All of the major speculation is over now as the majority of the chateaux have released just enough of their wine in a half-hearted attempt to create a first tranche. The prices? They were downright scary on some items, a good 30% higher on average than the record breaking 2005’s were when they were released. As we said in the lead article, the euro is lower than it was for the 2005-2006 releases, the world economy is seriously bruised right now, and there is certainly no reasonable expectation that it is going to improve greatly any time soon. Yet here are the Bordelais not only setting records with their opening prices, but clearly trying to manipulate the market to push them even higher. We can cite lots of examples, but one will suffice. We’ll call it Chateau XYZ that released their opening “tranche” at $300, supposedly sold out, and had the second tranche available at $340…one hour later. Just how much was released at that initial price? No one knows. Will folks come back right away and bite on the next round? We can say we didn’t.

More surprising, folks seem to be of the opinion that if they are not in early, they’ll miss out or be facing even more outlandish pricing. Only time will tell that story, but the early rounds of the name brands are selling and people seem interested. It is not our place to judge what is reasonable, I guess, because if the stuff sells out, than obviously the price wasn’t too high. As merchants, we are facilitators first. The trick is to get people as much wine as they want to buy, or at least as much as we can provide. But when the market decides it is sated, which is unpredictable, we definitely don’t want to be the ones holding a lot of $10,000-12,000 cases because those aren’t going to be easy to move.

Another thing that has been frustrating for us and consumers alike is the difficulty formulating offers. There’s a reason for it, though it is not easy to explain. From our perspective, it is hard to formulate a plan if you have anticipated demand for an item at, say, 50 cases, and you can only get a firm confirmation on 10 within a given time period, and that confirmation is slow in coming. With the internet, people are reading Bordeaux release news and expecting full fledged, detailed offers within seconds of that information becoming public. They don’t know how much of an item has been released, or what the demand is, they just know that it’s out there so someone must have some answers. Would that it worked so smoothly.

That brings us to, well, now. Where does it go from here? Hard to say. It depends on what you are looking for. If you are looking for some of the greatest Bordeaux ever made, they are out there. But prices are all over the map. If you are looking for surprising deals, those are there, too. But there’s no way to tell for how long as a lot of the best score-to-value wines were made in very modest quantities. The market is hard to predict right now, and we have been at this a long time.

Hopefully this post won’t sound too much like the last one that involved a horizontal tasting of great 2006 vintage wines sourced from throughout the world.  If it does we apologize, seen as we attended basically the same frigging tasting twice in two weeks, with decidedly different results.  And that’s the story.

This week’s blog revolves around the Errazuriz winery in Chile and their recreation of the ‘famed’ Berlin Tasting.  Yeah, we’d never heard of it either.  Apparently, if it is a blind comparative tasting and Steve  Spurrier is your honk (oops, sorry, ‘moderator’), it is inevitably going to have ‘famed’ affixed to its title due to that whole Judgement of Paris thing. 

Anyway, a few years ago Errazuriz put on this big shindig in Germany comparing its wines to the first growths, Sassicaia and so on.  Apparently the German tasters were in a Chilean kind of mood and their wines ended up trumping some of the finest wines in the world in a shocking upset.  Since then, the winery has been doing this gig once or twice a year in a different part of the world and charting the results every time.  And they had been winning, or at least coming pretty close, until LA that is.

Now let’s get one thing straight.  You really have to think hard about doing a gig like this in LA.  This is California, and most tasters in California are bound to have a California palate since they, well, live and work in California and were raised on California wine.  The ones that don’t have a Cali palate are more than likely schooled in tasting and preferring French wines over their years of study, with Bordeaux and Burgundy providing the model.  So, in the end, if you’re inviting all the ‘top tasters’  in Socal to your blind tasting, odds are you’re filling the room with a bunch of California homers and a few serious wine aficionados that taste thousands of wines a year and easily know the difference between a bottle of Chilean Cab and Chateau Haut Brion.  Not too smart if you’re  in it to win it.

But give the Erazuriz gang credit, they put their wines on the table and readily accepted the challenge.  So on with the show!

There were 10 wines for tasting, 5 from Chile, 2 from Bordeaux, 2 from Napa and 1 from Italy.  Here’s how the group scoring went, from 1 to 10 in preference based on a point system of 3 for 1st, 2 for 2nd and 1 for 3rd.

1st place- Stag’s Leap Cabernet SLV 2006.  Here you go.  The tasters fell hook, line and sinker for this one.  The bourbon barrel, freshly sawn wood treatment and jammy fruit landed the Cali heads in the room.  I thought it was Opus at first whiff (based on our previous tasting the week before) but wasn’t surprised to see SLV when the bag came off.  To Stag’s credit, they are really starting to clean up the wines and have dropped prices in the 2006 vintage, a big warm fuzzy.  Good wine but my second least favorite.

