How did I get Here?

Grape Vines Grown in my Front Yard

How Did I Get Here?

I enrolled in the second semester of Sommelier Certification at Harper College yesterday, and I must admit, I took a brief pause.  What am I doing?  Why am I doing this?  Who or what am I doing this for?  How and why are there grapes growing in my front yard...In Northbrook, IL?  Yep, they are most certainly in my front yard because the back yard does not get enough light.  We have covered that before, lest you forgot, but it is still funny.

So I pondered.  Me, a person who barley if at all remember my dad taking a sip of any alcohol let alone wine.  We grew up on screw top wines before they were in vogue.  Wines like Manaschewicz, and Mogen David.  Hardly fine wines by any stretch.  I also remember taking my first drink.  I was in college believe it or not.  I never liked the taste of beer, and never had any interest in wine.  Finally, after years of trying, beer made sense.  I liked scotch next, and then years later wine.  Wine was a drink I would have with food.  Being in grad school, it was not great wine, but I was interested.

I remembered being newly married and going out to Napa/SonomaValley on a work trip, and having my wife meet me out there.  I know it sounds romantically ridiculous, but the air smelled different.  Things slowed down, and not just because we were drunk.  The mountains, the farms, the WINE.  There was no where to be, and even if there was, we could not get there fast.  It was wonderful.

I remember some of the wineries we visited.  We were young, had no money, and are not planners, so we wandered and often wandered into large, well known wineries.  We stopped by St. Supery, Cake Bread, Kunde, Kenwood, Valley of the Moon, Rombauer,  Beringer, Coppola, Rodney Strong to name a few. These were large production wineries that made largely good product.  We also accidentally wandered into some smaller more intimate wineries.  These included Chateau Potelle (Still a favorite for many reasons) and Regusci.

At the time, Regusci was a laid back location making small production wines that can be measured in the hundreds of cases.  When you walked into their tasting room you were promptly greeted by two corgi dogs and a yellow lab.  The dogs were the fuzzy equivalent of the old men at Walmart who welcome you just to get away from their spouses for the afternoon.  Half awake, more often half asleep, excited to see you for a minute, but not enough to move.

The man behind the counter was from Wales, and had a spectacular accent.  He was pouring for us, and for a group of four to our right, bouncing back and forth, and making jokes in a rather irreverent way. That is until the man to our right said something about paying taxes so that illegals could pick their grapes, and send it back to their homeland...Less jovial, the man from Wales explained that these "illegals" do hard work, and that he should thank and praise them for doing work that wineries could not pay anyone else to do.  "And by the way" he said, "you don't pay any taxes here, you are from Utah."  

At this point one would have expected that the man would leave, but he kept going for a while.  At this point the tasting room guy says, "Isn't it funny, even great wine can taste like S%&T when you have to drink it with an A%& Hole like you.  GET OUT!"  

He then promptly came over to us and apologized profusely.  I told him that his stock went up in my book for that.  He offered us any bottle of wine in the place to share with him.  We chose a Cabernet, and he poured for all of us.  It was then that I fell in love with wine.  He told me, "You know, the opposite is true as well."  Pardon? I said.  He told me a very average bottle of wine shared with great people, or in a great moment can taste fantastic.  You will frequently remember it even more fondly than it deserves."  To this day, that remains true.  I have often had that experience remembering a great bottle, and then returning later to find that it was the moment and not the wine that made it great.

On that same trip we joined the Club at St. Supery as much because they got us drunk as anything else.  We walked the grounds looking at the sculpture gardens, and the art in the tasting room.  It took us an hour and a half to feel comfortable getting into a car.  We still have the goofy pictures to prove it.  We are still members of their reds only club, and happy to be.

Also on that same trip, we stayed at a B and B in downtown Napa.  Pouring at the happy hour was a guy named Tony with a fantastic group of wines, and an even better story.  Chateau Potelle was an estate winery off of a road called the Veeder Grade.  The winery was started by Jean Noel and his wife Margarite.  They were hired by France as Spies to look into the Napa wine-making situation in 1980, and according to them they sent a telegraph back home saying, "Looks Good, We Stay!"  They call their Reserve wines VGS (Very Good SH&T), and until recently had cougar prints on their Zin, Syrah and Chardonnay bottles to represent the need to off the deer on the mountain to protect their grapes.  They too had dogs (Opus was a puppy and recently purchased at an auction at the Opus winery).  The view of the valley from their location on the mountain was also beautiful.  We smartly brought a picnic to the winery and sat on a bench looking out at the beauty below.  Joined that wine club too and are gladly still members til this day.  We consider the team there to be friends, and their wines are more often than not what we turn to for celebration.

Napa has always felt like home.  I have never lived anywhere outside of Chicago, but when we go back, we feel at home.  Good wine, good food, great people, and good friends all make us want to be there even when we are not.

The next memorable wine trip was to Tuscany.  We had been drinking Chianti Clasico Riserva from Monsanto winery for 4 or five years.  The first time we tasted it, the bottle was purchased from gold standard liquors in Skokie, IL.  When I picked up the bottle to purchase it, largely because I thought it was funny that it was called Monsanto, I was immediately yelled at from across the store.  "YES, YES, YES!!!"  The store manager bounced over with so much excitement to tell me that in a blind taste test, that Chianti (1999) won over wines 3 times its price.  We bought a case for 12.99 a bottle.  Sad it is gone.  We had to go to the winery!

Unfortunately driving through Tuscany, while beautiful is not easy or straight forward.  We missed the turn and got to the winery hours later than we were supposed to.  We headed to another winery and hit Monsanto on the way back.  It was beautiful.  Again we were greeted by a dog, a great Pyrenees and a young woman who in broken English said may I help you?  We explained what had happened and apologized.   She told us it happens a lot, and said that while she could not give us a full tour, she would be happy to show us around.  An hour later, we had seen their tunnels, their library of wines stored in beautiful cave "lockers" behind ornate wrought iron gates.  It was a shrine to their family's life.  Wines bottled when kids were born, when people were married, and there was a story to go with every wine.  It was beautiful.  I only wish we had gotten the full tour.  It must have been amazing!  

That night we had dinner in Volpia overlooking the valley at a restaurant called La Bottega.  We ordered a bottle of Chianti Clasico Riserva.  It was amazing.  I understood the concept of a savory wine right away.  Beautiful sour cherries, earth, and almost a balsamic like flavor came through.  The wine had some VA, and was oxidized slightly, but the acid's ability to carry the rich pasta dishes, and how it made me want to take another bite and then another was something entirely new to me.  Being that it was pre 9-11 we brought home wine in our suitcases and it was all Volpaia.  It was great wine, so don't take this the wrong way, but Volpaia owes La Botega some bonus payments because the food and the view at the restaurant sells some wine.  It did for us anyway.

The next trip to highlight was to Spain, where the wines were amazing, and there was no need to spend a lot of money either.  Rioja was cheaper than water in much of the country.  While we did not get to go to a winery, we had a local bottle at all of the restaurants we visited, and were rarely if ever disappointed in what we were drinking.  Wine complimented the food, and the high acid wines matched the foods we ate perfectly.  

I have made many trips to places and paired foods with their wines.  Places like Greece, Israel, Germany, Prague, and many other places of travel.  But it was not until recently that all of this came together for me.  I traveled to Australia, which was really like coming full circle (Of the globe if nothing else).  While there I visited the Yarra Valley.  We drank a lot of good wine.  Jamsheed, Timo Meyer, Yarra Yering, and most notably Mac Forbes.  All were great, don't get me wrong, but what made Mac's Place so great was Mac and his wine maker Austin.  We walked in and Mac was chasing two young kids around the winery.  One was kicking a football and riding his bike seemingly at the same time, and the other required a nappy (diaper) change.  It was like a 3 ring circus.  

Mac Explained that because his wife was away on business, he would not be able to show us around, but that Austin was more than able.  Both of them were like kids in a candy shop excited every day by what they were doing.  You sensed that they felt lucky to be doing it.  And I felt lucky that they were able to do it and share their fantastic wines with us.  Austin took us into the basement of the winery, and shared wines from multiple barrels.  We tasted sweet and off dry Riesling, Pinot Noir, an experimental Nebbiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon.  Some were single vineyard offerings and others blends.  All were ripe and electric with a tense acidic finish.  These were daring, beautiful interesting wines.  Austin was like spider-man climbing the barrel racks for our next tasting.  Clearly OSHA does not apply in Australia.  We were there tasting for over two hours, and did not taste a single bad thing.  Also, the wine was YOUNG only having been in barrels for a couple months, so it was my first tasting of wines that young.  When we were done, we went upstairs to taste the wines from the bottles, they way they meant them to be tasted.  I was fascinated by the aging process, and what it did for these amazing wines.  Rounding edges, Smoothing sharpness, softening tannins were all words I had heard, but now I understood.

