We’re still pretty new to this whole blogosphere thing but we saw something come up the other day that we just had to talk about.  Whether or not its apropos to ‘re-blog’ we wouldn’t know, but we found this story too interesting to ignore.

For years we’ve been huge proponents of the screwcap.  Ever since my first forays down to Australia in the mid-90’s, I’ve been fortunate enought to try many older examples of Australian white wines that had used this closure.  The Rieslings and Semillons from the 70’s and 80’s that I had the opportunity to sample (drink) were fresh as daisies, almost strangely fresh given my experience with cork-finished examples of the same wines for the same time frames. 

A few years later, the New Zealand wine bureaucrats came along and said they were openly endorsing and promoting Stelvin (screwcap) closures for all of their wines, high and low end, as the research results had been to obvious to ignore.  These closures were met with only the smallest amount of skepticism that we could see on a retail level, people (other than those that actually put their corkscrew throught the middle of the cap) seemed to glom on quick enough and generally didn’t seem to care if they’re wine had a screwcap or not, just as long as it was good.  This was refreshing to see.

Now we’re a few years into the whole screwcap thing and it has obviously taken hold.  True, there have been some setbacks, most noticeably the lack of education and knowledge among red winemakers as to how to handle the sulfur levels to accomodate for potential reduction or shutting down of  red wines (resulting in tight, compressed, pinched, lean flavors) bottled under screwcap.  But they’re working it out.  For whites it is a boon.  Our white wine returns are minimal now, and everyone’s happy as clams.  They’re actually getting what they paid for, and what the winemaker and grape grower had envisioned when they crafted it.  And they’re easy to open, and easy to re-seal.

Recently, Wine Spectator’s Harvey Steiman posted a blog concerning a 10 year study put on by the Australian Wine Research Institute with regards to not just the TCA effects of traditional cork closures but also the more pronounced results of bottle variation that come with this imperfect seal. The researchers used, ”thousands of bottles of a 1999 Clare Sémillon made at Leasingham and sealed with 14 different closures. Once a year, researchers opened, analyzed and sampled the wines in the lab.”  The romance of cork aside, the picture is startling:

Take a look at the cork-finished bottles compared to the lone screwcap on the left.  Enough said.  The level of oxidation and bottle variation in the other bottles should not be what the winemaker or consumer is looking ofr when they make and/or sell the finished wines.  Haut Brion Blanc under screwcap?  Sacrilege I know…but I can’t wait.  That being said, we are seeing many ‘little’ wines from both Burgundy and Bordeaux now utilizing this closure, with Chateau owners anxiously awaiting the results of their own research. 

And this isn’t to say that screwcap is the be-all and end-all.  Great results have been had with DAIM corks, as well as crown seals (like you find on beer bottles) as well as the vino-lok glass top closure being used by wineries like Calera and Sineann.  In the end, modern technology has given us the opportunity to rid ourselves, through a numiber of means, of the cursed duo of TCA taint and bottle variation in one fell swoop.   The old world charm of cork is just that, old world.  At $500+ for a bottle of Lafite or Musigny, I’d feel more than comfortable taking the alternative seal plunge in a few years once winemakers have worked out all the bugs concerning red wine.  But for the whites, the time has come.

Today Steve and I attended one of those tastings that are kind of like a tasting grenade.  At the time that you you RSVP you don’t think too much of it other than, “Hey, this could be fun.”  But this gig was a little more than “fun”.  The sight of having 20 consecutive vintages of one of Australia’s most acclaimed Shiraz wines sitting in glasses in front of you does not go unnoticed.  The opportunity to learn and glean something from an event such as this does not go untaken.  And not only was it a chance to get a comprehensive look at this icon bottling but it was also an even rarer chance to get a snapshot in time of every vintage in the Barossa Valley since 1987, the first year this bottling was produced.       

