Wine Tutorial Part 3: What To Drink (For Beginners)

By Mac McCarthy, Zenergo

Safe Wines for Beginners to Start With....



When you first try various wines, you quickly find that some -- well, many -- are hard to take, especially for a beginner. Many wines are acquired tastes -- you have to get used to them.

Especially for red wine, the tannin (a stinging, puckery sort of sensation on your tongue, similar to what you'd experience if you sucked on a teabag) is what makes it hard to take. Some red wines are very tannic, so they definitely take practice. And wines, especially red wines, can be acidic on top of that. And then there's the alcohol, which is not very high for wines (10% to 16%) compared to liquors, but liquors are hard to take too, aren't they? That's why you mix them with soda and fruit juice!

Luckily, there are a lot of wine types that are "approachable," which means easier for beginners to like right from their first taste -- they are much less tannic, less acidic, and lower in alcohol. So start with these wines that are safe for a beginner like you. NOTE: I indicate where these particular grapes and wines originate, but most are made in many places -- especially in the United States, which makes a version of almost every type of wine in the world.

[A good way to learn is to join with others to share and try wines. On Zenergo.com, you can sign up for the Wine Tasting Activity, find others in your area with similar interests, join or start your own wine tasting Group, and find out about wine tasting events in your area. Give it a try.]

Safe Reds

Beaujolais (and Beaujolais Nouveau) is an area in France that makes a very light, fruity, mild red wine from the Gamay grape, very easy to enjoy. The "Nouveau" is sold around Thanksgiving time. In fact, it makes a good turkey-day wine. (It's also supposed to be consumed before New Year's Day, as it doesn't age like the regular wines from Beaujolais do.)

Pinot Noir (but $$) Pinot Noir can be a light yet flavorful wine that's very approachable, with more interesting things going on with it than the simpler Beaujolais. It's tricky to shop for, though, for a few reasons. One is that good Pinots can be pricey. Some of the very best, from Burgundy (or "Bourgogne") in France, can have price tags that will take your breath away even more than the flavor does. And, to confuse things, many Pinots made in Oregon, Washington, and California are made in a more intense West-Coast style that's not much like the light Burgundies we're recommending here. So when you shop for a Pinot, ask the clerk if this is a "French-style" Pinot, or a "West Coast-style." Buy the French-style ones.

Rhones are blended wines made along the Rhone river in France; they can be light and easy to drink, but the flavors a highly varied – some like 'em, some don't. A famous example is Chateauneuf du Pape. Personally, I like the ones from Gigonda. Americans make Rhone-style blended wines too, and they also vary a lot in what they taste like. It's a good area for exploration.


Light Italian wines: Chianti (not in straw bottle), Sangiovese, Valpolicello  are light ones easy to drink. There are other Italian reds that are intense, that you might not be able to handle as easily. One clue: If it's a light red -- if it looks watered down compared to other, dark reds -- then it's probably lighter in taste, too, so it's worth a try.

Cheap Australian Shiraz wines can be great fun because they show a lot of fruit. Examples are Yellowtail and Rosemount, and best of all they are usually very affordably priced.

Any red wine from the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Light yet flavorful, they sometimes don't say what grape is in the wine; in many cases, they are native American grapes, not the French-sourced grapes all the rest of the wines are made from, and that can be very interesting -- a lost marketing opportunity, if you ask me.



Safe Roses
I've already lectured you about why Roses can be tasty wines that you should be trying at every opportunity, despite whatever you may have heard about White Zinfandel. There is more variety in Roses than in any other wine type -- from completely "dry" to lightly sweet. And, let's face it, folks, even White Zinfandel has the not-to-be-dismissed virtue of being very easy to drink -- light, with no offensive elements, it's a perfect starter wine, which is why it's so popular. Just know that you'll get tired of it after a while because it's bland and flabby, but until that day comes, you can sip it without concern for your tongue. And please remember that this is not what other Roses taste like, nor other red Zins, nor other sweet dessert wines, so when you do get tired of it, don't swear off the good stuff.

Safe Whites

White wines, lacking tannins, are easier for beginners to taste -- though there are still a few whites that have enough acidic tang to make your taste buds jump. Whites are often lower in alcohol than reds, too, which is a bonus. The real trick for a beginner is finding a white wine that actually *tastes* good -- not just doesn't hurt, but has a flavor that a beginning taster finds pleasant and enjoyable. Here are a few popular grapes.

Chardonnay – No longer "fashionable," but easy to drink, which is why it continues to be popular. When you get tired of regular everyday Chardonnay that you find in bars and nightclubs, you can graduate to the tasty White Burgundy from France, which is very different, and to the many new "unoaked" Chardonnays being made in the US, where the fruit comes forward in a delicious way. Americans are experimenting with the taste of Chardonnay, so taste around.



Sauvignon Blanc from the US or New Zealand – This grape makes a white wine with a little more character than oaked Chardonnays, so it's a popular next step for many drinkers. It has a little but of a tang, a kind of "stony" taste. It is fashionable, though. French versions (from Bordeaux and from the Loire Valley) taste different (and good). (The Kim Crawford on the left is a famous brand from New Zealand.)

Viognier and Pinot Grigio (Italian) or Pinot Gris (French) are light white wines that vary from maker to maker a whole lot. They can sometimes have a wonderful flowery or fruity aroma--and no particular flavor; or they can be very tasty -- it's a crap shoot. Experiment.

Italian Prosecco is a sparkling white wine, like champagne but much easier to drink -- slightly sweet, fruity, fun. In fact, you should consider it for your wedding reception in place of Champagne--it's easier for non-wine-drinkers to enjoy, and it's much less expensive.

Any white from Germany, Alsace, or Austria, such as Gewurztraminer (do yourself a favor and just call it "Gevoortz"), Riesling, or Gruner Veltliner, tend to be aromatic, light but with an acidic tang, and vary from very dry to lightly sweet -- to, in the case of late-harvest "Spaetlese" and "Trockenbeerenauslese," quite sweet. All these whites vary a lot from maker to maker, so don't give up if the first ones you try you don't care much for. Keeping trying; you'll find one you like. There's a whole world of white (and red) wines, from unique grapes most of which you've never heard of and probably can't pronounce, in the world of German, Alsatian, and Austrian wines; it's worth a lifetime of flavorful study. While all the wine snobs are festishing over in France, you could becoming an expert in a different, tasty world.

Safe Late-Harvest Wines

Don't like sweet wines? Ha ha ha -- you're wrong! You just haven't had a chance to try a well-made one! Seriously, though, there are many, many so-called Dessert Wines (or, for fun, "Stickies")  that are unbelievably delicious -- like the best piece of liquid candy you've ever tasted. Look for Sauterne (a French white made from Sauvignon Blanc)), Tokay (Hungarian), Canadian or German Ice Wine (white), or Muscat (red). They mostly come in half-sized bottles and vary from a little bit expensive ($18 for a half bottle?) to oh-my-God expensive (hundreds of dollars for a vintage Chateau d'Yquem, also a half bottle). Try the cheap ones -- they are also tasty. And meant to be sipped--they can be very high in alcohol. (Left: Dashe Cellars makes fabulous late-harvest Zinfandels!)

Contest for Wine/Booze Bloggers....

France's Cognac Board is running a blogging competition among U.S. bloggers, with prizes including $500 -- and an all-expenses-paid trip to the Cognac region of France! (Assuming your situation allows you to accept such a prize!)

Here are the details.