2nd place- Haut Brion 2006.  This wine was definitely showier than the bottle at the Frescobaldi horizontal.  A knockout, this was a pretty HB with, for this wine, a ton of fruit popping early.  It was obviously Bordeaux but the lack of Pessac minerality early on had me guessing Margaux.  A kick tail wine, Steve, Tris and myself all picked it as the #1 wine of the event, which probably vaulted it into second place.  Good thing because, if we hadn’t second place would have gone to…

3rd place- Opus One 2006.  That’s right kids, Opus is back!  Kind of.  Only the Winex boys prevented this gig from becoming a Cali sweep.  Ripe, creamy, a bit four square, chocolatey, there was a lot to like here and very little to dislike, all the winery’s previous Brettanomyces issues getting resolved from the taste of things.   Pandering, California juice at its finest…but it ain’t Haut Brion, especially with the bags on.

4th place- Lafite Rothschild 2006.  Robbed again, probably because this one was a little slow out of the gate.  Minerally, chewy, savory, dense, the old lead pencil thing didn’t emerge until they were getting ready to take the bags off.  A wine of undeniable class and swagger, it appears as if ‘06 Lafite is going to be a good one.  Freaky as it may sound, Steve, Tris and myself all pegged this one as our #2 wine.  We’ve obviously been tasting together for too long…

5th place- Kai Carmenere 2006.  The Errazuriz clan break into the Top 5.  We felt relieved for the Chilean boys ourselves as they wiped the beads of sweat off their furrowed brows.  At every other tasting they’ve done, they’ve had at least two wines in the Top 5, until today.  Cali palate strikes, Chileans tremble.  This is nice stuff; big, solid, warm, chocolatey, fun to drink.  Short on style points but it made up for it with its bombastic air.  Yee ha!  Drink me!

6th place- Vinedo Chadwick 2006.  This is Errazuriz’s $150 super-duper jobber, and it’s a very nice wine.  Tons of fruit, just a hint of that peppercorny Chilean thing (but enough to mark it as such) , with a cooler Bordeaux-like vibe.  Very Cabernet, at first taste I thought it could be Sassicaia.  My third place choice.

7th place- Sassicaia 2006.  Bad showing for this one today.  The bottle we drank a week earlier blew it out of the water.  I though it might be a shorter, “okay” Lafite initially, but it gained some persistence on the palate after 15-20 minutes.  Good today, not great.  But believe us when we tell you this wine  is the bomb!  We’ve had it 4 times and this one has been the only stinker, and even still, it didn’t exactly suck.

8th place- La Cumbre 2006. What the heck is Errazuriz thinking putting a Syrah into a tasting with a bunch of Bordeaux-styled wines?  Sweet lord, I guess they just wanted to show off their awesome take on the genre.  It didn’t exactly work that way.  It came across as truly “bling” Chile in nature, well balanced, but with exactly zero Syrah character.  Not good when it’s Syrah.  I will say it was a fine red wine and I’d drink it.  But still…it left many tasters scratching their heads.

9th place- Seña 2006.  Yup, the “Super-Chilean” wine inspired by Bob Mondavi himself finished second to last.  It didn’t really offer a lot of any one thing.  It seemed a bit confused.  Cali in its fruit, Chile in its aromatic profile and short a layer.  Easy to drink but not able to run with this crew today. 

10th place- Errazuriz Don Maximiano 2006. Crackers!  Bummer for the boys as their wines took five of the bottom six spots.  Don’t know why this one finished so low.  It had better wood on it than the Stags and Opus One wines, as well as a creamier, more focused style.   Obviosuly Chilean but still, this wine excelled if you’re into ripe, oaky Cabernet, which should have caught the attention of over half the palates in the room.  Very new school. Oh well, better luck in Brazil.

I know this wasn’t the result the boys from the south were looking for but hey, they did show their wines can easily run with the best the world has to offer.  The problem is they are Chilean, and can be discerned as such.  They are the fifth option for most wine consumers, countrywise, and soon to be potentially lapped by Argentina.   The wines were all very well made, but they almost seemed a bit ashamed of their Chilean roots.  Big, ripe flavors, lots of toasty new oak, very modern in style, they were built to impress but in the end didn’t really appeal to either tasting camp.   The French wines had more layers and the Cali wines had more…well…California.  I keep thinking of the Von Siebenthal wines we’ve been selling as I write this.  They had soul, Chilean soul!  Which I think only the Vinedo Chadwick wine had to any extent.  The solution?  Seek out cooler climates? Use less new oak? I don’t know, and I’m not a winemaker.  But I do think Chile is on the cusp of something huge, something that can capture the spirit of Bordeaux and the sunshine of California in one bottle, and when they do, we’ll be the first in line. 

