Archive for the ‘Wines of the World’ Category

25 Mar

Wine Research: Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon

Posted by Ashley Johns in Chile, Varietals, Wine Education, wine tasting. Tagged: , , , , , .

Earlier this year I bought the introductory case of the Wall Street Journal Wine Club (www.wsjwine.com). My goal on this case was to carefully consider each wine with contemplative tastings using worksheets and fancy wine jargon. This goal would leave anyone paralyzed by over-ambitious expectations. Last week, my husband helped me finally start the research with a simple inquiry; “So, when are we going to break into that research case?”

The first wine selected to taste was a 2011 Don Cayetano Cabernet Sauvignon from Colchagua Valley Chile. One things of note about Chilean wines and what I really like about them is that they are this nice balance between the old world and the new world. You get the big, bold wine with the tannins like we see in California, but also a subtlety and earthiness we get from France.

The smell of the wine filled the air as soon as I opened the bottle. It even overpowered the chicken that was baking in the oven at that time. Into the glass it went

We described the color as red violet. It was clear, but had a watery edge, which is indicative of its young age. The initial smell was very metallic – almost astringent, but that made way for black fruit, earth and stone. The fruit was definitely subservient to the pungent chemical and riverbed smell. Overall, it was pleasant and continued to mellow as we swirled it around in our glasses. Finally, we tasted it. It was full bodied and dry, but pleasant and straightforward. All in all, it was still too young and unbalanced in its youth, but it paired well with the savory dinner and continued to open and develop through the evening. I have another bottle I received with this shipment I look forward to opening in a couple years and comparing to these notes.

I have drunk probably hundreds of different Cabernets from many different countries. Cab is called the noble grape and it is the first thing that comes to mind when I think of wine. That being said, when I try to nail down qualities of what makes a Cab a Cab, I get stuck and unconfident in my own descriptors

In a nutshell, Cabernet Sauvignon is a classic grape that is grown all over the world. Climate and soil affects the outcome. Old World Cabs from France, etc. tend to smell and taste earthy; the fruit is subtle; and they have lower alcohol. New World Cabs are bolder, more fruit-forward and have higher alcohol.  It is darker than most wines, but not the darkest wine. It’s also a medium to full-bodied wine, but not the fullest. It ages well, but many Cabs are meant to be drank young (2-5 years).

Working on this posting, has confirmed the importance of gathering a wine-tasting toolkit. I’m in the process of building one now that I hope will help me gain confidence in tasting and evaluating wines. It will be a work in process and undoubtedly require my clearing off some shelf space for resource materials. The materials from the International Wine Guild have been very helpful in this process as well as Madeleine Puckett’s blog www.winefolly.com. These as well as Wine Spectator’s Great Grapes series were resources for this posting.

11 Mar

Tannat: What’s that?

Posted by Ashley Johns in Uruguay, Varietals, wine tasting. Tagged: , , , , , , .

I would say that while I am no master-level expert, I do know my way around a bottle of wine and know quite a bit about it. If I haven’t tasted a certain wine, I at least will have heard of it. For the most part.

Last month, we were in Las Vegas and my husband’s cousin came out from his home in Los Angeles to join us. Paul shares our love of wine and brought a few bottles with him from the Paso Robles region near his home. One of the bottles he brought was a 2006 Tablas Creek Tannat; a varietal that was completely unfamiliar to me.  While I don’t remember a lot of detail about the wine, I do remember that it was full yet well balanced with a great harmony between mineral and fruit. It was like a cross between a Pinot Noir and a Syrah. Smooth, but spicy! I loved it and wanted more.

A few weeks later, I was happy to find myself in front of Tannat again. This time it was Uruguayan Tannat that I was pouring as a volunteer at the Texas Wine and Food Foundation’s annual Cowboys and Gaucho’s event.