U.S. wine bloggers are invited by The Cognac Board (BNIC) and The Palate Press Advertising Network to compete in the 2011 Cognac Writing Contest. Write a post about Cognac for a chance to wine one of these amazing prizes:

First Prize – An all-expenses paid trip to France for the Cognac Blues Passions Festival and tours of Cognac. From Asa to ZZ Top, an amazing five day festival of music, sponsored by the finest spirits in the world. Tour the vineyards and Cognac houses, listen to the music, find your next great story.

Second Prize – $500.00

Third Prize – Three bottles of fine Cognac.

The Rules

The contest is sponsored by The Cognac Board, with the support of the European Union and France. There are a few legal requirements for your story to be considered by the judges

• Please, no talk of sex.
• Please, the stories should not be about, or mention, “white” Cognac.
• Stories should not relate to specific brands. The Cognac Board’s task is to promote the appellation, and cannot be seen to support an individual brand.
• Only U.S. bloggers may participate.
• Please submit stories to Cognac@palatepressads.info prior to publication. The Cognac Board’s legal department will quickly review, not to edit, but only to assure they can include the entry in the contest and affix their logos. Upon approval from the Board, we will respond with the logos and legal disclaimer to be included with the post, as well as unique StatCounter codes for each entry.
• The first round of judging will be based upon how many page views the post receives, so the sooner you post, the more you can promote the post and get seen.
• The second round of judging will be done by a panel of judges from the U.S. and France.
• The last day to enter is April 10, 2011.
  

CLICK FOR MORE

CAMPAGNE FINANCEE AVEC LE CONCOURS DE L’UNION EUROPEENNE ET DE LA FRANCE

CAMPAIGN FINANCED WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND FRANCE

An Interlude: BAWDY Wine Club report; March 2011 MERITAGE TASTING

[BAWDY] is one of our local San Francisco East Bay wine clubs -- founded by Allison Wright and Arnie Becker and dedicated to having a relaxed good time with wine and friends. BAWDY stands for Bay Area Wine Drinkers And A "Y".]

Hello Bawdies!

This is a brief report on the wines we enjoyed at Saturday's party, hosted by the gracious FLAGGS! Thank you, Myra and Allen - not to forget the charming musical interlude by the talented Mr Keenan Flagg.

Theme: MERITAGE WINES
Date: March 12, 2011

Note: Meritage (pronounced like "heritage") is a proprietary term created by U.S winemakers to characterize high-quality Bordeaux-style blended wines, made from a prescribed combination of the two or more of the same grapes as found in French Bordeaux, namely Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Carmenere, and, less commonly, St. Macaire and Gros Verdot for red Meritage; or for white Meritage, like white Bordeaux,  Sauvignon Blanc, Sémillon, and Muscadelle du Bordelais.

We had two whites at the party, a Meritage from Cosantino called 'The Novelist,' an 07 blend of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon (misspelled 'Semillion' on the label!) that was a pleasant, quiet blend; and a Chariot Gypsy, which had a nice sweet note.

For reds, we had a Super Tuscan, Antico Classico, which at $8 was very pleasant. Other reds:

*Overture, Napa, a nonvintage (!) second label for Opus One, which was excellent.

*Clos Pegase 2006 Napa "Origami" Estate; grapes not stated; a nicely balanced and delicious Bordeaux-tasting wine.

*St. Clement Oroppas, 2006, a Napa Valley Cabernet blend that I rated an A.

*Ferrari-Carano Reserve "Tresor" 1997 (!), Sonoma - a very nice blend of Cab, Malbec, Merlot, Cab Franc, and Petit Verdot.

*Laraine, a 2005 Cabernet from the Sierra Foothills' Gerber Vineyard - nice!

*Chemin de Terre 2006 Southern Oregon nicely rounded blend of 44% Merlot, 17.5% Cab, and splashes of Petit Syrah, Cab Franc, Sangiovese (!), Grenache, and Pinot Noire (!!).

*Canterbury Vineyards "Beautiful Place, Beautiful Wine" 2006 Shiraz-Cab blend.

*Sterling Vineyards Vintner's Collection Meritage, Central Coast, 2008.

*Sterling Vineyards Pinot Noir, Oak Knoll Vineyards, 2006.

*Guenoc "Lillie's Victorian Claret," North Coast 2007, presumably a Bordeaux-style blend because that's what the English mean when they say Claret, but I didn't see anything on the label.

*Roth Alexander Valley 2007 Cabernet blend.

*Murrietta Wells 2007 Meritage.

As you see, I didn't make detailed notes on each -- I was drinking, you see. The foods were also wonderful. Please feel free to make further notes about your thoughts on the wines and the foods, round out this report for the group, ok? Thanks.

Mac McCarthy

Wine Tutorial Part Two: Roses, Champagnes, White Wines, Dessert Wines

By Mac McCarthy, Zenergo

Keywords: Rose, Pink, Blush, White Zinfandel, RAP, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Gris, Reisling, Gewurztraminer, Prosecco, Champagne, Pierre Jouet, Veuve Clicquot,  Clairett de Die, Cremant d’Alsace, Domaine Allimant-Laugner, sparkling wine, fruit-flavored sparkling wine, dessert wine, Sauterne, Tokay, ice wine, Port, Madeira, Late Harvest Wine, Claret, learning more about wine.

Now let's talk about wines that aren't red.

As a beginner in wine tasting, don't fall into the trap of focusing only on one kind of wine. If you try a Chardonnay and like it, the temptation is to just drink Chards from now on. After all, there are so MANY kinds of wines, and it's confusing! Right?

Well Yes, it's confusing, but No, that's not an excuse to stop experimenting. You would miss out on some wonderful wines if you're not willing to try new things. This is a rich opportunity to find new fun things to taste.

A lot of them you won't like. But a lot of them you will. I promise!

Many people only drink white wines. An equal number of people only drink reds. Even more people think Rosé's are a bad joke, and too sweet -- and so they think they don't like roses. And also they think they don't like "sweet wines."

Don't be those people.

Open your mind, your palate, and your glass to lots of different kinds of wine. If you haven't already tried THAT wine, from THAT winemaker, in THAT vintage -- you don't know what it tastes like. Give yourself a chance to be surprised. (Or to confirm your suspicion that you won't like it!) Especially if it's being offered to you. (It's harder to justify blind experiment if you're paying to buy a whole bottle of unknown wine.)

We'll review white wines, champagnes, and dessert wines. Let's start with America's most misunderstood wine.....

Rosé

Laughing Pig makes delicious Rose

There are pink wines – or blush wines, or ROSÉ's (that's rose-ay, with an accent mark over the 'e' -- because it's French -- and yes, it means 'rose'). These are very popular in France but have been out of style in the US because of White Zinfandel, which is a cheap, poorly-made Rosé. White Zin is sweet, but it lacks acid balance, so while it's very easy to drink for a beginner -- it has no offensive harshness to it -- after a while it seems flabby and boring. You're ready  to move on to better-made wines.

Unfortunately, when people get out of college and graduate from white Zinfandel, they learn all the wrong lessons -- they think what they don't like is Rosé, and sweet wine. This is wrong: What you get tired of is poorly made sweet roses. A well-made Rosé can be divine, as you will discover when you get a chance to try it. And roses come in everything from very dry to very sweet.

Rose is coming back in fashion in the USA, happily – so if you find a Rosé or two that you like, you can be leading-edge and hip. (Watch for a local Rosé tasting event if one comes to your area. "RAP" is an annual Rosé-tasting event in San Francisco, but they may have similar events around the country.)