What was interesting, is that Mac owns nothing but his label.  He rents the building with all of the equipment, he buys grapes from farmers (He has a lot of say as to how they are grown), so at the end of the day, he is a guy with a big garage, making the wines that he likes to make from grapes grown near bye.  This business model repeats itself with Negociants in France, in the Santa Rita Hills, and in many places throughout the wine making world.  But Mac was the first time I had seen this model at work.

On the flight home I thought, I could do that.  Hmmm.  Can't I?  The answer really is no.  I can't.  Mac has spent a lot of time studying his craft, he has hired wine people who also know a lot about making wine.  However, I can do something like it.  I bought some vines (8 Vines).  I bought some grapes from neighboring vineyards (Lodi and Napa are close neighbors) and I have made wine.  The wine I have made from grapes is good.  Not great, but it is good.  I have learned a lot along the way, and Most importantly I have had fun.

So why am I doing this?  It goes back to Regusci.  Wine-making is an art, it is an organism, it is a social gatherer, it is enjoyment, and finally it is a memory in a bottle.  Making wine allows the winemaker to play with and create all of these things.  Ultimately, I am a person who loves the social aspect of food, and wine and the culture and memories that they together provide.  Perhaps the thought that good wine shared with great company makes the wine better.  But maybe the other is true too.  Good company with great wine makes the time spent together more interesting.  To enjoy wine tags the memory that you are creating.  It is that simple.  Many of the memories I shared in this post are 10-15 years old, and yet I remember many of the details vividly.  The more of your senses that you are able to involve in a memory, the more likely you are to recall the moment.  This is why wine is so important, and why I continue to dedicate hours of my life to the pursuit of its understanding.  I hope you are creating great and exciting memories, and that you are able to make wine, food a friends a big part of them.

Are You some Kind of A Wise Guy?

A Brief Tour of the Outer Coastal Plain AVA

When you think of New Jersey and wine, the picture at left is likely what you think of.  A group of people, sitting around a big table, sharing a bottle with a plate of Spaghetti with a Sugo that Nona slaved over all day long, or in one of the many Italian restaurants in the area.  There is however, more to the wine story in New Jersey than meets the eye.  THEY MAKE WINE IN NEW JERSEY!

While on the stereotype bandwagon, I thought I would stay there and tell you that when I say they make wine in New Jersey, I don't mean in Nona's Basement.  I mean there are wine growers, makers, and a whole wine drinking, tasting thing going on.  Granted, some of it is sweet fruit wine, or wine made from native or hybrid grapes and many are less than great I am sure.  However, there are also dry reds and whites from Vitis Vinifera Grapes (European Wine Grapes; Cabernet and the like).

I was only there for a brief time, and I only got to sample 3 wineries, but what I tasted was an impressive sample that has made me interested in going back and tasting more.  What made me think to taste wine in New Jersey?  This is a shout out to Wine Folly.  If you have not been to their blog you should.  They are one of my favorite sites out there, and I think Madeline Puckette is very good at making the scary wine thing very approachable.

Anyway, she did a blind tasting with 3 Somms and they tasted wines from Bordeaux and a wine from NEW JERSEY and tasted them blind to see if anyone could pick out the wine from Joisy... NOPE.  Also, all of them said the wine was good, and went further to say that it would be good if you had to pay 30 dollars or more.  Madeline even exclaimed because she liked the wine so much blind.  It was a Holy... Oh my, that is sooooooo complex type of proclamation.  And so, I had to taste this wine.

When I got to New Jersey, my first wine destination was Amalthea Cellars in Atco, NJ.  This was the winery that made the wine from Wine Folly, so I thought it only fair to start there.  Upon arriving at the winery, I was greeted promptly and courteously by Megan, a lovely young woman who was quite knowledgeable about the wines, and the area having grown up there her whole life.  She told me that she, "Is a Jersey Girl who loves the area and loves Jersey Wines."  Still Skeptical, I nodded and smiled.  She told me that they have both dry and sweet wines, but are known for their dry reds.  Indecently, other wineries in the area raved about their dry reds as well.  One person described Amalthea as, "Having the dry red wines DOWN!"  I would agree.
I opted for a tasting of the dry whites and reds.  Prior to tasting, I learned that the winery has been in South Jersey for 39 years.  The winery is owned and operated by a guy named Lou Caracciolo who started as a food scientist, and put his passion and know how into making wine.  He is very decorated in the area, but he also won a major wine competition in which his wines beat out wines from France and Napa.  All of the wines were tasted blind, and 100 experts chose his wine as the best in show.  Author George Taber dubbed this the "Judgement of New Jersey."

This had me thinking, maybe there are some good wines made in Jersey...  I then also learned that some of the grapes are grown locally, and sometimes they buy grapes from other growing regions.  Ah HA!!!!  That is it.  What I learned is that the grapes are Estate grown unless there is a green dragon on the label, and that in fact, most of what I was going to taste was from Estate grapes.  Also, the awards were mostly from estate wines.  Hmmpf.  Back to good wines in NJ.  Lets taste already!  Geesh, this is painful.  It really was not there, but to tell a good story, you have to have a build up.

First I tasted a proprietary rose' called Leda (A Tavel style from Cab Franc), and then a Traminette, a Pinot Grigio and a Chadonnay Sur Lie.  The Leda was amazingly complex and yet simple at the same time.  It had your typical strawberry nose with some peppery spice and a bit of floral aroma.  What was interesting on the palate was that it left me with some profound licorice spice.  A good start to be sure.  Next was a Traminette (First taste of this grape ever) which was amazingly floral and had a white tea spicy thing going on.  I think there may have been some botrytis that year as there was also a ginger finish.  Next was the Pinot Grigio which I would say was a bit of a patio wine.  Lemon zest, with a nice acidic tension.  It had a slight nuttiness to it as well and tasted as though it may have spent some time on lees.  Finally, the Chardonay which was a fairly classic Burgundy style Chardonay with Grapefruit, toast and a bit of a hopped herbaceousness.

So far so good.  Nothing bad, and since he is known for his reds, I am interested to get started there.  Perhaps my least favorite thing that I tasted was a Green Dragon Tavern Pinot Noir.  These grapes were from the Sonoma Coast.  It was not bad.  Light and smokey with floral notes and berries.  Just not that barrel funky, forest floor mushroom cold weather Pinot I was hoping for.  Next was a Clone 2 Cabernet Sauvignon.  This is a small berried variety of Cab, and shows accordingly.  Blackberry and Casis with a vegital note.  I was surprised by how ripe and interesting it tasted.  A similar cab quality from Napa would carry a much heftier price tag than the 22 dollars they were asking.  Next I tried a couple of Cabernet Franc options.  This was the money wine if you ask me.  Apparently the soils in the area are sandy, and I know two things about sandy soils.  First, they make good Cabernet Sauv and Franc, and second, that they tend to make wines with with a softer side (Italians say, "Hard soil gives you hard wine, and soft soils give you soft wine")  The first was a 2011 Cab franc which showed a lot of red fruit.  I got strawberry and some black cherries along with a lovely pepper finish.  Tannins were medium plus but very soft and rounded.  A great food pairing wine that would go with a lot due to its nice acid.

I also tried the 2010 Cab Franc, which I later found was one of the best vintages in the area ever.  Some say there will never be another 2010... It was that good.  This was a wine worth cellaring.  It was a red fruit heavy with cherries, plum and strawberries and of course a great white pepper finish.  The Tannins were big but balanced and the finish was amazing and very long.  All of this for 28 bucks.  I would say a great value.  I should say that I am a big fan of Cab Franc and I would also say that Cab Franc is what this area does best.

Finally, I tried the wine that Madeline had on Wine Folly.  The 2012 Europa which is an homage to Chateau Latour of Bordeaux fame. (2000 dollars a bottle for Latour).  This is a cab sauv, Franc and Merlot blend in the style of the left bank.  It had black cherries, currant, some tobacco, and a cedar smokey finish.  This was a great balanced wine, and if I tasted it blind I would have guessed old world for sure.  I agree that this is a wine that was not just good for New Jersey, it was really good wine by any standard.  at under 30 dollars, good luck finding anything measurably better.

I did try one of their sweet wines, and that was a wine called solara, which is kept in a ...Solara which is normally used to make Sherry.  In this case, they started with red wine, and made a very funky smelling dessert wine that was half port, and half sherry.  It was very complex, and I loved it.  I would suspect others would not. It had baking spice and funk, with orange peal and finishes with an unmistakable chocolate.  High acid means it is not too sweet. 

My only criticism is that some of the wines had a bit too much oak for my taste, but that is being very picky.  I am super happy that I went there, and I will be ordering wine from Amalthea soon.

The final point I will make is one that Lou makes often and that is if you flip NJ over, the shape looks a lot like Bordeaux.  The soils are similar as well.  It is no surprise that the wines that do well are the same ones that do well in Bordeaux.