Tannat originated in the southwest Basque region of France near Spain.  It is a very dark, very tannic wine with high alcohol. The high tannins is what gives the wine its name. Other features of Tannat are its thick black skins, which give the wine its dark color. Tannat is one of the highest producers of oligomeric procyanidins, which are attributed to heart health (http://www.nbcnews.com/id/15967818/#.UT0xGbRZGkc ). Basque explorers brought it to Uruguay in the 19th century where it has flourished in the temperate maritime climate and the clay and limestone soil and become Uruguay’s most prominent grape.

Last night, we opened a bottle of 2011 Don Prospero Tannat from Pizzorno winery in Uruguay, which was one of the wines I was pouring at Cowboys and Gauchos. This is a tough wine to review because as soon as we poured it into the glass and sniffed, it was obvious that the wine was too young and needed more time in the bottle. The Tannat qualities we were able to get from it was its color, deep and dark; and the tart blackberry fruit. I would like the opportunity to try this wine again after it’s had a few more years to develop in the bottle. I believe that its minerality and smoothness will really shine then.

10 Feb

Tacos & Tempranillo

Posted by Ashley Johns in Texas, Wine Pairing. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , .

After the wonderfully surprising pairing of grilled cheese and Zinfandel (http://consideringwine.com/2012/11/), I was inspired to find other unusual pairings. We had recently taken a tour down the Texas Wine Trail and were in possession of some amazing Texas wines. It made sense to pair a Texas wine with a Texas food.

Tempranillo is probably my favorite Texas grape. The soil and climate of the high plains and hill country are similar to Spain, where Tempranillo was born. The high plains have cooler nights, which tends to make a more balanced, nuanced wine like you get in the coastal climate of Spain. Tempranillo grown in the hill country embodies the full, bold wine you expect in a hot new-world climate.

THE FOOD

I wanted to make authentic street tacos for this pairing and found several marinades for carne asada, each of them being similar in that there was a lot of herbs and spices ground together then mixed with oil and acid. The recipe I chose was a variation of Tyler Florence’s recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/tacos-carne-asada-recipe/index.html). The toppings were simple; queso fresco, roasted salsa, red onion, and lime.

THE WINE

I selected two wines from the trip we took last fall. Spicewood Wineries is one of our favorite wineries in the area. I was introduced to their 2009 Tempranillo last February at Cowboys and Gauchos and spent months trying to acquire it after that, but the winery was sold out of it. On our trip there in September, I spoke to the winemaker about my love for his wine and he responded by selling me a bottle from his personal case.  The wine was grown on estate in Spicewood Texas, which is about an hour from Austin.

The other wine I selected was a 2010 Tempranillo from Solaro grown in the Texas high plains. My tasting notes from my visit at the winery ranks this wine as a 10, so I was excited to try it again with food.

We tasted both wines before eating. The Spicewood Tempranillo was bold and tannic. It was a little much on its own, but we figured it would hold up well to the seasoned meat tacos. The Solaro varietal was much more subdued. If I tasted it blind, I would have mistaken it for a Pinot Noir. It was an absolutely amazing wine, but we were afraid it would get overpowered when paired with the tacos.

That wasn’t the case. The wine took on the food like a challenge and completely stepped up to the plate to go head-to-head with the food. If the wine was originally similar to a Pinot Noir, it became a Syrah with pepper and oomph! They say that a great pairing happens when both the wine and the food are improved by the match. This was definitely the case with the Solaro Tempranillo.

The Spicewood Tempranillo performed as we thought it would. It paired very well with the tacos and as the wine was able to open and breathe, its tannins loosened and it was much more enjoyable.

I love living in Texas. The food and the wine are amazing. It is a pace where flavor rules. Tacos n’ Tempranillo made a quintessentially Texas dinner. Big, bold, stand on its own flavor made from some very simple ingredients and technique. We will definitely have this dinner again.

Tacos & tempranillo

 

 

17 Jan

A Newly Certified Wine Geek

Posted by Ashley Johns in Wine Education, Wine Events, wine tasting, Wines of the World. Tagged: , , , , .

Last Fall I had the opportunity to receive my Level I Wine Certification. A birthday gift from my amazing and supportive husband. It was a weekend class presented by the International Wine Guild as the first step toward becoming a professional wine-o; the colloquial term for a wine professional.