Rose can be made from any red-skinned grape -- Pinot Noir (the standard in France), Cabernet, Merlot, Zinfandel, Barbera -- so there is more variety in Rosé than in any other type of wine--and more different shades and types of pink than you can imagine. Rose is usually mild and easy for beginners. It's an adventure. They can be completely 'dry' (not sweet), or lightly sweet, and everything in between, and can have a lovely aroma. Try them!

(A bonus: Since roses aren't popular in America, yet every winemaker loves roses, they will each make a little Rosé, just for themselves. Since there is no 'standard' for how Rosé should taste -- no 'market' they need to conform to -- each winemaker makes his or her own Rosé to suit his or her own taste -- so every Rosé tastes a bit different from every other maker's Rosé. And that, my friends, is the very definition of wine adventure!)

White Wines

The most popular white wine in America is Chardonnay, which can be an excellent wine but is widely manufactured to be cheap and enjoyable for those with unsophisticated palates. Chards can be too vanilla-y and oaky, so you can get tired of them after a while.

2009 Passaggio Chardonnay--Yum!

To show your sophistication, then, try the "unoaked" Chardonnays -- that's the new wave. And much more like French Chardonnays in how they taste. Small winemakers in the US are experimenting with Chardonnay, so keep tasting the new stuff -- there is getting to be quite a fascinating variety in the Chardonnay market.

Sauvignon Blanc has become the popular alternative to Chardonnay. It has more of an acidic tang, kind of stone and steel and mountain brooks sensation to the taste. New Zealand is noted for its SBs, especially the ones from the Marlborough area.

BTW, pronunciation: Being French words, there are extra letters not pronounced: "Soh – Vinn – Yohn." And while we're at it, the French leave off the last consonant when pronouncing a lot of wine words: Cabernet drops the T: "Cab-Ber-Nay" and so does Pinot Noir: "Pee-No No-are." Once you've mastered these, be sure to look pityingly at your friends when they mangle the words. It's mean, but it's fun.

Here are some other, even lighter and often fruitier, white wines -- but fair warning: How they taste varies widely from one winemaker to another. But none are harsh; at worst, they can be bland.

Luna Vineyards Pinot Grigio

Viognier – pronounced: "Vee – own – eeyay" – light and flowery, sometimes not much actual taste.

Pinot Gris ("Pee-No Gree"), called Pinot Grigio in Italy (Pee-No Gree-Jee-Oh). Aromas of flowers and fruit like peaches and pears and grapefruit. Often not a very strong taste at all.

US winemakers produce these types of wine as well. Shop around until you find a version you like.

German/Austrian/Alsatian White Wines

2007 JW Morris Gewürztraminer - $4

German white wines are in a class by themselves. They taste not at all like other whites; they are less acidic, for one thing; many of them tend to be slightly sweet, in a good way. They can be pricey (but see Trader Joe's 'JW Morrison' brand, which can be tasty and TJ-cheap).

Try any Riesling ("rees-ling") you see, or any Gewurztraminer ("Gay-VORTZ-tramminner" with the "tramminner" part run together in a burst; some people just say "GayVORTZ" and leave off the end part). You may be pleasantly surprised. The bottle labels are generally unpronounceable: "Spatauslese," for example. Don't even bother. My favorite German white wine is something called Bott Freres; from Alsace on the French-German border, about $25, and worth it. Another favorite is wines from the importer "Dr. Loosen" (pronounced, approximately, "Doctor Loow-zin"), a little pricier.

White wines from Germany, Austria, and the Alsace can be very dry, or medium-dry, or a little sweet. Everyone buys the dry, but you will be surprised how much you enjoy the off-dry/semi-sweet or medium-sweet ones as well. Tell the wine-store clerk "I'm looking for a Riesling, not too dry" and you'll get something pleasant.

Another fun white is the Italian sparkling wine called Prosecco – it's light, a little bubbly, a little sweet, and very easy and fun to drink; it's also somewhat inexpensive. Consider it as an enjoyable alternative to Champagne. (For one thing, it goes better with wedding cake....Hint hint.)

Champagne

Cremant d'Alsace is a Champagne alternative--Delicious!

[

Champagne is a tough one. A lot of 'girls' like Champagne, but I find cheap champagnes to be harsh, with a sharp edge. Good champagnes range from $35 to $95 for a decent one, and hundreds of dollars for spectacular vintages. If you absolutely have to buy a bottle of champagne and make an impression, here are brands and types you can safely pay $30--$50 for and not embarrass or disappoint yourself:

• Chandon – At $12, a drinkable champagne at a surprising price (Shahn-Dohn).
• Perrier Jouet makes very tasty champagnes at a midrange price ($50?) (Perr-y-aay Jooo-aay)
• Veuve Clicquot (pronounced, approximately, "Vuuhv–Klee-Koh – good luck) makes a tasty champagne called Ponsardin.
• A French nonofficial champagne called Clairett de Die - $13, actually, and I think it's as tasty as any bottle many times the price. Someone who knows French bubbly will be impressed that you've even heard of it. It's not "champagne" because it's not made in Champagne province, and it's made with a different process than the "methode champaignois." (Clair-ette deh Dee-aay)
• Another non-Champagne champagne is a type called Cremant d'Alsace, also uses a different process and therefore is not "champagne," but tastes the same, but kind of creamier, not as sharp, and not awfully expensive. (Cream-ahnt duh-Al-say-s). One maker I've tried is Domaine Allimant-Laugner. In the U.S., Schramsberg makes a Cremant, at $32, that I find creamy and delicious.

In the U.S. you'll also find champagne-type "sparkling wines" made from various other grapes besides the traditional Pinot Noir of France. You'll also see Rosé sparkling wines, and (oh dear) flavored sparkling wines -- with peach, berry, or other fruit essences added. To make them taste good for those of us who haven't a sophisticated palate for real Champagne. If you come across this stuff, pretend to be amused or mildly offended (depending on the impression you want to convey of being superior to this swill) and then go ahead and hide your enjoyment. Because, sophisticated or not, this stuff is like soda pop and tastes great!

Dessert Wine

Do not, in my presence, announce that you "don't like" sweet wines. You are being silly. The only way you could "not like" all sweet wines is if you don't like sweets. You like ice cream, don't you? Have a favorite candy bar? Eat Lifesavers? Lollipops? M&Ms? Do you ever eat dessert? I mean, when you're not watching your waistline?

Of course you like sweet things. And you'll find you like well-made sweet wines too. Try some until you find which you like and which you don't.

Dessert wines are meant to be sipped, not swilled, and are often served in tiny glasses, for two very good reasons: First, they can be very alcoholic (not all, but many--check the label). Second, many are very VERY sweet, and are meant to be served at the end of the day, or winetasting, or after dinner--just like dessert.

Chateau Guiraud Sauterne, France--Wow!

There are both red and white dessert wines. The whites tend to cluster around a French white called SAUTERNE (so – tern). There are French Sauternes that are unbelievably expensive -- hundreds of dollars for half-sized bottles. But there are less famous French Sauternes that cost $15-$30 for those half-sized bottle -- and taste just as good, one advantage to having an unsophisticated palate! There is a Hungarian white called Tokay (toe-kay, also spelled Tokaj, but pronounced the same), with expensive famous labels. If you see either of these being served, get in line. At least try it.

Another famously tasty, very sweet white dessert wine is Canadian Ice Wine. Its tall, thin bottles are, sadly, pricey too. It is made from grapes left on the vine to freeze, and picked in February (what the birds haven't eaten). And. it. is. delicious!

Madeiras from 1922 and 1968 ($$$!)