My next stop was Herritatge.  They made some good wines and some that I did not love.  I would say in general, they suffered from a profound over oaking.  They made a lot of different wines, and they were among the busiest and well known wineries in the area.

What I will say is the setting is beautiful, the people were lovely and accommodating, and the wines were well made.  I would only say that the oak was a bit heavy handed on most of it.  Their best wine was the Cabernet Franc again, and I loved it.  It had less fruit than many with the usual red and black and the pepper finish, but it also had baking spices and a nice herbal tone.  Their Chardonnay, their BDX (Bordeaux Blend) and their Syrah were all good but not anything I would go running back to.  Better than one would expect from NJ however, and I am likely not going to be seen turning down any one of those wines either.

I am not the norm on my feelings as Heritage has probably received more awards than most of the other wineries in the area.  They are also a marketing powerhouse, and do a great job getting the word out about their wines.  They won NJ winery of the year in 2014 and once in 2010 before that.  Again, the wines are good, but they are also more suited to the middle and not the most interesting I had while in the area.

Finally, I stopped at Bellview Winery, another family owned and operated winery in Landisville, NJ.  All of the wines at Bellview are estate wines.  They do make sweet wines to, "pay the bills" but make no mistake, this is a serious wine making group that makes some great dry reds and whites from some of the usual Vinifera grapes but also from some local an hybrid varieties as well.  The Quarella family still owns and operates the winery and they started from farming roots.  They have owned the land for 4 generations, and are passionate about allowing the land to produce the best grapes, and then doing as little as they have to in order to make good wine in the winery.  They recognize that in cold climate areas there are good years and bad years, but they only release varietal wines in years in which they are happy with the product.  Otherwise they blend.

I tasted several of their offerings including a nice crisp pinot Grigio which had a lively acidity and flavors of green apple and a lemon acidic finish.  Nothing spectacular here, but a great food pairing wine.  In fact, what I would say about all of their wines is that they would pair beautifully with food.  Sofia gave me the tour, and as a former cook, she said that is precisely what she likes about their wines.  Next I tried the Viognier 2013, which is my favorite white grape, and it was very true to the variatal with stone fruits (White peach and Apricot) as well as grapefruit on the acidic finish.  It is a soft lovely lux wine that I enjoyed very much.  I also tried the Chardonay which was lightly oaked and had the buttery finish but not the oaky butter bomb version, it was far more subtle and balanced beautifully with the acid from the green apple.  It also finished with a bit of marzipan.

On to the reds.  The first sample was Chambourcin 2012 which was a bit like a chocolate covered strawberry with a bitter finish.  This was not bad, but not my favorite wine.  I have nothing to compare to as I have never tried Chamourcin before.  Next I tried the Syrah which had a lot of bold and spicy flavors.  None of the Rhone Meaty stuff.  Red and black fruit with black pepper and tobacco.  A nicely balanced wine with Medium tannins.

Perhaps the best surprise was the Blaufrankisch 2013 which I loved.  This wine was complex with cherry, toffee, tea and spice.  The finish was long and the acid was high for a red wine, but not overly so.  I really wanted food with this wine too.  Next the Centennio which is a blend and had a ton of black tea, cherry, and orange.  It was a nice middle weight wine with good finish.  Finally I tried the Petit Verdot 2013.  This was the biggest wine by far.  It had great black color and black fruit.  Berries and casis, cedar, vanilla, and big tannins.

Next I tried the Cab Franc from the tanks because it was not yet bottled.  This was the best Cab Franc for tasting the Terroir.  Soft with ample tannins and a great acid backbone.  there was a floral, red fruit and spice thing but the wood took a backdrop role on this wine and did not step forward like so many of the others.

I am by no means an expert on the Outer Coastal Plain AVA but these three wineries offered a good start.  Next time you think about wine in New Jersey, maybe you will get beyond the Sopranos stereotype.  I know I will.

Sta. Rita Hills AVA, Santa Barbara, CA

Tell someone you are going to wine country in the US, and almost always you get a response that sounds like, "Oh, have you been to Napa before."  You may also hear, "Napa or Sonoma?"  Perhaps if someone is really into wine, they may ask if you are going to the finger lakes, or Willamette Valley.  Truth is, grapes are made into wine in all 50 states, some more successfully than others for sure, but Virginia, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and many others are beginning to make good wines from grapes grown on their soils.  It should also come as no surprise that grapes are grown throughout California, and not just in Napa that make some fantastic wines.  We just got back from such a place.  It was beautiful, heartland farm country, none commercial in the way Napa valley is, and in many ways an opportunity to simplify a wine country experience, while still enjoying wines that are fantastic, exciting, and stand up to food, maybe even better than the wines of "The Napa Valley."

Now, I say this tongue in cheek a bit, because I still do love Napa, but if you are willing to get out of your comfort zone, and spend some time doing research, which in my eyes was part of the fun, you will find winemakers and not marketers, willing to spend time with you talking about their passion for making great wines.

Just for this article, in case you were wondering,  Sta Rita Hills, which one cannot spell out Sana Rita Hills due to a lawsuit, but you are more than welcome to say Santa Rita Hills, just don't spell it out.  I am a little nervous that I will get brought up on charges, so for the remainder of this edition, you will see Sta and not Santa.
Ok, so knowing we were going, I reached out to Angela Osborne (owner and winemaker at "A Tribute To Grace" Winery), who has now played travel guide for me twice.  Once for this trip, and the second time was for a trip I took to the Yarra Valley in Australia last year.  She gave me many suggestions for people in the region who are doing great things.  In the absence of that, you could have read Jon Bonne's book, New California Wines, or The Wine Bible, and you would have found great places to start.  In both books they list wineries that are making great wines, and maybe not the ones that have the biggest advertizing budget.  Also, in regions like this, many of the wine makers will tell you who they think is worthy of visiting, and many times, they are not the usual suspects.  I suggest doing this anytime you are going on a wine-cation. 

Los Alamos, Ca

Fittingly, we started our trip last Monday with Angela, who took us to lunch in Los Alamos, CA, at a restaurant called Bell Street Farms.  This was a cute little place in a cute little town owned by a man who weekends in the area, and thus the restaurant is only opened from Thursday until Monday every week.  The food, like so much of the food in the area, is Farm to Table, but in this case, the farms are like 5 minutes from the restaurant.  Meats, breads, veggies all locally sourced, and it tastes like food from your garden.  It was really that fresh.  We talked to Angela about the area, her wine making, potty training kids (She has a two year old and one on the way), and had fantastic food.


From there, we went to A Tribute to Grace Winery, and I was sooooooooo glad that we were able to follow her there, because the winery is a co-op in which she rents space.  It is owned by Andrew Murray, another local wine maker in Los Olivos, in an area referred to as Area 51.  The drive in, like so much of the region is beautiful.  Rolling hills, Mountains, Crops of strawberries, squash, grapes, cattle being raised on grass, horses in pasture, and more grapes.  Far from the grapes only landscape of Napa.  In the area called area 51 there were also oil drills that were pumping away at the earth as well.  Area 51 was a fitting name for the location.

Tribute made about 1000 cases last year from 3 sites.  This year they will make 2400 cases from 7 single vineyard sites, including 2 that come from very tiny vineyards with vines dating back to the 20s and 40s.  It is a beautiful case study in place!  Angela color codes her labels and right now she is trying to decide what colors to use on her new bottles.  We drank each of her wines from the barrels.  Many were done fermenting and aging away nicely, some were a bit fizzy still undergoing Malolactic fermentation, a process that makes wines less acidic and increases the buttery mouth feel.  This MLF as it is called is why Chardonnay will often taste like butter.  Bacteria are used to convert Malic acid into lactic acid (Lactic acid is the same acid found in dairy and is less sharp than Malic).  What was cool about this experience besides the fact that Angela is like the nicest person ever, is that she only makes wines from Grenache, and yet, all 7 of her wines are different.  It is a great example of what growing the same grapes in different vineyards will do to a wine.  In addition, tasting while the wine is young gave us a great understanding of what time does to a wine.  These wines were Tannic, acidic, and like unruly teenagers.  Having had here wines before, I know that these wines will be perfectly balanced by the time they see the bottles that they are destined for.

Sea Smoke Vineyard from the Top

From there to sea smoke.  A tour that almost never happened.  You see, I called them and asked for a tour and was told, "We don't do tours."  Then I med a guy who shall remain nameless who said call them and tell them I thought you should have a tour.  I met him in the aisles of Costco, can't reach him now, don't really know him, and yet, he got us in.  Thanks CC.  We met a nice man in a VW Gulf at the gate named Victor Gallegos who is the GM of the winery and who was with his dog Luna.  The name Luna is fitting because they are a biodynamic winery.  As victor told us, he converted one plot over slowly prior to taking the whole winery that direction, because he feels making slow change is the best way.  Victor could not have been more gracious.  You need to understand that Sea Smoke does not do tours, and they don't really need to do tours because they sell out routinely.  That said, He was a fantastic tour guide, and a great person to share his passion with us about the winery, and what they are trying to do there.  Victor took us on a tour of a twisting and turning dirt road up the side of a mountain, through the 900 acre vineyard.  If 900 acres sounds huge, it is because it is.  Sea Smoke is in a bowl formed by mountains, and although they hold 900 acres, they only have 160 acres planted with vines.  With a view from the top u could see much of the wineries in Lompoc.  He explained that their neighbors were some of the big names in the Ava.  Stanford, etc...

