Dr Vino's wine blog

Saul had his conversion on the road to Damascus. Wells Guthrie had his conversion on the road home from Burgundy.

The lanky, California maker of pinot noir, chardonnay, and syrah told me at his Sonoma winery that he had his conversion in 2005, after returning from a trip to Burgundy and the Rhone. He tasted the pinot noirs and syrahs he had been making since starting his own label, Copain Wines, in 1999. The wines were made in a big, full-bodied style and had received high scores, including some 95s from Robert Parker. (Wells’ resumé includes working a year at Turley, as well as briefly at Marcassin, and two years with Michel Chapoutier.)

“A light went on,” he says Read more…

SIPPED/NOT SIPPED: Presidential wine
President Obama dined at restaurant Daniel in NYC last night. Wine director Daniel Johnnes (pictured above, right) tweeted that the wine selections would include Sandhi Chardonnay made by his friend sommelier Raj Parr. He tweeted: “Sandhi means alliance. What could be better?” But chef Boulud himself joined the discussion: ” Sorry @danieljohnnes , the #President @barackobama is not drinking tonight.”

SMOKED: something powerful!
In re: Bordeaux 2010 futures: “The wines are actually great value and I hope that the very good results of last year will be confirmed this year.” -Alain Juppé, Mayor of Bordeaux & French Foreign Minister [decanter]

SIPPED: bigg eurozzz
Liv-Ex compiles a list estimating the 50 Bordeaux chateaus worth more than 50 million euros.

VOLUME: cranked!
Sommelier Levi Dalton rounds up “the sommeliers I’ve rapped with.” [SoYouWantToBeASommelier]

ALMOST SIPPED: ABC gum (not gum arabic)
I like unfiltered wine but, really, can’t they get the chewing gum out before selling? [BBC]

SIPPED: courage
You can make lemons into lemonade. But coal slag heaps into wine? It’s happening in Pas-de-Calais in France. [WSJ]

SPIT: vineyard development?
In other vineyard development news, deforesting 2,000 acres for proposed vineyards meets resistance in Sonoma. [AP]

A group of friends that know each other through their sons’ school has a tasting every so often. I’ve been fortunate enough to lead the smart and fun group in about ten tastings over the past couple of years. Our most recent tasting explored the exciting category of Spain beyond the fruit bomb, focusing on indigenous grapes, values, and/or off-the-beaten-path regions. Read more…

Last Thursday, I stopped by Hirsch Vineyards where Jasmine Hirsch told me that flowering was the second latest–and the latest was just last year. Given this year of wacky wine weather, I thought it was worth asking the question: What is flowering and how does a late flowering affect the finished wine?

To further reproduction, the vines burst flowers that become bunches of grapes. The period between flowering and the arrival of the grapes (called “fruit set”) is a tenuous time when severe weather can damage the emerging berries, so the shorter the period between bloom and set, the lower the risk to the harvest’s quality and quantity. Jasmine said that in 2005, they had an early bloom and a late set with heavy rains in between, which reduced the yields to a half a ton per acre, or 20% of the normal yield. By contrast, even though last year was their latest bloom, the fruit set relatively fast and the window of potential peril closed quickly. (And the wines in the barrel appear to be evolving well–more on that later.) Whether that will be the case again this year, nobody knows. But the late bloom did at least avert the storms of late May and early June that may have caused “shatter” in some other, warmer Northern California areas that had already had bloom. However, a late set may mean a late harvest, with its attendant risks. Mother Nature is capricious and, despite the efforts of vineyard owners like the Hirsches, ultimately runs the show. Read more…

Paul Grieco, director of all things wine at restaurants Hearth and Terroir, is clearly a man of opinions: consider that as of today, for the third annual “summer of Riesling,” the only white wine available by the glass at Terroir (both locations), will be Riesling. He has used his wine list as a soap box for many years, heralding unsung grapes, praising Chateau Musar in Lebanon, and giving away sherry every day from 4 – 6 PM.

Now, on page one of his wine list, Grieco entered a high-profile fray in the NYC dining scene by vividly showing his support for restauranteur Chris Cannon, who abruptly closed his restaurants Alto and Convivio recently. (The closings were part of the fallout from a dispute with Cannon’s former business partners chef Michael White and investor Ahmass Fakahany, who together own Marea, Ai Fiori, and Osteria Morini.) Who needs a blog to rant when you can you can print your views on a wine list?

On a related note, even if the Krug was not properly chilled on a private jet bound for Aspen last week, it must have been a frosty trip since Grieco and Michael White were onboard.

Nebbiolo, it’s not just for Piedmont! Well, actually it is just for Piedmont (think: Barolo, Barbaresco) since there are so few examples of the grape outside the region. But consider this example from Valtellina, in the adjacent region of Lombardy, slammed up against the alps and Switzerland.

Perched at about 4,200 ft altitude, the vineyards of producer Ar.Pe.Pe. are so steep that the grapes are harvested by a sort of modified ski gondola! And their steepness so rivals Hermitage that they also have signs in the vineyards in between terraces! It sounds outrageously cool and I am putting this on my list of places to visit. Fortunately, we can taste the fruits of these vineyards in the US today.

Ar.Pe.Pe.–an abbreviation for Arturo Pelizzatti Perego, pronounced “are pay pay”–provides a tasty treat with its Rosso Valtellina, 100% Nebbiolo fermented in stainless steel with brief aging in old oak barrels. The traditional producer makes more expensive, longer-aged reds, but this entry-level wine is ready to drink. I threw it in a decanter just for laffs, served it at 55 degrees and the transparent, light red color was appetizing in and of itself on a summer evening. Delicate fruit, stoniness, and the alluring slight bitterness of Nebbiolo, combine to make this wine (about $30) a stunner.

For your Saturday edutainment, we present to you this picture of grape harvesting via modified ski gondola.

Where in the wine world do they do that? Hit the comments with your thoughts. Answer to follow.

SIPPED: bling
Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, celebrated the team’s NBA victory by ordering a $90,000 of Ace of Spades Champagne. No word on the exact size of the “huge” bottle, but I’m sure it was drained faster than you could say Salamanzar. While congratulations are in order for the Mavs’ victory of the Heat, the mere idea of spending $90,000 on a bottle of nonvintage Champagne really does make one wonder if Cuban is trying to make the idea of a billionaires’ tax seem like a worthy idea. Of note: he did leave a $20,000 tip. [MSN]

SIPPED: mo money
More Bordeaux 2010 prices have been released. Tim Atkin discusses one broker who said “enough is enough” when it came to Ruazan-Segla. And Mike Steinberger launches a discussion on why there’s no outrage about high Burgundy prices.

SIPPED: white Burgundy, 2008 edition
The ’08 white burgundies get some love from Eric Asimov. But, shh, don’t tell anybody because then the remaining wines in the market will get hoovered up! [NYT]

SIPPED: lots of Woodbridge
Richard Sands, CEO of Constellation Brands (owner of Robert Mondavi among others) made $8.43 million in FY2011. Robert Sands, his brother and chairman, made $7.79 million. Did they pop any Ace of Spades? [ABC]

SIPPED: Dr. Vino
I’m giving a free, public talk next week at the New School about my book Wine Politics. And it even made the Times Dining calendar!