The background on Peter Lehmann.  Peter was the winemaker at Saltram, a Barossa Valley old-timer winery, in the late 70’s.  In a familiar scenario, larger corporate concern comes in and buys the winery, but not to produce wine, they instead want to store booze.  Thus, the growers who sold grapes to the winery got the ax, leaving 150 farmers out in the cold with nowhere to sell their fruit and no one to make their wine.  Old Pete steps in and tells them, you give me the fruit and I’ll make the juice and when I sell the juice you’ll get paid.  Not having many options, the growers took Pete up on this offer and the rest, as they say, is history.  Lehmann slowly grew the business through the 1980’s, success coming over a period of time as consumers warmed up to the concept of dry red Australian table wines. 

Now Pete swings a pretty big stick in the Barossa, with many farmers indebted to him for saving their livelihoods, and many more signing on since they knew they could trust the guy.  He has access every year to the finest fruit from every major sub-region of the Barossa, from which he produces a number of wines, with Stonewell being the cream of the crop.  It is 100% Shiraz, 100% Barossa, sourced from mostly 100+ year old vines (they send cuttings back to the Rhone all the time since phylloxera wiped these clonal selections out in France) but also from whichever growers ‘bring the drama’ vintage to vintage.  A few changes have taken place over the years,  including a little less time in wood and more French oak finding its way into the program.  But the wine is still aged five years before release (a la Grange and Hill of Grace) and, from what this tasting unequivically demonstrated, capable of extended aging (and improvement) in the bottle.

The wines: We won’t go into wine hues, as all of these showed excellent color for their respective ages.  It’s Barossa Shiraz, it’s dark,  Got it?

1987-  Some sweet saddle, with plum, Asian spice and cinnamon.  Tawnied a touch but still fresh, medium weight, drying out some but overall a darn fine drink.  Good wine from a solid vintage holding up well.

1988- Brighter, fresher, textbook, with riper tannin and a little less obvious fruit but more balance.  More savory in style, black pepper.  A touch better than the ‘87…

1989- More Barossa boot polish here!  A little more of that cherry cough drop edge to the plummy, curranty fruit.  Longer, with lingering coffee flavors on the finish

1990- Bottle was shot, unfortunately.

1991- More youthful, inviting warm, berry compote and sweet leather nose.  Thicker, richer, definite turn in style.  In a really good place.  Delicious!  Nice wine from a classic vintage that Lehmann prefers to 1990.

1992- This is together.  More restrained, some herb and mineral.  Yummy, very complete.  A real knock it back style.  Really engaging with a savory finish.  Was the favorite thus far on the first go-round but the 1991 slid past on on a second look.  Good wine from a mixed vintage where the top wines have held up surprisingly well.

1993-  Dry Port.  Obviously a warmer year?  Green and stewed at the same time.  Not a top effort.

1994- Two bottles of this one floating around that were quite different.  The good one was classic 1994, an evolved medium to full-bodied effort with good fruit, easy texture, a bit of weight and clean lines.  Considered a pretty good (not great) vintage on release and this wine showed it.

1995- Powerful, rich, but the tannins are drying and the wine doesn’t show the necessary balance to increase the old style points.  Dark fruits, some coffee, more pepper and healing herbs creeping in. 

1996-  First hint of mint, bit of a sledgehammer.  Rich, also pretty chewy.  Packs a punch, lots of blackberry and cocoa flavors.  Better than the 1995 but the slightly drying tannins still bug a little.  All in all, an excellent wine from an outstanding year. 

1997- A bit porty again (though not as much as the ‘93).  Also shows some complexing green notes (funny how the portier wines show greener) that don’t detract from the engaging plum and berry fruit.  Very seamless, the most traditionally Barossa “slippery” of the bunch.  Too easy to drink, not a great one, merely a good one.  But I wouldn’t turn down a glass.

1998- Winner winner chicken dinner.  There’s a reason why ‘98 is considered one of the Barossa’s finest vintages.  This wine is so complete.  Powerfully built, but the tannins are ripe and melty.  The wine’s expressive, super-rich, falling just on the right side of porty.  Like the 1996, still young.  Best wine on the table?  Probably.

