The United Steaks

My local wine retailer handed me a $20 bottle of Smith & Hook Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon on Friday, while pointing out that one might not expect a Cab of this quality to come from Monterey.

Here’s how the Hahn family describes their product:

The Smith & Hook Grand Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon is crafted from the finest of the Hahn Family’s estate vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands Appellation, a wine region proving to become one of the crown jewels of California viticulture.

The Smith Vineyard and the Hook Vineyard are east facing slopes with the vines between 400 and 1200 feet in elevation in the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation. These grapes are truly mountain grown. The final blend of our Grand Reserve Cabernet is 88% Cabernet Sauvignon, 5% Cabernet Franc for mid-palate, 5% Petite Verdot for bright berries and spice, and 2% Malbec for color and to tie everything together.

Aromas of blackberries, currant, leather, and tobacco. A warm rush of cherries and plum start at the fore-palate before fading to chocolate and toffee with a hint of mint towards the back. The tannins are firm, smooth, and polished, leaving a silky and supple texture in the mouth, supported by a subtle seam of acidity. Our Enologist, Greg Freeman, describes the wine as “a warm cedar chest at Grandma’s house.”

That’s an interesting way to descibe wine, but I know what he means.

We dabbled in delicious wines over the Christmas weekend. Mostly from Oregon. One stood out from the pack. Rockblock from Domaine Serene—a syrah from the southern part of the state, hundreds of miles from the Willamette Valley.

Grapes for Rockblock are sourced entirely from Del Rio Vineyard in the Rogue Valley appellation of southern Oregon, just north of Medford, overlooking the Rogue River. The vineyard is planted to the Noir clone on 101-14 and SO4 rootstocks. Soils are rocky clay loam, very well drained and planted 1088 vines per acre.

We found it on the wine list at Bateaux on Lady’s Island and ordered two bottles. Now, I’m going to have to ask Claude, our local wine retailer, to bring it in for us.

Wine Specator released their list of the Top 100 Wines of 2006.

The Top 10:
1. Casanova di Neri Brunello di Montalcino Tenuta Nuova 2001
2. Quilceda Creek Cabernet Sauvignon Washington 2003
3. Léoville Barton St.-Julien 2003
4. Concha y Toro Sauvignon Puente Alto Don Melchor 2003
5. Domaine du Pégaü du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 2003
6. Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey Sauternes 2003
7. Kosta Browne Pinot Noir Russian River Valley 2004
8. Kongsgaard Chardonnay Napa 2003
9. Brancaia Toscana Il Blu 2004
10. Two Hands Shiraz Barossa Bella’s Garden 2004

The rest after the jump.

I’m a Willamette Valley Pinot Noir fanatic. The wines from this region are world class, but more importantly to me, I feel connected to them. I believe it is the French conept of terroir at work.

With this in mind, I’m pleased to report there is another wine producing valley of note in the great state of Oregon. The Umpqua Valley, south of Eugene. In the small town of Elkton, Brandborg Vineyard & Winery is producing incredible pinot noir (if the two bottles we’ve recently enjoyed are any testament).

Here are their tasting notes:

2003 BENCH LANDS Umpqua Valley pinot noir

Aromas abound with cherries, sweet strawberries with a hint of forest floor, mushrooms and well integrated vanilla and caramel oak. The flavors echo the aromas with the addition of raspberries, spice, good acidity and finely grained tannins for such a young wine that carry through in a long and pleasing finish. Not a big wine, but very pretty and it would make a fantastic partner with duck confit, pate or fresh grilled wild salmon.

Bottled September 20, 2004 13.8% alcohol 745 cases

Per Bottle $18.00 ~ Per case $194.40

Drier and warmer than the Willamette Valley wine region to the north, and cooler than the Rogue and Applegate wine regions to the south, the Umpqua Valley features seven family-owned Oregon wineries that showcase this region’s viticultural versatility.

How to tame the terror of ordering wine at a posh restaurant. The simple act of ordering a bottle of wine at a restaurant has been said to be one of the single most daunting tasks to casual wine fans. This article has some handy tips to make things easier

We were introduced to Guenoc at a party in Chicago a few years ago. For the money, I don’t think there’s a better wine from California. This is particularly true of the vineyard’s Petite Sirah.

Guenoc’s commitment to Petite Sirah reflects the vineyard’s resources, yet it also demonstrates the winery’s willingness to do things a little different. Guenoc could have converted its Petite Sirah and Sauvignon Blanc vineyards to Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay years ago, but the winery believed strongly in the future of these varietals and in their ability to set new standards for quality and character when grown in Guenoc Valley and Lake County.

