The Spoken Grape

Turtle Ridge, Price Family Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley 2007.

Firstly a massive thank you to all those folks who checked out the blog. I'll do my best to keep it interesting, fairly regular and relevant, evaluating wines without the bullsh*t that usually gets attached. So thank you, keep reading and I'll keep writing.

Turtle Ridge is a dream wine created by a fantastically nice couple, Tony & Connie price. The 2007 was crafted by Lars Rydell over at Raymond Vineyards. On  the nose the wine shows spice, cinnamon and freshly cut pine. The palate is more towards the cherry, plum, spiciness intermingled with oak. There's a sufficient length, no obvious alcohol, in fact the balance is rather good.This wine makes me think modern style Medoc rather than Napa. 7.6/10

Some interesting facts came to me whilst researching this wine:

i) The wines of Château Pontet Canet in Bordeaux are kosher. Tried the 2007 recently, very good.

ii) To created Kosher wine it has to be handled by strictly Sabbath-observant Jews, who must follow all the kosher ingredient rules. However, the restrictions on handling don’t apply to grape growing and picking(insert here the massive sigh of relief from Kosher winemakers in the Napa Valley).

Ok, random factoids over. From 2010 the Turtle Ridge wines will be made at Envy Wines up in Calistoga. 

Rocca di Castagnoli, Chianti Classico, 2006

As a New Year awakens I realise I've been successfully awful about continuing my blog. The high held ideas of three years ago have dissolved among the turns, switchbacks and cross overs of a permanent employment, grounded social life and general settling down in one place for more than just a vintage. The past four years spent working back-to-back vintages around the world tends to set your feet in motion so that every six months you feel it's time to move on, discover new wines, new wine growing regions,to get down and start another harvest,it's a bio-rhythm, that like like jet lag takes a bit of time to shake.

So enough with the procrastinating, enough with the mindless TV watching, here goes my blog.............and for anyone one who doesn't get it, I'm going to borrow the words of a writer who spent a lot of time not knowing where he was"Coppula eam, se non posit acceptera jocularum"

I bought this wine specifically to go with the Spaghetti alla puttanesca I was cooking up, a decidedly whorish wine to go with a whorish dish. The wine offers up a nose of crushed cherries, oregano and spice. The palette is initially silky, gentle and alluring, a second or so later you get treated to view of what lies beneath the soft plush fruit, a rush of firm tasty tannins that match so well to the wines natural acidity making you reach for the glass again. The finish is crisp and clean with a good 7 seconds longevity on the palate. The wine has aged probably a little quicker than one might expect, however that just means that it's drinking well now.  7.4/10

Aglianico and Haggis!

Never has there existed such a sublime match! A pre-Burns night supper run-through, has given me a good excuse to uncork this wine. Originating from just south of Naples on the Campania coast, this wine is predomonatly Aglianico however it has a splash of the local grape Piedirosso added. The wine has been matured in used oak barrels for eight months. Aglianico first comes to light when mentioned by the Roman poet Catullus, as he waxed lyrical about the virtues of 'Falernian' wine, the Roman equivalent of todays 'Cult' or 'First Growths'. Since then it has stepped out of the spotlight adopting a relaxed lifestyle in southern Italy, where the long hot summers protect this vine from the onslaught of botrytis of which it is particularly vulnerable.

With the 2007 KLEOS Aglianico from Luigi Maffini ,the nose is warm and full of dark fruits, slight raisin notes with toasted undertones. The colour stretches down through the glass, deep and inky garnet.  In the mouth this wine has a lovely silky texture, with a crunchy finish that is supported by gripping tannins. In between these two sensations are tastes of dark black fruits, ripe damsons and a touch of toasted fruit. Lovely well balanced wine that can handle the meaty spiciness of Scotland'sfinest cuisine, the venerable Haggis. This is not just any old Haggis, but the award winning Haggis produced by Murdoch Brothers Butchers, Forres, Invernesshire. A toast ta ye Rabbie............

Some cracking and not so cracking wines.