Here’s to the future, and thanks again to the gang at Errauzuriz for putting on this enlightening gig.  Cheers!

Being an old Rude Boy and just having seen the reunited Specials in concert this past weekend (the boys were in top form), I though the title of an old Selecter song for this blog was apropos.

The topic is pressure, barometric pressure to be exact, and its impact on how wines taste.  We’ve ’seen’ it with our own palates, just how different the same wine can taste when its cool and sunny outside (good) as opposed to wet and rainy (bad).   It’s something that for years we never even considered.   Rain or shine, we thought that the wines we tasted on a particular day were just the wines and that was that.  But over the last few years we’ve been proven wrong.

The first time we noticed?  Actually, we didn’t notice but an importer friend whose palate we admire was holding a tasting that we attended and remarked on what a great, bright, fresh sunny day it was!  He was literally rubbing his hands together like Snidely Whiplash knowing that sales of his Barolo and Barbaresco wines (which are particularly sensitive to this phenomenon) were going to skyrocket.  He remarked that the wines were fresher and tannins sweeter under high pressure.  We didn’t make much of it at the time, but boy, those Nebbiolo wines were rock stars that day!  We did buy a bunch, filed his comments in the back of our minds and moved on.

Fast forward to the 2005 Bordeaux tastings in Los Angeles sponsored by the Unions des Grands Crus.  Same deal, the tasting was at the beach, the weather fresh and breezy, the air light, and the wines showed even better than they had at our En Primeur tastings; powerful, lifted, with sweet tannins.  It was more than just the supernal quality of the vintage, many Bordelais remarked on how lucky they were the weather rocked.

Next occurrence, a rainy, cloudy day in San Franciso for the annual Zinfandel (Z.A.P.) tasting.  The air was heavy, the wines were heavy, it was unbelievable just how much tannic, blah Zin we tasted that day, the wines were even more rough and tumble than usual, the alcohols accentuated, the tannins roughed up (like Zin really needs it…).  We walked away tired, bitter, in need of cold beer.

Now back to Bordeaux.  The 2009 vintage has ended up being a bit more polarizing among the wine press than usual.  All indicators pointed to a vintage of the century, but we’ve been seeing mixed signals at best among the pundits who have tasted the wines thus far. 

Examples?  Jim Suckling from the Wine Spectator tasted the 2009 Ch. Larmande St. Emilion and gave the wine 92-95 points commenting the wine had, “Blackberry and sweet tobacco on the nose follow through to a full body, with soft and silky tannins and a very pretty finish. Balanced and refined. Nicely done.”  Neil Martin, Wine Advocate’s Bordeaux reviewer-in-waiting, tasted the same wine and gave it 83-85 points, noting, “Prune notes on the nose that is lacking definition and is far too ripe. The palate is quite tannic and seems rather over-macerated, the finish lacking freshness and definition.”

Wow. Quite the difference.  And when you consider that the difference between ‘83′ and ‘92′ is more seismic in its impact than a mere nine points you get the picture.  The question.  What was the weather like on the days these two gentlemen hunkered down and had a look at this suddenly controversial wine?  Quality of samples aside (considering that critics tend to get freshly drawn samples at the times of their tastings), could it be the weather that accounted for this drastic variation in scores?  We know from our own Tristen Beamon who was in Bordeaux around this time that the weather was horrible: cold, windy, rainy, dreadful.  He remarked it had a definite impact on the wines.  Neil was in Bordeaux at the same time as Tris, and Suckling had in fact tasted many of his wines earlier when the weather wasn’t so bad and the barometric pressure much higher. 

After doing a bit of research on the internet (for what its worth) we did discover that two symptoms of wines tasted under low pressure are a flattening of the wine (prune notes?) and accentuation of tannins, both commented on by Martin during his tasting.  Not to say anyone is right or wrong, but it would be interesting to find out just what the weather was the day both pundits raised their glasses. 

 Food for thought.

So, the next time it’s muggy, heavy and raining outside, you may want to pull a page from the biodynamics handbook and give the wine you’re drinking the benefit of the doubt.  It could be a victim of old Mother Nature.

Or just drink on bright, sunny days.  But that would mean folks in Seattle would have to give away all their wine…and we wouldn’t want that.

