The Importance of Wine Rediscovery

In my practice I see this all of the time. A great producer will come along. They will be discovered by the trade. Then they will be discovered by the consumer base. Demand will drive prices up and and availability out, and from a marketing standpoint, "cult" status is born. If the quality of the wines the producer makes continues to be at a "reference point" level for about 10 years or more this producer will be generally be deemed a classic, reference point producer and at their price points are not important anymore.

I've dealt with this phenomenon for 7 years now as a wine professional, and only yesterday did it hit me personally. I love wine and love to drink it. I usually buy through my company as I love the producers and I get a great deal. But, there are some wines I simply have to have. Domaine Tempier is one of them. I had read a lot about Tempier's rose since I really got into the Kermit thing about 3 years ago, but up until yesterday I could never readily find the Rose. So, it's available yesterday and I buy it- just 1 bottle. It retailed at $42bt.

Now, that's fair. It should be that price considering who makes it and the current currency situation. And I will continue to buy a bottle here, bottle there, but unfortunately for me Tempier Rose has moved out of my strikezone. So, Tempier here and there, but not always.

So, it's time to move on and keep looking- which is part of the fun of wine anyway. Pradeaux is a new "it" wine for me from Bandol. They're not new as a super quality level producer from Bandol, but they're just being very highlighted now as Tempier's prices have risen heavily.

C'est la vie. The next time your favorite imported European wine looks to expensive- it's time to enjoy the process of discovery all over again.

Great white

I'd like to turn your attention to the white wines of the Southern Rhone in France. Quintessential Summer values in my opinion. Sure we can talk about Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, but let's not. The super value exists in the excellent Cotes du Rhone Blancs, the Cairanne Blancs, Rasteau Blancs, Lirac Blancs, etc...Here you typically see blends of Marsanne, Roussanne, Viognier, Bouboulenc, Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, and/or Clairette. Sometimes a producer tosses additional grapes like Picpoul. The wines (for me) always sing with this white peach and apricot- usually in a dried form. And there's usually a slight peraffin or waxy note that is there; not always, but typically. Under all of this, you usually sees a really strong minerality as well- if the wines are well made.

These wines are fantastic for Summer, specifically with one of my favorite Summer dishes: ratatouille. I'm still using canned tomatoes, but in two weeks my perfect ratatouille will be ready. I eat it hot or cold, but prefer cold with lots of chopped fresh basil in it. And I like it accompanied by a simple piece of herbed sauteed flounder or bass, a good hunk of baguette for mopping.

Some producers to note in value white Southern Rhones:

Janasse Cotes du Rhone
Oratoire St Martin Cairanne Reserve des Seigneurs Blanc
Lafond Lirac Blanc
Trignon Sablet Blanc
Beaucastel Coudoulet de Beaucastel Cotes du Rhones Blanc
Remejeanne Cotes du Rhones Blanc Les Arbousiers
Sainte Cosme Cotes du Rhone Blanc

An short appeal: Oregano

Just a quick comment- use orgeano (fresh if you can). What a great herb. It screams Mediterranean. Almost immediately you think tomatoes, olive oil, light chesses, flat breads, saffron, grains like couscous, etc...You think white houses against a bright blue sea. And you are away in Greece.

And in wine it defines the reason that many of the Italian and Grecian whites are of the light, dry, and crisp category. Santorini, Fiano, Falanghina...they all want oregano.

Just a thought- but make sure to incorporate more oregano into your meals- you will travel to the Mediterranean very fast if you do.

Sticky food

It's hot. Sticky hot. New Orleans hot. Like want to drink Mint Juleps hot and talk slow hot.

So, for the heat- a very cooling salad:

Cut up a bunch of watermelon. Slice up some strawberries. Pick a bunch of fresh mint. Add all to a bowl. Add coarse salt and white pepper. Add a couple of glugs of really good olive oil and a medium sized dash of excellent balsamic vinaigre. Serve immediately.

VINO: Well, it's hot and sticky hot. So something crisp and refreshing, but with some good old fashioned Southern sweetness. Actually, I'd recommend New Zealand Riesling from the area of Nelson if you can. If not, an old personal favorite of mine in Australia: Leeuwin, from Margaret River. Grab their Riesling.

BOLDNESS

I've been having an issue with Californian wines for quite some time. Let's face it- they're about the fruit (for the most part). There is terroir, you do taste it here and there, but for the most part it's about purity of the fruit. In my recent trip to California many of the producers talked about harvest and they stressed the "purity of the fruit"- "the balance within the fruit". Many also talked about terroir, but usually this discussion was in reference to the quality of fruit that could come from that terroir.

So, fruit juice- what do you eat with fruit juice? While on that trip, there were many great meals. Grilled lamb chops, tandorri chicken, salads, cheeses, breads, pastas, etc...But it was a little precursor dish that continues to haunt my attention- hot, chicken tacos with mango/habanero sauce. I remember the dish, but not until last evening did it really sink in.