1999- The sneak attack.  Following the 1998, this one had its work cut out for it and still availed itself nicely.  Lots of fruit, fleshy, but higher-toned and more restrained than the ‘98.  Cooler customer in a more classic, old school barossa style.  But that’s not a bad thing.  Perfectly enjoyable, and one of the more together wines on the table.

2000- In hindsight this one probably shouldn’t have been made.  but we can say that about many a wine from the 2000 vintage, argubaly the worst this taster has ever worked through.  The signature 2000 diffuse, herbal tea leaf quality weaves its way through all the wines, leaving a short, uncharming, unstructured ‘bleh’.  They did what they could but this harvest was DOA.

2001- Always a favorite vintage of ours and this wine did nothing to tarnish that love.  Strapping black fruit flavors are the name of the game here.  Reticent at first, but just a block of fruit on the palate.  Impressive, with a violets and blackberry fruit profile that can’t be ignored, followed up with suave, plentiful tannins.  A keeper and one of the faves.

2002- This wine has it all, deep, layered fruit, sweet tannins, cocoa-like texture…and a huge blast of mint.  Steve isn’t a mint guy, and I can take it in small, complexing doses, but this wine smells and tastes like a spa treatment.  Which is a shame because it aces the compulsories.  This was a great vintage in the Barossa and Lehmann loves this wine, but the eucalypt character is a bit too prominent for us.  Outstanding wine if it were mint-free.

2003-This one brought out the wine geek tasting notes.  Tuscan bread soup?  Salted plums?  We usually don’t go there but this wine had us scratching our heads.  Chalky tannins (Lehmann likes chalkier tannins) and a savory, beefy character lead the way.  Not our cup of bouillon.

2004- Another winemaking shift?  This one is jammier, with a confectionary, new school edge to the black fruit flavors.  One side of the coin says hedonistic the other says gooey, but with a substantially tannic kick.  We were polarized on this one, honestly.  Steve dug it more than me but hey, in the grand scheme of things this wine does not suck.

2005-  From a cooler year with a blast of heat at the end.  Savory, smoky, leathery, Frenchy, tangy.  Fun to taste but I don’t know if this is ‘classic Stonewell’ … pretty long on the finish, no lack of concentration, just perhaps maybe some focus.

2006- Much better, deep black fruit like the 2004 but more punch and focus.  Impressive!  We’ll have to wait until 2011 for this one.  Could be the best since the 2001 (or, if you’re Lehmann, that minty 2002).  Still super-young.

Our faves?  Steve had his Top Five as the 2001,1998, 1992, 2004 and 1991, with an honorbale mention for ‘99 and ‘06.  Me?  I had the ‘98 first up, followed by the sneaky ‘99, the 2001, 2006 and 1989, with warm fuzzies for the 1991 and 1992.    In general there was great consistency in quality, which what makes Australia Australia just like Napa is Napa.  Seven out of 10 great years is more fun to taste than, say, Bordeaux’s four out of ten though, admittedly, the highs might be alittle higher when you’re talking Bordeaux.   In the end, we hope a few of sommeliers in attendance and French wine faithful caught a glimpse of the ageability of Barossa Shiraz wines, as many other producers besides Lehmann can stand a decade in the cellar and come out smelling like a rose.   We hope the versatility of the wines tasted at today’s event did not go unnoticed.

On a broader note, it speaks volumes against the accusations from a lot of folksout there that Aussie Shiraz is monolithic and monochromatic.   These wines were respectful of their vintages, and weren’t overtly ‘made’.  One shouldn’t confuse something like Rosemount Red Diamond Shiraz with soulful, purposeful efforts that show terroir and vaiation.  Finally it is important to note taht out of twenty vintages (probably the last time they’ll be able to do this gig from the ‘beginning’, only a couple were ‘over the top’ and we suspect those instances were vintage related.  Thanks again to the Hess people and Lehmann people for putting this gig on and props to XIV on Sunset for running a pro show.

