Pages: <<    1  2  (3)  4  5  6  7  8    >>

Mike Dunne's Blog: A Year in Wine.

Our friend Tamas Torok recently hosted an extended sit-down tasting at his restaurant Seasons in Davis, CA. We designed a flight showcasing Hungary's best white, red, and sweet wines. Well known wine connoisseur Darrell Corti of Corti Brothers in Sacramento attended together with Mike Dunne, the Sacramento Bee's former wine and food editor. Read Mike's article From Hungary, Diversity and Quality.     The stars of the tasting were Tokaj's classic grapes: Furmint, Harslevelu, Yellow Muscat from Patricius and Zoltan Demeter in their dry & Aszu styles. Medium bodied reds made from native grapes paired well with home-made Hungarian food: Gere Portugieser and Pfneiszl Kekfrankos.

Moreno Coronica in his vineyard with the typical Istrian Terra Rosso.

We have just gotten back from the Blue Danube company trip to Hungary, and there are so many highlights to share. However, this must be postponed because of the 2008 Coronica Istrian Malvazija from Istria, Croatia. Why? The reason is the season. Let me explain.     Istrian Malvazija is primarily grown in Slovenia and parts of northern Italy but is most at home on the large Croatian peninsula of Istria at the north end of the Adriatic where Croatia, Slovenia and Italy meet. Wines from this grape vary greatly in style. Many are made in a fresh, reductive form, akin to the commercial white wines of New Zealand, pleasant but undistinguished. Others are macerated, or made like red wine where the skins are left with the juice during fermentation, resulting in deeply colored, even orange wines with red wine structure, tannin and all. Quality varies radically among wines of this already challenging-to-appreciate style. When bad they can be undrinkable, but the best examples are unforgettably good.     In July 2009 we tasted the 2007 Coronica Malvasia during a tasting of potential imports. We all immediately noticed that there was more to the nose than on the lineup of fresh Istrian Malvazija we had just sampled. What was tropical and bubblegummy in the other wines was still sweet-smelling but more herbal, complex and engaging. As good as it smelled, the real crux of it was the texture, sea mist, olive oil and chalk. I know, doesn’t that sound delicious? Seriously, it was clean but deep and textural, lush but mineral, fruity but savory, a wine that pushed and pulled. We all wanted more and the tasting bottle was empty, and that, my friends, is how an import is born.
    We received our first delivery of the 2008 Coronica Istrian Malvazija early this January. As I had a hand in selecting it, it was one of the wines I was most anticipating—but it has been slow to catch on. When I taste the wine I go “yeah, that’s what I want!” while buyers respond by nodding their head yes and muttering a non-committal, “interesting.” Needless to say, the situation has left me a little flustered. That is, until the season changed.     Seasonality is more than just difference in temperature. The Earth changes position, the length of day changes, plants bloom, the whole environment changes. It is logical to consider that this has an affect on our biology as well. It is also logical that this would change how a wine taste or how we taste a wine. In the case of Coronica this had not really entered my mind; if you looked at my tasting notes you would not guess that I was talking about a summer wine.     I first saw the change at the Croatian dinner at Michael’s of Naples in Long Beach that we did with The Wine Country on the 17th of June—a pretty warm night. People could not get enough of the Coronica. Pairing it with poached lobster with grilled apricot and treviso salad possibly had something to do with this. All I noticed was that people bought a lot of it—it was the second most popular wine of the night.
    This week I showed the wine to customers. Surprisingly, they were digging it. By the end of the day it was clear that something was up. When Kristyn and I sat down to eat fresh pasta with lentil bolognese, the Coronica was a must taste. The wine did in fact taste different. It was crystalline, as if all the attributes finally came into focus. The following morning I tried it again--3 days open and it was still good. It is like the wine turned on--for months it was off and then, flip, on.     No matter how familiar I may think I am with the wines we import, there is always more to learn from them. My awareness changes, and suddenly, in the middle of routine I discover a new pursuit: this time, to taste for other wines that might have turned on. Below are a few of my favorites that are drinking differently than they were 3 months ago. Most of them are 12.5% Alc. or less, and even the reds can handle a bit of a chill. They are all are fairly inexpensive, meaning there is no reason not to make it a multiple bottle night, another appropriately seasonal trait for summer.     Whites:     2009 Hilltop Winery “Craftsman” - Cserszegi Füszeres - Neszmély Region, Hungary     2008 Weinrieder “DAC” - Grüner Veltliner - Weinviertel, Austria     2009 Crnko “Jarenincan” - 40% Riesling, 30% Chardonnay, 30%Sauv. Blanc - Podravje, Slovenia - 1 Liter     2008 Szöke - Pinot Gris - Mátra, Hungary     Reds:     2008 J.Heinrich - Blaufränkisch – Mittelburgenland, Austria     2007 Dingac Winery “Peljesac” Dalmatian Coast, Croatia     2007 Dingac Winery “Plavac” Dalmatian Coast, Croatia