In the Reds category, the first big grouping is PORT. As a beginner, simply avoid Ports; they can be very good, but they can overwhelm the beginning drinker because they have a dose of brandy whiskey added at the end of the production process. Ugh. Sherry is also challenging for  beginners. Try Madeira instead -- it's very sweet, very intense, almost like liquid raisins, but much easier to handle. Older ones are expensive -- $500 for a 1960, anybody? -- but younger ones can be reasonably priced. An open bottle of any of the above will last for weeks, even months, without changing their taste.

Rosie Rabbit Late Harvest Zinfandel. Yes!

A better bet for beginners is a "Late Harvest" wine – these are made from grapes picked as late in November as possible, so they have started to dry out – drops are squeezed out to make this FAB-ulously sweet and tasty wine. American winemakers create late-harvest wines from a wide variety of grapes -- Zins, Cabs, Pinots, Syrahs, Muscats, or white grapes like Semillon and Viognier. Moderately pricey half bottles can be sipped, and left open for weeks. Yum!

Miscellaneous Factoids About Your Wines

Wine labeled as "Claret" is a Bordeaux-style wine; claret is the traditional English term for French Bordeaux.

Wine is made in every state in the USA; many are very nice, many are very interesting. A few are not nice or interesting but still worth trying just for the novelty. In New York State, in the Finger Lakes region they are experimenting with wines made from native American grapes such as "Cayuga," and these are very much worth trying, especially as a beginning wine drinker, because they are light and easy to drink.

Wines are also made in virtually every country in the world, with varying degrees of success. Lucky for us wine tasters, the science of winemaking has made such great strides in recent decades that you will see even more very good wines coming from apparently improbable places in the future. I've had very good wine from Mexico, from Sicily, and from Israel; I've had very bad wine from China, but I hold out great hope for an evolving Chinese winegrowing industry.

Australia, of course, has such good wines -- not just inexpensive, fun-to-drink supermarket wines, but sophisticated German-style whites as well -- that if you visit that land, you really must try to visit a winery or two. Likewise South Africa, which produces unusual wines as well as the usual.

Learning More--the Easiest Way

You can only really learn about wine by tasting it -- often and in variety. Luckily, this is a fun thing to do. Unluckily, it can be costly -- if you do it by yourself. It's also less fun that way.

So do it the easier and more-fun way: Taste with friends. Go to wine tastings with friends. Visit wineries with friends. Throw wine-tasting parties--this can be best of all because you can just declare a BYOB party, pick a theme (my group, BAWDY, has done everything from "California Cabs" to "Favorite Everyday Wines," and I'm lucky enough to belong to The Pompous Twits, which has members with real wine cellars (yes!).

Don't got no wine-loving friends? Not to worry: Go over to Zenergo (the host of this blog), sign up (easy and free), join the 'Wine Tasting' Activity, and search for others like yourself in your area. Search for winetasting groups. Search for winetasting events. Or start a group of your own and recruit local wine lovers and wanna-be wine lovers.

Our Next Post: What You're Likely To Like

There are more kinds of wines and winemaking areas than we've covered in these two blog posts so far -- but don't worry about it. Just scanning these two blog posts puts you ahead of quite a few of your friends and drinking companions! Congratulations! You are just a few more blog posts away from being a wine snob! (Just kidding. You are just a few blog posts away from being a wine enthusiast!)

In another post, we'll talk about kinds of wines that beginners are most likely to enjoy tasting -- and wines you are likely to dislike (because they have strong, aggressive flavors that take getting used to). Even better, we'll give you some tips on how to buy wine at a store for a party or as an impressive gift without wasting your money; and what to do when you're at a fancy restaurant and somebody asks you to order the wine! (Step one: Don't panic! We have a plan!)

Be sure to comment below--questions accepted, compliments welcomed -- and be sure to share with your friends!

Wine Tutorial: Getting Started with Wine Tasting–Part 1

By Mac McCarthy

First published in Zenergo--Activate your Life!


Consider this a cheat sheet for wine beginners.

When you want to start or join a wine group in Zenergo, or find a wine-Activity friend, or go to a wine Event — it can be intimidating if you’re just getting started learning about and enjoying wine. Jargon, buzzwords, pompous wine twits, puzzling wine-bottle labels, and so many types, prices, and opinions!

First piece of advice: Don’t let it get to you. Rule One in wine — and the only real rule — is Find Out What You Like!


When you taste a wine, you either like what you’re tasting, or you don’t. Nobody else can tell you what you’re supposed to like — it’s your taste buds, and your preferences. If you hate red monster wines and they like ‘em — great! That’s what makes horse races.

And Rule Two: Try New Wines! You’ll find more you like.

Over time, your tastes will change and develop as you try more wines. So don’t jump to conclusions too fast — you may not like this kind of wine now, but another winemaker, making wine from the same kind of grapes, will make it very differently — and you may like that. The only way to know is to try!
Of course, you could go broke buying random bottles of wine to see if you like them. So don’t do that.

Do this instead...

BAWDY--our amateur winetasting group--it's all about fun, not formality!

1. Go to wine parties. Or hold wine-tasting parties of your own, with your friends. Or make wine-tasting friends on Zenergo and try wines together. Sharing gives you more choices and more tastes, and costs less.

2. Go to wineries. Every state in the USA has winemakers — and most countries of the world too. There’s probably a winery association in your area — they’ll have guides and maps and special events and tourist weekends. Visiting wineries is a great weekend activity!

3. Buy cheap wines. Not just box wines or jug wines — they can be easy to drink, but they aren’t good examples of what wine can be. You can find very interesting wines in your supermarket these days, or at your Trader Joe’s or other specialty grocer. You’ll actually find wines for less than $5 — some of them quite tasty. The great thing about picking up bottles of Two-Buck Chuck, for example (Trader Joe’s famously cheap wine brand) is that if you don’t like a bottle — it was only two or three bucks, you can pour it out, it’s no big loss. You’ve at least learned you didn’t like that one.

4. Keep track. Keep a notebook — just jot down the wines you find you like. That way you can get it again next time, because I promise you that you won’t be able to remember exactly which ones were which. And write down the exact info on the wine label: The maker, the year, the name of the wine, and any other special words, like Reserve, or Estate Bottled, or the name of a vineyard. Wineries make lots of different wines, and they can vary a lot in how much you like them. You might love the “Gallo Sonoma Reserve” and then get a bottle of the “Gallo Sonoma Cellars” and find out it’s very different, and that you don’t like it at all.

So you have to pay attention to a lot of detail on the wine label, unfortunately. So fair warning – if you really like something, write down the stuff on the label. “Gallo Sonoma Reserve 2005 Merlot,” for example, tells you that it’s made by/for Gallo, it’s more or less from Sonoma County in California, it’s their “reserve,” which usually means it’s their better stuff, it’s grown in 2005, and it’s a Merlot grape wine. All 5 of those facts are meaningful – the Gallo Cabernet, for example, will taste very different, and the 2004 Merlot may taste better, or worse.

(Good luck with French or German wines — there’s so much hard to decipher info on the label.)

Your Wine Cheat Sheet–Part 1: Backgrounder on Red Wines
We’ll start by giving you an overview of the main grapes made into wine — like Merlot and Cabernet — and the main countries noted for their red wines. In our next blog post, we’ll look at white wines, roses, champagnes, and dessert wines.

Even if you don’t like reds, scanning this blog post will let you keep up with wine-snob chitchat.

Red Zinfandel: A Rosenblum St Peter's Church Zinfandel, California

Red Wines in the United States
In the US, what the wine is called is usually based on what grape makes up most of the bottle, like Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon.