Clay soils on a mountain farmed biodynamicly but they water... Why, there is no water no matter how far u dig. So they have to or the vine dies.  This goes back to Victor's theory about slow change.  He knows a guy who liked the concept of dry farming, and the guy stopped watering the vineyard.  Because these are high elevation wineries, on mountains that don't hold a lot of water, and there is a drought, in his eyes, the equation is simple.  You water, or the vine dies.  "There is no such thing as dry farming, it is a marketing term." was his thought.  "You do what is best for the vine, and that is all you can do."  In the case of Sea Smoke, you water but just enough, and they are doing what they can scientifically to make sure that their vines are getting the water they need, and nothing more.

Victor shared a bottle of Sea Spray, their proprietary name for the Champagne style, blanc de noir sparkler.  We had a view of the entire vineyard, but also saw why it is Pinot country.  It is cold and WINDY, so much so that after a while, we needed to get out of the wind so that we did not freeze.  Victor took us down the hill  and even showed us their newest facility equipped with Riddeling cages.  These were large machines used to disgorge the bottles.  I should also mention that Sea Spray was a delicious, bone dry champagne with no sugar added to the dosage.  This was yet another case of a really nice guy who makes really great wine in the Sta Rita Hills.

That night we went for dinner at the Santa Ynez kitchen.  There were too many great things on the menu to choose so we ended up booking a reservation for Thursday Night as well.  That night we got a Jonata winery (Of Screaming Eagle Fame) blend, and it was beautiful with out short rib ragu.  The food was fantastic.  We also got a pizza and a panna cota for dessert.

Sign over Liquid Farm

The next morning we woke up and went to a winery with perhaps my favorite name.  The wine is labeled Liquid Farm holds, and the winery holds a pick early and maintain the integrity of the grape mentality.  The grape, whose integrity they hold so dear is Chardonnay.  It is not however your typical California Chardonnay.  Much of it is done in Neutral oak barrels, and the grape, and the place in which it was grown is what stayed with you.  We tried 6 wines with winemaker James Sparks who is for lack of better description a wine guy through and through.  He loves the stuff and is passionate and it oozes from his being.

We tasted a rose and 4 other chardonnay options and a special wine that James is, "Trying to decide what to do with."  It is his own project, and one that he is proud of, a Grenache from Santa Maria Valley. The Chardonnay tasting was done from least complex to most.  All were plenty complex and interesting, all got wood to some extent and in various levels of newness, and all came from different sites in the area.  Rose is from Mourvèdre and Grenache. Had nice acid and was a great patio sipping wine.  We then tried the white hills which had tropical fruit and green apple with a nice buttery nose that was well balanced with a great amount of Limey acid.  Next we tried next was la Germans which was from Santa Maria and was a study in minerality with little fruit.  Golden slopes was next which gets newer wood and was a big wine with pommacious fruit and toasty goodness.  Finally the four was similar to the golden slopes, which had a bit more mustiness from the barrel adding complexity.  These were destined for the Golden Slope wine but got pulled upon tasting due to its wonderful complexity.  Therefore, 4 is like the "Reserve wine" from Liquid Farm.  I will say that this wine has a long finish.  I may still be tasting it a week later if it were not for the fact that we tasted a lot of wines that week.

We then grabbed lunch at Industrial eats.  Here it was an Indian Coliflower dish and a Bohn Mi sandwich.  We paired this meal with a Gruner Vetliner by Solminer, another local winery.  Yep, Gruner in California.  Very Crisp and acidic and paired well with both.  The next winery we visited was Stolpman.  Stolpmans property is beautiful and has a rare estate grown and bottled thing going on among people who make wine and don't farm grapes.  When we arrived at the estate Pete was working the fields bit urges U.S. To look around.  We did and took pictures of the picturesque property.  The wines were wonderful highlighted by his Roussane blend as well as his Syrah.  Besides tribute to Grace, Stolpman's wines were among our favorites in the area.  These were perfectly extracted wines with good acid and fantastic aging potential.  His wine club is a good value as well.

From there we went back to the same building that Liquid Farm was in (Called the Bodega) it is a co-op warehouse in which wine is made.  The winery this time was Lofi.  Craig, one of the wine makers, met us in the back of the bodega, and talked about the philosophy of making wines to be enjoyed young.  They were that.  Really great acid profiles, nicely made straight forward wines that would pair well with food. My favorites were the Cab Franc and the Riesling followed by an esoteric Cinsault that smelled like Marijuana, and tasted great to me, but admittedly was not for everyone.  That night we went back to the B&B we were staying at, for... a wine tasting, and did a sing-a-long with Jim, one of the inn keepers.  If you go to the area, stay at the 4 friends Inn (Free Commercial).  It was a great experience and a wonderful place with wonderful owners who are after all, White Sox fans from Chicago.

Dinner that night was at sides where we had arugula salad and lamb loin which we paired with a Grenache blend from Beckman vineyards. The salad was fantastic, and the lamb was rich and perfectly cooked with some yummy gnochi on the side.

The next day, we decided to get away from the wine thing, but were unable to do that.  We drove to Ojai, which everyone described as an old Hippie town that was rustic.  It may be an old Hippie town, but it was FAR from rustic.  This is a great place to shop for art, and jewelry, as well as a place to hike, do yoga, eat great food, and to find yourself.  There is also a great little winery, and Angela told us the winemaker there, is one of the "best winemakers in the world."  His name is Adam Telmach, and I came to find later that he had trained a lot of the top winemakers in the region (Angela Included).  We went to the tasting room without an appointment.  Started tasting with a Chardonnay got neutral barrels and. some butter that was well balanced with acid.  This was again more in a balanced style  picked early to keep the acid high and the Abv low.  Next we tasted the sauv blanc which had tropical fruits, red grapefruit, a bit of they cat pee thing and some minerals with a mild grassiness.  It was equally nice and had some racy tension.  The Pinot was light in color And had great red fruit bit also that dark Forrest floor thing with a little Pinot barrel funk/mushrooms thing going on.  Grenache was easy drinking with nice structure but was a nice burger or pizza wine.  All were good.  Then we realized that the winemaker Adam was sitting behind us and we said hi, and let him know that Angela told us he was the best winemaker on the planet. He talked for a bit and then said, let me get you something nice to try.  First we got the Syrah on the list which was beautiful in its own right with black fruit, blue fruit, a meatiness and a olive pepper finish.  When we were done Adam poured the 2011 Roll Ranch Syrah which was a more complex version of its brother.  We then tried the ice wine made from Viognier.  It was a lovely honeyed pitted fruit balanced dessert wine.  I asked about botrytis and was told it rarely happened here but in 2006 they had some Chardonnay with it and made an ice wine.  It peaked Adams interest so they opened a bottle to share.  It was also a pitted fruit luxurious beauty with a bit of orange and some lovely honeyed ginger.  This one had a big luxurious mouthfeel and was a beautiful complex beast of a dessert wine:  so balanced and lovely.  I am calling it a dessert wine, but truthfully I would love to eat it with some fantastic blue cheese or with some Foie.

4 Friends Inn

From there, we drove back to the Inn for a sing-a-long and went for dumpy Mexican food   This was a place called California Burito and both the service as well as the food was much better than the strip mall taco joint would have suggested. It was also farm to table and beautiful in its simplicity) We finished the bottle of Jonata that night, and went to bed.

Dimetria Winery Tasting Room

The next morning we went to Dimetria, which was another winery we sared with a tasting room with the winery dog, some birds and a cat, and sat sipping and tasting amongst the estate grown grapes.  The wines were Rhone varietals.  The first was a white with Marsane, Roussane, Grenache blanc and Picpoul grapes.   We also tried many reds and they had  the usual Rhone suspects (Syrah, Grenache etc.)  These were a bit more tannic and big wines than what we had been drinking but Demitria is a great advocate for biodynamic farming and wine production.  Also, as an added bonus, the property is so beautiful that you could eat or drink anything there and they would taste better, just due to the natural beauty.  Cuve Maria and Picpoul were among my favorite wines at this site, but most of their estate wines were great.