Right, New Year, new commitment to more frequent posts, this is my idealistic New Years resolution. The new year was seen in with some great wines, a highlight being, Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet Le Clavoillon 2005. A wine that is showing extremely well at the moment, with layers of brioche, sandwiched between mineral notes, with a lovely rich texture and some tinned flageolot bean wiffs on the nose. The wine displayed the quality of which the 2005's are becoming known for and whilst most people will be keeping this wine for another couple of years I'd be wary about leaving it too long. Another wine that really stood out was the Ridgeview Cavendish 2005  Merret. Ridgeview have tried to push the name Merret as a broad covering descriptor of English Sparkling wine. Whether you support that or not, you cannot argue that this draws a close comparison to some of France's best Champagnes. The wine is hand picked and whole bunch pressed. It undergoes 100% malolactic conversion to tame that crispy English acidity. The wine is a blend that contains Chardonnay, Petit Meunier and Pinot Noir in equal amounts. On the palette this wine deliveries a surprising richness balanced against some great structural acidity, red fruits and summer pudding mingle with biscuit and toast.

So two good wines, here's one I wasn't that impressed with,2008 LA 50/50 Vin de Table Domaine Anne Gros et Jean-Paul Tollot. Here's one that should be great. Take two well known winemakers, throw in a mix of established Carignan, Grenache and Cinsault and combine them in the glorious sunshine of the Roussillon and what do you get? Sorry L&S, but a wine that stinks of a hot difficult ferment, with some weird sulphur bi-products,  that give the nose a strange burnt rubber smell. The pallet is hard with a distinct cheesy taste to it and by cheesy I mean gym shoe cheesy. This wasn't what I was expecting, it was difficult to approach and doesn't taste anything like the "refreshing", "fruity" or "delicate" tasting note applied to it. But hey, maybe this really is what's meant when a wine is described as Rustic........ 

Right, New Year, new commitment to more frequent posts, this is my idealistic New Years resolution. The new year was seen in with some great wines, a highlight being, Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet Le Clavoillon 2005. A wine that is showing extremely well at the moment, with layers of brioche, sandwiched between mineral notes, with a lovely rich texture and some tinned flageolot bean wiffs on the nose. The wine displayed the quality of which the 2005's are becoming known for and whilst most people will be keeping this wine for another couple of years I'd be wary about leaving it too long. Another wine that really stood out was the Ridgeview Cavendish 2005  Merret. Ridgeview have tried to push the name Merret as a broad covering descriptor of English Sparkling wine. Whether you support that or not, you cannot argue that this draws a close comparison to some of France's best Champagnes. The wine is hand picked and whole bunch pressed. It undergoes 100% malolactic conversion to tame that crispy English acidity. The wine is a blend that contains Chardonnay, Petit Meunier and Pinot Noir in equal amounts. On the palette this wine deliveries a surprising richness balanced against some great structural acidity, red fruits and summer pudding mingle with biscuit and toast.

So two good wines, here's one I wasn't that impressed with,2008 LA 50/50 Vin de Table Domaine Anne Gros et Jean-Paul Tollot. Here's one that should be great. Take two well known winemakers, throw in a mix of established Carignan, Grenache and Cinsault and combine them in the glorious sunshine of the Roussillon and what do you get? Sorry L&S, but a wine that stinks of a hot difficult ferment, with some weird sulphur bi-products,  that give the nose a strange burnt rubber smell. The pallet is hard with a distinct cheesy taste to it and by cheesy I mean gym shoe cheesy. This wasn't what I was expecting, it was difficult to approach and doesn't taste anything like the "refreshing", "fruity" or "delicate" tasting note applied to it. But hey, maybe this really is what's meant when a wine is described as Rustic........ 

Lets leave out the oak

You may well think that red wine demands to have an addition of oak attached to it, in some form, lets say staves,chips or powder for the cheaper wines, hogsheads, barriques or casks for the more expensive ones. Either way, reading through the majority of wine critics, oak is it, when it comes to high quality red wine. It is what some have described as the "spice-rack" of the wine makers kitchen, and like a good pork tenderloin,  no serious red wine is any good without it. WRONG.....

And here is the proof. 2007 BARBERA D'ALBA  from Bricco Maiolica, made from Barbera grapes grown in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. This wine has spent its life in contact with the inert, clean polished beauty of stainless steel tanks. No, porous, possibly infectious plant material for this wine. As a result, the wine is lively and refreshing, giving up handfuls of strawberries, summer red fruits and slight blackcurrants taste. Then when you think that's all it has, there's the slight tary note, fragrant, dark and feminine. The tannins here are delicate but meaningful they finely dance around the mouth. The acidity from this high region of Alba gives the clean finish and  mouthwatering moorishness. Cracking wine, brilliant value and NO OAK. Here's a wine I could drink all night, just give me a large bowl of spaghetti, a serviette tucked into my shirt and Giuseppe Tornatore's  Cinema Paradiso .