Guenoc is one of Californias leading producers of Petite Sirah in both volume and quality. Guenocs primary source of Petite Sirah is the Serpentine Meadow Vineyard at the winery estate in Guenoc Valley. Planted in 1980, these low-yielding Petite Sirah vines grow in sandy loam soils, which have a notable magnesium influence due to the blueish serpentine soils from the surrounding hills. Though seemingly insignificant, this trace magnesium has a profound affect on the Guenoc Petite Sirah, as it limits vine vigor and crop levels, which in turn tones down the aggressive flavors in the wine. As a varietal, Petite Sirah has a reputation for being overly tannic and aggressive, but at Guenoc, the combination of the distinctive Serpentine Meadow soils and winemaker skills result in a Petite Sirah that is soft and round with bright, berry fruitinessa tribute to what the varietal can achieve. Guenoc makes three Petite Sirahs: an estate series, a reserve from the Serpentine Meadow Vineyard and a Port.

Guenoc is no Johnny-come-lately to the wine biz. The winery dates back to 1854 when wine grapes were first planted in the Guenoc Valley. Victorian actress Lillie Langtry, a colorful theater star in Europe and America, owned the property from 1888 to 1906 and made wine which she claimed would be the greatest claret in the country. Her face graces many of the estate’s bottles today.

On a recommendation from my local wine shop clerk, I picked up a couple bottles of Coppola Claret. First, a lesson about wine clerks.

Most wine novices are a bit intimidated about shopping for wine in a specialty shop, and mostly, they shouldn’t be. While there are a few snobbish, holier-than-thou types running around, the vast majority are out to discover what you like about wine in order to make recommendations that 1) you will enjoy and 2) will keep you coming back as a valuable customer. Something I wish I would have realized a bit earlier in my wine days.

Back to the Coppola Claret, I was in the shop the other night looking for some recommendations on some $15-20 wines I could use to stock a new wine fridge. Nothing fancy, just a good stock of wine for normal drinking situations. I was steered to the $11/bottle Coppola Claret and told to pick up a bottle, try it, and if it didn’t agree with me, we’d try something else.

I cracked it open last night and I’ll be stopping back in this weekend for the first few bottles to inhabit my new fridge. A deep dark red - almost black -in the glass. A velvety texture with a strong berry flavor. Very well balanced. A great wine to have on hand for those impromptu drinking occasions.

Like dB, I’ve been a pinot kick lately. Not necessarily driven by preference, but by the increasing selection that has started showing up in my local shops.

Grabbing a couple steaks on the way home from work Friday, I spied a Greg Norman Wines at my local big-chain grocery store. Granted, I don’t keep up on the wine biz, but I was unaware he’d made the leap from his Australian wines to Cali properties - as well, the last time I’d had a Greg Norman wine, was from a mixed half case of private reserve varietals as a gift from a client.

The 2004 Santa Barbara Pinot Noir, for $15 is a bargain. Very peppery and cherry - what I would expect from solid California Pinot. My only complaint was that the first drink was overwhelmed by the alcohol, but it evened out nicely through the glass.

We’ve been feasting on great wines, of late. Thankfully, we’re fortunate enough to do so, because there are some fine reds out there waiting for a celebration. Last night, at Saltus River Grill in historic downtown Beaufort, we uncorked another splendid Pinot from Oregon’s Willamette Valley.

According to Oregon Pinot Noir Club, the Terrapin Cellars Pinot Noir 2004 is a major score.

WOW – pinot noir that tastes good for just $16! I’ve been tasting a lot of “value-priced” pinots from Oregon lately – most of them are simply disgusting, and undrinkable. Thus I was quite pleased to find this gem. It’s made by a guy named Rob Clark, who manages nine vineyards around Salem, and got into winemaking as a very minor sideline. From the ’04 vintage he made almost 1,000 cases of pinot gris, and only 150 cases of this pinot noir. I just want to make a good table wine that sells for a reasonable price,” he told me. He succeeded with this wine, which has plentiful dark-flavored fruit, a bit of plumpness in the middle, and a fruit-based finish that is extended for long seconds thanks to that fresh ’04 acidity. It’s a bona-fide bargain.

This bold wine is earthy and spicy. The timid need not apply.

Waiter Rant: DO NOT SMELL THE CORK! - When I see someone do this I know I’m dealing with a complete amateur. Guess what you’re gonna smell? Cork! You want to feel the cork to make sure it’s intact. Is the bottom of the cork moistened with wine? Good. That means it was stored properly. Make sure the name on the cork matches the name on the bottle. Sometimes unscrupulous bastards put cheap wine in old wine bottles and re-cork them! Is there mold on the cork? That’s a bad sign. But smelling the cork, in the vast majority of cases, tells you nothing. (Full disclosure – I used to smell the cork before I was a waiter.)

