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Tag: Merlot

The holiday season is upon us, and so is the 2021 Brockhaus Wine List. (Wikimedia Commons)
The holiday season is upon us, and so is the 2021 Brockhaus Wine List. (Wikimedia Commons)

Wines for the 2021 Holiday Season, and Beyond

November 18, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Every year, as Thanksgiving and Christmas approach, I am the recipient of requests for wine recommendations for the holidays. It’s a job I take seriously, as Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year, for several reasons, chief among them being the food. Whether I’m making Mama Stamberg’s Cranberry Relish, Scooter’s Southwestern Dressing, brining and roasting a heritage turkey, ordering a smoked bird from Greenberg Turkey, or grilling lamb chops or a rib eye, what to drink with my feast is always on my mind. It’s not a small matter.

And then there’s Christmas (and New Year’s Eve and Day). Plenty of opportunities to try something new and to open and savor some of your tried-and-true favorites. It’s a wonderful time of the year …

My view on pairing wines with Thanksgiving and Christmas festivities is simple, and is aligned with what I often say: Drink what you find pleasurable. It really is that easy. You open a bottle of, say, Endless Crush Rosé of Pinot Noir, from Inman Family Wines — which is one of my recommendations this year — and snack on some cheese straws while drinking it. Perfect. The salty/spicy flavor profile of the delicious Southern staple (click here for a great recipe from Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock) marries well with the Rosé’s remarkable acidity, and all is well for you and your guests.

Now, you could as aptly open a bottle of Piquette from Noblemen Wines (another of my holiday selections this year) with those cheese straws, and I daresay your pleasure would in no way be diminished. Lively, low in alcohol, a great way to begin a day of celebration.

What I’m saying is this: Yes, there are a number of “rules” that most people are told they should (or must) follow when pairing wines with food, and some of them do have merit. There are wines that clash on the palate with salmon. I would not pair salmon with a boldly tannic California Cabernet Sauvignon (and here I am thinking of the 2018 Scattered Peaks Sage Ridge Vineyard Cabernet, which is also on this year’s holiday wine list). Neither would I drink an Auslese with a grilled rib eye or pasta with Bolognese sauce.

Gathering around a holiday table is one of life's great pleasures, and wine plays a starring role. (Wikimedia Commons)
Gathering around a holiday table is one of life’s great pleasures, and wine plays a starring role. (Wikimedia Commons)

I could lay out a few more of these strictures, but you get the picture, and here is the main thing: Once you actually “taste” why a wine should not be be paired with a particular dish or type of food you can proceed to write your own set of rules. When that’s done, a certain sense of freedom opens and you are on your way to wine-pairing liberation. You will most likely not want to eat salmon and drink a Cabernet Sauvignon at the same time, but you will have the confidence to know which pairing rules apply to you.

So, on to my 2021 Holiday Wine Selections. As with previous years, this is a highly subjective and personal roster of wines, bottles that appeal to my palate and sensibilities. I am an eclectic consumer of wines —  yes, Riesling is my true love, my passion, but you will find me drinking Albariño as often as Chenin Blanc; one day I crave Syrah, the next Cabernet Franc or a Barolo or Müller-Thurgau — and hope my approach appeals to you. (Of course, I would love to — and could easily — include many more bottles on this list, but space does not permit me that luxury.)

At the least, I urge you to never, ever paint yourself into a corner when it comes to what you drink. I’ve met too many people who profess to like Chardonnay only, or who tell me they drink wines only if they garnered “at least” 96 points from this or that critic. Such individuals are generally lackluster conversationalists whose culinary predilections mirror their wine dogmas. These people are best avoided.

To our list.

Sparkling and Rosé

I wrote above that a bottle of Piquette would be a great way to commence a holiday gathering, so that’s what we’ll do. I’ve chosen Noblemen Wines, a producer based in Kerrville, Texas, to supply our effervescent, low-alcohol (7 percent), refreshing, and thirst-quenching Piquette, and it’s a worthy and fun entry on the Sparkling and Rosé category. It will cost you $20 a bottle from Noblemen. Mourvedre and Teroldego skins, plus some added carbonation, are the ingredients behind this unfiltered offering.

I recently had the pleasure of tasting with Remi Cohen at Domaine Carneros, and the 2016 Ultra Brut ($48) from that California house is our next wine. Cohen, the CEO of Domaine Carneros, guided a small group through some excellent bottles on a rainy October afternoon, and I was not alone in picking the Ultra Brut as my favorite on the day (the 2014 Le Rêve Blanc de Blancs was no slouch, of course). Crisp and fresh, this Chardonnay (53 percent)/Pinot Noir (43 percent) bottling should stand beside your seafood tower, because it was made for raw oysters and butter-poached lobster.

Drink this sparkling wine with a bevy of oysters. (Courtesy Domaine Carneros)

A Champagne is next, the Charles Heidsieck Brut Réserve ($70), a vintage beauty of a wine whose finish will (should) stun you. I think it represents a great value in the rarefied world of Champagne. You can spend more, much more, on a bottle (say, $350 for a 2013 Louis Roederer  Cristal), but this Heidsieck selection will more than satisfy your needs. It’s a blend of 60 crus, and it’s full of superb white fruits.

