Dr Vino's wine blog

Ten years ago, vineyard owner David Hirsch of Sonoma brought some of his wines to New York. Wine & Spirits magazine assembled a group of leading sommeliers, tasted the wines and Rod Smith wrote a story about it. A couple of weeks ago, the magazine assembled another group with David Hirsch to taste some of his 2007s–as well as some of the same 1997s tasted a decade ago.

Hirsch bought his land on the Sonoma Coast, just three miles from the Pacific, in 1978 and planted a portion to pinot noir in 1980. About 1,100 acres in all (though less than 100 planted), it comprise a “geological jumble” of sites with the San Andreas fault running through the middle. For decades, the fruit was sold to leading wineries; in 2002, Hirsch built a winery in the middle of the vineyards to make wines under his own label as well.

So it was that the 1997 Chardonnay that we tasted was made by Williams-Selyem but the 2007 was from Hirsch Vineyards. I found the 1997 to be still surprisingly big and creamy, with stiff peaks of 16% alcohol. The 2007 Hirsch, although nobody’s going to confuse it with Chablis, was definitely leaner, with higher acidity and lower alcohol: voluptuousness was replaced by more restraint. Consider it a datapoint in the discussion about alcohol levels. Read more…

SPIT: human interaction
After many years of discussion, you can now buy wine from a vending machine in select Pennsylvania grocery stores. Added bonus is that consumers must take a breathalyzer test before making the purchase. In their lengthy Q&A, the PLCB doesn’t state whether the grocery stores–not known for giving up precious square footage without slotting fees or a profit incentive–are profiting from the sale of liquor on the premises. If so, then maybe it’s time to simply liberalize wine sales?

SIPPED: Coca-Cola wine
The French group Anivin thinks the best way forward for French wines is to offer a consistent product like Coca-Cola, brands, and emulate the New World to regain market share. Small growers fear they will have to sell to wine “factories.” The Anivin view gets an extensive write-up in The Independent.

SIPPED: pathos
President Nicolas Sarkozy has pulled the plug on the 14 juillet garden party at the Elysée palace. Last year’s fete cost €732,826, including €43,128 on wine and Champagne. The president’s office told Le Parisien they were trying to set an example because of the economic crisis. [Connexionfrance.com]

SPIT: organic labels
The EU said no/non/nu to a harmonization of national standards for an “organic wine” designation. According to Vitisphere, the main point of contention was reducing the level of permitted sulfites. The EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Dacian Cellos, shelved the issue indefinitely.

SHOTGUNNED?: one pound wine
The British chain 99p Stores has announced a wine for 99p a bottle. Given the excise tax on wine in the UK is now £1.69 and VAT is 17.5 20%, someone will have to explain to me how this is even possible. And while they’re at it, perhaps they can offer tasting notes of the 99p wine.

SIPPED: visits
The most visited winery in the United States is in…Napa? Sonoma? No, Asheville, NC! According to sunherald.com The Biltmore Winery on the 125,000-acre Biltmore estate, welcomes 600,000 visitors a year while producing 170,000 cases. They’re all there for the wine, right?

Box wine just lost its box.

The AstroPouch, previously used for foreign wines mostly in overseas markets, contains an American wine for the first time starting today. The distinction goes to Glenora Wine Cellars which put its Trestle Creek Riesling in 1.5L bag, two bottles’ worth of wine, and sells it for $17.99 from its tasting room. Like a box wine, the bag has a spout; you can learn all the technical details on winesandvines.com (where the image came from too).

According to our calculations, this takes us wine step closer to making the wine belly a reality.

Once again, for the second time in a week after the single-serve wine cups, we must ask you: abomination or genius?

Here’s a question for all the (Northern European) wine geeks out there: Can you tell if a wine has been chaptalized based solely on the smell and taste?

Chaptalization is the term for adding sugar to wine to boost the alcohol level. It is legally permissible in parts of the wine world, particularly northern Europe. Some producers still use the practice, although global warming may be creating more ripe fruit, thus obviating the need. (In other parts of the world, notably where it is hotter, it is prohibited; indeed, it may be permissible to add acid.) Alternately known as enrichment or amelioration, the process occurs before or during fermentation. Although sucrose is usually the addition of choice, from either beet sugar or cane sugar, producers can add grape concentrate or even “rectified concentrated grape must.” Fermentation ensures no residual sugar is left behind since the sugars are converted into alcohol (and CO2).