our travel group: Jeff (A Cote, Oakland), Frank & Stetson (BDW), Santos (Bacaro LA), Pamela (CAV, San Francisco).

For three days every other year, a wing of the Hofburg imperial palace in Vienna turns into the national wine cellar, as hundreds of Austrian wine producers (and some from other lands) come to pour their wines for an international gathering of trade, press, and colleagues. A small group of five supporters of Blue Danube Wine and specifically of Austrian wine was there to investigate.     It is difficult to imagine the Habsburgs roaming these rooms, now that they are lined with tables and packed with people talking of Grüner Veltliner and Blaufränkisch, the merits of screwcap closures, and the conditions of the 2009 vintage. There are so many attractions that one needs to plan carefully to absorb as much as possible, even in three days.     The rooms are mapped to a regional theme, making it easy to taste as many Wachau whites as possible, then slip into Wagram and try to identify general differences. One can plan a journey from table to table in Burgenland, tasting only wines from the St. Laurent grape, or try to define the characters of the two primary red grapes of Austria: Zweigelt and Blaufränkisch. Then there are organized tastings, such as a breakfast tasting of the fresh, fruity white called Wiener Gemischter Satz, a “field blend” of at least three and up to twenty different grape varieties grown in Vienna’s vineyards and harvested and vinified all at the same time. Or the fascinating exposition of the “first growths” of Grüner Veltliner, which was really a wonderful way to see how Grüner ages, as we compared one recent and one older vintage from each vineyard.     Most important, though, was the opportunity to meet wine makers and see different approaches and philosophies. Blue Danube Austria was well represented (plus some of Hungary, Croatia, and Slovenia), showing the 2009 vintage. Connecting people and places to wine is perhaps the most satisfying way to enjoy it. In that sense—and many others—VieVinum was a success.     text & photo by Katherine Camargo, Camargo Wine Support LLC, © 2010

memories of a warm Welcome at the Batič estate.

