Dr Vino’s wine blog

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If VOS Selections were a wine consumer, the company would just be allowed to drink. The boutique wine importer and distributor, based in New York City, is celebrating its twenty-first year. I dropped by their trade tasting on Monday and sat down with president and founder Victor Owen Schwartz to ask him four questions. What follows are his juicy thoughts on the dollar and wine prices, strikes, the summer from hell, Greek wines, the word of the day (”autochthonous”), and why he’s drinking rosé all year long.

What are you most worried about this fall? Read more…

I had a fun time helping out Slow Food with a wine tasting last night at Plates restaurant in Larchmont, NY.

After the event was over, Mrs. Vino and I stayed to have dinner at the bar. Our dishes (plates?) were great, prepared by chef Matthew Karp who, along with the amiable Wendy Weinstein Karp, owns and runs the restaurant.

I was amused to open the wine list to find page one declaring “It’s National Rosé Month!” Since I had apparently missed that memo, I asked Craig Muraszewski, the wine director, about it. He said that he had personally declared it national rosé month, “within these four walls.” Funny stuff. Oh, and he said the National Rosé Month runs from June til Labor Day…

I tried to snap a pic with my cameraphone of Craig’s “top ten reasons to drink rosé,” as listed on page one of the wine list, but it was too low-lit so I’ll re-type them after the jump. I particularly liked #9 for all its randomness… Read more…

OK, which wine category is hot? Sooo hot? As in up 39 percent nationally for the first six months of this year? That’s right, folks, we’re talking about rosé! Dry rosé!

Just as America is warming up to dry pink wine, Papa Bear Eric Asimov tells us it’s jumped the shark. It’s over. Before it even began! Rosé, we hardly knew ye! EA cries out for rosé therapy on his blog:

But doc, why am I so unhappy about rosés? I don’t want to buy them. I don’t want to drink them. I don’t hate them. I’m just not interested. But I know I’m supposed to care. That is, I’m supposed to be carefree, which is the proper attitude for rosés. You know, lunches in Provence, tapas in Spain, let the rosé flow. But I’m not carefree about rosé. I’m grumpy. What’s wrong with me?…I hate to be a killjoy, doc. Isn’t there anything you can do for me?

Don’t be grumpy, Eric! Just get into the vibe! Although I’m not the kind of doctor you’re looking for, here are some tips for starting to think pink:

1. Context matters: rosé could be the ultimate wine where context matters. When it’s hot, chill it and have it on the deck, at a sidewalk cafe, under a tree, in a hammock–wherever there’s no air conditioning! The hotter you are, the better it will taste.

2. A halfway house for whites and reds: dyed in the wool partisans of whites and reds may not often overlap but rosé may just prove that common ground.

3. Tired of serious wine? It’s a quaffer, easily downed. Refreshment is key. Rosé is almost a state of mind more than it is a wine. (Is this sounding New Age-y yet?)

4. Food friendly: high-acidity dry rosé pairs with a lot of foods, including some hard ones like salads and gazpacho and, of course, anything meaty.

5. Wallet friendly: I’d be grumpy too if I paid a lot for rosé–$15 is my max. This is the first press of some wine or from red vines that aren’t mature enough to do anything interesting so there’s an economic argument for it’s being cheap too. Last summer when we were in the south of France we got a 5L box of the hearty Bergerac rosé for 12 euros, which brought down our per glass costs to practically nothing. It makes you extremely generous when the wine is always cold and your per glass cost is less than a postage stamp–and wine is for sharing!

Some of my favorite dry rosés from this summer:
* Chateau Peyrassol. At $17 it is in my grump-zone, but still very nice light Provencal style. (search)
* Commanderie de Bargemone: Yummy, fresh strawberry notes, good acidity and $12 (search).
* Domaine Houchart (St. Victoire): This wine just makes me think about lunch, outside under an umbrella. $15 (search)
* Domaine Sorin, Terra Amata (Cotes de Provence): Sustainably grown; wonderful with fried calamari (search)
* Chateau d’Aqueria (Tavel): Darker in color and bolder in taste, this is a good one for enticing people from the red side as I did last weekend with a guy who “only drinks red.” Though at $17, it’s into my grumpy price range (search)
* Bodegas Muga (Rioja): easy to find, this one is an even better value at $10 (search)
* Bernard Baudry (Chinon): pleasant, but a tad too serious for mindless summer fun with it’s dollop of minerality (search)

Preppy is back. Drink pink.

Back in the 20th century, when we were organizing our wedding, I was making conversation with the New England innkeeper where we had our wedding reception. I was living in Barcelona at the time and we were chatting about Catalan food and wine. Somehow we stumbled onto the topic of cava, the sparkling wine from the region that is dramatically less expensive than Champagne. That really got the innkeeper going. “Cava! I wouldn’t wash the family dog with that!” he flamboyantly declared.