After working fifteen hour days for a solid two weeks, I finally have 
a day to reflect on the whirlwind tastings of the 2009 Bordeaux 
vintage.  What a difference a year makes.   Last year at this time 
Bordeaux was a ghost town.  The world was in the worst financial 
crisis since the Great Depression and no one could spare a thought for 
what was perceived as the underwhelming vintage 2008.  But, as in every 
year, it was our duty to experience first hand the quality of the 
vintage and because of the light attendance, it made the job easier as 
we were even able to bring along a film crew to visually 
document the experience.

This year is the most attended en primeurs tasting in history and Bordeaux is at capacity.  Due to the crowds,  more time  (which I didn’t have, doh!) was required to wade throughn the throngs ana arrange appointments to see chateau owners and negociants as well as tasting all the wines from  petits chateaux to the Grands Vins.  After tasting over 500 barrel sample es,  I can honestly say this has been one of the most mentally draining two weeks I’ve experienced . But it was well worth every minute, because 2009 is an exciting vintage.

2009 is the perfect end to a wonderful decade in Bordeaux.  It is a combination of the beautiful fruit of 2000, the wonderful structure of  2005, and the freshness of 2008.  For all you technical data geeks, alcohol and tannins have never seen such high numbers in the history of Bordeaux (since they have been keeping records).  The tcp numbers (that measure tannin) have been consistently over ‘90′ (trust us, that’s a lot) and alcohol levels around 14%, with some Right Bankers even over 15%!  But, the wines are incredibly balanced and don’t fatigue the palate.  I remember, in the 2005 vintage, after 4 days of tasting my palate was completely shot because of tannin build up, but with ’09 , after tasting more than twice as long, my palate is fresh as a daisy.  So sometimes technical data does not reflect what you actually perceive. In general it is a very uniform vintage and all appellations  showed beautifully.

I have four pads full of tasting notes that I need to enter, but for  now I will do a simple breakdown by classification.

Petits Chateaux:
This is an extremely strong, if not one of the best, showing for this 
class. From Cabernet-based wines in the Medoc to Merlot-based wines in 
the satellite regions of the right bank, these wines showed extremely 
well, with tons of fruit, lots of freshness in the mid-palate, and 
beautiful silky tannins. There will be many great bargains to be had.
The Hits: Clos Manou, La Fleur de Bouard, Joanin Becot, La Dauphine, 
Gigault Cuvee Viva, Bouscat La Gargonne, Mejean, Fougeres “La Follie”, 
d’Aiguilhe, Haut Carles, Grands Marechaux, Les Cruzelles, Mont Perat, 
Courteillac, Grand Village, Croix Mouton, Beaulieu Comtes de Tastes, 
and many, many more…

Pomerol:
As good as the wines were in Pomerol in 2009, this is the only region 
where 2008 is giving it a run for its money.  There were rains in 
September which Pomerol received the brunt of, and because it is the 
earliest ripening of the appellations, some estates picked perhaps too 
early and over extracted to compensate.
The Hits: Le Gay, La Violette, Providence, Hosanna, Vieux Chateau 
Certan, La Conseillante, Feytit Clinet, Clinet, Lafleur, Trotanoy, 
Petrus, Lafleur Petrus, La Croix St. Georges, Le Pin, Montviel, Clos 
l’Eglise, l’Eglise Clinet, l’Evangile.

St. Emilion:
This appellation had me scratching my head. It had some of the best 
showings, and some of the worst. Perhaps it is because of the huge 
hail storm they received last May that was very localized and damaged 
certain vineyards, or perhaps some farming and winemaking techniques 
didn’t show off the vintage to its full potential. Again some wines 
are over extracted where others nailed it with incredibly intense 
fruit, but with perfect balance and big, but refined tannins.
The hits: Ausone, Pavie, La Mondotte, Tertre Rotebeouf, Bellevue 
Mondotte, Troplong Mondot, La Gomerie, Beau-Sejour Becot, Angelus, 
Cheval Blanc, Figeac, Magrez Fombrauge, Fonplegade, La Confession, 
Pavie Macquin, Larcis Ducasse, Canon, Canon La Gaffeliere, Clos 
Fourtet, Grand Mayne, La Couspaude, La Dominique, Fleur Cardinale, 
Moulin St. George, La Clotte, La Gaffeliere, Le Dome, La Fleur 
Morange…

Pessac-Leognan:
White wines - Personally, for me 2009 is a solid white wine vintage 
but doesn’t capture the freshness and acidity as both ’08 and ’07 did. 
That being said, 2009 will have many fans, because the fruit is very 
ripe and flashy and many are drawn to that specific style. Though the 
top estates made exquisite blancs.