The amount of information that was packed into those two days was remarkable. The mind reels at the depth and complexity of it all. Yet, the class was merely a jumping off point to everything wine in this world.

Some of my key take-aways were:

  • Wine is chartable. No really. International Wine Guild (IWG) has charted wine in immeasurable ways and sells them here. http://www.internationalwineguild.com/shop/family/wine_style_charts.  I picked up the “Key Wines of the World” and am looking forward to using it to help me evaluate wine more efficiently.
  • There are more than 180 identified wine-growing areas in France. And Master Wine students are required to have a working knowledge in all of them. My respect for these individuals increased higher than it already was after learning that factoid.
  • U.S. Wine Designation laws are really lame. A varietal wine only needs to include 75% of that designated grape. Who knows what else is in there? No wonder we Americans think wine is so confusing!
  • Madeira, a fortified wine, can keep indefinitely in the bottle. It was also the designated wine of the American Revolution because Madeira (an island off the coast of Africa and owned by Portugal) was the only place besides Britain that could export wine to the U.S. Colonies. You know there are collectors out there with bottles of Madeira from the Revolution. I wonder if we can talk one of them into opening it…
  • An IWG taste evaluation form identifies every single tiny component of wine and learning this form could be its own week long class.

That’s just a smidgen of what I took away from this class. The next obvious step is to put all this new information and tools to good use and start seriously evaluating wines. I have my eye on the Wall Street Journal starter case as a good research project. https://www.wsjwine.com/jsp/offer/recr/us/wsj/recoffertemp2flow1.jsp?offerId=64400071&promoCode=4552001&?utm_campaign=rc_4552001&utm_medium=walkupweb&utm_source=wsj&utm_keyword=&utm_content=.

There’s a great big world of wine out there. I need to start drinking if I’m going to discover it all!

14 Oct

Viognier: Worth the Challenge?

Posted by Ashley Johns in Texas, United States, Varietals, wine tasting. Tagged: , , , .

It seems as though Texas is really starting to come into its own in wine growing and making. Wineries are making wines that work well in our climate and are pursuing personality over mainstream appeal. This is especially evident in Texas Viognier. I’m reading a lot of articles and opinions about how Viognier is becoming Texas’ signature wine; that the state grows it better than any other part of the world. A recent tasting of Viognier in Gusto’s monthly Texas vs the World Wine Tasting backed up those claims very well.

But why Viognier? The grape has a lot of personality to it; but it is a strong and temperamental personality. The scent is powerful and it tends to be musky and floral. It can taste oily if left on the vine too long. It also has high sugar that results in high alcohol content, which must be contended with in the wine-making process or else the alcohol prevails in the taste. It is a difficult grape to grow, as it is sensitive to climate, soil, and sunlight. Prone to disease, it was nearly wiped out with only about 35 acres growing in the Rhone valley in the middle of the 20th century.

Regardless of its challenges, the new world has grasped onto the grape and has been bringing it back into style over the last 25 years. It is now growing all over the world. On the other hand, perhaps it is the challenge that brought it back.

Sadly, I have misplaced my tasting notes from the event last week. I’m trying to remember what we tasted off of memory. I don’t want to write something that is incorrect so I’m going to direct you to Talk-a-Vino’s blog where for good descriptions of each wine and ratings. (http://talk-a-vino.com/2012/10/11/battle-of-viogniers-texas-wins/).  Adding my two-cents; the Texas wines were better than the other samples and the McPherson was my favorite of all the wines we tasted.

I don’t think any of the wines we tasted that night were made or grown perfectly. Nor have I ever met a Viognier I wanted to take home with me. On the other hand, I read what the wine is supposed to taste like and can only ask myself whether it’s a personal preference or if there is great Viognier out there of which I have yet to try. I do think that regardless of it s big personality and temperament, it goes well with others and balances out some of the strong acidity of other wines. My next step is going to be to try some blends and see if those suit me better.

30 Sep

Why would I drink Italian Wine?

Posted by Ashley Johns in Italy, wine tasting. Tagged: , , , .

