Ken's Wine Picks and News

Thursday, January 19, 2012

2012-01-20T15:50:00.001-05:00

I would have to say that January is moving right along (thank goodness) and business has been pretty good for this time of year.

It’s a new year and we have a new wine list which is accessible via the main page of The Wooster Inn site: www.thewoosterinn.com

Couple points about the new wine list: where once there were two lists, we now have one that lists the state minimum retail for each wine as well as the restaurant price. Unlike most restaurants, we do not multiply the cost by two or three times. Instead we just add a modest amount to cover the cost of the servers and the glassware (that seems to need replacing all the time). On the most expensive wines on the list, the restaurant price is the minimum retail. All of this is to encourage our guests to enjoy the wines that enhance your dining experience.

New wines:

Hera Vinho Verde 2010 is a blended white wine from Portugal made up of three grapes that are particular to that country but little known elsewhere (85% Loureiro, 7.5% Trajadura, and 7.5% Arinto). I thought it was very refreshing, nice acidity, with a touch of sweetness. It is a reminder of the Spring that will come to us in a few months. It is also only $8. It would pair well with lighter foods and would appeal to Riesling drinkers. Nice wine, nice price.

(Weingut Max Ferd.) Richter Classic Riesling 2009 is from Germany, pretty much the origin of Riesling. Most wine experts that I know absolutely love Riesling. It is a wine that has relatively few steps in its production but those steps are so important. It needs to be fermented at cool temperatures. It needs to have just the right balance of sugar to acid. Too much sugar and you have a syrupy drink that is difficult to pair with food. Too much acid and the wine is unbalanced and virtually undrinkable. A wine maker once told me that a balanced wine is one that leaves you wanting more. This is a balanced wine. I also wanted this wine because it has the crisp mineral finish that is particular to this growing region. Though Riesling is grown in a number of cool growing areas, it is the slate laden soil of the Mosel region that gives this wine its uniqueness. It is $16.

Today I met with Hunter Vogel of KitFox, Hoe Down, & Treasure Hunter wines all under an umbrella company named The Authentic 3 Finger Wine Company. Hunter is a longtime friend of the Inn and I am fortunate to visit with him a couple times a year.

Hunter bottles negociant wines under the Treasure Hunter label. Negociant wines are wines produced by a winery but labeled as Treasure Hunter and sold for less than the primary label. So why would any winery do that? Well premium wineries want to hold their production levels from year to year in order to keep up demand and pricing. When more wine is made than is needed, it becomes available to people like Hunter. Although these wines won’t be in for a week or so, let me tell you about them:

Here is the story behind two of them. The title of this story is: “How Do You Make a Small Fortune in the Wine Business? Start with a Large One”

· Two wealthy investors bought vineyards in the prized Stag’s Leap District to the east of Napa. They wanted to create a fantastic Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with the intention of selling them exclusively through the Ritz Carlton Hotel in San Francisco at over $100 a bottle. This was back in 2005.

· The deal did not materialize. Meanwhile the wine was cellared in the bottle. Hunter finally was able to purchase the wine and slap his label on it.

· Treasure Hunter Cellars Stag’s Leap-Carneros Merlot 2005: while not generally a fan of merlot, this one is extraordinary. Smooth, juicy, with great tannin structure. It is a fantastic wine with flavors that are often found in bigger wines like a cabernet sauvignon. Best of all, this expensive wine experience is $20

· Treasure Hunter Stag’s Leap Cabernet Sauvignon 2005: Just like the merlot, this is a smooth wine with all the fruit that the cabernet sauvignon grape can give but a smooth finish that only is found in the finest of wines. This experience is $25 and I am certain that you will not be disappointed.

There are only about 500 cases of each of these wines and we are fortunate to have the relationship that we do with Hunter and Purple Feet Distributing so that we access to these wines.

There were two other wines we tasted:

· Treasure Hunter Fifth Senses Cabernet Sauvignon 2008: Mt. Veder and Rutherford are two prized regions and the source of the grapes that make up this wine. This fine cabernet is also $20 retail.

· A new wine actually created by Hunter’s winemaker is called One Time Spaceman 2008 – Moon Dust. It is a Rhone blend so it is mostly Grenache, blended with syrah, mouvedre, and tempranillo. This is great juicy wine. This one is $30 retail.

We will feature these wines in our glass pours when they arrive on or about Friday, January 27, 2012

Thursday, December 8, 2011

2011-12-08T10:45:00.000-05:00

We store about $25,000 in wine inventory throughout the year and the holiday season is probably my least active for wine purchases. We are busy at the Inn and the holidays mess around with the schedules of the vendors. Nonetheless, we did just receive a couple of wines. One is new to me and the other is an old favorite.

The new wine is:

Castle Rock California Cuvée Pinot Noir 2009 ($8 – that’s right – only $8!) So how do you find an $8 pinot noir that’s any good? Frankly, when I tasted this one last week I thought it was a $20-$25 wine. The label on this wine gives you some clues as to why this is such a buy. The clues are the words “California” and “Cuvée.”