OK, confession time.  The past few years we haven’t been really psyched going to the annual Family Winemakers event in northern Cal.  I know, I know, why wouldn’t someone dedicated to fine wine be psyched about heading to the greatest showing of California wines in the state?  Sounds crazy.  But please understand, for us this is work.  Whenever we’ve attended this event the last few years it has been a litany of new producers trying to charge too much for their wares.  It was literally painful going from new Cab guy to new Cab guy, tasting their wine, and then have them tell you it was $125 a bottle and they were going “exclusively mailing list only and perhaps a few restaurants they were going to hand-select.”  For every Mark Neal or Mike Officer (Carlisle) we have found over the years there have been 20 other guys that didn’t have a clue. So we essentially fly up, spend hundreds of dollars, and leave with nothing more than memories of some pretty good $100+ Cabs and $60+ Pinots that will no longer exist in a few years because they should have been half that price.  Oh well, we’re not ones to suffer fools.

But this year, we thought, might be a bit different.  Economy in the tank, global premium wine sales ground to a halt and the closure and/or continuing liquidation of a few wineries throughout the state might actually have some of the upstarts paying attention.  This scenario, in conjunction with the outstanding 2007 harvest, would lead us to believe that there was some potential business to be done.  We were actually a little pumped to check out the show.

Believe it or not, more of the same.  More $60 Pinot Noirs, more $125 Cabernets, diamonds on the fingers, marketing plans culled directly from the Wine Advocate/Harlan school of wine sales.  Lord, when will these people learn?  It seems that no start-up wine producer wants to grow with their consumer, instead looking to hit ‘em directly in the pocketbook from the opening gun.  Is it the economics of a start-up operation that is causing this lack of reason?  If so, it appears that starting a winery would be the equivalent of buying a home at the market high five years ago, not even remotely economically viable.  Nope, I think it’s merely a matter of laziness.  Opening a few web sites, reading a few wine catalogs, and pricing their product based upon what everyone else is pricing their product, not taking in to consideratrion what the consumer actually wants to (or is able to) pay and/or their production costs, and/or whether or not all the other guys are selling their wines if they haven’t received 94 points from Wine Spectator.

We think globally here.  Napa’s competition isn’t the rest of Napa, it’s the rest of the world.  Bordeaux, Argentina, South Australia, South Africa, Chile are all trying to get their peace of Napa’s pie, and Napa is making it easy for them by jacking prices and cashing in on a brand (Napa Valley) that makes $20 wine fly off the shelves but carries no further weight once the wine hits the $40-$50 mark.  At that juncture it’s anyone’s game and…. 

Whew! Major digression!  Put away the soap box and on with the show.  All things considered the wines in geenral were pretty exciting.  The 2007 harvest was an outstanding one for California’s north coast so we wanted to take a good look at Pinot and Zin in particular…and we did just that. 

On the Pinot front there were some great wines to be had, including hot new releases from Benovia (Mike Sullivan’s awesome new project post-Hartford Court), Calera (new single vineyard are knockouts, in particular the 2006 Reed), Clos Pepe, Fort Ross, Keller Estate, Melville, Mount Eden (coming on strong with their 2005…),  Patz & Hall, Pisoni (quite elegant for this winery), Roessler, Row 11 (newcomer with a great value offering), Siduri and Varner (also 2005, must be a Santa Cruz thing…).

Zins were more of a mixed bag even in the context of this ‘best since…’ vintage.  We were taken aback by the latest from Benovia (again), Branham (great Rockpile), Conway Family (remember that name…), Dashe (elegant as usual) and  Mauritson (finally! their 2007 Dry Creek is great..)