There are a lot of amazing wines out there. French wines that inspire fantasies. California wines that inspire movies.  Even Texas wines that inspire my home state pride. Italian wines don’t really inspire much in me. Italian food, for that matter, doesn’t inspire much in me. Don’t misunderstand this to mean I don’t love Italian food; because I do. It’s simply that eating it doesn’t make me wish I had gone to culinary school to become the next Mario Batali. It is comfort food. It’s what I eat when I want to kick back and take it easy. And as for Italian wines; I usually don’t even consider them when I’m buying wine.

Nonetheless, Italian wine has been on my radar lately. My curiosity piqued, I invited some girlfriends over last night for Italian food and asked them each to bring a bottle of Italian wine. Both the food and wine turned out to be satisfyingly complex. My goal was to make a simple easy and, as far as what was in my control, healthy pasta dish. Four pans, a counter covered in sauce, and three very happy dogs later I had a dish that, thankfully, made itself. Following no recipe or direction, I threw things together in a manner that turned out to be quite delicious. It was chaos. But it was comfortable chaos.


The wine was similar. It didn’t seem conducive to a formal tasting with notes and pencils and sips and comments. Instead, we opted to open the bottles and go for it. The wines we had were:

  • Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio
  • Rapido Red Sangiovese Puglia
  • Natale Verge Chianti
  • Mia Ragazza Chianti
  • Remole Toscana (a Sangiovese, Cabernet blend)

All of the reds were quite dry. But they opened beautifully and were soft and easy to drink. Like the pasta dish I made, they were layered and complex and the flavors changed as you moved through it. Yet, they were simple and familiar and comfortable.

Earlier today I Googled the question; why would I drink Italian wine. Most of the responses to the search focused around how wine is paired with food in Italy to the point that it’s its own food group. So many Italians drink wine every day as a part of their meal. It really does seem to be a relationship beverage for them. Meals are eaten with family and friends and wine is a part of that meal. Other articles I found mentioned that younger Italians aren’t drinking as much wine and attributed it partly to the fragmentation of Italian tradition – they are not eating in community and therefore, wine has lots its nutritional function. (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/wine-drinking-tradition-lost-on-young-italians-2274677.html)

So, why would I drink Italian wine? I’m still not sure. I won’t not drink it. I really enjoyed the wines we had last night and will probably pick up another bottle in the store someday. But my husband and I usually tend towards California and Texas wines and with our storage stocked right now, I won’t be doing any wine buying for awhile.

But what is important is that I want to drink wine AS the Italians do. With food. In community. As a part of life. And comfortably, without pretension.

 

 

28 May

A Spanish Wine Tasting; Special Consideration to Garnacha

Posted by Ashley Johns in Spain, Varietals, wine tasting. Tagged: , , , , , , , , .

One can only be intrigued by a country that has been producing wine for hundreds of years. Yet, a 10-year old Wine Bible was virtually useless in describing the diversity of wines that come out of this land.

Spain was the theme for my first official wine tasting. Eleven guests blessed our home on Friday night bringing red and white wines from every corner of Spain. The $20 limit did nothing to limit the quality and complexity of the wines we tried that evening. It is the two Garnachas from D.O. Calatayud we tasted that I want to focus on in this article.

Traditionally, Garnacha has been a blending wine in Spain and France, where it’s called Grenache. It’s big fruit and low tannins help balance out other big-bodied wines. For this, there are many people who don’t know about it even though it’s one of the most propagated wines in the world.  It is also one of the best bang-for-your-buck wines I have ever tried.  I have found quality examples of this varietal for as low as $6 a bottle.

I think there are a number of reasons why it’s such a great value:

  1. It is one of the world’s most widely planted grapes.
  2. It has good wind and draught tolerance and can be planted in almost any type of soil.
  3. No one knows about it…yet.

My friend Blake believes that Garnacha is going to be the next Pinot Noir, and Malbec in terms of consumer popularity, which will drive up both its production and it’s price. Having been introduced to it just recently myself; I am excited for more of it. I am also apprehensive for what will happen to the quality and complexity of it, such as we enjoyed Friday night, as mass-production takes over and streamlines out its character.