Miha Batic’s great-grandfather made wine on his property in the old Austria. His grandfather made wine on the same property in Italy; Miha’s father, in his turn, in Yugoslavia, and now Miha makes wine with him in Slovenia. As Miha explains it, the rulers and their rules don’t matter so much as the land in the Vipava Valley that has been cultivated by his family since 1592. For him, as he explains his family’s wine to 60 appreciative guests at a tasting dinner in New York, it always comes back to the land, to nature.     The Batic winery lies on 18 hectares of land on the westernmost edge of Slovenia, 15 miles from the Italian border. Grapes are planted on the slopes edging the valley, where the dry breeze of the Mediterrean climate meets the Alpine chill. The Vipava Valley is historically known for its white wines—and Batic makes ageworthy Pinot Gris, as well as Chardonnay and Sauvignon—but Old World–style reds are produced as well: Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon. Indigenous varieties are blended with international in the Batic cuvée Bonisimus: Pinela, Rebula (known as Ribolla a few kilometers away in Italy), Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris. Zelen and Vitovska are also grown.     Batic father and son are clear that it’s the growing that matters—not the cellar. Wines are made in the fields. Batic wines are farmed organically, and regional tradition places importance on farming by the lunar cycle: knowing the effect of the cycle on planting, growing, racking, or bottling. Such biodynamic principles may be trendy elsewhere, but Miha explains their uses for potato growing as much as grape growing, and one has the sense this is just old-fashioned farming, looking to nature rather than science for guidance. “Every step is a step back to our roots.”     These wines are not “modern”—they are true to the land and the grape, and are made only in successful vintages, and in tiny quantities (most in the low thousands of bottles). Old ways, now newly popular, are used in the cellar, too. The wines are fermented on wild yeast, and sulfur is used sparingly, if at all. Red and white wines alike see oak—usually in three- to five-year-old Slovenian barriques, but Batic will soon move back to larger, old Slovenian barrels. The wine is nicely balanced, with an Old World oak profile that settles beneath the spicy fruit of the Merlot, and adds a touch of oxidative interest to the velvety body of Bonisimus.     Borders may shift, as well as winemaking trends, but the wine world is slowly coming full circle, and the old ways of land and nature may emerge as the one cutting-edge method that carries us forward. Batic has waited for 400 years.     (text and photo by Katerine Camargo, Camargo Wine Support LLC ©2010)

a great combo: lobster with Batic Cabernet Sauvignon Rose & Enjingi Grasevina.

Most of my Christmas’ are spent in Maine at my parents. Their house is on an island in the Atlantic, just off the coast. Winters are both beautiful and brutal. No matter how cold the wind, or rough the seas the seafood remains ridiculously fresh. This year brought a special surprise; soft shell lobster. These freshly molted “bugs” are the unquestionable pinnacle of the lobster world; super sweet and tender. You wont find them far from where they are caught as they are much more vulnerable, to even gentle travel, than there hard shelled brethren. There is no reason to get fancy with them. In fact you can faintly read “steam only, serve with butter” on some of their shells. So what do you drink with succulent lobster in this arctic cold? Big Chard is the standard prescription but we have forced this for years, unless you are drinking properly aged top tier Burgundy the pairing rarely works. So Cabernet of course!     The pairing logic: In a form this naked, lobster is best complemented by a soft, full bodied wine. We started with a decent feline scented Sauvignon Blanc from Chile, which the lobster made thin and astringent, so when I popped the two wines specifically selected for dinner, I did so with confidence.     The first was Ivan Enjingi’s 2003 Grasevina (Italian Riesling) from the continental region of Croatia. It could be argued that Enjingi is the Andy Warhol of wine. The 2003 Grasevina “Krasna Berba" (late harvest) is a liquid contradiction. Dense and alcoholic but savory, mineralic and complex. Not old world, nor new, Enjingi is “Other Worldly”. Grasevina is typically drunk fresh but the good ones will age like the diamond hard Semillon of Australia’s Hunter Valley. We caught this one in its adolescence, starting to show its maturity but still brash and bouncy. With the lobster it was the sauce. Herbal and rich, the wine complements the lobster as if made for it, and vice versa.     2007 Batic Rose of Cabernet Sauvignon – Vipava Valley, Slovenia. If Batic were a forge their Cabernet Sauvignon rose would be the Swiss army knife. It will appease the Cabernet narrow, fans of white zinfandel and hard core wine geeks. More texture than flavor, it is varietal cabernet without the color, tannins and smack. Musk, pepper and fruit are an unusual counterpoint to lobster but here it fits, actually accentuating the briny quality of the lobster. This is only a positive with the freshest of seafood. Ivan (wow I did not realize both producers share a first name) would love the combination, local, simply made and delicious.     Not expected, not traditional but perfectly suited. Cold weather is great for red wine but if the food demands; as it does in coastal Maine. Whites and Roses can too be kings.

Fritz Rieder in his beloved Schneiderberg.

