Dr Vino's wine blog

I walked to my place. There were 14 glasses of red wine in front of me. But not just any red wine–Chateau Lagrange. I knew this was going to be good.

Many of New York’s A-list wine writers (somehow I was invited) turned up for lunch today at Union Square Cafe to celebrate–and taste through–the career of Marcel Ducasse. For 23 years, Ducasse has been the winemaker at Chateau Lagrange in St. Julien. He will soon be able to literally hang out his “gone fishing” sign since he will be spending time on his boat and with his family in Arcachon. Although he is a sage voice in the industry, he let the wines do most of the talking today.

In late 1983, Suntory Ltd of Japan purchased the chateau for 54 million French francs (at the then-exchange rate of 8.38 francs to the dollar, that’s $6.4 million). Interestingly, one company official there today told me that they encountered some local patriotism that resented a “crown jewel” being purchased by foreigners. Although a classified growth in the 1855 classification, this “jewel” was in need of a lot of TLC. Ducasse, who was then brought on board, told us that the company has proceeded to pour ten times the original purchase price into the property. They needed 13 years stanch the losses and become cash-flow positive.

If there was one theme that Ducasse touched on today it was that the vintages are getting warmer. “When I started in the wine business, it was a miracle–a dream!–when the cabernet reached a level corresponding to 12% alcohol,” he told the gathered crowd of scribes. Now, 13% is the norm. Since 1995 the vintages have been decent, good or very good–but none has been disastrous. The summers are now warmer, drier and sunnier.

We tasted the components of the 2005 vintage–only cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot are planted on the chateau’s 115 hectares. Each good in their own right, the cabernet offered aromas of dark fruits, violets and firm tannins while the merlot–though no wimp–was softer with earthy notes and truffle aromas. The petit verdot was a tannin bolt. The blend transcended these component parts and showed a beautiful complexity at this early stage. In the excellent yet overpriced 2005 vintage, this is a tremendous value at under $50 a bottle (find this wine).

Then we moved back in time. We had a glass of each of the vintages from 1995-2004 served blind. The 2002 stood out to me as excellent and again it is reasonably priced at $50–though I found one vendor selling it for $37. At that price, this is a wine to buy by the case–get the duct tape out and seal it up for another 10 years. How do I know?

Because next we tasted the 1989 and 1990. Although these wines were from a different climatological era, they were fully resolved, delicately balanced, and hugely appealing right now. If anything, I gave the 1990 the edge but they are rewarding. And the best news of all? These lovely mature Bordeaux can be had a fraction of today’s prices since each is under $100 a bottle (find the 1990; find the 1989). If you want to taste a real claret, try is 1988. It is a trip back in time in more ways than one.

Continuity will likely be the key at Chateau Lagrange. Suntory remains the owner. And Bruno Eynard, who assumes the winemaking duties, has already been the numéro deux there for 17 years. Having raised the bar, the team aims to keep it there.

The People
“I didn’t look for biodynamics–it looked for me,” Josh Bergstrom said at a roundtable on biodynamics that I attended in Oregon last fall. His father was a chemist and he said that he is a skeptic by nature. But working in Burgundy, he came to learn that “there’s no better way to express what I wanted to express than through biodynamic farming.”

Doug Tunnell left CBS and his many international postings to return to his native Oregon. Since he started in 1990, his vineyard, Brick House, has been certified organic. He told the group assembled at his extremely tranquil and scenic vineyard that biodynamics “takes organic not just to the next step but many steps beyond,” weaving in a “very spiritual dimension.” He makes his own compost behind his barn.

Moe Mamtazi came from Iran in 1971 and wanted the best flavor from his vines (see pictures of his Maysara winery from a previous post).

Kevin and Carla Chambers own Resonance Vineyard. Their vineyard used to be called Reed & Reynolds and they have sold all their fruit to wineries such as Sineann. They will be making their own wine from the 2006 vintage under the name Resonance Vineyard. Why the name change? Kevein writes, “Resonance is a better name to communicate their efforts to work in harmony with nature and the cosmos.” Kevin practices what he calls “radionic” farming, which he describes as “an area of exploration into the world of subtle energies.” The Chambers broadcast homeopathic preparations over their vineyard and supplement them with a biodynamic broadcaster prayer. Kevin also farms vegetables biodynamically and I tried some of his terrific tomatoes.

The wines
This flight of four wines was a profound flight of pinot noirs. The Bergstrom, Bergstrom Vineyard, Willamette Valley, 2004 (find this wine) is big and powerful with a notable presence of oak though not to the extreme as many American pinot noir practitioners have pushed it. Dark cherries and hint of chocolatiness, it has a long finish with peppery tannins.

The Brick House Dijonnais, Willamette Valley, 2004 (find this wine) has a real sense of place. Dark cherries, some tea-like notes, this wine is less plush style than the Bergstrom.

The Maysara Winery, Willamette Valley, “Delara” 2003 (find this wine): Another big pinot, with concentrated plummy fruit. Quite solid and fulfilling.

The Sineann, Resonance Vineyard, Willamette Valley, 2005 (find this wine): beautiful balance between the notes of cherries, the acidity and the tannins. A lovely, rewarding pinot–the kind that goes down too easily and you look back and the bottle is empty.

The reason
This write-up was inspired by Jack of forkandbottle.com for Wine Blogging Wednesday 29. Check his site for the other biodynamic wines that bloggers around the world have tasted.

Winery links
Bergstrom
Brick House Vineyards
Maysara
Resonance Vineyard

Related: “First person: Rick Trumbull”

tags: wine | biodynamic wine | oregon | willamette valley

One recent afternoon I tasted with a wine critic. I was impressed with his palate. At the end of the long tasting we were chatting about numerical ratings, which he is compelled to use. I was surprised when he told me that numerical ratings are “stupid” because they impart a “false sense of objectivity.” He wouldn’t use them if they weren’t required for his job (he has a rent to pay after all).