Whatever you might do with bargain bubbly, they have their time and place. I’ve gotten several reader mails recently from people getting married looking for advice on wines for their wedding, particularly when they have the option to source the wines themselves.

The real budget killer can be the Champagne toast. Every guest feels obliged to take a glass, whether they are going to drink it or not. Some just take a sip. Either way, there’s generally a lot bubbly left in the flutes on the tables.

So here’s a short list of bubbly that doesn’t break the bank. Perceptive readers will notice that none of these hail from the region of Champagne. That’s because entry-level Champers starts at $30 these days. I set a maximum of $15 so that we didn’t send the newlyweds (or the parents of the bride) into penury–we’ll let the florist do that.

Bargain bubbly can be a mixed bag with too much residual sugar and too little depth of flavor. If you end up being able to source your own bubbly for the wedding, be sure to taste a bottle before buying in bulk to ensure it is your style. The bubblies here are in my order of preference:

Bisol, “Crede” prosecco (Italy) $14 (find this wine)
My buddy Mark Oldman is a huge fan of prosecco. He shows a flagrant disregard for international law and calls it “Italian champagne” at his parties. Why is it a good party wine? Because it is easy on the wallet and on the palate. Sometimes I find prosecco too sweet but this Bisol is crisp and dry. More importantly, it as a good bead–the wine geek term for them there bubbles that make it so festive. Heck, I wouldn’t just save this one for mass toasts–I’d drink it with plenty of food too ranging from hard cheese to an Asian noodle soup. (Importer: Vias)

Juve y Camps rose cava $14 (find this wine)
I’d be willing to bet that if my innkeeper got poured this cava blind, he do something other than wash the dog with it — he’d no doubt drink it with great enthusiasm. Made from 100 percent pinot noir, this dry pink bubbly has nice red berry notes surprisingly pleasant acidity. Drink pink.

Chandon California brut. $11 (find this wine)
My expectations were low for this one with a generic “California” designation. But in the glass, the wine surprised me pleasant fruit, a good bead, and enough sugar to make it rich but not cloying. I poured it at a tasting event recently and it was well-received. Don’t be surprised if you see Aunt Marnie going around and taking sips out of the half-empty glasses if you pour this one at the wedding.

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Reader Jeff J wrote in yesterday asking for a case of wine, probably red, about $150 - $200 to give to a friend in New York who recently got married.

Great question! And thoughtful gesture! Some retailers put together pre-fab cases but I have generally approached them with skepticism. Why? I probably don’t want one or two or three of the wines in the set case. And I suspect there’s something in there that the store might be trying to move for reasons other than necessarily serving the consumer.

But I put my skepticism aside and decided to put my money where my mouth is. I recommended Jeff check out Chambers Street Wines, which has a selection of pre-fab cases at $100 and $200 both red and mixed. I also recommended the mixed “Memorial Day” case at Le Du’s Wines in the West Village. Maybe it was the thought of grilling this weekend but for some reason I found myself clicking “buy now.”

Tuesday I clicked and Wednesday my doorbell rang. I have to confess a certain amount of excitement pulling out bottles I’ve never tried before. Even if I don’t know the producers’ names, the back labels sport the names of some very solid importers–Neal Rosenthal, Jon David Headrick, Classical Wines among others. And they were selected by the knowledgeable staff, headed by Jean-Luc Le Du, formerly the sommelier at the restaurant Daniel.

But the best part? $145.99! Free delivery in New York State. I’ll keep you posted on how the one-click convenience works out in the glass. The list follows below for your perusal. But if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go put a bottle in the fridge since it is heading to 84 degrees today… Read more…

The following photo may be too gruesome from some readers (it’s still safe for work though, just not for the faint of heart). Thus I have put it after the jump. It awaits your captioning! Read more…

In this age of air conditioning, wine consumers may be forgiven for feeling disconnected from summer. But there are still times when the heat is inescapable and the word of the season becomes light. Not devoid in taste, but simply light in style. Oh, and cold. Nothing spells relief like c-o-n-d-e-n-s-a-t-i-o-n (hmm, not quite as catchy as Rolaids). When the condensation appears on the outside of a wine glass, you know you are in for some refreshment. Light, unoaked, fruit-forward and cold: those are all excellent things in a summer wine. And as with all Dr. Vino picks, these wines are easy on the wallet and on the palate.

Boniface, Apremont, vin de savoie 2004, $13 find this wine
From the Alpine region of Savoie comes this refreshing dry white for summer. Impress your friends with not only with a wine from a distant corner of France but also made from the obscure jacquere grape. Try it on the deck one evening with a salad while contemplating if the Alps would make a good place for your summer house given the ‘inconvenient truth’ of Al Gore’s movie.