An anonymous poster recently left a comment on this site claiming lab test showed a wine had been chaptalized (legally permissible) but failed to follow up with the lab report. He or she also suggested that a tasting of the white wine revealed notes of chaptalization, such as caramel and bonbon. Really? What do you think, is it possible to perceive chaptalization in the glass? If so, which sort of descriptors would you apply?

The Independent reports that the British government has spent more than £17,500 on wine since the May 6 election. This adds to existing cellar of 39,500 bottles bringing the total value of the wine cellar to £864,000. The Foreign Office minister who oversees the cellar, Henry Bellingham, insisted last week that buying the wines young saves the British taxpayer money. With the revelations came calls that they cellar’s contents should be sold.

Since taking office, Prime Minister David Cameron and his cabinet have pushed for budget cuts and austerity including cuts to public sector pay and pensions to right the deficit. The previous parliamentary session had been rocked by questionable MP expenses, such as country manor moat cleaning.

How much is too much for a government wine cellar? The White House wine cellar is pretty small, less than 500 bottles, which has led to an (abysmally executed) ad hoc approach to formal dinners. But almost 40,000 bottles? That seems a little high, especially in an age of austerity.

The government will not provide a detailed inventory of the cellars. Bellingham said, “The database is not released into the public domain because of the likely impact on GH’s commercial interests and those of its suppliers and future ability to obtain value for money.”

Given that there are pricey first-growth Bordeaux, there must be a lot of plonk in there too to arrive at the £21.87 average bottle price in the cellar. And given the stated preference for buying young wines, was the Foreign Office buying futures on Bordeaux 2009? If so, they probably burned up the £17,500 in a hurry. The full statement from the Foreign Office follows after the jump: Read more…

It’s sunny with a high of 86 today in New York. Although rosé is food-friendly and refreshing for more months than it is usually given credit for, today is classic rosé weather. I’ve got a couple of good rosés so now all I need is a pool…

Last week I stopped by Crush Wine & Spirits on 57th St (map it). They used to do free tastings weekly in the store but now have switched to larger ones only once a month. A staple in this vein has been their annual “war of the rosés” where they uncork and pour a dozen or more for consumers who think pink.

My favorite of the all-2009 lineup, both foreign and domestic, was the Clos Roche Blanche, a rosé from the pineau d’aunis grape, which usually makes some pretty light reds to begin with. This wine ($18) from the central Loire had great brightness and an alluring subtlety. The other wine that I bought after the tasting was the Commanderie de Peyrassol, a Provencal rosé that is consistently fun and delicious (and a good value, on sale for $14.39 that day–search for these wines).

After tasting the wines, I wondered if 2009 might not be the greatest rosé vintage in Europe? Not that people really give much thought to rosé and vintages. But it seemed to me that some of them were not as bright and snappy as in prior years. What is your experience? While awaiting your reply, I might just uncork one of those bottles pictured above.

Tasting the legendary Chablis from Domaine Francois Raveneau is a rare event since the wines are almost impossible to find (search for Raveneau). And tasting them with some age and oysters hardly ever happens outside of Chablis and the Hamptons.

But I managed to try oysters with three Raveneau wines at a collector’s house recently, thanks to an invitation from a friend (I brought the Champagne, as we already discussed). Since I didn’t have my tasting notebook with me, I don’t have much in the way of tasting notes to offer you but I do have cameraphone photos!

The 2000 Butteaux, a premier cru site, had a golden hue and an amazing balance between precise, alluring acidity, stoniness, and the gentle breadth that old wood aging provides. With a lasting, layered finish, this wine got the evening off to an excellent start. The 2000 Mont Mains was also impressive, but it had a slight oxidative note. The 1998 Valmur, a grand cru site, was not oxidative but not showing the delicious precision of the 2000 Butteaux, which was really en feu that evening.

The wines were terrific with the oysters; sometimes those classic food-wine pairings got that way for a reason.

Forget screwcaps versus corks: An English entrepreneur has sold this invention of single-serve plastic wine glasses–stem and all!–to Marks & Spencer, which now “struggles to keep up with demand.” He is laughing all the way to the bank since a business reality show in the UK called “Dragons’ Den” panned the idea when he presented it on the show. Sold under the brand “Le Froglet,” the individual 187ml glasses cost £2.25 ($3.33) for a Shiraz, Rose and Chardonnay, which, apparently, come from the Languedoc.

What say you: abomination or genius? Would this solve all your needs for wine in the back of a taxi? On a train home from work? At picnics? Your wine-through-a-straw needs?

“Wine-in-a-glass entrepreneur ridiculed in Dragons’ Den toasts M&S success” [Daily Mail; also image] Thanks, Jessica!