Do you use scores in your notes at home, where your job doesn’t depend on it?

Related: “Wine Ratings Might Not Pass the Sobriety Test” NY Times

tags: wine | wine ratings

“You’re Mispronouncing ‘Achatz'” A primer on molecular gastronomy. Tip #2: don’t call it molecular gastronomy [Chow]

“I ate bird stomach, lamb’s brain, hearts, thymus gland, intestine, and the livers of veal, chicken and goose in the past 14 days. What an offal fortnight.” offal puns more like it. Staff writer Ryan Sutton reviews Momofuku Ssam and Ariyoshi . [Bloomberg]

“And if states like California can ban foie gras, I guarantee you that veal, lobster and cattle will be next, and in 50 years we will all be forced to be vegetarians.” said Ariane Daguin, owner of D’Artagnan gourmet foods. Um, I doubt it. [Bloomberg]

“Vintners have been using byproducts from milk, eggs, wheat and even fish guts in the winemaking processes for centuries. But a new federal proposal could require American wineries to disclose such unsavory items – used as “fining” agents to remove grit – as ingredients.” Fine wine, indeed! Just don’t tell the vegans about the bull’s blood. Just kidding!!! [AP]

Related: “Cantu feel the love tonight”

tags: wine | dining

If the server came up to you in a restaurant and said that one glass of any after-dinner drink was on the house what would you have?

[survey now closed]

Or post your thoughts in the comments.

tags: wine | spirits

At dinner tonight an attorney from Boston mentioned that he inherited some fine wine from his brother. The bulk of the collection was sold at auction by Christie’s, but he has a case of Petrus that was kept at home. It was kept in “ok” condition, but lacks perfect storage pedigree. Any thoughts on how to best unload a few (or all) of these bottles? – Anonymous reader

Auction houses may be fine with you buying only a case at an auction. But it is often hard to sell small amounts of wine through houses that run live auctions. Some have started brokering small amounts or odd lots directly, without bringing them to auction. I would suggest calling John Kapon at Acker, Merrall in New York or Paul Hart at Hart Davis Hart in Chicago and asking them what they suggest. I suspect the questionable storage conditions will make them hesitant but it’s worth a call nonetheless.

Another option is trying to sell the bottles through WineCommune.com. They are an online person-to-person auction so the auctioneer in this instance cannot vouch for the quality of the wine being sold. Even with the questionable storage declared in the listing, I’m sure there would be some buyers who would be willing to take a chance since it is Petrus.

The advantages of this method are that you could even sell just one bottle at a time and the transaction costs are lower (two to five percent). The disadvantages are that the price may not be has high. One tip: your friend might want to sell a few, lower priced bottles first to garner a feedback rating on the site before selling the Petrus.

He could also call some good shops near him to see if they can recommend any local wine brokers. In many places shops aren’t legally allowed to buy from individuals since they must buy only from wholesalers.

Does anyone else have further suggestions? Or experience in selling odd bottles?

tags: wine | selling wine

This just in from the St. Thomas bureau:

The Customs rules for visitors returning from the US Virgin Islands (a American protectorate, mind you, so why Customs is involved is anyone’s guess) are infused with some misplaced patriotism. Each passenger can bring home 5 liters of alcohol–six if that haul includes one liter of booze from the Virgin Islands. That’s maybe good for some local jobs at the Cruzan rum distillery in St. Croix.

But ironically it’s not so good for patriotic profits: a couple of years ago, in March 2006, the brand and distillery were purchased by Vin & Spirits (V&S), the Swedish company behind Absolut vodka.

tags: wine | rum | usvi

A couple of dozen of us had a great meet-up at Varietal last night! About 25 people attended during our two very happy hours, including fellow NYC wine bloggers Terry from Mondosapore and Keith, the East Village Wine Geek.

Varietal is a wine restaurant AND and excellent, bona fide wine bar. I’m upgrading it to “a favorite” on my NYC wine bar map. Here’s why:

• 75 wines by the glass. These aren’t any wines, mind you. They are really cool stuff. I’d be willing to taste them all–in fact I have enjoyed many of them already.
• Great flights, seven flights in all, including even a Greek flight! All the glasses in the flight come with handy printed tags–excellent for keeping things straight.
• The “master of wine” flight: three wines poured blind, guess the grape varieties and the flight is on the house. After being open for five weeks now, nobody has guessed them correctly (including yours truly). I have two words for you: garnacha tintorera!!!! oy.
• An emphasis on freshness. Despite having so many wines available by the glass, the wines are well preserved. I had a glass of Nicolas Joly Clos Sacres and it was the last pour from a bottle opened a previous day. It was still very fresh.
• Very cool bar. The countertop is a durable white surface–all the better for eyeballing your wine.
• Knowledgeable staff! You would not know that it only opened about a month ago.
• Spacious and comfortable bar area as well as a spacious seating area with Jetson-like chairs.
• 200 wines on the wine list for the restaurant, including some bottles starting in the high $20s…I didn’t have the chance to dine there. Pending reviews from the Times and NY mag, check out Augie’s review who gave it 832 bazillion stars.

In all the meet-up was as fun as the place. I really liked meeting those of you who made it and look forward to the next time. Stay tuned for details. Maybe we can turn this into a slow pub crawl of NYC wine bars!

Varietal [map it]
138 W. 25th St., New York, NY 10001
between Sixth and Seventh Ave.
212-633-1800

tags: wine | wine bars | nyc