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. 

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.  

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. 

Napa Cabernet and Burgundian Chardonnay

One of the perks of the job is that you get to try some seriously great wines without ever having to pay for them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not adverse to spending money on wines, but when the wines are $300 a pop I don't tend to drink them frequently, especially not on a Monday evening at a casual  BBQ. For this group of wines it is a pity, as the smokey BBQ flavors that accopmany the meaty taste of a chard steak forms a quality food match with expensive Napa Cab.

First up was Schrader T6 To Kalon Vineyard 2006. This wine piqued the 99 points mark from Wine Spectator, being labled a masterpeice from James Laube. Having drank it I can see why, its lovely velvet textrue, ripe chocoalte, mocha and berry flavours all off-set a well structured wine. Great tannic force and some nice stabalising acidity save it from being over blown and flabby. It opitimises Napa Cabernet with its broad shoulders and bombastic amount of flavour.

The second wine was a 2006 Materium from Maybach. Oakville fruit lifts this wine with a slighty less texture and delivery compared to the Schrader. The tannins seemed a little more on edge. The wine was complimmented with large amount of rich dark tones, again, mocha, chocolat a touch of spice and some blackcurrent. Not a bad wine, definately worth while decanting.

Preceedeing both of these wines, thankfully as the Cabernets here are pretty palate domineering, was a Domaine Leflaive Macon-Verze 2006. Lovely little maconnais, with good textural charddonay fruit, some of that oxidative character Leflaive is famous for, hazlenuts, bread a little melon, a little more fruit and  bouancy that most of Leflaives wines, a little riper but sound for this region.

Leflaive In Napa Valley

Well after a long and dis-interesting flight across the Atlantic and much of North America i've finally touched down in California. The jet-lag gave me a pretty broken up sleep, but the 2004 Chevelier-Montrachet from Domaine Leflaive ensured my dreams were at least restful. Very good wine,delivering all the hazelnut, brioche and mineral notes that this terroir is famous for. It was definitely more of a delicate vintage in comparison to the 2005's, elegance and finesse being the order of the day.

Now as the jet-lag comes and goes like downy pillows under my head, my thoughts become stuck in the cotton wool of my mind. For my body it feels like half three in the morning, even if the sun is still hanging in the light blue sky.

Gemtree Vineyards White Lees Shiraz 2006

After being away from Aussie wines for so long following a shiraz drenched vintage out in the Barossa, I'm back on it. Gotta say, it's good to be back. I've missed the intensity and punchyness of these types of wines.

The Gemtree Vineyards White Lees Shiraz 2006 from the Maclaren Vale is a definate killer wine. Its got an immense nose, blasting Butterscotch, dark olives, crème of cassis, violets, blueberries, plums and liquorice.the colour is typically australian, deep deep red, with a touch of violet, purple. It inks the glass, leaving long legs and a lovely pink stain down the glass. On the palate the this wine is rich, probably with a bit of added tartaric acid, super concentrated. there's not a huge hearth of alcohol roaring through, rather a staedy delivery of warmth, like waking up on a summers day. This wines pretty good, it's a touch expensive, but then only 300 case were made.

Here's the interesting part,

"The story: Winemaker, Mike Brown was emptying some freshly fermented white wine out of new French oak barrels. Left behind in the barrels were the remnants of yeast called 'lees'. Normally the lees are emptied out before the next wine is added. Whilst rolling the first barrels to empty them, Mike tasted the lees in a tub and found they had extraordinary flavour. They were fluffy, crunchy, and looked very "alive" and healthy. He decided to transfer top grade Shiraz into the French oak barrels on top of the white lees. Over the next 28 months the experiment began to take shape, and what has evolved is a unique beast!! The white lees have acted as a preserving agent, protecting this wine from normal ageing characteristics, hence with the extraordinary quality of the 2006 vintage combined with the natural preserving abilities of the lees, we have a wine that is truly remarkable".