Bordeaux for the Rest of Us

Bordeaux wine brings to mind words like chateau, age-worthy, expensive, status symbol, and even elitist. Not exactly wine for the budget-minded consumer.

Selection of wines at Grand Cercle Des Vins de Bordeaux

Bolstering this view, the March 31, 2013 edition of Wine Spectator stated that “the 2010s were the most expensive Bordeaux vintage in history” upon release en premeur in spring 2011. En premeur is a capital-raising pricing system used among the more prestigious properties in Bordeaux – where vineyard and wineries expenses are among the highest in the world – in which producers release a portion of their wine for sale the year following a harvest, after it’s been rated by critics. The costs up to and including the bottling of the wine are included in the price. The first release (tranche in French) is the least pricey (a relative term here!) with subsequent tranches getting pricier and pricier. 

Rated at 96 points and above on a 100-point scale, Wine Spectator’s top picks ranged from $103 to $3,400 a bottle (Chateau Petrus).

The en premeur system is high-stakes wine merchandising … an area of the industry that I, frankly, do not play in, nor do most consumers. So, when a colleague informed me about the Grand Cercle Des Vins De Bordeaux tasting event in Santa Monica last week I was excited to be afforded the opportunity to sample some wines that I don’t often get to taste.

There were three really cool things about this event:  1) The year 2013 was an annus horriblus (to borrow a phrase from Queen Elizabeth of England) in which some of the worst weather conditions prevailed to create a very tense growing season, with mixed results at harvest, and all the vintners at Grand Cercle brought along their vintage from that year. 2) To give a nice comparison tasting, most of the vintners also had samples of their 2011 vintage (in some cases they had their 2010), which was another less-than-stellar growing season. 3) Most of the wines were in the “affordable” category – under $30, with many being under $20. (Not all of the wineries have California or even US distributors; the goal of these trade events is to find one.)

The 2011 and 2013 growing seasons posed many challenges for Bordeaux grape growers, with rain, cool temperatures, hail, late bud breaks, forced early harvests, and general weather mayhem. As I tasted wines at the Grand Cercle (I stuck to the Merlots and Sauternes), many of the vintners I spoke with reported that their 2013 harvest was half of their normal output.

  

The 2013 vintages were obviously young, and had the fresh fruit liveliness that I personally love. The Merlots were ripe, but not dense. The 2011s, with two more years of barrel aging, displayed less fruit, but more spice, smoke, chocolate, and tannin – characteristics that develop with age.

Alain Raynaud pours his Chateau du Parc

Alain Raynaud, the driving force behind the event, is himself a vintner as well as Chairman of Grand Cercle. Four years ago Raynaud and his wife purchased Chateau du Parc, a petite, unassuming property in the St. Emillion commune of St. Sulpice de Faleyrans and produced their first vintage in 2011. At this event, Raynaud’s wines were among my favorites. A blend of 80% Merlot and 20% Cabernet Franc, the 2013 had a beautiful nose, with nice florals (violets), and lovely fruit on the palette, while the 2011 had black pepper, espresso, and subtle fruit, including red plums and blueberry. This, du Parc’s first vintage, was very elegant, a character Raynaud says he strives for, and achieves in my opinion. I was happy to see his price, too, at $19.99 a bottle. I’m hoping he gets a distribution deal soon so I can purchase some. 

  

Chateau de Myrat Sauternes

The Sauternes region of Bordeaux also experienced low yields in 2013.The Chateau de Myrat Sauternes from 2013, which is 88% Semillion, 8% Sauvignon Blanc, and 4% Muscadelle,  was very fresh tasting, and easy to drink, making me yearn for warm summer days in my back yard sipping glass after glass. The 2011 had more spice from the aging. This was one of the more expensive wines I tasted, selling for around $40 to $55, but worth it.

It will be interesting to see how the 2013 vintages age, but it may be a good idea to just drink them young. Dany Rolland, a vintner, on behalf of Grand Cercle stated in event literature, “2013 will be a wine to drink when it is young, revealing fruitiness and freshness; it should be a wine for pleasure, devoid of powerful tannin, just plump and not green; an appealing wine that will enable 2008s, 2009s, and 2010s to be left in the cellar out of mind so you can enjoy this cheerful, immediate balance.” 

I’ll drink to that!

Until next time, á votre santé!

Pouring, Sipping, Savoring, Learning

Part of my wine education is experiencing all aspects of the business, and pouring wine for consumers is something I had on my spit bucket list. Until last week, that is, when I got to pour at a really cool event, The Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure 2014, held March 29 and 30 in the historic and beautiful Veterans’ Memorial Hall in Solvang, Calif.