Cab producers with their heads screwed on straight?  Hmmm…you’re looking at some of the usual suspects from previous vintages, including Barnett (not the $100+ Rattlesnake bottling), John Anthony, Keenan, Palmaz (their Cedar Knoll 2005 was great for the money), Snowden, Titus.  Wish there were more names here but most of the other candidates were either over-priced (though many were tasty), restaurants only, not up to snuff, or all of the above…

There are two white wines to give ‘props’ to.  First, the Varner boys are producing some wicked-good Chardonnays from their tiny plots in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and not charging an arm and a leg.  Nicest guys on the planet, always smiling, their wines are brilliant, support these cats!  Also, the Sauvignon Blanc from Greystack Cellars was truly exceptional.  Don’t know the whole story (the winery thinks it has to do with their northern Italian clone) but this is a brilliant wine and worth every penny…

Sign of the times?  There were a lot of  “A-list” producers at this shindig trying to drum up business. Names like Turley, Littorai, Martinelli, Robert Foley, Pride, Pahlmeyer, Paloma, Merry Edwards, lots of mailing list darlings plying their wares…

Next time…what we ate.

I’m having a bit of deja-vu boarding the flight for Bordeaux again, this time to attend the VinExpo wine show. But this trip will be a little different as I will be indulging in two of my passions. The first, of course, is wine. The second is accompanying me in a grey, bulky, protective flight case.

I have brought my limited, (thanks to Bannings Bikes) hand-built, Italian road bike and plan on exploring the rugged (well…if flat can be considered “rugged”) terrain of Bordeaux. Once again I will be staying with my “right bank family”, the Becot’s of Beausejour Becot and my Left Bank residence, Chateau Pape Clement has once again graciously opened its doors for me as well.

I am starting my journey in St. Emilion. After a breakfast featuring Dominique Becot’s world famous coffee, the first order of business is a bike ride with Gerard Perse (who says you can’t mix business and pleasure?), owner of Ch. Pavie, Monbousquet, Bellevue Mondotte, etc, etc. Rumor has it Gerard is a mean cyclist and has climbed every mountain stage in the Tour de France. He has promised to take me on a 70 kilometer ride throughout St. Emilion, Cotes de Castillon, Lalande de Pomerol and Pomerol. Hopefully the jet lag won’t affect my ability to keep up. Yea…that will be a perfect excuse if I can’t.

Upon meeting Gerard we sat in his kitchen for a quick cup of espresso (I needed all the caffeine I could get) before heading out on the ride. To match my Dario Pegoretti Marcello, he pulled out a beautiful Pinarello Prince that was computer sized for him by the factory. The bike is 100% carbon fiber and is a work of art to look at. Guess the owner of Pinarello likes Pavie. Once on the bikes Gerard seemed to decide to take it easy on me by cruising on a relatively flat road along the Cote de Pavie. He was pointing out all the different vineyard sights and it was a great way to really experience the terrain. After about 5 miles of getting warmed up he took a sharp left and before me stood what the local cyclists call a mini Alpe d’Huez containing a few switchbacks. The good news for me is that it is only about a 1/2 mile in length, the bad…It was a 12% grade. Once at the top we were in Cotes de Castillon where he showed me his property Clos Les Lunelles, a stunning vineyard, and seeing it helped me understand why this wine is so good and can compete with many top St. Emilion estates as it sits on the same strand of limestone cote as Pavie, Larcis Ducasse La Mondotte etc… We paused for a quick sip of water before heading off towards Pomerol to ride by some of the great estates in that appellation. When you drive by the vineyards in a car, there are many things you miss. But on a bike, it was truly amazing… I’m kind of a terroir nerd…. I want to see and understand why vineyard A produces better wine than vineyard B. After 3 hours in the saddle we ended up back at Ch Pavie. He invited me in for a drink and something to eat, but I had an appointment at Tertre Roteboeuf in an hour so we had to part ways. Gerard is an incredibly nice man. He is passionate and that passion shows in the quality of his wines. He invited me for dinner while I was there but we could never connect due to our schedules. Rest assured, I will be back to accept that dinner and another bike ride will definitely be on the schedule.