We next went to Foxen winery in Los Olivos.  Foxen Was among the largest of the wineries we visited making everything from.... Well everything.  Syrah, Chardonay, Sauv Blanc, Bordeaux style blends, Rhone Style Blends, and many more.  They have two tasting rooms, the original which is a barn shack that I am so proud of them for keeping.  It is a cool old building with outdoor tasting space and two hip people pouring.  It is here that they carry their more rustic wines.  They also have a very modern tasting room.  All power for the winery is governed by solar energy.  The owners are Dick and Bob, and they make shirts that say if you don't know Foxen, you don't know Dick...Or Bob.  Despite their success, it would seem that they have kept their sense of humor.  John was pouring at the tasting room, and he was an interesting cat.  He also was asking a lot of questions about my program, and before I left, he put me in the system as trade, ensuring that I get a nice discount on anything I order.  I LOVE THEM!!!  I am not sure I can exactly be impartial here as they were the first winery every to call me trade.  For that reason, I will always remember Foxen... You always remember your first after all.

Watching Humming Birds at Andrew Murray

We also tasted at Andrew Murray who has a lot of heavier, "bigger" wines of Rhone varietals of a good value, some of which are even carried at Costco.  I liked his Roussane blend best of all.  His Syrah was good, but after the more light acidic wines I had been drinking all week, they seemed heavy handed.

The final tasting that we did was at Qupe which means poppy in the Native American language that was prevalent in the area before we stole their land.  These wines were among our favorites in the valley.  Well balanced with racy acidity and sourced mostly from cool climate locations.  We particularly loved the Roussane  here as well, and also really liked many of their Syrah blends ranging in style from northern Rhone like in their meaty, herbal qualities, to southern Rhone like with more fruit and spice (Think Chateaunuf).

Back to SYK (Santa Ynez Kitchen).  This time it was fascinating.  On Thursday, they do a 3 course tasting menu for 35 dollars and any bottle of local wine you bring is corked for free.  There were locals everywhere including a table of winemakers that were talking shop.  They each brought a bottle of wine, some their own, others from all over the world.  I was jealous.  They would drink and talk about what they would like their last sip to be prior to their own death.  Some again sited local, others Rhone, and others still Bordeaux.  It was fun to be a fly on the wall, but it would have been more fun if I were tasting along with them.  It looked like a lot of fun, and it was definitely a great lineup of premium wines.  This one dinner summarizes what makes this place so different.  A group of guys sitting around with the locals, all of whom they knew, and all of whom knew them, geeking out over wine.  They were off the clock, and still talking about work and they were loving it.  Again, Jealous.

View From Stolpman Vineyard

Many of the wines made in the region are made at high altitudes in cool climates.  This allows for tannin development from the sunlight, but longer hang time.  These are structured wines with good aging potential due to both the tannic structure as well as the medium high acidity that most of these wines possess.  This is a BEAUTIFUL part of our country and one that you should try to visit if you like the qualities of the wines that I just described.

I for one will be back.  I love me some Napa valley, I also love Sonoma, but this is a part of the country that stands on its own, and I believe one that will get more popular for many reasons.  Good wine, beautiful country, beaches near bye, proximity to LA, and many more.  Please try to get there before "THE MAN" ruins its natural beauty.  You will thank me for the tip.

Greece

Greece

Fifteen years ago this year, I had just gotten married to my wife of, well, 15 years, and off to Greece we went on our honeymoon.  We were young, we were in love, and we were excited to go to another country and spend some time on the beach.  Athens was the first place we ventured.  We stayed there four days.  They were getting ready to host the Olympic games, and the city was a buzz.  The subway had just been build, and the Euro had not been introduced as the Greek Currency.   We loved the history of the city, and while dirty, the dirt was thousands of years old, making it interesting dirt.  We loved it.

Next off to Mykonos where we saw the historic windmills, we sat on beaches, ate fresh seafood, and walked a lot.  We even tried to rent a scooter, which was a bad idea, and fortunately the guy who was going to rent it to us agreed.  

Next it was off to Santorini.  Why am I telling you this?  Well, what we learned was that Santorini was among the most important wine producing regions of Greece, and that we had to go wine tasting there... Hmmm, the Greeks make wine...I mean besides Uncle Nick in his basement of course.  But the Greeks in fact do make wine.  They may very well have been the first to make wine (3000 BC), and likely spread the mighty Vinous Vinifera (Grape vine) throughout the world.  In fact, the first French to make wine were the Greek Immigrants in Marssalia (Modern day Marseilles).  In Italy it is likely, although disputed that Aglianico and Greco grapes are most likely Greek in origin.  The Greeks surely took their grapes and went north to the Black sea and the banks of the Danube.

The Greeks also recognized the holiness of wine and drank it liberally.  They allowed people of all classes access, and as they did, the need to plant more vineyards rose.  It was classic supply and demand, but since it was wine, it was more fun than your typical Economics class.  They also developed the first wine labels and a basic classification system.  So you see, if not for the Greeks, I probably would have one less obsession, and I am not talking about baseball.

So I know the next question because I had it too.  Why if they were like the wine gurus in ancient times, have they sunk to such vinous obscurity?  One word, Retsina.  What is Retsina?  I knew you would want to know that.  Retsina is an aromatized wine that Greek wine makers call a traditional wine.  In the good old days, Greek wines were made in Amphorae, and the way in which the Amphorae were sealed was with pine resin.  Now a days most wines are stored in far less fragile barrels, however, the Greeks got used to putting the Aleppo pine resin in their wines, and thus, they add pine resin on purpose.  Lets just say one person's comforting flavor might just be an acquired taste for others.Generally made from the Savvatino grape, Retsina is still made, but may not be labeled with a vintage.

As for the less "traditional" wines, Greece has been dominated by a few producers such as Boutari and Tsantali however, it is the smaller makers that are likely to put Greece back on the wine making map.  Like Italy, there are a lot of indigenous species of grapes to play with, and the future for quality wines coming out of Greece looks quite bright.

The climate in Greece (I almost feel stupid saying this) is Mediterranean or sub-tropical, and there is a rain-shaddow in effect in much of the growing areas.  Long hot and dry summers allow for plenty of sunlight to allow the grapes to adequately ripen.  There are also a lot of mountains in Greece making for various elevations at which to grow.

Greek wine laws are confusing.  There is the PDO or Protected Designation of Origen, under which are 2 designations.  First the Controlled Appelation of origin for traditional and sweet wines. and the second is called the Appellation of Superior Quality (OPAP) for dry wines.  PDO wines may also be Reserve wich indicates 9 months of age for white wines, and reds have a minimum of 2 years aged with at least 1 in barrel.  Grand Reserve wines require 2 years of aging for whites and a minimum of 4 years for reds with at least 18 in a bottle.

Below the PDO wines is a category called PGI (Protected Geographical Indication).  There are two types of wines here.  Varietal wines and Table wines.  PGI contains the traditional appellations.  PGI wines also may have additional designations including CAVA.  This is not the same as Spanish Cava.  These are still wines.  Cava means that the wines have a minimum of one year aging for whites, and 3 for reds.  They may also be Cava, Palaiomenos se vareli which means that the wines were on oak for a longer time than Cava alone requires.

Another quick cheat is that under the foil at the top of the bottle may be a pink or blue ribbon.  Pink indicates dry wines and blue sweet.

Greece has 19 major wine regions.  On the mainland Macedonia, Epirus, Peloponnese, Thessalia, Thrase and Sterea Ellada are the major communities.  The Islands also produce many wines.  The Aegean and Ionian Islands are the major classifications there.  

Perhaps the most exciting wine region in Greece is Macedonia.  Macedonia has 4 PDOs Naoussa and Amynteo (PDOs) produce transcendent dry reds from a grape called Xinomavro (Acid Black).  This is a firmly tannin heavy structured red that shares a lot of black fruit and spice, and the one we had in class was very Syrah like with a meatiness that tasted a bit like bacon.  Amynteo is Greeces coolest region and the only one that allows rose wines.  These range from still to sparkling, dry to sweet.

Slopes of Meliton (Plagies Melitona) is a single appellation PDO and it produces wines from  Cab, Cab Franc, and Limnio, Assyrtiko, Athiri and Rhoditis.

Thessalia is just south of Macedonia.  Rapsani PDO includes four villages on the lower slopes of mount olympus.  This is the furthest south you will see the Xinomavro grape and the heat of the region softens the tannins and acid.  Messenikola PDO produces reds and whites, whereas Anchialos PDO only produces white wines blended from Rodits and Savvatiano grapes that are grown in high altitude vineyards.Epirus is on the ionian coast to the west of Thessalia and contains but one PDO called Zitsa.  They produce dry, semisweet and sparkling wines from the Debina grape.

Sterea Ellada is where Retsina is still made.  Roditis is also planted there which is a quaffable pink wine that is not going to offend or excite anyone.  There are no PDOs designated here.

Peloponnese peninsula is directly south of central Greece.  There are 3 PDO zones here called Nemea, Mantinia and Patras.  Agiorgitiko (St. George) grapes are king here and make sweet and dry wines.  This is a soft tannic wine with intense black fruit flavors.   St, George from Koutsi is one of the better versions of the grape which can taste quite different depending on the elevation in which it is grown.