In some parts of the world, like France, what the wine is called is based on the name of the area where it is grown – like Burgundy, or Bordeaux, or (in Italy) Chianti – and not on what grape is. But don’t worry about it. Areas tend to use specific grapes, such as Pinot Noir in Burgundy or Gamay in Beaujolais.

In the US the main RED wines you’ll find are: Cabernet Sauvignon, which can be robust and dense and “big” – more intensely flavored; Merlot, which can be somewhat lighter, with softer tannins (that tongue-stinging sensation like teabags) than Cabs and thus more “approachable;” and Zinfandel, the red version (not the white), which can be jammy and intense (and higher in alcohol). Pinot Noir makes lighter wines that are still very flavorful and vary a lot depending on the maker. Syrah is increasingly popular among the hip and can range from dense to very dense. ShirazSyrah, common in Australia, and can be light and fruity and very easy to drink. And Petite Syrah, which is less common, varies greatly in taste from winemaker to winemaker, and which a beginning wine drinker usually doesn’t like at first. Barbera is the main component in many Italian wines, and in the US can be made into a flavorful, fruity, easy-to-drink wine.
There are other grapes bottled in the USA that you’ll come across once in a while, and new ones being tried out all over the country, like Cabernet Franc, Primitivo, Charbonno, Nebbiolo, Carignane, and Gamay, and a hodgepodge of other lesser-known grapes. Never pass up a chance to taste something you’ve never heard of!

Red Wines in France

Chateau Lynch-Bages--a $$ "Grand Cru" French Bordeaux.

Very light red wines from France that are easy to drink for beginners include Beaujolais and Beaujolais Nouveau, and an American cousin, Gamay Beaujolais. Beaujolais is pronounced the French way—that is, stupidly: Boo-Joe-Lay (except the Joe is a soft J, not a hard J like in Joe – ask somebody) – Beaujolais Nouveau (Noo-Voh) is a Beaujolais fresh from the barrels and not aged at all – it comes out Thanksgiving week and is great that week – and more awful every week that goes thereafter. Try it. it’s fun! (Beaujolais are made from the light-and-fruity Gamay grape.)

Burgundies can also be very tasty and easy to drink, light yet flavorful; they are made from Pinot Noir grape, but good Burgundies can be expensive. Very expensive. Very very expensive. So if somebody brings in a Burgundy, make that little eyebrow-raising “Well! I’m impressed” expression so the host will feel flattered – and will think you’re savvy. Score!

Also popular, with a distinctive aroma some love and some don’t, are French RHONE wines (pron. Roan or Rone), which are made of a blend of wines usually starting with a light fruity fun grape called Grenache, plus Syrah to give it some punch, and other random grapes like Mouvedre and Cinsault that you never heard of–up top a dozen grapes in the blend. No way to tell whether you’ll like them until you’ve tried them. Both Rhones and Burgundies (and Bordeaux) can vary widely in taste from winery to winery so if you try one sip and don’t like it, do try sips on other occasions from other makers.

Red Wines in Italy
In Italy, Chianti is easy to drink because it’s not very intense. There are intense Chianti’s, called “Super Tuscans,” that have more flavor, but even these are easy for a beginner to try. Chianti in general is a safe bet as a wine that won’t scour your mouth out. It is based on the Sangiovese grape, which is mellow; California makes a small amount of Sangiovese-based wines too. Another grape, called Tempranillo, bottled in Italy and elsewhere under various names, as well as in the US in small quantities, is also a safely mild wine. Also easy to drink is anything called Valpolicello, which I think is a Sangiovese wine.

Barberas, Brunellos, Nero d’Avola, and Primitivo wines can be stronger, more intensely flavored, but not too tannic, so give them a try – I love them; you might want to work your way up to them. (Primitivo is a Sicilian relative to American Zinfandel, by the way.)

Reds in Other Countries
There are a number of reds from Spain that are gaining popularity. Rioja (ree oh hah!) is the best known, and is usually milder than it likes to think it is. Mostly the popular reds tend to be somewhat heavy-duty, so sip cautiously.

Chile and Argentina make wine from a grape called Malbec (which is only a blending wine in France) – these used to be very cheap but very nasty, but Argentina, in particular, has learned how to make a truly wonderful, grand wine out of it. A great Argentine Malbec can compete head-on with a good California Cabernet — and unfortunately is priced similarly.

OK, that’s a start. Is your brain full yet? You may have to go try a glass of red wine, then!

In PART 2 we’ll look at Roses, Whites, Champagnes, and Dessert Wines!


Got comments? Post below! And SHARE with your friends, especially those just getting started in the wonderful world of wines!

Wine 101: A Series for Beginning Wine Tasters

For those of you who have friends who are new at wine tasting, have them take a look at the first three posts I made to my Zenergo.com blog at http://blog.zenergo.com/ -- The third post, at the top of the page, is advice: What wines it's safe for a beginner winetaster to buy -- and what it's not safe to try. Meaning: What you're most likely to enjoy, and what is probably too intense for a beginner.

This is a good article to send your friends and relatives too -- or even your wine-tasting group members!

Scroll down that blog to see another two postings that are informational: All about Red Wines, and the countries they come from; and all about White, Rose, Champagne, and Dessert Wines.

(Give them a red yourself -- I've had longtime winedrinking friends tell me they've learned a couple of interesting things from these three articles!)

2008 Bordeaux Tasting: Where's the Fruit?

 Grand Cru tasting leaves me scratching my head.


Bordeaux are supposed to be the finest, most refined, subtle, quietly complex wines in the world. At the 2008 Vintage trade tasting hosted January 21st at San Francisco's Palace Hotel by the Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux, I discovered to my disappointment that the 2008 red Bordeaux are uninteresting because their crisp tannnins lack the balance of fruit. Age will soften the not-overdone tannins, but how can it reveal invisible fruit?

This is in contrast to the 2006s, which while they had stronger tannins to the point where tasting them was almost painful, yet at the same time they showed such depth and richness and density and complexity that you could easily see how age will soothe and reveal.

But not the 2008s. None of the reds charmed me, disarmed me, or rose above blandness, in my humble opinion. The St. Emilions showed slightly more fruit, as did the St.-Juliens -- or any fruit at all, really. I still wouldn't cross the street for them, or cross the room.

These are solid brands, too: Château Batailley, Château Beau-Séjour Bécot, Château de Rayne Vigneau, Château Doisy-Daëne,  Château Grand-Mayne, Château Grand-Puy-Ducasse, Château Haut-Bages Libéral, Château Haut-Bailly, Château La Tour Blanche, Château

Ch. Leoville Barton

Léoville Barton, Château Léoville Poyferré, Château Lynch-Bages,  Château Phélan Ségur, Château Pichon-Longueville, Château Smith Haut-Lafitte -- decent, well regarded wines, every one.

Plainly I am not an experienced taster of young Bordeaux. I didn't see anyone else wrinkling their noses or looking disappointed, so maybe it's just me. But I love Lynch-Bages, and the representative from that area (there was only one Lynch-Bages, I don't remember which) showed me nothing at all. The best reds poured were merely tolerable.

The whites, by contrast, were just fine, thank you very much. The Sauv Blancs, and the SB/Semillon blends, were good. The Sauternes were rich and sweet, complex and delicious, toe-curlers, every one -- not a loser in the bunch.

St-Juliens

I'd list specific wines and notes but none of the reds rose above a "B," so there hardly seems any point. If you have a chance to pick up a case of some of these 2008s, wait a year before trying them. And good luck. I hope I turn out to be wrong (or simply misinformed).