I poured at the Saturday morning seminar, “Rhones Rule: The Wines of Ballard Canyon,” which featured three vintners: Michael Larner of Larner Vineyards, Larry Schaffer of Tercero Wines, and Mikael Sigouin of Kaena Wine Company.  Each vintner brought along two wines, either Grenache or Syrah.

These three vintners either grow or buy grapes in one of California’s newly minted AVAs (American Viticulture Region), Ballard Canyon in the Santa Ynez Valley.  The Federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) recognized this new AVA on October 1, 2013, and Ballard Canyon joined Santa Rita Hills AVA and Happy Canyon AVA as the three distinguished growing areas of Santa Barbara County. Comprising 7,800 acres, it’s located in a canyon located between the towns of Solvang, Buellton, and Los Olivos.

What significance is this to wine consumers?

First of all, we will now begin seeing wine labels from Larner, Tercero, and Kaena, as well as close to a couple dozen other wineries, carry the term “Ballard Canyon,” whereas before they might say “Santa Ynez Valley” or simply "Larner Vineyard."

But even more importantly, the AVA designation signifies that the grapes used in these wines have a proven track record for producing high-quality, world-class wines particularly in the northern Rhone style.

And while there may be similarities in Ballard Canyon AVA wines, there will be significant differences too. There may be more minerality or earthiness to the grapes, depending on which vineyard within the AVA they are grown in, or even within the vineyard, as the geological difference of just one row can create two distinctive grapes styles. 

In general, the grapes grown in Ballard Canyon AVA are aromatic varietals such as Grenache and Syrah for reds and Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne for whites. Many other varietals are grown in Ballard Canyon too, including Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon (reds), Sauvignon Blanc, and Grenache Blanc (whites).

Now, back to the seminar.  How did the Ballard Canyon AVA wines taste? Were they distinctly different or similar? Yes and yes.  

  

The two Kaena Grenaches were from two different Ballard Canyon vineyards. Both were lovely, but the 2011from the Tierra Alta Vineyard ($38) blew me away with its beautiful fruit – raspberries mostly – its lightness, and its refreshingly long finish. It’s a very feminine wine, in my opinion. I would describe the 2011Kaena Grenache from the Larner Vineyard ($44) as more masculine, with pronounced minerality, richer tannins, and an earthiness … but lovely too. Mikael Sigouin hails from Oahu and his winery name and labels reflect his background:  Kaena, per his Web site (www.kaenawine.com) is a shortened version of his native name and means “potential for greatness.” I would agree with that.

Larry Schaffer of Tercero (www.tercerowines.com) also had a 2009 Grenache ($35), which he sourced from the Larner Vineyard. His tasting notes state he, “Just took what I was ‘given’ and made the best wine possible.” And that he did. Also lovely, this version was different from Kaena’s, even though they were sourced from the same vineyard – Tercero’s being less fruit forward, and more earthy and full-bodied.

All three Syrahs were also similar yet distinct. 

Tercero’s 2009 Syrah, sourced from Larner Vineyards, was blended with 5% Viognier, which brings a smoothness to this bold, black fruity, spicy wine. It’s drinkable now, but also suitable for aging five years or more.

Michael Larner, a second-generation vintner, is from the family that owns Larner Vineyards. His label is Larner Wines (www.larnerwines.com). At the seminar he showcased his 2009 ($38) and 2010 ($38) Estate Syrahs. Both displayed the bold black fruit richness of Syrah, with spices and espresso notes. The difference was in the barrels, with the 2009 using some American oak and the 2010 using all French oak – nuances that affect the outcome.

The takeaway from this seminar, besides the fact that all three vintners are passionate, articulate and instrumental in the development of the Ballard Canyon AVA, is that the same grape from the same AVA may find different expressions depending on the exact location within the AVA as well as the wine maker. And, Ballard Canyon AVA is one to watch. All of the wines poured at this seminar were small lots, ranging from just 100 to 300 cases total, so I suggest you hunt them down now before they sell out.

All the wines can be purchased directly from the vineyards or from The Wandering Dog (http://wanderingdogwinebar.com) wine club in Solvang.

Until next time, Cheers!

A special thank you to the producers of The Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure – Stewart McLennan, Doug Minnick, Lisa Dinsmore, and Melanie Webber. I will pour for you any time! For more information visit http://californiagaragistes.com/.

Getting Closure: Corks or Screw Caps?