If you enjoy wine, Mondovino, a documentary by Jonathan Nossiter, is a must see. The film has a fascinating cast of characters, and its central theme explores the mounting tension between local producers and global behemoths like Napa’s Robert Mondavi and Sons.

Aimé Guibert of Languedoc and Hubert de Montille of Bordeaux, both determined believers in terroir–the sense of place that gives wine its true character–are the clear heroes in the film. Michel Rolland, a wine consultant who espouses the values of modernization and the Mondavi family who value globalization are the villians.

Hubert de Montille told The Telegraph, “I am un partisan du terroir. But you have vin terroir all over the world, including the United States - wherever you have people who cherish diversity and individuality in wine. For me, the battle isn’t between Europe and the US. It is industrial wine against the culture of wine, that’s the real conflict. These big companies are so powerful and their ambition is so great that they may not keep a space open for vin terroir, for all wine that has a sense of place, rather than just a sense of marketing.”

Southern France’s Languedoc region is one of the places where this conflict was most recently fought. Mondavi had identified forested land in Aniane as suitable for making world-class wine, but citizens of the town with the aid of their Communist mayor rebuked their advances.

According to Wine Spectator, Mondavi had planned to spend about $8 million developing the vineyard and building a showcase winery, which would eventually produce up to 20,000 cases per year of high-end Syrah.

But the site they chose was on the 2,200-acre undeveloped massif, which is flanked by woods and nearly impenetrable bush (known as garrigue), and topped by 750-foot-high plateaus with sweeping views. Hunters, ecologists and naturalists fought against any development in the area, which they consider an environmental shrine.

Mondavi was in part attracted to Aniane because it is home to one of the finest wineries in southern France, Mas de Daumas Gassac, which makes a long-lived red wine in Aniane. But the winery’s founder, Aimé Guibert, criticized Mondavi for wanting to develop a winery on public land.

Adelsheim is one of Oregon’s outstanding pinot producers. If you can locate their wine, buy it and toast to your good fortune.

Here’s the winery’s origin story:

On a beautiful June day in 1971, David Adelsheim and Ginny Adelsheim stood above an open field and were taken with the beauty of its orange and purple wildflowers.

Five hundred feet below, Oregon’s north Willamette Valley stretched out in a patchwork of orchards, pasture and native trees. The field, rich with clay-loam soil, had a gentle southern exposure and was sheltered by the Chehalem Mountains. The Adelsheims had dreamed of planting a vineyard in the area since returning from a summer in Europe, where they were inspired by the hand-made foods and wines they encountered.

In 1972, the Adelsheims began planting their original 15-acre vineyard at Quarter Mile Lane with Pinot noir, Chardonnnay, Pinot gris, and Riesling.

Relying on family and friends for assistance, they battled weeds, mildew, birds and deer — and the widely perceived futility of growing wine grapes in northern Oregon’s cooler climate.

Having enjoyed several bottles of Adelsheim Pinot Noir over the years, I can attest that the winemaker’s passion comes through loud and clear. It’s great stuff.

A note on the labels: Drawn by Ginny Adelsheim, the Oregon Series wines feature full-color drawings of family and friends who have worked in the original estate vineyard and winery at Quarter Mile Lane. In addition to acknowledging their efforts toward establishing Adelsheim Vineyard, these labels reflect the spirit of cooperation that has characterized our business since its founding in 1971.

NYT: Champagne facials, wine massages - these have been available at scattered spas across the country, from Beverly Hills, Calif., to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass. But, for the “Sideways” set, the Kenwood Inn says it is the only American spa expressly dedicated to intoxicating all senses with fruits of the vine.

Science has long suggested a connection between polyphenols, which are found in grapes, and good health and longer life. American wine sales are booming. And regional treatments - papaya scrubs in the tropics, maple body wraps in Canada, even chocolate baths and massage in Hershey, Pa. - are hot.

Spas have found that they can use their local environment as an attraction - “whether that means sea salt from the ocean or cactus flower from the desert,” says Lynn Walker McNees, president of the International Spa Association. “Local and indigenous treatments help guests remember the time they spent at specific spas.” It was but a matter of time before so-called vinotherapy - already a developing trend in Europe - hit big in California wine country and beyond, in the small towns and urban centers where Americans enjoy wines.

from Megnut:

Overheard in the neighborhood

Eating at a typical New York City diner the other night, I hear one of the women at a three top behind me call the waiter over to her table.

“We’ve decided we’d like some wine,” she says to him. “Could we please see the wine list?”

He says nothing for a few moments, then replies, “We have two wines: red and white.”