The first Garnacha we tasted was a 2009 Las Rocas. More than 350 growers in the Bodegas San Alejandro co-operative contribute to this wine. Yet, it is a D.O. wine, which means the fruit all comes from the Calatayud region.  The wine had a light cranberry color, but a bold scent of fresh berries, plum, cigar, anise, white chocolate and Andes mints. It tasted of white pepper, cooked plums, and a little spice. It was a medium-bodied wine and very well-balanced.

A 2010 Erodia was the second Garnacha we tasted. This wine was a lot fruitier than the Las Rocas and smelled of copper pennies, dark sweet berries, and anise. It was darker than the Las Rocas and a little meatier and tasted of berries, smoke, and Jam. It also had a great balance.

Both wines in the vintages we tasted earned 90+ points from Wine Advocate and both wines were priced just under $10.

These were just two of the excellent seven bottles we tasted on Friday night. I would recommend any of these.

  • ATIO; 2008 Albarino from D.O. Rias Baixas (the only white Spanish wine we tasted)
  • Losada; 2007 red blend from D.O. Bierzo **
  • Portal; 2009 red blend from D.O. Terra Alta in Catalonia
  • Hoya de Cadenas. 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon from D.O.  Utiel-Requena
  • Heredad Soliterra: 2006 red blend from D.O.Q. Priorat**

**my favorite two wines of the evening.

Photo link below courtesy of Randy Elrod. http://www.randyelrod.com

http://ow.ly/i/Ewsk

 Many thanks to Blake for taking such time and consideration of each wine and leaving me with these wonderful descriptions to share of the color, aroma, and taste of them.  

16 Jan

Discovering Soil and Value in French Wines

Posted by Ashley Johns in France, Wines of the World. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Over the last several weeks, I have found myself gravitating to French wines. Especially French red wines. My palette has been craving the earthy, mineral taste that you get with many French wines. This is the taste that comes out when the wine is balanced and there isn’t too much fruit. The fruit is there, but its subtle and the drinker can discover the taste of the soil and the earthy water that was sucked up through the vine into the fruit.

Austin Wine Merchant enabled my desire last weekend by hosting a “bang for your buck” French red wine tasting.  They sampled five reds from various regions in France. All of which they found to be great value wines. Of the five wines I tasted, I loved (and bought) three of them, liked one of them, and found the fifth to be too fruity.

One of the wines I bought was a Corbières red wine from Languedoc in the south of France. One of the primary grapes of that region is Carignan, which is a commoners grape – numberous, and hearty, and usually found in table wine. This Corbières was definitely a table wine. Extremely dry and rich with minerals. It was exactly what I wanted.

Another bottle, which I enjoyed the following evening, was from Chateau Bellevue de Rambuad in Bordeaux. I spent a long time researching this wine to try to find information on the soil around the Chateau. This wine wasn’t grown near the river, which makes it hard to determine as a right bank or left bank Bordeaux. The winery is located near the village of Pellegrue, which is about 65 km east of the town of Bordeaux. Again, this was a very earthy wine. It wasn’t as dry as the Corbières, but you could taste the soil and clay in it.

One of the reasons I do like these earthy red wines so much is that they are so good with or without food. They are perfect to enjoy while cooking because they don’t have a strong flavor that takes away from tasting the food. And at $10 each, I get all the pleasure of drinking French wine without the price that comes along with so many French wines.

10 Jan

Some Loire White Wines

Posted by Ashley Johns in France. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

I have some goals for the New Year. One of them is to write 50 blog entries this year. Another one is to get more experience in the wine industry. To fulfill the latter, I signed up to contract as a wine demo rep for tastings at wine shops and liquor stores around town. My hope with this new venture is to be exposed to some new wines I wouldn’t know about otherwise, and to make a little extra money to support the first goal.

This past weekend was supposed to be my first demo. I was charged with offering samples of three Loire wines to consumers at a large wine store in town. Ideally, I was supposed to find a Sancerre, a Vouvray, and a Muscadet. Unfortunately, due to some scheduling conflicts, I wasn’t able to run that demo. In the spirit of the new venture, I decided a scheduling conflict wasn’t going to stop me from learning more about a wine to which I have limited exposure.