The trend in winemaking and thus wine labels has been single-vineyard or at least single appellations. The idea, which is correct, is that each vineyard, each valley, each region imparts unique qualities to the grape and thus to the wine. But what happens if you mix grapes from different areas? If each area produces a grape with a slightly different flavor profile you conceivably have a wine that combines the strengths of each of those areas.

The word “California” on the label (instead of Napa, Sonoma, Monterey, etc.) means that grapes are sourced from throughout the state. These grapes are fermented separately, usually near the vineyard, and then blended into the final product.

Cuvée is simply a word that means blend. So does Meritage, (rhymes with heritage) and wines that simply say Red Table Wine.

I am not certain how this particular winery does its bottling, but one might think that there might be some wine left at the end of a bottling run from each vineyard. How about mixing these odds and ends and bottling that cuvee?

Alternately, the winemaker is a master at blending tastes to create from many wines a single wine with a particular flavor profile that highlights the best from each vineyard.

Either explanation works for me when you get a great drinking pinot noir for $8.

Franciscan Chardonnay 2010 ($13) This is like visiting an old friend. Franciscan wines have been around for the last 30 years. The founders were some of the first in the Napa Valley. The wines from this operation tend to be traditional in style but there are a few extra steps that winemaker, Janet Myers, takes to add just a little more flavor to the wine.

Disclaimer: Chardonnay is generally my least favorite white wine. I prefer the crisp citrus qualities of Sauvignon Blanc. I like the mineral qualities of Torrontes which hails from Argentina. Pinot Gris from Washington State tickles the tongue. Riesling seems to universally support the food which it accompanies. I came to know chardonnay during the heavy oak aging days inspired by Kendall Jackson. Somehow wine that tastes like toothpicks is not my cup of tea.

Fortunately winemakers have been moving away from the heavy oak influence and allowing the fruitiness of the grape to show through. So why oak in the first place? Chardonnay is a wine that tends to have a great start, a decent middle, and a weak finish or aftertaste. Oak aging compensates for that weak finish by adding flavors and tannins that some call a buttery finish, some call toasty.

If done gently, oak aging should add a vanilla finish. To enhance that finish, this wine also endures sur lie aging; which means that the wine remains with the spent yeast cells after fermentation. This process also enhances the finish.

Light oak treatment, sur lie aging, and ripe fruit create a wine for chardonnay lovers and chardonnay skeptics like me.

30 November 2011

2011-11-29T16:37:00.001-05:00

Welcome to my wine blog. The Wooster Inn has the privilege of hosting winemakers from all over the world and this blog was actually the idea of Hunter Vogel, the owner of KitFox winery. He remarked that I tasted so many wines and am always looking for the best deals. This blog would be a way for you to learn about the latest, greatest buys.

Before I talk about any wines, I want you to understand my biases: I am a new world wine guy. That means that I prefer wines that are produced outside of Europe. Consequently you won’t find me talking about many French, Spanish, or Italian wines. We do have them at the Inn, but I find New World wines to be more food-friendly since they are generally lighter and fruitier. Some might think me strange, but I like wines to have fruit characteristics since they are made from fruit!

Many wine people marvel at the deep, dark, earthy flavors that are more common among European red wines. These types of wines are just not my favorite.

All of the wines that I will talk about on this site are available for purchase through the Inn at state minimum pricing. We also give a 10% discount on the purchase of 12 bottles (case).

SeaGlass Riesling 2010 (Monterey, California) ($15) – Generally speaking, Riesling has a tough time growing in sunny, warm California climates. After all the grape ancestors hail from the cool mountain regions of the German and French borders. Fortunately the SeaGlass vineyards benefit from direct Pacific winds that keep the coastal vineyards cool. Riesling is a great wine that pairs well with most lighter foods. Producing Riesling requires cold fermentation so that the wine maintains its crisp qualities. Although this is a dry wine, Riesling always has some residual sugar to balance the high acidity of the grape.

A to Z Chardonnay 2008 (Oregon) ($15) – Oregon is a great wine production region. In fact some of my favorite Pinot Noirs come from the state. Besides Pinot Noir, the state is known for Pinot Gris (the French style of Pinot Grigio). The state is not known for chardonnay, but here we have one. Chardonnay prefers warmer climates but, as some speculate, global warming is moving grape growing regions north. I am not sure of the science there, but this is an extraordinary chardonnay. The cooler growing climate allows the grapes to ripen slowly and develop their fruity flavors. Unlike most chardonnays, this one is never aged in oak so you can really taste the fruit quality of the chardonnay grape.

R8 Wine Company Cabernet Sauvignon 2010 (California) ($12) – The R8 Wine Company is based in Sonoma, California but the label does not designate the wine as being from that county. When a wine is simply labeled “California” it means that the grapes are sourced from a variety of regions within the state. The French believe in the concept of “terroir,” which means that each vineyard imparts particular qualities to a grape since each plot of land has qualities that differ from any other space on the planet. Although the production region (Napa, Sonoma, Russian River, etc.) is important to the tastes that show up in the bottle, the blending of grapes from various vineyards brings more layers of flavor to the wine. There is one other great benefit to this general sourcing of grapes: the wine is generally less expensive and a great buy.