A Gourmet Gift Basket + Some Top Quality Wine = Perfect Present

Wine gift baskets for the holidays?  The fluster of the holiday season is indeed upon us, and we could all use a little bit of help when it comes to our gift-purchasing decisions—less time deliberating and stressing means more time to celebrate, right?  There is no need to be shy when it comes to looking for gift assistance, for many other people are in similar boats who also are unsure as to how to show their gratitude to, say, relatives and/or friends who live quite some distance away and whose gift preferences you know little about.  These circumstances can be easily handled:  the value of a gift basket is, for all intents and purposes, quite universal.  Isn’t that relieving to hear?  Who couldn’t use a little bit of gourmet cheese, crackers, chocolate truffles, almonds, olives, and, most importantly, wine for this joyful portion of the winter?

Wine Gift Baskets to the Rescue

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Our Friends at BottleNotes have a great contest going on!

The Daily Sip™ is going to send the lucky winner and three friends to the Ultimate Wine Weekend in Napa Valley. The weekend includes private VIP tastings for the winner and three friends with Napa legends Arietta, Blackbird, and Spring Mountain.  Jack Cakebread will host a private tasting lunch at Cakebread Cellars.  Peter Mondavi Jr. will host a private blending session and a grill-your-own-steak lunch at Charles Krug, and Saturday night the winner will stay at the luxurious Meadowood resort.

Enter here: http://www.bottlenotes.com/contest and cross your fingers!

A Brief History of Pinot Gris

Pinot Gris is the close, close relative of the grape Pinot Noir—a genetic mutation only centuries old separates them, and they are primarily identified by the difference in their color (the term  ‘Gris’ is French for gray; ‘noir’ French for black; and ‘Pinot’ French for ‘pine’ because of the pinecone-shape of the each vine’s grape formation). 

Pinot Gris is also, of course, known for making various spectacular wines.  Its major homeland is in Alsace, a region along France’s eastern border, but it does make its mark elsewhere as well.  This is when the confusion between Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio arrives on the scene.

Pinot Grigio (aka Pinot Gris)

Pinot Grigio is the name given to Pinot Gris that is grown in Italy.  To make things still more interesting, Pinot Gris grown outside of Italy can be known as either Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio (there are California and Oregon variants, for example).

In short, the difference between Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio depends in part on where the grape is grown(which is still, at heart, Pinot Gris—I know, fun) and, as we’ll get into soon, which conventions people wish to use to differentiate one from the other.

Pinot Gris Wines and Pinot Grigio Wines Demystified, Perhaps

The term Pinot Gris is usually reserved for those wines straight from Alsace, and usually have a more flowery and/or fruity flavor (flavors of the latter include melon and grapefruit).  Pinot Grigios are, of course, wines of the same grapes from Italy, but also have plenty of variants from Californian to Australian.  Italian Grigios tend to be dry, light, and pack a mineral tang.  Those from California have stronger flavors and can be citrusy, while still retaining the mineral flavor characteristic of Italian Grigios.

What you yourself call a Pinot Gris or Pinot Grigio is entirely up to you (again, it is the same grape after all).  Nonetheless, just where and how the grapes were grown means a lot for flavor and, thus, means a lot for people’s categorization of them as either a Gris or Grigio.  The moral of the story here is this:  make sure you and your fellow wine enthusiasts agree on a standard for the difference between Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio before you begin discussing it, lest your day of tasting be overwhelmed by confusion.

Wine Reviews and What They Mean

The 100 point wine rating system is fairly intuitive for most people; all they have to do is think of grade school and, immediately, the fundamental workings of the method are revealed:  higher scores are like an A+ and lower ones like an F (the range is 50 to 100—anything rated below 50 is probably not even wine).  This readily understood means of measuring a wine’s quality is convenient and straightforward for wine enthusiasts (whether amateur or expert) , but there are those who take issue with this way of conducting wine reviews and those who need to know exactly what it represents; and why it is still a very useful  guide to purchasing wine.

The Advantages of 100 Point Wine Rating System for Wine Reviews, and ‘Blind’ Tasting

A lot of present day wine reviews (i.e. those with the 50-100 scale) seem to rest on the shoulders of one man:  Robert Parker—an extremely well regarded wine-taster, which is what we hope he is if it is his system many use to judge a wine’s character.  Throughout his career as a wine-taster, he has repeatedly emphasized the need for a system that is both independent from the wine industry and is greatly flexible with its assignment of value judgments to its products.  Consider the difficulties with the following two scenarios.   (more…)

Spanish Cava Sparkling Wine For Less Than $20 – 91 Point Rating

I attended a house warming the other night and, of course, the evening started off with a round of bubbles. There were some nice champagnes and a couple of roses. I have to admit, I am partial to roses! Since the first several bottles were real champagne (i.e., from France) I made the assumption that the roses were as well.

The best sparkling wine since 1887

The two roses were excellent, although one stood out as the best sparkling wine. When it was revealed that it was a Spanish Cava, I was really surprised. It was a Llopart Rose Brut Reserva. The bottle said the cava had been there since 1887 and the wine had spent three years sur lie.