This afternoon, our local friends, Andrea and Thomas, picked us up and escorted us to the Weinrieder Estate located in the center of the Weinviertel region west of Poysdorf in Kleinhadersdorf. For Andrea and Thomas, it was not their first trip to meet the Rieder’s and their excitement to see them again was contagious. Naturally, I was so excited since I have been selling their wines for a bit over a year and never visited. However, when the excitement comes from locals, you cannot help but feel like you are really onto something special!

As soon as we arrived, Melanie Rieder gently hurried us into the cozy little tasting room just off to the side of their very green backyard. The yard was modest, but appeared as if it were designed to entertain. Tasting with Friedrich Rieder is an experience in itself. He speaks, in German, about his wines with boisterous honest enthusiasm. Andrea translated for us. She was fast to translate, but he was faster. Ultimately language proved to be no obstacle. Friedrich loves to present his wines and is totally at home buzzing around a table of tasters telling their tale, because he is so animated. Whether you understand him or not, you enjoy listening. At one point before we got to the dessert wines, I requested to go back and re-taste a few wines. He did not recommend it. Why? His reasoning is that if you go back and taste them, it would destroy the progression. Before I could object he disappeared then returned with fully sealed bottles of the wines that I asked to revisit. We will savor his gifts once we are back home in California. This indeed will be a much better way to taste them again.

Here are few tasting highlights from the latest vintage taken straight out of my notebook:

2008 DAC Grüner Veltliner: Intensely aromatic, honey, melon, some petrol notes, great acidity. Slight sprits, raw coconut, great length 12.5% Alcohol By Volume (ABV)

2008 “Schneiderberg” Grüner Veltliner: Incredible nose, vegetal, but in a good way. Petrol, pork, coriander, smoke, ash. Slight bitterness, dense. Roast turkey, musty, challenging but very exciting, very peppery, patchouli oil, ginger… The grapes for this wine were picked the first days of December!

2008 “Kugler” Riesling: Quite clean, nutty, honeycomb, very good, powerful, yeasty. Lees aging? Buttery/creamy. Zesty energetic acidity. The whole table loved it.

The crown jewels of Weinrieder are their 20 hectares of vineyards situated on prime south and southwest facing hillsides of rich loam soil that the family farms themselves. The vineyards are unquestionably, sustainably farmed, there was an abundance of life in all of them. The wild grasses between the rows double as both fertilizer for the vines and home to the good bugs that protect them against the bad bugs. We saw multiple deer and hawks. At one point Friedrich was proudly pointing out his high-tech electric fence designed to protect his baby vineyard from vermin. At that same moment I saw the largest rabbit I have ever seen hop through the very fence! We all laughed hard.
After the vineyards, we visited their cellars. Certainly, his least favorite part of the tour, his attitude somehow reinforced the importance he places in the vineyards. On our way back to the house we stopped at a little ghost village full of Heurigers. These amazing little spaces serve as a cellar/wine bar/picnic and party places all at the same time. From them, producers present their latest releases to the public, along with simple, picnic style food. These Heurigers literally lined the streets. Sadly, many of them are falling out of use. It is just too easy to get around with a car these days. I would die for one block of them in Los Angeles!

Upon arrival to the cellars, we were treated to Weinrieder’s opulent Sekt. A spicy full bodied sparkling wine, exploding with ginger, pepper and clove. It was an excellent reviver before we dove into the delicious array of fresh bread, local meats, pickles, pates, garlic spreads and of course, plenty of great Grüner Veltliner and Riesling to wash it all down. This is exactly the sort of experience you would have at a serious Heuriger. During the relaxing early evening meal, Friedrich made a comment that I will never forget: “I do not like to drink anonymous wine”. It is a simple statement, but demands much of the enthusiast. Most importantly, it inextricably connects the aromas and flavors in the glass with both the people and the places a wine comes from. This to me is both the essence and importance of terroir. Until next time!

--Stetson

Juris Vineyard's Grapevines & Soil

The Juris Winery Tour

A visit to this winery started with a tour of the vineyards. Axel Stiegelmar of Weingut Juris, took us on a whirlwind tour of his vineyards. We had the pleasure of sampling his Pinot Noir and St. Laurent grape varietals. It was great to taste the grapes off the vine and you can really taste the difference between the two varietals before they become wine.

