Americans, and the Chinese, are picking up the slack.

You can throw statistics at the wine market and believe what you want … which is usually how these things work. You never really can predict how things will turn out, as weather and the economy can be so fickle.

I personally am choosing to believe that there has never been a better time to drink interesting, quality wines and there will always be wine for those who look for it.

Last week, in a French Wine Society (www.frenchwinesociety.org/) master class on the wines of southern France, I learned a bit more about what’s going on to contribute to the fears about a wine shortage.

Back in the late 1980s, a “Vine Pull Initiative” was introduced by the European Union specifically to reduce vine acreage in southern France and Italy, where a lot of table (and mediocre) wines were being produced. Subsidies were paid to winegrowers to “grub up,” or pull out, their vines. Economic pressures were severe enough by 2000 that many vineyard owners had a hard time making ends meet, as domestic demand decreased, and export prices fell.  Many vineyard owners – families who have grown in the same spots for centuries – opted to take the subsidy and in many cases replanted their acres with other crops, such as sunflowers, cereals, or olive trees.

But as old vines were pulled, in many cases they were replaced with better-quality grapes, which were much more suited to the geologically rich soils and climatic conditions prevalent there.

As a result, the Languedoc-Roussillon has become one of those areas of the world where quality wines are on the rise (reminding me of the Paso Robles and Santa Ynez communities in California). Championed by adventurous vintners with a strong sense of “terroir” – rooted in the soil, and nurtured by the sun and strong winds – their wines are modern yet also grounded in the deep history and sense of community that is prevalent in the area. In fact, a majority of vineyard owners process their grapes at coops, which allow them to share the cost and labor of wine production and marketing, furthering the social bonds. And, the region boasts the highest number of certified organic wine producers in France.

I tasted 52 wines different wines over two days from the Languedoc-Roussillon, ranging in price from $8 to $30, some of which were organic or biodynamic. I particularly liked the Chateau de Lancyre Rosé, the Mas de Daumas Gassac Blanc, and the Domaine la Tour Vielle Rimage (the latter is sold at the wine House, www.winehoue.com, in West Los Angeles for about $20). Not all 52 them knocked my socks off, but I was impressed by the overall quality and was captivated by the stories behind each wine. It was like being in the south of France for those two days. 

Unfortunately, most wine stores don’t stock many wines from the Languedoc-Roussillon so shop around and browse online for deals. You might find a gem.

Until next time, à votre santé !