And I might be, though style and approach should not be excuses for a lack of flavor and depth. "Subtle" is supposed to be a virtue, not an excuse. I understand the French downplay fruit because theirs are beverage wines, not cocktail wines -- but this is ridiculous!

Delicious Sauternes!

I was vastly amused to bump into Miguel Boscana, of Rosenblum Cellars, who poured his own disdain on the Bordeaux for utter lack of fruit. These wines, of course, represent the complete opposite of Rosenblum's fruit-forward approach to Zinfandels. He insisted that the French don't know how to, or haven't the weather for, or possibly lack the taste for, fruit in their wines.

French red Bordeaux are, it's true, a complete crap shoot for moderately active American wine drinkers: At their best they are stunning; on average they are disappointingly bland.

What am I missing?

"Blanding" Just A Matter of Taste?

Last week, my long-time colleague Dan Berger expressed the opinion that American wines are undergoing a "blanding" in which varietal fruit flavors are getting fainter and fainter. Dan thinks that's a bad thing.

Over the past several months, I've used SavvyTaste (get the Facebook App here) to share quite a few wines that I thought lacked fruit. Among those wines were Charles Shaw (Two Buck Chuck), Oak Leaf Vineyards and almost everything else in the $3 to $4 category.

I found most those wines too bland for my taste.

For my taste.

But NOT for the millions of people who buy them. Obviously sales speak for themselves and illustrate that there is broad support for those wines.

But as we have emphasized over and over at SavvyTaste, genetic variations and many other factors influence how we experience wine individually. What is too bland, or too sweet or too-anything-else for me can likely be the perfect match for someone else. That does not make them bad wines or their fans inferior tasters.

But obviously, Dan's palate -- and mine -- are not good matches for people who like wines with faint fruit. There is a market for those wines, just like there is for bigger, more fruit-forward wines that I like.

It's all a matter of taste.

That's why SavvyTaste's goal is nor to RATE wines, but to SHARE them in order to connect people with the same taste preferences. Go ahead, get the app and give it a try.

A FINAL WORD: Interestingly, I did find the the Oak Leaf Vineyards Pinot Grigio ($2.97 at Wal-Mart) had a lot more fruit than many that cost $15 and up.

How to Pick the Best Bottle of Sparkling Wine for the Holidays!

A *wonderful* article about all the many Champagnes and bubblies from around the world, and how their tastes compare!

http://www.thirstygirl.com/index.php/quaff/article/bubbly-101-how-to-pick-the-best-bottle-for-the-holidays/  

Join a Wine Club like 4 Seasons Wine from an email "special offer"? I don't think so....

A friend writes that he received a "special offer" by email to get a case of unspecified wine for $69.95. He wanted to know if this sounded good. (As it happens, he lives in Oklahoma, which still forbids import of wines such as from wine clubs or wineries.)

My response, which may be useful/interesting to you/friends.


4 Seasons Wine is a wine club - you join and they send you wines every month or quarter for a set fee -- they decide the wines.

Me, I wouldn't join a random wine club over the transom like this. There are too many wine clubs with solid reps, like the California Connoisseur's Club, and the Wall Street Journal Wine Club, and the SF Chronicle Wine Club. 

Equally good are wine clubs of wineries you visit and like their wines.

Bummer about Oklahoma's liquor laws. The Supremes invalidated these laws a couple of years ago, but states like OK have been dragging their feet and coming up with excuses, in response to those holding the legislature's leash, namely the liquor distribution companies. This is corruption as basic and ugly as any.

PS People you know in other states can mail you (or ship you by UPS or FedEx) booze from their states; the laws refer to commercial entities -- wineries -- shipping wine into their state. UPS and FedEx generally don't even ask what's in the package (and if they do, say "Olive Oil"), nor do they care as long as it doesn't blow up.

Three Tasty Whites--Passaggio, Foppiano

--By Mac McCarthy

I've never been much of a white-wine fan, always preferring reds. But over the past year I've been finding more and more whites that capture the interest of my taste buds with their flavorfulness and pleasant tang.

The initial provocation was an unoaked Chardonnay from Cynthia Cosco's Passaggio brand, "New Generations California Unoaked" from 2008, priced at $14 at the winery--which is at The Crushpad custom-crush facility, where Cindy is manager. That Chardonnay redeemed the reputation of Chardonnay to my taste buds with such enthusiasm that I find myself these days, when attending tastings, checking the Chardonnays and other whites before heading to the red end of the pool.

The Passaggio Chard was just plain flavorful. You'd take a sip, and a few moments later, you'd really want another sip. Not my usual reaction to Chardonnay.

More Chard makers, it seems, have been experimenting lately, looking for solutions to the 'oaked Chardonnay problem," but hers is the most successful. So for my birthday treat this year, I drove with my wife up to the Crushpad's new facility on the Silverado Trail in Napa, where they now have a tasting facility, to get a case of Cindy's current release--the 2009, which has risen in price to a more rational $16. Still, I'd be saving myself a lot in shipping charges.

I discovered that Ms. Cosco has been experimenting further, producing a Passagio 2009 New Generation California Pinot Grigio. Good! PG's are all too often watery; my guess would be that the Cosco PG would be anything but watery. So I picked up a couple of bottles of that too.

By happy good luck, Foppiano Vineyards sent me a few days later a bottle of their first experiment in Chardonnay, their newly released 2009 Russian River Valley Estate Bottled Chardonnay.

So let's taste all three whites and see what we think.

Spoiler alert: Nice! Warning: These wines are all newly bottled current vintages, so they will be barrel-sample fresh but with no aging to integrate any of the elements. With luck, these will only get better over the next year or three, I would think.

PASSAGIO WINES 'NEW GENERATION' CHARDONNAY CALIFORNIA UNOAKED, 13.4%, Silverado Trail, Napa, CA
$16 http://www.passaggiowines.com

Like last year's vintage, this Chardonnay, being unoaked and with no malolactic fermentation, has none of the buttery, vanilla flavors characteristic of the standard California Chardonnay style beloved of chain restaurants, by-the-glass bars, and college girls. Instead, the Passaggio Chards are, as the site says, "clean, light, and crisp." The fruit comes out much more strongly, and the acid, giving this wine a lot of flavor, and a lightly crisp red-grapefruit tang that lets it work well as a 'beverage wine,' as I call them -- in other words, a food-friendly wine. I plan to open a bottle for Thanksgiving.

I have to say that the 'flavorfulness' didn't seem to me to be as pronounced upon first opening the bottle as it was last year. Not sure what I mean by 'flavorfulness,' except that it's a lip-smacking quality that lacks technical precision but definitely has you reaching for another pour. The next day, however, the Chard calmed down a bit, the acid settled down, and more fruit came up to balance it. Yet this is a very tasty, rounded wine that I'm glad I have a case of. You should have a case of it, too.

By the way, Cindy's wines are sealed with a Zork, which is a plastic cork attached to a plastic cap -- you can remove the plastic seal and open the wine without needing a corkscrew, then push the Zork back in like a cork to reseal -- great for picnics!


FOPPIANO VINEYARDS RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY ESTATE BOTTLED CHARDONNAY 2009, 14.5%, Healdsburg, CA
$22, http://www.foppiano.com

This bottle is Foppiano's first venture into Chardonnay, their legacy wine being Petite Sirah as well as Pinot Noir. This is also only the second vintage released by the winery's new winemaker, Natalie West.