The Loire valley starts at the Atlantic ocean south of Bretagne and stretches 600 miles, making it the most diverse wine region in France. There are 87 appellations d’origine contrôlée in the valley and all types of wines are produced there. It is the second largest producer of sparkling wine in France behind Champagne. But the Loire valley with its cool northern climate is known most for its white wines, mainly Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc. Loire wines are known for their crisp acidity due to the cool climate.

The Loire Valley is divided into three sections. Starting in the west close to where the Loire River meets the Atlantic ocean is Muscadet.  Muscadets are dry, white wines made from the melon Bourgogne grape. Muscadet’s are often paired with seafood and are known for being neutral.

Sancerre is on the opposite end of the Loire. Sancerre wines are made from sauvignon blanc and are known to be crisp and herbal.

In between the two regions is Vouray, which lies close to Tours in the center of the valley. Wines from Vouvray are made from Chenin Blanc. Vouvray can range from super sweet to super dry and a portion of it is often used to make sparkling wine; especially during cool years.

I picked up a bottle of Tuffeau Vouvray for this entry. There wasn’t much information to go on from the bottle. It was a 2009 vintage, 100% chenin blanc wine that is part of the Appellation Vouvray Contrôlée, which means that it meets all the rigorous standards of French wine label laws. The color was very light. I would call it the color of spun gold if I was writing a fairy tale. It was a soft, buttery wine, but without the thickness and oak of chardonnay. The flavors that stood out were pineapple and a little salt. It agreed with my husband, who prefers sweeter, and me who would rather have a dry white wine.

20 Dec

Cava for the holidays

Posted by Ashley Johns in Spain, Wines of the World. Tagged: , , , , , , .

Historically, I have adhered to the adage that Champagne and sparkling wine is only for special occasions. I never considered drinking it unless I was at a wedding, or on holidays. My narrow-mindedness was enabled by the lack of inspiration I would find in the grocery stores where I usually bought wine as well as the price point of Champagne and good California sparkling wine.

The best way to enjoy Champagne was cooking Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner. My dad would always buy us a bottle or two of the good stuff and I would enjoy it with my mom and my sister while we were putting the finishing touches on dinner. After the bottle was done and dinner was on the table, we would switch to red.

But not this year. This is the year I discovered Spanish Cava. I’m shaking off the tradition of minimal bubbles and taking every opportunity to enjoy it. I used it to practice 2 oz. pours last month. I took it to Thanksgiving to enjoy with my mom and my sister through two days of cooking dinner for 25 people. I’m enjoying a glass now as I write this blog. I want to drink it with chalupas as was recommended by Brent Johnston of Geyser distributing. I intend to try it with fried chicken per the brilliant marketing of Max’s Wine Dive in downtown Austin.

Cava turned my attitude towards bubbles around for two reasons. First is the way that it is made. Secondly because of how little it costs.

All Cava’s are made by méthode champenoise. This is the traditional champagne method where the grapes undergo a second fermentation while in the bottle. The still wine is mixed with sugar and yeast and capped. It will ferment this way for months or even years. The carbon dioxide created during this time is what gives the wine its bubbles. Sparkling wines not made by méthode champenoise undergo their second fermentation in steel tanks,. While less expensive, it is not considered as a high quality wine and cannot be called cava in Spain.

Spain imported the méthode champenoise in the 1860s to much success. Unlike Champagne, Cavas are made all from white grapes local to Spain and legally can only be made from five grapes; parellada, xarel-lo, macabeo, chardonnary, and subirat. The Penedès Denominaciónes de Origen in Catalan, close to Barcelona, is where the best cavas are made.

Yet, with all these rules and specifications that must be followed to be called a cava, the bottle is surprisingly inexpensive. I believe it’s because cava isn’t well known and doesn’t have the reputation of Champagne. But I’m totally okay with that, because at less than $10 a bottle, I can indulge in bubbles all season long!

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