Last evening I went out to a very authentic Mexican joint in town. Really honest, home cooked food (they serve tongue tacos). And I was watching these guys preparing this food, and was just struck by the deep level of food culture that Central and South America has. (As a country, I just think we're seeing the tip of the iceberg now regarding our own unique food culture.) But, you saw these Latin Americans working and there was love being shown to the food. And then it hit me that Californian wines are made for Central and South American (and Cali) food. Tacos, Burritos, Empanadas, Rice and beans...spice, heat, bold flavors.

Sure there are some earthy, very close to being European styled wines coming out of CA. But, I wish for Cali that it would solely embrace it's cuisine and the cuisine of the South and just be BIG.

The wife's sauce

My great go-to sauce has always been the classic French Dijon Vinaigrette. The reason is because my wife and son will eat anything I put it on. Simple stuff, but like all French cooking the beauty in it is not in the ingredients, but rather the technique. I make mine heavy- or creamy.

French Vinaigrette

scoop of dijon mustard
a little vinaigre (totaste- not too much)
olive oil (1-2 glubs, a glub is like 2 ounzes)
vegtable oil (1-2 glubs)
sea salt
black pepper
garlic clove (1-2, crushed)
finely chopped herbs

The key to it is to blend the vinaigre ( I like Champagne), mustard, salt, pepper, herbs, and a crushed garlic clove first. Whisk, and beat until creamy. Let it sit and come together for like 5 minutes. Then whisking fast add 1-2 glubs of veggie oil. Whisk until emulsified. Add a 1-2 gluvs of Olive oil. Whisk until emmulsified. The olive oil will thicken the sauce. Take out garlic cloves.

Pour into salad. Mix salad. Then drain salad (very important) and plate. You never want too much vinaigrette- just the hint of it.

Wine: Champagne or sparkling wine, or German Rielsing (Kabinette or Spatlese Trocken or Halb-Trocken).

Littorai

Many apologies for my little exile here. Last week was spent in California, specifically in Napa and Sonoma seeing producers I represent.

Many things happening in Cali wine these days. Overall, there's definitely a grassroots shift back to the old school California wine scene: less oak, normal levels of alcohol, a search for true terroir, an investment in organic and bio-dynamic farming, and basically a truly sincerre effort to find balance in their wines. To be more frank, let's put it this way, at night after tasting, most producers would drink European wine rather than their own. Telling of the future.

There was one stop that I can't stop thinking about: Littorai.

Littorai is the project of a guy named Ted Lemon. I call Lemon the Yoda of the Cali wine scene as he's basically been there and done that in every aspect of wine production. He's made micro-production cuvees, and then he's consulted for the Franciscan Group. In the end he and his wife started this little winery called Littorai focusing on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the true Sonoma Coast (basically from "on the Pacific Ocean"). To say he works in a Burgundian style is really not enough. Ted managed Domaine Roulot (the famous Meursault producer) in the early 1980s- in fact he was the first American ever to manage a Burgundian estate. And today, I would easily put the wines of Littorai up against any top white Burgundies.

Ted's 2006s were stunning, but I expected that. What was revolutionary was his belief and practice of bio-dynamic farming. There's a lot of mumbo-jumbo going around bio-dynamic farming, and even I was skeptical of it prior to my visit with Ted. Harvesting and racking according to moon cycles. Burying a cow's horn filled with cow dung in your soil. And spraying animal's skins on your vineyard. Huh!? What!? You see what I mean?

As Ted put it, the premise is to return the soil (not the vines!) to a healthy natural state. The founder of bio-dynamics is a guy named Rudolph Steiner and Steiner writes about the ancient method of farming where the land co-existed in both a physical and spiritual world- in perfect harmony. So, yes, cow horns filled with year old cow manure-based compost are burried in the vineyard as the cow has the most advanced digestion system on the planet and this would spiritually invigorate the soil. Teas and sprays (that do have hamster skins in them) are employed. The hamster skins are the more intense part of the sprays, but they are there (again) to tell the spiritual animal pest world that they are not wanted in the vineyard. Moon cycle work is done. This makes the most sense, as Ted put it, "Two major cycles have been decided by the moon and control our lives: tides and the feminine cycle- both 28 days." True, true.

Is this all a bunch of dogma? Well, no. Ted's vineyards were glowing alive- just bursting with life. Moreover, the energy and vibe of his sites was very calm and positive, in comparison to the 20+ other producers I saw. The problem is that bio-dynamics is not quantifiable. You have to trust. But it makes a lot of sense. It's a return to the old natural way of farming when things were done on natural cycles, organically, and with respect for all of the elements that belonged to the site.

Makes an interesting question- is the ancient way the future?