Finally Found it, An Ale To Remember

A year ago I cycled from London to Beaune to work for Madame Anne-Claude Leflaive at her Domaine in Puligny-Montrachet. On the way down I stopped at a lovely little village called Perrigny, about thirty miles south of Chablis and five miles north of Noyers. I rolled in to a lovely quaint auberge run by a french couple. After washing the road and saddle from my bones Ip steeped outside into the setting sun and walked down to the small river that ran through the village, watching as small trout skittered amongst the gravels.

On recommendation I was told the only place to find anything to eat was at the local pizza shop/off-licence. Imagining the grimy pizza outlets in the UK that sell discount booze with day-glow cardboard stars in the window offering special brew for a quid I wasn't expecting much. Needless to say I was entirely wrong, this was beer heaven, situated in the middle of nowhere. Exotic brews from around the world were eyeing me up from high above from shelves that ached under the strain of dark brown bottles.

Under the recommendation of the owner I worked my way through three or four beers that ranged from the deep and dark double-doubles to the elation of flemish barrel matured sour ale. And this is where my head really spun,figuratively not literally, it was a beer of whose flavour I have never encountered, utterly different, utterly delicious and utterly unique. I staggered home determined to remember the name of the beautiful goddess of the ale that had sensuated my taste buds. Well, as you've probably guessed I woke up with a sore head, no recollection of the names or faces of the beers and a definite lack of determination to get back on the saddle to put 90 odd miles under my belt.

so, to cut this rambling story short, I have been since searching for that ale, that in the words of Eric Cartman "blew my fragile little mind". Yesterday I found it. On the shelves of Wholefoods, Napa. The beer is, wait for it.....Duchesse De Bourgogne a flemish top-fermented reddish brown ale, made up from a blend of 8 to 18 months old cask matured ales. Check out the link Duchesse De Bourgogne . If you can find this beer, try it, it will be one you either love or hate, either way it will be an eye opening experience. This is definitely an ale to linger over rather than slam back, once you taste it you'll understand what I mean.

What To Do With a Lot Of Tomatos and Vodka

It's one of those rare occasions where on a free day I find myself able to just relax, safe in the knowledge that there isn't any desperate chores that need doing. So, what better way to while away the time than to make an extremely time consuming dish like a consomme ( look up Jamie Oliver's recipe for this). Another good reason is that there was an absolute glutton of a crop of tomatos hanging on the vine.

The recipe consisted of blending lots of tomatoes with basil (also from the garden), chilies and vodka. You then enrap the blended ingredients and allow them to strain through three layers of muslin cloth. This is where you utilise the laziest of all natural forces, gravity, to do all the work, extracting a crystal clear essence of tomato from the pink opaque liquid you started with.

Cool this in the fridge, sprinkle with a little just budding basil leaves and a little olive oil and serve with ice cold vodka, we chose grey goose, the smooth weighty body, with a bit of citrus but without the blasting heat and chemical ethanol taste of cheaper vodkas matched perfectly. Sublime for sleepless hot evenings.  

Domaine Leflaive Bourgogne 2007

As the weather settles itself into Autumn the temperatures cool and the clouds gather across the valley. Napa starts to show it's true beauty as the vines hang low with grapes, assimilating sugars, loseing acidity and developing flavour.

A bottle of the latest vintage of Domaine Leflaive was opened at work today. The entry level Bourgogne, picked from vineyards close to the village of Puligny, but on slightly less prestigious soils. As recommended by the domaine, you really need to leave this wine for about three years before you open it, the reductive qualities mean it is built to last slowly openening up over time, exposing layers of flavour. Opened at lunch and I was not blown away, $45 seemed overly expensive for a wine that was closed and tight. Over the afternoon, as we topped barrels in the cellar, the wine opened up. At the end of the day, there was a broader palate, more minerality, more pear and stonefruit and generally more of the wine. It tasted richer and fuller in terms of texture and longevity on the palate. BUT, is this any better than the Domaine Leflaive 2006 Macon-Verze, where an extremely approachable vintage has given a wine that delivers so much, good citrus, stone-fruit and pear fruit followed by mineraltiy and succulent weight, and ten bucks cheaper at $35. I'd go for the Macon

Silver Oak And a Whole Bunch of Roses

There's a bit of a heat wave covering much of Na pa at the moment, with temps that must be swinging around the 100 point. Those sugar levels will be steaming upwards after this weekend bringing the start of Harvest forward. So, when it's sweltering outside there's only one thing for it, a chilled glass of pale rose, refreshing places other wines don't reach. Sounds like an advertising strap line, still, it is possibly the best style of wine on a hot day. So turning up randomly to the St.Helena Wine Centre, I was told about their rose tasting. Here's a few notes...........