This wine is the opposite of Cindy's Passaggio Chard, in that it was fermented in oak rather than steel barrels, and put through malolactic fermentation. Yet it's not so radically different -- flavorful, with a nice tang, similarly food-friendly, and well rounded. This may be because of the restraint in the winemaking: The wine was fermented only 35% in new French Oak, the rest in neutral French oak, and only a third went through malolactic fermentation -- just enough to give it a hint of creaminess without turning it into an overly buttery Chard archtype. The result is quite a success, especially for a first vintage!

PASSAGGIO NEW GENERATION PINOT GRIGIO 2009 CALIFORNIA, 13.4%
$14, http://www.passaggiowines.com

I was happy to get a chance to see what Cindy can do with this grape. Pinot Grigios can be all over the map -- wonderful aroma and no flavor, just water; less aroma but more flavor; and no aroma and no flavor, just pricey water. Even Cal-Italia makers are unpredictable. My hope was that Cindy would be able to bring her flavor-enhancing skills to this wine.

And indeed she does. It has no particular nose, but it's got enough mouth-filling flavor to compete with a Chard. Yet it's not heavy or overdone, either: Again, a nice light crispness, which will make it a great palate-cleanser at our Thanksgiving dinner this year. My technical wine-reviewer verdict: Yum.

I can't believe it, but youse guys are turning me into a white-wine lover! Well, enjoyer, anyway. I've been discovering Chenin Blancs--CheninBlancs?! Bad enough I have an infinity of interesting, fun, delicious, varied red wines still to taste -- now I have another infinity of whites to experiment with? What have you done!

Beverage vs Cocktail - Can't anybody get this right? Not even Eric Asimov!

NYT wine critic Eric Asimov reports today on a tasting of California Zinfandels:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/13/dining/13wine.html?_r=1&src=dayp


...and starts off by complaining about the "huge, dense, powerful monsters, pushing past 16 percent alcohol and overwhelming any food in their paths."


Me, I love these huge, dense, powerful monsters, and the alcohol level doesn't bother me. But then, I recognize that these popular styles of Zin are crafted as "cocktail wines." 


An understanding of the difference between Cocktail Wines and Beverage Wines would clarify the thinking of many a wine critic, even Eric Asimov: 


The bomb-Zins don't pair well with food?

Well, they're not made to pair with food!

They're cocktail wines.

If you were tasting 20-year Scotches and judging them based on which ones pair well with food, you'd be laughed out of the bar. And if you complained that the Kentucky sippin' whiskey in your glass have alcohol levels far past 16 percent -- well, they'd be looked at as if they landed from Mars.

It astonishes me that nobody in this business seems to get this distinction. Not even the Zin makers I talk to.

Beverage Wines are food-friendly wines -- they have the characteristics of a beverage that you drink with your meal: They wash down the food, have a little acid to clear the palate, are light but (when done well) flavorful, and don't clash with the food flavors and textures. That's why European wines are so light; that's how they fit into the meal.

Cocktail Wines are meant to be tasted by themselves, not with food. How can you eat even a burger with a Rosenblum Rockpile Zin yelling in your ear? You can't. It's wrong for the hamburger -- it's wrong for the Zin. It shows a lack of respect for your drink. 

When you go to a cocktail party, they'll have munchies to clear your palate, but the focus is on the cocktails. When you go to dinner, the focus is on the food, and the wine has to fit in, not the other way around. You don't go to a cocktail party and ask the hostess which food the Margueritas go with!

And it's not a question of which style is the better style. Each is suited to its own place. And not suited to the wrong place. As long as you can't keep this distinction straight in your mind, you will go through life, like Eric Asimov, confused by what you're drinking, because you're drinking it backwards!

Rock Me Redux

Rock Me Redux
By John Engstrom

Well lucky, lucky me. After I posted the “Rock Me Baby” blog piece, (see below) I sent a link to it to Gary Branham, Clay Mauritson and Carol Shelton among others. Clay then sent me an invitation to attend the ‘Rockpile Rocks at Rock Wall’ event on September 8. Most of the wineries that use Rockpile grown grapes were there, along with several growers. There are no wineries actually in the Rockpile AVA. Those wineries that use Rockpile grapes either contract with growers or own vineyard property within the appellation.

I arrived at the Rock Wall winery in Alameda a little early, so I was graciously invited to sit with Shauna Rosenblum, Chelsea Blackburn and the rest of the Rock Wall crew as they finished their lunch, and then walked into the tasting. Well, first I was humbled. Charles Olken, of the Connoisseurs’ Guide to California Wine was there. I had met Charlie before, many years ago. He then introduced me to Steve Heimoff of Wine Enthusiast magazine. Okay, now I feel like a small fish in the big sea of wine writers. These are two guys that know what they are doing.

There were tables laid out in a horseshoe pattern, with one winery per table, so I decided to just make my way around. The first table was Seghesio where Ted Seghesio was pouring three vintages of Seghesio Rockpile Zinfandel; 2005, 2007 and 2009, the latter being a barrel sample. The second table is J. C. Cellars where Jeff Cohn was pouring two vintages each of his Haley’s Vineyard Syrah and Buffalo Hill Syrah. The third table has Gary Branham pouring the Branham Rockpile Zinfandel, Petite Sirah and Senal, a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet, Petite Sirah and Syrah. Next was Paradise Ridge where Dan Barwick stood with a three year vertical of Zinfandel and a three year vertical of Cabernet, along with the afternoon’s only Merlot. I can’t get to the next table yet, as videographers are talking to the father and daughter winemaking team behind Rock Wall, Kent and Shauna Rosenblum. So, I mosey on over to the table that invited me, Mauritson, where Clay Mauritson is pouring the Rockpile Ridge and Cemetery Zinfandels, the Buck Pasture red blend, a Malbec, and a Petite Sirah. Next is the Carol Shelton table where Mitch Mackenzie and Carol Shelton are hosting a ten year vertical of Rockpile Zinfandels, with a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Petite Sirah for good measure. Finally, the host table is vacant enough to try the Rock Wall wines that start with a Chardonnay?! Actually, the Chardonnay isn’t from Rockpile, but Rock Wall is offering it as a palate cleanser and because their only Rockpile wine is barrel samples of their 2009 Zinfandel.

After tasting these wines and talking with the winemakers, I have discovered a few things. Although there are 15,000 acres of land in the Rockpile AVA, only 160 to 170 are planted to grapes. Furthermore, there are only about 50 more acres that can be planted to grapes. The rest isn’t rocky soil, it’s just plain solid rock, or it’s on such a steep slope, you would have to be a mountain goat to tend the grapes. This rocky soil expresses itself in all of the wines made from Rockpile grapes as a mineral flavor that to me is akin to graphite, though I also heard it defined as slate. Whatever it is, it is inescapable and distinctive.

All of Rockpile is at 800 feet or higher, up to 2,100 feet. This means all the vineyards stay above the fog level due to an inversion layer created by nearby Lake Sonoma. You would think that the lack of fog would make Rockpile hotter than nearby Dry Creek, when in fact the opposite is true. The daytime highs are actually 10 to 15 degrees cooler than the Dry Creek valley floor during the growing season due to the 10 to 15 mile-per-hour gusts of wind coming off of the Pacific Ocean. These winds reduce grape size, and create looser grape bunches. The looser grape bunches mean less rot and more even ripening, which is especially important in Zinfandel. The reduced grape size leads to greater skin to juice ratios which means the potential for greater flavor extraction, as well as greater tannin extraction. These tannins give the wines a huge aging potential, and loads of complexity. They can also be rather astringent, especially in wines made from grapes with a lot of tannin anyway. It’s going to tale a long time for the tannins to resolve themselves in most of the Cabernet Sauvignons I tasted, and it may be decades before the Petite Verdot and Petite Sirah wines are fully ready.