Naia, verdejo, Rueda, 2005 $9 find this wine
There was a day that a white wine from Spain meant simply pain; but no longer. Zip right up to this crisp white that would be great for those who are looking for something a little more exotic than kiwi sauvignon blanc.

Don David, torrontes, Cafayate, 2005. $12 find this wine
The torrontes grape from Argentina is relatively unknown but you should rush to greet it to your local wine shop. This Don David captivated a group that I poured it for this spring with its unusual aromas of honeysuckle blossoms—yet it is completely dry.

La Ferme Martin, Wolffer, chardonnay, Long Island, 2004 $10 find this wine
Ah, bitter irony. As the French get maligned for not having enough English on their labels, this American producer uses French as a selling point! However, this is no California chardonnay since it is crisp and clean.

Pepiere, Muscadet, 2004 $8 find this wine
A great summer white that goes down easy—thanks not only to the aging on the lees, which gives it more heft than your typical Muscadet, but also to the gulpable price.

Domaine Sorin, Coteaux de Provence, 2005. $12 find this wine
Coteaux de Provence produces some excellent dry roses ; in fact it might be the benchmark for quality in roses. This one, light in color but with excellent notes of strawberry rose petals, has the added benefit of being organic. I found this one in a 5 liter bag-in-a-box in France—too bad we have to stick to the regular bottle size since they don’t seem to export the big format to the US.

Jean-Luc Colombo, Pioche et Cabanon Rose, Cote bleue, Coteaux d’aix en provence controlle, 2005. €7.25 at Casino hypermarche find this wine
Light in color, this is a classic rose—summer in a glass. Try this with a salade nicoise, close your eyes, and you will be transported to the Riveria. OK, if only it were that easy. Try this combo at home and it will be like being there without the jet lag. (Palm Bay Imports)

Vall dell’Acate, Il Frappato, Sicily, 2004. $14 find this wine
From the traditional blending grape, frappato, comes Sicily’s answer to Beaujolais—chill this light red and serve it on a hot summer evening.

French Rabbit, pinot noir, Languedoc, 2004 1L $10 find this wine
The box format makes this light red a great picnic wine. No corkscrew needed!

Clos de los Siete, 2004. $15 find this wine
This is a big red and so it may seem out of place on this list. But hey, sometimes it is possible to find air conditioning or you need something to stand up to the finger lickin BBQ sauce. This will do the job with its big extracted flavors—though the 15% alcohol may make you want to drink it under a deck umbrella.

Most overrated rosé: Domaine Ott, 2004. $30. find this wine Expectations were sky high along with the price tag—but the weakness of multiple bottles of this wine made me wonder if $12 is my limit for rosé.

tags: wine | wine reviews | wine tasting notes | global warming

Congratulations to Jack of Fork & Bottle who correctly guessed the price I paid for the 5L box of rosé! Five liters, 12 euros, now that’s a price per ounce that I can drink to! At about $15 a box, that works out to the equivalent of about $2.25 a regular bottle.

The dry rosé was an appellation Bergerac wine from Chateau Tiregand ( find this wine). They actually sell a similar rosé in a bottle for 4.50 euros but why pay that when you can have a bag-in-a-box for your summer time refreshment? Kept on the fridge shelf, the rosé flows fresh for several weeks. Whenever a friend or neighbor drops by–bang!–a cool glass can great them upon arrival. I wish more restaurants would offer wine-by-the-glass from a bag-in-the-box–providing that it is worthwhile wine to start–since it solves the freshness problem that plagues many restaurants.

The rose is very dark in color in part since it is from malbec and cabernet franc grapes. If rosé is a wine that straddles red and white, this one leans much more toward red. It’s got heft–maybe even a little more than needed in the middle of summer (I was caught adding an ice cube to mine for chilling and diluting purposes–but hey at least it was an Evian ice cube!).

tags: wine | packaging | rose

Commanderie de Peyrassol, Coteaux de Provence, rosé, 2005 $13 Find this wine

The other day I had a rosé and it was no fun. Rosé is supposed to be fun. Besides the truncated flavor range, the price made it a further downer: $30. Yikes—talk about a buzzkill! So I was thrilled when, a few days later, I had this Peyrassol. Made by a mother-son duo in the hills of Provence, this wine from syrah, grenache and cinsault offers pale colors but an alluring blend of rose petals and strawberry aromas give way to refreshing crisp acidity. Just what you need on the deck in Provence—-in fact, a deck anywhere. Try this very food friendly with a range or foods from fish to spicy dishes. Shop around so that you don’t over-peyrassol. Importer: Neal Rosenthal.

tags: wine | tasting notes | wine reviews