Peloponnese  also has PDO zones that produce whites only.  This includes Moschofilero (Similar to Muscat) is the primary grape in Mantinia PDO wines.  These are among Greece's best white wines.

Patras is an appellation of dry white wines produced from Roditis, but there are also dessert wine PDO zones as well.  Muscat of Patras, Muscat Rio Patras and Mavrodaphne of Patras.

The Ionian Islands have 4 wine producing islands which include Cephalonia, Kerkyra (Corfu), Lefkada and Zakynthos.  Cephalonia is the only ionian island to get a PDO for dry white wines. produced from Robola grapse.  PDOs for sweet wines are also produced on the island.Zakynthos produces and obscure sherry-like wine.

The Agean Islands have  many PDOs.  Crete has 2 red PDOs Archanes and Dafnes.  Sita and Peza allow both red and white wines.  Three new PDO zones were added in 2012.  These include Candia, Malvasia Candia and Malvasia Sitia.  White wines on Crete are made from Vidiano and Liatiko  (One of the most ancient grapes and one that produces "Orange" wine).  Red wines are made from Mandilaria blended with Kotsifali.  Many of the young winemakers are mixing Kotsifali with Syrah changing the landscape of Crete's winemaking.

The Cylades, so named because they form a circle around the island of Delos include wine making islands Santorini and Paros.  Santorini PDO is an exciting appelation producing wines from Assyrtiko grapes sometimes blended with Athiri and Aidani.  The vines are trained into bowls close to the ground both to save water, and to protect them against the high winds on the island.

The island has poor volcanic soils producing mineral wines from Assyrtico that often has a slight saltiness and fantastic clean, bright acidity.  A dry grape wine is produced called vinsanto, likely named by the Italians.  Paros produces red and white wines from Mandilaria(Red) and Monevvassia (White) grapes.

Samos makes Muscat of Samos PDO.  These can be Vin doux naturel, Vin de liquor and naturally sweet versions called Samos Nectar.

Lemnos and Rhodes have 2 PDOs each.  Lemnos wines are wite dominated by Muscat and may be dry or sweet.  Lemnio is the red grape and it is very ancient.  Rhodes produces PDO red and white from Mandilaria and Athiri.  Muscat of Rhodes are very rare.

So hopefully the wines of Greece will be less "Greek to you" in the future.

Germany

Germany

Usually I start with a map, or a historic picture, but the picture at left lets you in a bit more on who I am as a person.  You see, I have an immediate gratification problem.  The picture to the left is proof of that, because it is a classic bottle used for bottling German wine from Franken, one of the 13 wine regions of Germany.  As you probably guessed, like the Fiasco in Italy, this does not usually carry the best quality German wine, but it sure is a cool bottle.

It is also my FAVORITE part of the education I have received to date on Germany.  The Bottle you see is called a Bocksbeutel.  Funny right?  

I should probably translate, then surely you will get it.  Bocksbeutel in German translates to goat scrotum.  Now it is funny right!!!! Couldn't wait to get back home to type that. 

German wine is not unlike their cars.  It is crisp, it is well made, it is technical in its approach.  It is also great, and some might argue that a German Riesling is the best white wine made on the planet.  I will also say that like the cars, the good ones can be very expensive.  It is said that German wines represent place in much the same ways that the great Burgundy wines do.  Incidentally,  Burgundy is the other region often argued to have the greatest wines in the world both reds and whites.  Why we need to argue over whose is better, I will never know, I say drink them both.

As you can see the German wine region is largely distributed in the southwest corner of the country.  There are 13 wine making regions in Germany making varying levels and qualities of wines.  The country is so far North, that ripening of grapes is a challenge in most years regardless of where a vineyard is located.  The best vineyards face South, giving the grapes optimal sun exposure, and therefore the best chance of adequately ripening.  The best vineyards are protected either by forest, mountains, or by water from the elements and sometimes all of the above.  That is why German Vineyards hug the rivers on seemingly impossibly steep terraced vineyards.  Risidual heat off of the water, and the reflection of sunlight help the grapes ripen more predictably.

Since Germany is a country in which the biggest challenge is sunlight, and therefore the ripeness or sugar content of the grapes, it is little wonder that the quality standards revolve around how ripe the grapes are that will contribute to the finished wine. 

This is turning into a bit of a picture book, but at left, you can see the classification system for sweetness of the must.  This is important, because the must is sweet in all wines prior to fermentation.  We are not discussing Residual Sugar here, so wines can be sweet or dry at any point on this ladder.  The bottom 2 rungs of the ladder are simple quaffing wines.  Frequently sugar is added prior to fermentation because the grapes are under ripe.  Most of these wines stay in Germany so you will not find them frequently in the stores.

The more interesting wines are the Qualitatsweins or QbA wines (Quality wines) and the better Qualitaatswein mit Pradikat (Quality wines with attributes).  The latter are the wines from the best vineyard spots in Germany.  The lowest quality by sugar content is Kabinett, followed by Spatlese and Auslese.  The top two are generally over ripe and noble rot has generally set in.  They are BA or Beerenauslise, and TBA TrockenBeerenauslese.  These are always sweet.  Finally Eiswein (Ice Wine) is made after grapes have frozen.  The wine is pressed while the grapes are still frozen and the sugar is pressed out while most of the water in the grape remains frozen.  Therefore, the sugar and alcohol is high, and these wines have low yield, high acid, and are sweet.  Canada and parts of the united states also make good ice wines through the same process.  The wines are delicious and despite the high residual sugar, they have great balance from the acid left in the wine.

Sugar content is measured in Oechsle.  Water has 0 degrees and for every gram of sugar per liter, it increases the Oechsle by one degree.  Kabinett is 67-85 degrees, Spatlese is 76-95 degrees, Auslese is 83-105 degrees, Beerenauslese is 110-128 degrees and Trackenbeerenauslese is 150 to 154 degrees.  Eiswein is 110 to 128 degrees Oechsle.  In other words 1 liter of water at 67 degrees Oechsle would have a specific gravity of 1067.

There are 3 main grapes of Germany, but Riesling is the most important and most elegant.  You see, Riesling cares about the soil it is planted in very much, and Germany, particularly in the Rheingau and in Mosel have the perfect soils for the grape.  Riesling is also very tolerant of cold weather, and thus, even when it is less ripe, can make some very nice wines.   Other grapes grown of importance include Spatburgunder (Pinot Noir) and a hybrid white grape created in hopes of making a more cold tolerant Reisling called Muller-Turgau.  Muler was a cross between Riesling and Madeleine Royale, and produces mostly high yield vines that never lived up to Riesling's quality.

 In addition to the big 3, Germany also grows Pinot Gris (Grauburgunder), Pinot Blanc (Weissburgunder), Kerner, Bacchus and Silvaner. 

 

As one might expect from Germany, the wine labels of the country are full of information, in fact, you will know more about a German wine prior to opening the bottle than you will any other wine in the world.  You see, they will tell you what grapes were used, whether it is dry or sweet, where it is from, when it was bottled, and much more.  Unfortunately, all of this information comes at a cost.  Many feel that because the bottle is so full of information, that it is hard to read and understand.  This may be a big reason for the relative lack of popularity of German wines throughout the world.  Don't be scared.  Jump in, it is well worth the time.  One thing to know and that is any wine listed Troken on the label will be dry.  Halbtrocken will be off dry. Another way to find a dry German wine is to look for a GG (Grosses Gerwachs)on the label, and a third is to find a wine marked VDP with an eagle on the bottle.

There are 13 Anbaugebiete (Regions) of Germany.  They are Mosel (Formerly Mosel-Saar-Ruwer), Ahr, Mittelfhein, Rheingau, Rheinhessen, Nahe, Pfalz, Hessische-Bergstrasse, Baden, Wurttemberg, Franken, Sachsen, Saale-Unstrut.  In reading all of these names it occurred to me that German is not an easy or beautiful language in any way.

Within those regions are still more classifications.  Anbaugebiete have grapes coming from several sites without regards to region.  Bereich are made from vineyards within a district of any region, and wines coming from those can take on the name of that region.  Village wines are made from 2 or more vineyards within the same village.  Grosslagen group together a name of several vineyards.  These names can be very long.  Einzellagen is a single vineyard and in that case the label will carry the name of the village and the vineyard. 

Mosel Vineyard over the Mosel River

I will cover a few of the villages of note here, but know that there are 13 in total.  The first of these is the Mosel.  This area is noted for its beautiful Riesling grown in blue slate soils.  These wines are pure, light, and low in alcohol.  A Mosel Kabinett Riesling is super delicate.  It is shimmering and star bright with flavors of green apple, slate and candle wax.  They are racy with high acidity, and frequently only carry 8% abv.  Many wines from the region are sweet, but there are many producing Grosses Gewachs or Troken wines as well.