There are no old vines in Rockpile, unless you consider teenagers as old. The oldest vineyards in Rockpile were planted in the early nineties by Cathy and Rod Park. The Mauritson family has owned land in Rockpile for generations, but did plant any of the current vineyards there until the late 1990’s. However, most of the Zinfandels I tasted had many characteristics of classic old vine Zins. I believe this is due to the more even ripening, and the fact that the vines are stressed by their surroundings from day one.

Rockpile became designated as an AVA (American Viticultural Area) in 2002. Apparently, there was a delay in the approval of the designation, because the agency that reviews these designation requests thought that the name ‘Rockpile’ was a joke. The AVA got its first major press when the 2003 Rosenblum Rockpile Road Zinfandel, was named one of the top 10 wines of the year by Wine Spectator.

After I concluded the general tasting, there was a session comparing Rockpile Zinfandels of the same vintage by different wineries. The first flight consisted of 2001 and 2002 Carol Shelton and 2001 and 2002 Mauritson Rockpile Ridge. Carol Shelton explained that they have used the same grape source (the vineyard owned by Jack Florence Sr.) for all their Rockpile Zinfandels, but what they call that vineyard has changed. Clay Mauritson added that for this part of the tasting; only Rockpile Ridge was used. I found the 2001 Carol Shelton with soft tannins supporting a blackberry and fig fruit flavor, while the 2001 Mauritson was still firm, and showed more of the characteristic graphite minerality. The 2002 Carol Shelton was plumy, fruit forward and showed great balance, while the 2002 Mauritson was more intense, not as fruit laden, but still very well balanced. I commented that I wish all eight and nine year old Zinfandels showed this much fruit, structure and balance.
2001 Carol Shelton Rocky Reserve Zinfandel $?/ ***+
2001 Mauritson Rockpile Ridge Zinfandel $? / ***+
2002 Carol Shelton Rocky Reserve Zinfandel $? / ****
2002 Mauritson Rockpile Ridge Zinfandel $? / ****+

For the next three flights, there were four Rockpile Zinfandels, each from a different producer: Carol Shelton, Seghesio, Mauritson (Rockpile Ridge offering) and Paradise Ridge. The second flight was 2005. The Carol Shelton was the softest and most balanced, and showed an earthy, mushroom-like undercurrent. The Seghesio was focused and showed the most of the graphite minerality. The Mauritson was the most intense with the blackberry fruit just beginning to peek through the tannins. The Paradise Ridge was the most blackberry flavored of the lot, and had a flavor of black tea as well..
2005 Carol Shelton Rocky Reserve Zinfandel $? / ****+
2005 Seghesio Rockpile Zinfandel $? / ****
2005 Mauritson Rockpile Ridge Zinfandel $? / ****+
2005 Paradise Ridge Rockpile Zinfandel $? / ****

The next flight was my favorite, 2007. I have come to the conclusion that you would have to try awfully hard to make bad wine out of 2007 Rockpile Zinfandel grapes. The Carol Shelton was perfect. Beautifully balanced, with loads of bright berry fruit, enough of the characteristic graphite minerality to know that it was Rockpile, and enough tannin to be confident that it will last seven to ten more years, and still be delicious. The Seghesio was redolent of mixed berries, and of course the inescapable minerality. The Paradise Ridge has that ultra-blackberry fruit flavor and a strong graphite backbone. The Mauritson tasted as if it were a blend of the other three, and that’s a good thing.
2007 Carol Shelton Rocky Reserve Zinfandel $? / *****
2007 Seghesio Rockpile Zinfandel $? / ****+
2007 Mauritson Rockpile Ridge Zinfandel $? / ****+
2007 Paradise Ridge Rockpile Zinfandel $? / ****+

The final flight consisted of 2009 barrel samples. Since the final product is not known, I won’t pretend to pass judgment on any of them, but the distinctions between the four remained. Of the four, Carol Shelton always seems to get as much fruit flavors as the others, but without as much harsh tannins. In each vintage, her wines came across as the most fruit forward. The Seghesio wines all come from the same two side-by-side vineyards, and almost taste that way. Like the close two-part harmony of the Everly Brothers (ask your parents) the wines taste as though they have a fruit side and a mineral side, singing together. The Mauritson wines always have as much fruit as the Carol Shelton wines, but are always a little more tannic, and more intensity. Clay Mauritson makes Zinfandel for people with wine cellars. The Paradise Ridge Zinfandels all have that blacker-than-black berry fruit and an undercurrent of black tea, which, based on this small sampling, seems to express itself more as the wine ages.

I did not include the prices for any of the above wines, because I did not get them. However, most of the current release Rockpile Zinfandels are between $33 and $40. I should mention that the map and photographs in this posting all come from www.rockpileappelation.com, and that the photograph of the people in the car is of ancestors of the Mauritson family in front of their house which is now at the bottom of Lake Sonoma.

Catchup: "Laughing Pig Rose; JC Cellars Ripkin Late Harvest Viognier"

Delayed notes on a couple of tasty bottles from last month.

Laughing Pig Rose, Big Table Farms, Oregon, Pinot Noire Rose 2009, 14.1%, $22:

Top line: A *delicious* rose -- flavorful, yummy, just-one-more-glass-please -- you know, all those technical terms. If you like rose, you'll like this dry, flavorful, aromatic and lovely wine. If you don't like rose -- well, you're just wrong, you haven't been tasting the right roses, that's all.

Big Table Farm

JC Cellars, Alexandra, Ripkin Vineyard Late Harvest Viognier, Lodi, 2007, 11.5%, $24 (half bottle). Top line: Jesus, this, this is so good it should be outlawed in most states.

This dessert wine is intensely sweet, voluptuously sweet, like the most delicious candy you've ever tasted, except in liquid form. My eyes roll back in my head every time I take a sip.

And no wonder it's sweet: Brix at harvest: 42 (!). Residual sugar: 19.4%. This is a wine lollipop.

But don't let that sound like something that should put you off. This is a wine you sip and savor every tasty drop. Now, I know lots of people who immediately say, "I don't like sweet wines." I have to tell them what I tell those who don't think they like rose, above: You haven't tried enough dessert wines to know what you're talking about.

I will concede that *if* you have an anti-sweet tooth and don't like candy, soda, ice cream, pies and cakes, or anything else that has sugar in it, due perhaps to a genetic tragedy -- then yes, you will not like this wine. For all the rest of humanity -- you will. Your taste buds would have to be dead for you not to enjoy sipping this nectar.

If your experience with sweet wines is White Zinfandel, or cheap German whites, or other similar plonk, then what you don't like isn't actually the sweetness. It's the lack of balance -- the white Zins you drank in college lacked the acid to balance the sugars, resulting in a wine that is easy for a new drinker, but quickly becomes boring because it's flabby. A well-made dessert wine, on the other hand, is in no way boring.

Or maybe you've been served a port, and while others raved, you were turned off by the brandy added in the production process, and decided that if this is what a sweet dessert wine tastes like, then no thanks.

But there's a wider world of wines out there, you shouldn't close your eyes. As Jeff Cohn, founder and winemaker of JC Cellars, says on this bottle: "You'll never know unless you try it." And he's right.

Remember, one of the most expensive wines in the world, Chateau d'Yquem, at $200 the half bottle, is a sweet white dessert wine that is also as sweet as Jeff's here. And, frankly, Jeff's isn't significantly less delicious than that French wine priced ten times higher.

Do yourself a favor.

I did; I was back at the winery last week and bought two more bottles. I know what good is.

JC Cellars, 4th Street, Oakland, CA.