But before , a quick cab tasting note.

Silver Oak 2003 Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. On the nose this wine pours out of the glass flipping oaky. From the glass it's like sticking your nose into a just unwrapped new french oak barrel. Obviously expensive barrels. The colour was deep red, thick and doppling. Not quite clear, slight haze. There was a distinct definition between the rim and the core. On the palate it took a while to open up, to find a path past the obvious oak, vanilla and coconut flavours. After about 40 minutes the wine started to open up into Briar, blackberry leaf and mocha. The tannin structure was extremely well balanced, so apparent yet so palatable and lasting. Good power with a nice drying experience around the gums. A very stylish, expensive and carefully produced wine, with a lot of work and attention put into this wine. This wines kinda like a playboy bunny, it's all there and in  large quantities, but after a while it could become a bit boring.

NV Gruet Rose Methode Champenoise Brut, the first wine F've tasted from New Mexico, with french connections and fairly smart packaging this bottle could be mistaken for a Californian sparkler. Unfortunately on the palate it's mediocre at best. A heavy persistent mousse shrouds a barbie pink coloured wine. On the nose its a touch floral, with strawberries, bit of yeastyness. On the palate it bubbles up and fills the whole mouth with a fluffy expansion of mousse. Fun but not serious.

2008 Domaine Sorin Cotes de Provence Terra Amata. Pale onion colour, a little more colour than the typical Provencal rose. Floral, fresh with good acidity.Good persistence.  Easy and fun,perfect for the pre-BBQ chill out, extra bargain when you consider its only $11.

2008 Saxon Brown Flora Ranch Syrah Rose. Subtle nose. Over-ripe on the palate, super ripe melon and a bit of red fruits. A heavy style carrying more tannins, which for the style of rose I enjoy, was a little too weighty. Also, there was a snifter of alcohol taste on the palate.

2008 Lorenza California Rose. Supposedly made in a Bandol style, by which i think they mean they use a similar composition of grape varieties. Not bad, sligth whiff  to begin with which seemed to blow off Rich on the palate , but ended up with a hollow follow through.

2008 Etude Carneros Rose of Pinot Noir. A dark coloured rose, saturated with a ruby tone, nose slight, with a bit of a whiff. Some funkyness on the palate, some fartyness that suggests there are mercaptanes locked up in the wine. Disappointing.

2008 Blackbird Vineyards Arriviste Rose. A cabernet sauvignon/ Cabernet franc blend. Candy-stick red, full bodied but with good balance between the tannin and acidity. Great persistence on the follow through. Only criticism is that its a touch on the warm side, a little too much alcohol to the fruit.

2008 Azur California Rose of Syrah. Made by a frenchman who spent plenty of time perfecting his knowledge of rose production. Very much in the guise of some of the best provenical roses, this wine is pale salmon. With melon notes, slightly leafy and creamy, the wine balances the crunchy phenolics and bright acidity. Good wine, but you have to pay for it $24. 

Outpost Zinfandel and Two Hands Friends

In a strange coincidence I happened to walk up the drive at the very same time a girl I worked with out in the Barossa  at Two Hands Wines, drove past. So having caught up with her we went and met another ex-Two hander for a couple of beers. In some ways the Napa Valley winemaking community seems to be an extremely close knit bunch with the six degrees of freedom that occur else where don't obviously apply here. Every one will know everyone through at least friends of friends.

Anyway, I'm still on the hunt for accommodation and a car, fingers crossed something will come along soon or else it'l be camping in the backyard for me. Had a couple of good wines yesterday, Firstly Outpost's Howell Mountain  zinfandel 2007. A lovely ripe nose of white pepper, briar and plums. Totally a Zinfandel you can drink without out becoming overwhelmed and staggering away from the table burbling something about Primitivo. The alcohol is high, but then it's a Zin, and in all honesty you wouldn't believe it from the palate. Very good concentration, with some ripe Zin sweetness. Made from three different parcels of fruit in the swale.

Altagracia 2005, not bad, had plenty of body and a real definitive tannins structure. I got to it half way through the night and it was just beginning to open up, not too abrasive though. The fruit were more high toned red fruits, a little more freshness than the zin, some nice lengh, but , If I have to be critical, a bit boring.