Red wines- A very consistent line-up where the famous graves terroir 
showed its stuff; sweet blue fruits, with wonderful minerality, 
captivating tannins that danced on the palate into a pure silky 
finish.  Wonderful, seamless wines.

The hits: (Blanc) Haut Brion, Pape Clement, Malartic La Graviere, 
Domaine de Chevalier, de Fieuzal,  Haut Bergey, Smith Haut Lafitte
(Rouge) Haut Brion, Haut Bailly, La Mission Haut Brion, Pape Clement, 
Malartic La Graviere, Smith Haut Lafitte, Le Carmes Haut Brion, 
Branon, Haut Bergey, de Fieuzal, Le Thil (great value play)…

Margaux:
My impression for Margaux is that it is the most improved appellation 
for overall quality.  Some estates which did not produce great wines 
in the past shine this year.  I can think of one (Durfort Vivens) which I never thought 
highly of, that has now turned the corner and for ’09, made its best 
wine ever. The wines of Margaux are the epitome of what one thinks of 
for the region. Wonderful blue fruit, with that famous floral 
character. The wines have power but  are balanced with sheer elegance. 
I could not find a dog in the bunch.
The Hits: Margaux, Malescot St. Exupery, Palmer, Giscours, Brane 
Cantenac, Cantenac Brown, Durfort-Vivens (huge improvment), Ferriere, 
Rauzan Segla, Prieure Lichine, Lascombes, l’Aura de Cambon, 
Marojallia…

St. Julien:
Like Margaux, a very consistent appellation, with some serious 
surprises. The wines are concentrated, with a juicy core of ripe 
framboise and black currant fruit.  Big, but with supple tannins and  
big-time length.
The hits: Ducru Beaucaillou, Leoville Poyferre, Leoville Las Cases, 
Gruaud Larose (big improvement), Branaire Ducru, Leoville Barton, St. 
Pierre, Gloria, Beychevelle, Lagrange…

Pauillac:
While the three first growths that reside in this 
appellation made stunning wines in ’09, the playing field was quite 
strong for most Pauillac estates. The wines ooze with black currants, 
deep inky colors and the wonderful mineral characteristics that define 
this highly touted region.
The hits: Latour, Lafite Rothschild, Mouton Rothschild, Pichon 
Lalande, Pontet Canet, Lynch Bages, Pichon Baron, Haut Bages Liberal, 
Grand Puy Lacoste, Clerc Milon, Duhart Milon, Pedesclaux (really!), d’Armailhac

St. Estephe:
Like 2003, St. Estephe is the one region that shows remarkable 
ripeness for a region that is normally quite cool and whose wines tend 
to be on the lean side. 2009 wines, not only from the stars of the 
appellation, but also from the “up-and-comers” show incredible  berry 
fruit with the famous road tar and lead pencil shavings that give the 
region its notoriety.
The Hits: Cos d’Estournel, Lafon Rochet, Montrose, Le Crock, Lillian 
Ladouys (yes… really), Calon Segur, Cos Labory, Meyney.

Medoc/Haut Medoc:
As with all the other major appellations, the Medoc & Haut Medoc were 
strong. There will be so many great values to choose from in 
these regions, perhaps even more than in 2000 and 2005.
The hits: Poujeaux, Chasse Spleen, La Tour Carnet, La Lagune, 
Cantemerle, Belgrave, Clarke, Fonreaud, Cambon La Pelouse, Belle-vue, 
Charmail, Lamarque, Clement-Pichon, Lousteauneuf and many more…

Sauternes/Barsac
Let’s not forget about the sweet wines of the region, and for good 
reason… they’re also great!  It was the fastest harvest most can 
remember as the botrytis exploded in the middle of October. The wines 
are packed with lots of orange, citrus, honey and tropical fruit with 
snappy acidity, pure botrytis notes and long finishes.
The hits: de Fargues, Climens, d’Yquem, Coutet, Nairac, Suduiraut, 
Rieussec, La Tour Blanche, Doisy Daene, Guiraud, Bastor-Lamontagne

So to summarize, 2009 has many wines to select from in most likely all 
price ranges.  Unfortunately, I think prices for the classified wines 
will turn out to be a game of chance as there will be game playing 
like in no other vintage. The Bordelaise know we’re still in a 
financial crisis but must find the highest price the market can 
stomach without completely screwing up.  In the meantime, the 2008’s 
I’ve tasted are really good and trust me, the prices in 09 will be 
higher so do not let the top 2008’s (and they are ‘top’) pass you by.

Tomorrow is my largest sit  down tasting so far with over 200+ wines on tap.  It will give me a 
chance to taste new wines as well as re-evaluate ones I’ve tasted….Stay tuned.

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!