The next region of note is the Rheingau.  This is Germany's home of modern wine making.  Here the church was the first to demark single vineyard sites in much the way they did in Burgundy.  This, like Mosel is Reisling country with nearly 80% of the vineyard acreage being planted with the noble grape.   Johannisberg is a community of the Rheingau, and the Rhine river runs through the middle of the vineyards.  It is thus no surprise that two strains of Riesling come from this area "johannisberd Riesling and Rhine Riesling which are recognized the world over for the highest quality.

The soils in the area are Slate at the top of the slopes and a mixture of clay, loess, alluvial sand and red slate at the bottom.  These soils allow the Rheingau to produce more powerful wines than produced in the Mosel.  Additionally, Rheingau wines are produced in brown bottles while Mosel producers use green.

Rheingau also produces spatburgunder (Pinot Noir) in the city of Assmanshausen.  The best of these wines may be found at the Hollenberg vineyard.

Pfalz is one of the warmest growing regions in Germany and it is marked by complex layered soils.  As a result we are starting to see some very good Pinot Noir coming from the region in addition to Riesling.  Nahe produces sweet Rieslings mostly with its two best sites being Oberhauser Brucke and Hermannshohle (Careful pronouncing that if front of the kids)

Ahr is a smaller Anbaugebiete but makes 88% of its wine as Spatburgunder.  This community is on the Ahr river.  The slopes are rocky and volcanic which also helps with warmth.  The Spatburgunder from this region is light in color with bright acidity and red fruit in a leaner structured pinot.

Franken is ont he main river and near Frankfurt.  The region produces a lot of beer.  Silvaner grapes thrive in the region producing smoky, full mineral driven white wines.  Franken is also the place that bottles in the "Goat Scrotum" bottle shown at the beginning.  Thank God for them.

Mittlerhin sits on steep slate riverside terraces similar to the Mosel.  Most of the wine from the region is dry or off dry.  Hahn Grosse Lage vineyard is among the region's best.

Hessische Bergstrasse, Baden and Wurtenberg, and Sachsen and Saale-Unstrut are hard to find in the us, and therefore are less noteworthy here to discuss.

WARNING:  Please be careful pronouncing some of the German Wine terms, you might hurt your throat.

Portugal

Portugal Wines Minus Madeira and Port... Ok, maybe a bit of Port and Madeira

With the aforementioned decline in the sales of fortified wines, Portugal is looking to do something with all of its extra grapes.  Don't get me wrong, Portugal has made wine, and good wine at that for years like their Iberian Brothers in Spain.  They have all the makings of a world superpower in wine.  Great topography, various micro climates, wonderful soils, wine making technologies, passionate winemakers, and a food and wine oriented culture. 

What they do not have is the same history of the French getting all up in their stuff.  Remember that part of the history and reasons for Spain becoming a wine superpower stems from the phyloxera issues in Bordeaux, and the French wandering until they found a place with grapes that could make good wine.  In Portugal, they had no such luck.  Thus, Spain's neighbor is stuck being known for their fortified wines, and much less known for their still unfortified wines.  It is not good wines that Portugal is lacking, because they have plenty of that, it is good marketing.  In the face of the international palate requiring the usual suspects of grapes, Cab, Merlot, Pinot, etc, Portugal remains steadfast in its commitment to its native berries.  This may make it confusing for many who know they like Cabernet, but are less sure about Touriga Nacional as a grape.  Perhaps this will motivate you to go out and learn more about the value wines of Portugal.

The story of Portugal and wine goes WAY back in time to the Phoenicians, but the Greeks, Celts, and Romans also played a role.  Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, Portugal explored the region vastly thus claiming Madeira.  To endear themselves with the local people, they set fire to the island so that it could better be farmed.  Madeira became a great port of trade, and thus the wine was distributed throughout the region.

The reason Portugal became known for their fortified wines was this trade.  As mentioned in the last blog, fortified wines traveled better by ship, and thus alcohol was added to the wine as a preservative.  Port has the exact same history as Madeira in that regard.

Due to climate and worldly bad luck, mildew impacted Portugal  in the 1850s and phylloxera hit the Douro in 1876.  Only Colares near Lisboa was spared from the louse due to its sandy soils.  This was devastating to Portugal as it was to the rest of the world.

Cork Tree

In the wake of the Phylloxera epidemic, many of the vineyards were never replanted, and Portugal instead turned to the cork industry.  To this day, Portugal remains the number one producer of natural cork in the world.

In the 1930's Portugal instated the Junta Nacional do Vinhos again kickstarting the wine industry.  Part of this was the consolidation of small vineyards into co-ops, and in doing so, the quality suffered.  Portugal is now part of the EU, and in this transition, the co-ops have lost their power.  Government grants have lead to small estates (Quintas) popping up again and making their own wines.  They have since put in a new appellation system DOC, and since have complied with the EU transitioning to the DOP system.  Portugal's Table wines have a long history of varied quality, but I am optimistic that the unique wines being produced and the increase in quality will lead to Portugal producing wines that will be very prevalent in the US in coming years.

In order of "Quality" wines from portugal can be found from IGP, (Table wine) to VR (Regional Wine) to DOP (Best).  Many of the lesser wines are produced in the DOP regions but either do not live up to the requirements, or the wine makers chose not to follow the laws.

Portugal has 14 IGPs which include Minho, Transmontano, Duriense, Terras de Dao, Terras de Cister, Terras de Beira, Beira Atlantico, Tejo, Lisboa, Alentejano, Peninsula de setubal Algarve, Terras Madeirenses, and finally Acores.  The climate is heavily influenced by the Atlantic Ocean in the North and the Mediterranean Sea in the south.  Temparatures are similar to much of Spain.  As a location gets closer to the Atlantic, it gets cooler, and wetter.  It is therefore dryer and hotter as you travel inland with the driest region being the Douro Valley.

Some definitions to know before we go on include Garrafeira (Private wine cellar) which requires reds or (Tinto) wines to be aged 30 months including at least 12 in a bottle.  White wines must be aged a minimum of 12 months with at least 6 in bottle.  Vintage Garrafeira Port is aged for 8 years in glass, and finally Portugese Riserva wines must have higher Abv (.5% higher than standard wines) .  Sparkling wines must be aged 12 months on lees to gain reserva status.  Colheita Seleccionada must be 1% higher abv or more and all of this may be more strict than national laws depending on the region.

There are over 200 local grapes (Castas) grown in Portugal (I will not cover them all, don't worry).  The most prevalent grape grown is a red grape called Castelao (or Periquita) which is a red grape that produces meaty, full bodied red wines with tannins, and red fruit.   While Periquita is the most popular, the best grape in the region is Touriga Nacional.  Touriga Nacional is used in port, but also can be made into table wines.  It is a dark, inky full bodied grape that makes great structured, ageable wines.  Most of the countries best wines are a blend of Touriga Nacional that have been aged in French Oak.  Other names for the grape include Bical Tinto and Mortagua Preto.

Other reds of note are Alfrocheiro, Trincadeira (Tinta Amarela), Baga and Aragonez (Tinta Roriz or in Spain, known as Tempranillo).

White wines are also produced.  Fernao Pires (Maria Gomes) is the most planted white in the country.  It is an early-ripening aromatic grape that is largely produced in Bairrada and Tejo.  It produces honeyed wines that are prone to oxidation and low acidity.  Encruzado is a grape from the Dao that produces much more elegant wines with floral and citrus notes that gain a nuttiness when aged.  Oak is sometimes used with Encruzado benefiting the wine's complexity.

Arinto is an old grape variatal native to Portugal.  It produces mineral driven wines and is grown everwhere, with the best examples coming from Bucelas.  Antao Vaz is important in Alentejano and Alvarinho (Same as albarino in Spain) is also beautiful as its Spanish sister.  Sercial is a high acidic grape used in the making of Madeira and is known as Esgana Cao (THE DOG STRANGLER) on the mainland.  It is NOT Cercial which is used in the Dao in its white blends.  These two grapes despite being homophones are genetically distinct.

In Portugal, all wines must be at least 85% from the region stated on the bottle to claim that region.  In other words, if a wine contains 85% of its grapes from the Douro, they can claim the appellation.  If it is 80 percent, they cannot. 

So with that, lets start going through the DOPs of Portugal.  The first DOP that we will look at is in the tip of the Northwestern corner of the country.  Minho and Vinho Verde .  The two Appellations share the same geographic boundries.  It is cool and rainy, and influenced heavily by the Atlantic ocean.  This is the area of Rot, so the vines grow and are trellised high off the ground in a Enforcado system.  They grow high and create a canopy, under which grow other crops, thus limiting the risk of disease.  Vinho Verde means GREEN WINE.  This is not toxic waste, it is green in that it is young.  There is red and white made in this region as well as rosado, but no green colored wine anywhere to be found.  The region borders the Minho river and actually meet up with Spains vineyards of the Rias Baixas.  The soils are granite in the best vineyards.