Inside, I was struck by the color – a very clear, sparkling medium pink wine. 

The nose on this cava was very pleasant with some lovely strawberries, perhaps some cherries. The wine had plenty of small bubbles, but the style was a creamier, elegant style than what I was expecting. The finish on this balanced wine was very nice.

An Unexpected Price For A Spanish Cava Sparkling Wine

I have pretty much identified Spanish Cava’s with lower priced bubbles appropriate for Mimosas. This wine had more class than the rougher, less expensive bubbles from Spain. It got me thinking about price and value. 

What would I pay for this sparkling wine in a retail shop? I thought the wine was worth mid-$20s, perhaps even $30. Later, the next day, I learned that the wine sells for under $20. It is a super deal at that price and worth every penny.

A Sparkling Wine So Good It Was Gone

This wine pairs well with food, by the way. We were having a tapas dinner, but unfortunately, by the time we came to eat, it was gone. Folks were surprised by the quality of this wine. It also dispelled a couple of myths about Spanish sparkling wines. 

The Llopart Rose Brut Reserva Cava sparkling wine was one tasty bottle of bubbles and WineOnTheWay.com has it for just $18.00.

Tikal Patriota 2006 is Big in More Ways Than One

For this Argentina wine review, – 92 point rating – we must start with the bottle. You may get tired of me starting to write a wine review and begin with some sort of description of the packaging. But Tikal Patriota is one that I just can’t help myself. The big dark bottle weighs in at 2.8 lbs—-yes, I weighed it! It seemed like 40 lbs. I did a random sample of other wine bottles (empty) and they were coming in a 1.3 or so. So why the heavy glass? Must add something to shipping. Is it necessary to keep what’s inside the bottle in check?

Tikal Patriota (Patriot) is an Argentine wine blend of 60% Bonardo and 40% Malbec. The color is an inky, dark purple. There is probably some fruit here. Black cherries, raspberries, blueberries. I get some sort of berries but this is an Argentine wine without a lot of subtlety or nuisance. This BIG…a powerful 13.9% alcohol but dense and ripe fruit that is intense and jammy.

Argetina Wine that’s Perfect for a Summer Barbeque

This Argentine wine yells out for steak or barbeque or something meaty on the grill. If you like this modern style of powerhouse wines, especially ones at a good price, this could be the wine for you. I had steak with this wine but as much as I wanted to love Tikal Patriota 2006, ranked 92 in Wine Advocate, I didn’t.

The wine was big, balanced and I guess my style is one that is more layered. Perhaps it was young and will improve with age. I should buy another bottle of Tikal Patriota 2006 and put it aside to check that out.

Did I mention the bottle was heavy?

We have a house on a barrier island and getting there is never easy. You have to load up the car, drive a long time, charter a boat, load the stuff onto the boat, off load the stuff onto the dock, carrier it to a car we keep on the island, load the car, drive to the house and then take the stuff up two flights of stairs.

Of course, one can not consider sitting on the porch at the ocean without a glass or two of wine to complete the experience. Hauling a case or two of wine all that way is not easy. It takes up a lot of room on all those transports, is heavy, and then there is the issue of disposing of all that glass in an environmentally responsible way.

One day I decided, what the heck, why not try a 3 liter of a box wine?

So I purchased a Bota Box Shiraz and it wasn’t bad. Ditto for the Bota Box Chardonnay and Pinot Grigio.

Box Wine Bladder Failure equals Bad Box Wine Review

On a recent trip I decided to try a Turning Leaf Pinot Noir in a box. When I opened it, it was nasty. I thought it was oxidized, but then wondered about that since box wines are a “closed” system. They use a bladder which is one of the pluses of a box wine and the wine will keep for a month although I’ve never tested that theory. But this box-o-wine was bad and there is no returning a box wine for credit.

Box wines are worth considering in another venue.

When taking a cruise, we are always like to have wine in the cabin as it is cheaper than running up those cruise ship tabs. Box wine is perfect in that kind of situation. A 3 liter red and a 3 liter white is good for two of us for a week. And if you have to throw some of away — well, there is no guilt.

But here is the problem for me—there just aren’t many decent box wines. Surely this might be an option worth considering for all that juice that can’t make it into a winemaker’s primary bottling. Of course, there are the distributors, wine merchants and the public who view box wines as a step below jug wine, but great breakout box wine may find a market niche and start to change the bias of the wine drinking public.

Black Box Wine looks to be grabbing that market!

While I haven’t tried Black Box Wine yet  to review, yet they have quite a bit of buzz around them for a wine in a box!  Not only is there a Black Box Merlot wine, but they have a reserve merlot and a reserve Chardonnay as well! They even say that the Black Box wine is from grapes all over the world’s best wine regions.

So while I will never, ever leave the glory of a fine wine in a glass bottle behind, sometimes there is actually a time and place for wine in a box!

 

 

Move over Wine Corks,  Synthetic Wine Corks & the Screwcap!