My collection is varied

My studies for the WSET Diploma have begun and the wine geek in me finds the discussion of brett, malolactic fermentation, lees stirring, and reverse osmosis just fascinating. The average wine consumer need not concern themselves with such matters, but a true and deep understanding of wine production – from vineyard to glass – requires a working knowledge of such concepts.

A topic that’s popping up (pun intended! ) a lot, which is and should be of interest to the wine consumer, is wine closures – those things used to stop the bottle. There’s much talk, research, and debate about natural cork vs. synthetic cork vs. aluminum screw cap vs. other options.

The everyday conversation on corks vs. screw caps sounds something like this: “Wines with a twist-off cap cannot be as good as wines with a cork,” or “Screw cap wine is cheap,” or “It’s just more sophisticated/traditional/fun/ceremonial to open a bottle with a corkscrew.”

The first two topics are debatable and much researched, but I agree with the last point … most of the time. There is a nice vibe to the ritual of uncorking a bottle of wine, hearing that “plop” sound, and then extracting the cork from the corkscrew and testing it with a quick sniff.  The ritual of uncorking a lovely bottle of wine – not to mention the plethora of cool corkscrews now available [I have a large collection] – cannot be replicated with a twist-off cap. 

However, if wine flows as freely in your household as it does in mine the convenience of the twist-off cap is often welcome. I don’t need the uncorking ritual for every bottle I open. I just want that wine pouring into my glass … quickly.

But what about the wine quality issue. Are corks better for wine than twist-off caps and is synthetic cork inferior to real cork?  Does it really matter?

Generally speaking, natural corks are used for premium wines that are meant to age, in some cases 20 years or longer. They have thus far proven to be the best option, although screw cap research is ongoing and may prove this wrong. But for the world’s top wine prod

ucers cork is the closure of choice, and it’s been used for centuries in “old world” wineries. But overproduction of cork, with less-than-perfect production techniques, led to the issue of “cork taint.” Corks are also expensive to produce. These factors all combined sometime in the 1960s to lead to the development of alternative closures for wine.

Cork taint makes a wine smell unpleasantly musty or moldy. If a just-opened bottle smells of cardboard, the wine likely has cork taint. The taint is brought on by the presence of a substance called trichloroanisole, or TCA. Cork manufacturers have been developing methods for treating corks to reduce TCA contamination, as well as making improvements in the processes that lead to TCA contamination in the first place. In fact, a Code of Good Manufacturing Practice for Cork was developed in the early 1990s by the European Cork Federation. [It should be noted that TCA can also be introduced into the wine from barrels and other winery equipment –cork is not always the culprit.]

Aluminum screw caps (left), synthetic corks (middle), and natural corks (right)

Corks can also allow a slow seepage of oxygen into the bottle, and oxygen can be both a friend and a foe in winemaking. Too much oxygen leads to oxidation, a flaw in wine. For example, when a cork dries out and loses its natural elasticity, it becomes ineffective as a seal and oxidation can prematurely age the wine. Oxidized wine has lost its fresh, fruity aromas and becomes flat smelling. Worst case scenario, the oxygen converts the wine’s natural (and desirable) acid into acetic acid, which is basically vinegar. On the flip side of this – and this is what is being intensely studied by the experts – a  little oxygen can be good for the long ageing process, allowing the wine to develop complex flavors and aromas over time.

Synthetic corks are intended for use on wines that are drunk within a year of bottling. And these days, that’s many wines, as the trend is to produce wines for consumption while young. Synthetic corks are not suitable for wines aging longer periods because they do not provide sufficient protection from oxygen, and some synthetics can also harm the flavor of the wine over time. But they come in many pretty colors, and that’s appealing on a marketing level.

Aluminum screw caps have become fashionable, with both producers of high- and low-end wines.  How can you not love a product that provides an impermeable seal from air – hence no oxidation – has been shown to preserve the fruit flavor in wine longer than cork, is less expensive than cork, and offers wine with one quick twist of the wrist? Screw caps are becoming increasingly popular for red, white, and rose wines where the fresh fruit character is important to the winemaker. But some winemakers are worried that the total oxygen seal, which does not allow the small amount of oxygen seen to occur with natural corks, will not allow for the proper development of some wines.

      

The industry continues its long-term studies on corks, synthetics, and aluminum screw caps, as well as on cork-synthetic hybrids, glass toppers (expensive), a thing called Zork (a plastic device with a tear strip that does not require a corkscrew), and other closures. Only time will tell what the results will be, and there are lovers and haters on all sides of the discussion.

Until next time, uncork or unscrew and Cheers!