After a quick shower, it was off to see Francois Mitjavile, the man behind Tertre Roteboeuf. This is an incredible property with very unique terroir. We sat outside looking over his vineyard and there he explained why this wine is so unique. There are 12.5 acres of vines planted with 85% Merlot and 15% Cabernet Franc. Merlot vines are on average 45 years old, while Cabernet Franc ones are 5 years older. The subsoil consists of four different kinds of clay, which are resting on the bed of limestone. This combination of subsoil which is typical for the majority of vineyard in the Saint-Émilion “Côtes” (slope) is described as “cold soil”, because clay needs a long time to be warmed up, and the limestone is always humid and cold. This means that the grapes get the opportunity to get maximum advantage of the sun and reach perfect maturity very late. I learned so much, as he is one of those guys you can just listen to because he is very articulate and captivates you with his explanation.

With my lesson about the vineyard over, it was to the chai to barrel sample the 2008. One thing that was interesting is that he has you choose the barrel to taste from, an interesting philosophy to prove he’s not taking wine from the better barrels as samples. Once in the glass, the wine smelled like cherry jam. It was beautifully layered with notes of minerals, cocoa, Christmas spices, and a touch of oak. Incredibly fresh with an expansive mid-palate, silky sweet tannins and a finish that lingered on and on. Some compare his wine to Burgundy… and in 2008, I can see why, as it was simply breathtaking. After that we were far from being done as we tasted the 07 (big surprise), 06 (which was Francois’ most difficult to harvest) and then the 88! If you see 88 in the market, buy it as it is ridiculously great wine!

Once finished in the barrel room, we made our way to the dining room for lunch prepared by his charming and lovely wife, Miloute. After riding in the morning and barely having anything to eat so far in the day, I was starving by the time we sat down. For lunch, it was 2001 and 1986 Tertre Roteboeuf and 1995 Roc de Cambes. The 01 was in a really good spot…. still fresh with a creamy texture, wonderful acidity and sweet black cherry fruit. The 86 was classic (in a good way) with sweet currants, minerals, expansive mid palate and wonderful finish. The 95 Roc de Cambes was a surprise because it still had quite a youthful feel to it with sweet red and black fruits, silky tannins and great balance. Francois says the terroir at Roc de Cambes is almost identical to Tertre Roteboeuf. While Roc de Cambes is the best wine in Bourg, I couldn’t taste the similarity in the wines. After spending three wonderful hours with the Mitjavile’s it was time to leave. I believe I could have hung out till dinner because I enjoyed listening, learning and drinking the wines. But, my day wasn’t over….

Back at the Becot’s, it was time to put on the suit, as tonight I was being inducted into the Jurade de St. Emilion.

The Jurade dates back to July 1199, when the Falaise Charter was signed by John Lackland, King of England (and brother to Richard the Lionheart) who controlled the Aquitaine region of France. The charter confirmed the rights of the burghers of Saint-Emilion to administer their town and the freedoms and privileges that accompanied them. In 1289, in the reign of Edward I, these legal, administrative and economic powers were extended to the parishes of the Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion, hence the name “Jurade”. Wine being a major concern of this monastic city, the Jurade controlled the production and consumption of wine as it controlled everything else. It oversaw the production of “fine” wines, kept the iron that branded every single barrel, combated fraud and abusive practices, and destroyed wine that was judged unworthy of the name.
It’s an incredible honor to be part of such a long tradition whose members are people I’ve admired for many years. This year’s attendees included a couple of French movie personalities as well as Prince Albert of Monaco (who also was inducted). It was a great event and following the ceremony was a fun dinner that featured some nice wines. As the evening ended around 1am, I was dead tired. But, in Bordeaux fashion, it was a Champagne nightcap with the Becot’s, Jeffrey and Francoise Davies and yours truly….We talked about the economy, our new President, the 2008 Bordeaux En Primieur campaign and celebrated Fathers Day since all the men are fathers. After anhour or so… we said our goodnights and by 2:15am; I was in a comatose sleep. What a day… one I will never forget!