The Juris Vineyard is located on a raised plateau of pebbles and loam. This dry farmed vineyard produces small amounts of flavor packed grapes. Also, they utilize cover crop and no herbicides in any of their vineyards. If weeds become excessive, they plow to eliminate them and then spread straw down the rows and under the vines to prevent water loss from the constant drying winds.

Notice the double stalked vines in the photo above? This is their clever way of increasing plant density in the vineyard while keeping it easy to farm. The double stalked vines are actually two plants right next to each other. This method was first implemented by Axel's father, Georg Steigelmar, who continues to influence Axel.

After tasting the wines of Juris, it is clear that their goal is to produce wines that are regional, varietally correct, vintage specific and widely appealing. Some of Juris' wines can be consumed upon release and some should age. Their wines will reward both the eager and the patient in their own way.

Select Wine Tasting Notes from the Visit to Weingut Juris:

2007 Juris Villa Syrah Barrel Sample, Lake Balaton Region, Hungary: The grapes are grown by Axel's father in Hungary. Axel handles the wine making at Juris in Austria. It is a dark Northern Rhone in style wine with aromas and flavors of luscious black fruit, pepper, fennel and eucalyptus. From the barrel, it had a lean mouth feel with angular structure. I can't wait to taste the finished wine. It's quite distinctive.

2007 Zweigelt Selection: Fresh, fruity, earthy, clean and complex with nice tannin structure. There were flavors and aromas of black cherry, forest floor and dried leaves.

2007 Pinot Noir and St. Laurent Selection: I have tasted St. Laurent and of course Pinot Noir before, but tasting them in Austria was a completely different experience. These wines are built to age.

2006 Pinot Noir Reserve: This wine has been nominated for top red wine in "Salon Guide". This stands out as one of my favorites. It's really stylish, young but profound. The flavors and aromas that stood out were sweet spice (cloves), and oak.

2006 St. Laurent Reserve: This was the top wine for me. It's balanced and exotic. I can't wait to see this available in the US.

Both of the 2006 Reserves were off the charts good and very special wines.

--Stetson

Stetson and Krystin in Vienna, Austria

We're on a journey through the wine regions of Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. We're here in Austria right now and we have a lot to say (maybe too much), but not enough time to say it. So, enjoy watching our video describing what we've learned and found so far on our wine adventure.

--Stetson and Kristyn

Axel Stieglmar, Weingut Juris, measuring the ripeness of the grapes (brix) with a refractometer

Axel Stiegelmar of Weingut Juris promptly greeted us at the airport and whisked us away to his vineyards in Gols, near Lake Neusiedlersee in Burgenland Austria. Literally, our first stop was this vineyard. Here he checks the sugar on his St. Laurent with refractometer. Everything is looking pretty good for the 2009 vintage!

After getting a great tour of his expanding vineyard holdings we explored the winery, did a bit of barrel and new release tasting, and then had an amazing lunch at Restaurant Alain Weissgerberg. It was a genuine pleasure to share this afternoon at such a fabulous restaurant with Axel and his wife Herta. They truly love food, wine, and the sharing of both. Axel even opened a bottle of Tricata, his Amarone style Blaufränkisch. It's an unusual approach to an unusual grape but one that surprisingly works. This wine flaunted its incredible range as it opened up. Come the holidays, this would be an absolute show stopper of a wine!

--Stetson and Kristyn

We are about to enjoy a night of burgundy and food before we head off to Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. Our bags are packed and ready to go. I doubt we will be sleeping tonight, but that it is what the flight is for! We will try our best to blog about our journey daily, but if you don't hear from us...squawk!

A very special thanks to Frank and Zsuzsa of Blue Danube Wine Company who have made this trip possible. Words cannot describe how much we appreciate it.

--Stetson and Kristyn

Pages: <<    1  2  (3)  4  5  6  7  8    >>