Last week I opened a bottle of Calera Viognier 2007 because, well, I love Viognier especially from California producers. I haven’t had Calera for some time, perhaps several years, so it was like visiting with an old friend. I’ve had this wine before, but it has been a few years. What came next was not shocking—but sure as heck, surprised the heck out of me.

Instead of popping a cork or twisting off the cap, I cut foil to find a glass closure. 

Glass! Was Calera just trying to one-up the competition or was this closure for real? I certainly thought Calera was above gimmicks and after tasting the wine, I would have to agree this is no gimmick. The Viognier was exactly what I thought (and hoped) it would be with nectarine aromas, silky texture that produced a wonderful mouth feel and long, lingering finish.

After sharing this bottle with friends before dinner, we decided to continue the investigation of Calera and the glass closure over a seafood dinner. So we order the Calera Pinot Noir. I think it was the Mt. Harlan Cuvee and it, too, was delightful. Lots of layering aromas and complexity, yet easy to drink and a perfect match for the seafood our table was ordering.

OK, no gimmicks here with the glass closure.

A real wine stopper. This glass stopper had a o-ring seal that obviously prevented oxidation and obvious held the stopper in and kept the wine from falling out!

“This can’t be cheap,” I thought.

I wonder if there are any “scientific” comparisons that demonstrate the effectiveness of the stoppers?

People who have any history of wine drinking have obviously observed and opened wine with alternative wine closures.  Remember the first screw caps. It seems like they have been on New Zealand wines for perhaps a decade. Many people, myself included, believe they provide a tighter seal than cork, which is both good and bad. But the screwcap needs a better press agent.

I think many people still associate screwcaps with “cheap” wines.

We have all struggled wrestling those extremely tight fitting synthetic corks out of bottles as well. They almost look like real corks. They more or less make that popping noise when open and once out of the bottle they are hard to put back in. And, my “green” spouse reminds me, they are not biodegradable.

But did I tell you about the glass closures?

They are really, really neat. I may have to keep buying Calera unless someone out there knows what other wines have glass closures or glass stoppers?

 

 

In this current economy it seems everyone is looking for a wine bargain in terms of price. With everyone cutting back, we become very price sensitive especially in regard to “extras” such as wine.But is price sensitivity really a new anything new? For the last thirty year or so, I have been searching for good wine values and I will, like almost anyone else, take the price of the wine into consideration.

Good wine does not have to be expensive and expensive wine may not be necessarily good.

Evidence of this is frequently found in various wine ratings in Parker, the Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast and so on. Take, for example, the 2006 Peter Lehmann Shiraz from Barossa Valley, Australia scoring 91 points in the Wine Spectator. I’ve loved this wine for years and at $15 or less is a real bargain. But one will also find many wines of the $50+ variety scoring in the 80’s.

But that is a topic of another blog: the relationship of wine prices to ratings.

Back to retail wine prices.

Big Box Discount Retailers and Wine Prices

Wholesale clubs may have started this rush to discounting wine prices and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out it’s because they buy nationally on quantity. But have you ever looked for a sales associate at a discount whole sale club store like Sam’s Club or BJs to ask about the flavor components of the wine or the possible food pairings for a particular wine? You might find have found a real bargain based on the wine price, but is you require assistance, then it is not to be found.

Then along comes the big wine and spirit stores with their method of pricing wine.

You know them, the wine supermarkets. They line case stack featured wines by the front door as you grab your shopping cart to load up. Then aisles and aisles of what seems to be great wine bargains. A single wine may have 20 separate facings in different parts of the store. Makes it look like a candy shop for adults.

Here they have sales associates ready to direct you and answer your most demanding wine question. Or so it seems. In my judgment, they are playing to the novice wine drinker who accepts their responses as fact. Many of them are not fact, and they would rather give what seems to be an informed response than to say they don’t know.

Local Wine Stores and Local Wine Prices

A local friendly wine retailer, and one who knows something about wine, will also buy wholesalers’ “close outs”. These are wines that are sold a deep discounts by the wholesaler to reduce inventory. Sometimes these are distressed wines or sometimes there are some bargains. You just never know. And if you buy a bottle and like it, there is a real good chance that next time you go in (heck, you can even call the next day), it will be gone, never to return. Don’t forget…they are close-outs. 

Trust the Wine Source, not the Wine Price

What if you were to pay say one or two dollars more, but knew you were buying from someone that actually took the time and knew something about the wine, the winery and winemaker? What if you knew that they selected a particular wine from the 1000’s of wines in distribution because it was better? And what if you bought wines from this purveyor, knew their tastes and how they compared to yours? You might even come to trust their judgment and know that the dollar or two you pay extra in the price of the wine would always come with a sense of satisfaction. 

Buying wine from a trustworthy wine purveyor does not mean you have to pay a fortune. If $15 is your limit, there are great, highly ranked wines avaialble for $15.00. I’ll bet you can even find some wine priced out at $12 or $10.

Don’t forget, “life’s too short to drink bad wine”, but it doesn’t have to be expensive either.