Loureiro is the most prevelant grape in Vinhno Verde but they also grow Trajadura (Treixadura, Avesso, Pederna (Arinto), and Alvarinho (Albarino).  Red wines are made from Vinhao (Teinturier), Espadeiro, Borracal and Alvarelhao but are rarely exported.  

The white wines of the region are often light and floral with high acidity and low levels of alcohol.  Additionally the wine is a bit fizzy quite often do to CO2 which is injected just before bottling.  Teh reds also sparkle a bit due to Malolactic bacteria that does its thing in the bottle.  All of these wines should be drunk in the year of their release.

Vinho Verde can be broken into 9 subregions including Moncao e Melgaco, Lima, Cavado, Ave, Basto, Sousa, amarante, Paiva, and Baiao.

East of Transmontano IGP (Tras-as-Montes DOP) is located just east of Minho on the spanish border.  There are 3 sub-regions here  that are disconnected.  These are Chaves, Valpacos and Planalto Mirandes.  Here it is dry, hot and full of mountains.  As a result the wines are ripe, full bodied and in high mountain vineyards, you still get ripeness but the acid is better maintained.

Red grapes include Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Bastardo (Trousseau, Toriga Francesa, and Trincadeira.  White grapes include Fernao Pires, Siria, Viosinho, Fouveio, Malvasia Fina, and Rabigato (All household names of course).  Interestingly Douro and Porto were once included in this region prior to the creation of the Duriense IGP.

As mentioned above the Tras-os-Montes DOP is made up of the sub-zones Chaves, Valpacos and Planalto Mirandes.  They require min abv as follows:

Branco and Rosado 11%

Tinto:  11.5%

Vinho Espumante:  10%

Vinho Licoroso (Fortified): 16.5%

Sparkling wine must be aged for 12-24 months for Riserva, 24-36 months for extra reserva, and a min of 3 years for Grande Riserva/Reserva Velha.

Duriense contains both Douro and Porto.  Duriense IGP is a thin IGP in the Eastern mountains of the Douro River Valley and sits just south of the Transmontano.  This was the first protected wine region in Portugal.  The vineyards here hug the river and are situated up the sloping clifs.  Here there is a continental climate with severe hot summers and cold winters.  It is also dry and gets drier as you approach Spain.

There are 3 subzones in the Duriense.  The Baixo Corgo has the hghiest density of plantings, the Cima Corgo with the highest vineyard acreage, and the Douro Superior which stretches to the Spanish border.  Table wines and some Licoroso Moscatel do Douro are produced in the Douro DOP as well as Porto under Porto DOP.  50% of the wine released in the region is port.

The Douro produces red, white and rosado wines and the list of grapes are mostly the same as those for port.  Reds include Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Cao, and Tinta Barroca.  whites include Malvasia Fina, Viosinho, Rabigato, and Gouveio.  These wines range from fruity and fresh to big and  and bruting.  Moscatel Galego is used for fortified wines which may be aged like a tawny port.

Douro Riserva wines must have at least 11.5% or 12% for white and rosado wines or red wines respectively.White riserva must be aged 6 months and red must be aged a year,  They must also achieve through the IVDP exceptional reviews in blind tastings to use the term Riserva.  Colheita Tardia (Sweet wines) may be produced as Douro DOP. 

Beiras is South of Duriense and Minho spanning the whole width of the country.  This region used to be one IGP, but it has since been divided into 4 new regions.  These include Terras do Dac, Terras de Cister, Terras da Beira and finally Beira Atlantico.  Dao DOP and Lafoes DOP lie within the newly unveiled Terras do Dao IGP wich borders Minho IGP to the north and claims a huge portion of the former Beiras inland area.  Bairrada DOP is located on the Atlantic coast with a sub-zone called Terras do Sico.  Tavora-Carosa DOP  produces sparkling wine in a small appellation.  Finally Beira Interior DOP is a larger appelation that shares a border with Spain.  Here most of the wine is bottled by co-ops.  It too contains three sub-zones Beira Castelo Rodrigo, Cova da Beira and Pinhel.

The wines produced here must have 11% abv for whites, Branco Seleccao 12%, Tinto 12%, Tinto Seleccao 13%, Tinto Palhete 11.5% and Espumante 11%.  Whites must be aged for 6 months, reds 12 months and espumante 9 months on lees.

In Dao DOP some of Portugal's best dry reds are produced.  Criticized by many for their lack of fruit, they now emphasize freshness. Touriga Nacional is a major component of these wines, which are usually more elegant than their bruiting Douro counterparts.  Dao is between three mountains which shield it from the Atlantic climate and from rain.  Granite soils are everwhere do to the mountains, and thus the fines struggle and maintain their acidity for balance.  Dao producers may label their wines Farrafeira according to the standard aging but min ABV must  be 11.5% from the 11 typically required.  Reserva wines must be aged 2 years for red and 6 months for whites.

Another designation is Nobre wines which require a minimum of 15% Touriga Nacional and a max of 85% Jaen Rufete, Alfrocheiro and Aragonex.  They must age for a min of three years and be at least 12 percent abv.  White Nobre wines must contain a min of 15%Encruzado and a max of 85% cercial bical, malvasia Fina and Verdelho.  They undergo one year of aging and must have 11.5% Abv.  Due to the ging and alcohol, Nobre wines may be labled as either Reserva or Garrafeira.  Nobre reserva reds are aged 42 months while whites are aged for a year.  Red nobre Garrafeira require 48 months aging including 18 in bottle and whites require 18 months total aging with nine spend snug in a bottle.

West of Dao is Bairrada DOP.  Bairrada experiences a colder damper climate.  Bairrada produces mostly reds although both whites and Rosado wines are allowed.  The main grape of the region is Baga which is very astringent and thrives in clay soil.  Whites iunclude Maria Gomes and Arinto which are planted in sandier soils..

50% of reds must be the Baga grape but it may be blended with Touriga Nacional, Camarate, Castelao, Jean or Alfrocheiro.    Reds must have a minimum of 11 percent abv, but those that have 12.5% can be called Barrada Classico.  The most famous Bairrada wines are made by Luis Pato.  Look for the duck on the label.

So that concludes the trip through Northern portugal, we will now take far less time on the south.  Coastal Lisboa IGP runs south from Beiras to the capital where the Tagus River meats the Atlantic Ocean.  There are 9 DOPs here.  Bucellas, Colares, Carcavelos, arrunda, rtorres Vedras, Alenquer, Obidos, Lournha, and Encostas de Aire.  Most of the southern wines have a reputation for low quality high yield.

Alenquer and Encostas de aire in the nrth show primise, and regions nearest the capital produce wines that are frequently good.

Bucelas produces dry whites from Arinto (Min 75%), Colares produces reds and whites from ungrafted Ramisco (Red)and Malvasia (white), and Carcacelos has minimal vineyards remaining due to urban sprawl.  These are fortified wines that are aged for at least 2.5 years.

Peninsula de Setubal IGP includes the DOPs of Palmela and Setubal.  This is a Mediterranean climate.  Wines made here are made from Castelao (Reds) msut contain at least 66.7 percent of this grape.  White wines are blended with Fernao Pires and Arinto.  Rosado, espumante and Licoroso wines are also allowed.  International varieties may also be found in this region.

Tejo and Alentejano get their names form the Tagus or Tejo river.  This is a landlocked IGP with Lisboa to the west and Beiras to the North.  It is a geography like most of the south with high yealds and lower quality.  Red, white and rosado is produced from many local grapes.  Most frequent reds are made with Castelao and whites with Fernao Pires.  This is largely a white wine region.

There are 6 subregions that you are welcome to look up on wikipedia if you would like.  I am not covering them here.

Alentejano IGP covers 30 percent of Portugal's landmass.  many of the cork trees are located here. It has 8 subzones and produces largely red wines.  Traditional wine making is done in large clay pots, grapes are still trod by foot, and aging occurs in chestnut or oak barrels.  Marques de Borba reserva is the best known wine from the region with rave reviews from critics.

Algarve VR is located on the southern coast of Portugal  You won't find their wines unless you travel there as almost none is exported.  Here there are 4 DOPs.  The hot climate is not well suited for fine wines, and thus resorts have displaced vineyards in the region.

Acores make wines similar in style to Madeira.  Pico DOP are the most highly regarded of these wines, however again, few are exported.  They must have a min of 165 Abv and be aged for at least 3 years.Terras Madeirenses IGP is where Madeira and Madeirense are.  madeira is made on one side, and dry wines on the other.  These may be red, white or rosado.

If you would like to know more about the wines of the south, please feel free to comment.  I will tell you where to go.  HAHAHAHA.  Kidding of course.  One can only retain so much.

Thanks