We go back to California now, and to the 2016 Frank Family Vineyards Brut Rosé ($55). You and your guests will love to look at this bottle, because the wine possesses a seducing, tantalizing coral hue. Brioche and raspberries dominate the aroma, and you’ll appreciate the crispness and minerality here. I opened a bottle recently and paired it with a room-temperature round of Brie, and you might enjoy doing the same. (And for those interested in the business of wine, here’s some news about a recent transaction involving Frank Family.)

This sparkling wine will pair wonderfully with fried crustaceans.

To round out this section, the 2020 Endless Crush Rosé ($38) from Inman Family Wines. Estate fruit from the Olivet Grange Vineyard, low alcohol (12 percent), and luscious flavors of  strawberries and white flowers. This wine is one of my go-to Rosés, and I recommend it on a regular basis. Kathleen Inman is the winemaker, and her story is a good one … you can learn more about her here.

White Wines

The thoughts of most people gravitate toward white wines when they think of pairings for turkey, and they are not wrong. As you’ll see in these selections, however, turkey is not the sole food on the menu during the holidays. Oysters, stuffing or dressing, lobster, mushrooms, and caviar (to name but a few items) are also in the mix, and white wines are great with all of these things. Again, taste and taste, and come up with your own rules.

Let’s begin with a Russian River Valley Chardonnay that is a perennial solid choice. It’s from Jordan Vineyard & Winery, and the 2019 vintage sells for $36; older vintages are also available, and this wine ages gracefully. (I profiled Maggie Kruse, Jordan’s head winemaker, in Wine Talk back in 2019, and she’s now firmly in control of the estate’s program.) I sampled this vintage several weeks ago and would gladly pair it with a roasted turkey at my table.

A Russian River Valley Chardonnay that pairs well with turkey and chicken, not to mention quail and pheasant.

Washington State is the source of our next wine, and I’m excited about this one. It’s the 2019 Öömrang Estate Siegerrebe ($75), a lovely, delicate expression of the German grape. (Siegerrebe can be translated to “Champion Vine” or “Victory Vine” and its name refers to its ability to produce high yields.) This wine is highly aromatic, with a supple mouthfeel … and it’s fun to drink. I enjoyed it with a mushroom risotto, and if you’ve never tasted a Siegerrebe, don’t skip this one. (I’ll have a profile of the producer in the coming weeks.)

This is one of my favorite wines of the year.

Chenin Blanc is never a bad idea, and the 2020 Domaine Huët Vouvray Le Mont Moelleux Première Trie is an excellent idea. I’ve seen it offered for between $69 and $75 recently, and to be frank, anything from this producer is worth your time, attention, and money. Your turkey and stuffing will both pair well with this wine, and your guests will envy your taste.

An Albariño hailing from Lodi is next, from Mettler Family Vineyards. The 2020 vintage was recently released, and you’ll likely find it and the 2019 for the grand price of $20. Buy them both if you can, and you’ll have no regrets. The Mettler family has been farming grapes in the Lodi AVA since the late 1880s, and have been selling their fruit to other producers for a long time. And, they make their own wine, obviously. I like their Old Vine Zinfandel as well, but this Albariño speaks to me in an eloquent and fun manner.

This Albariño, from Lodi, should be on your holiday wine lineup.

The Riesling on my 2021 list is from New Zealand, the 2019 Eden Valley Dry Riesling ($18) from Pewsey Vale. Previous vintages of this wine have been mainstays in my inventory, and for the price it is something I recommend by the caseful. Some of the fruit in this wine comes from vines planted in 1961, and the people behind Pewsey Vale run an exacting program. I will be drinking this wine for years to come, happily. If you are serving a piquant green bean casserole this holiday season pair this wine with it.

Red Wines

On to the reds, and a few bottles that will appeal to those seeking wines to pair with turkey, steak, lamb, ham, and other festive foods. As with wine rules, no one should feel fenced in when it comes to holiday menus. If you want to cook a leg of lamb for Thanksgiving, do so. Some of these reds display lively acidity, others are suited for heavier dishes, but they are all quality bottles that you won’t regret opening.

William Allen’s approach to winemaking is to my liking.

First up, the 2019 Two Shepherds Pinot Meunier ($40). This wine, made by William Allen, the founder of Two Shepherds, is on my list this year because it’s a wine that will pair well with turkey, ham, and roasted vegetables. If you drink Pinot Noir, try this wine. We’re talking 13.5 percent alcohol and layers of complexity, an easy-to-drink, well-made bottle. Allen is an iconoclastic crafter of wines, and if you find yourself in Healdsburg, be sure to visit his warehouse winery in nearby Windsor. You’ll enjoy conversing with him, trust me.

Joel Aiken is the man behind our next wine. In 1985, he was named lead winemaker at Beaulieu Vineyards, becoming the youngest person to hold that position at the historic estate. He was winemaker at Amici Cellars from 2009 to 2015, and founded Aiken Wine Consulting in 2009. He has also held positions with Provenance, Acacia, and Glen Ellen in California, and Navarro Correas in Argentina. His 2018 Scattered Peaks Sage Ridge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon ($125) is a serious wine that I’ll serve with a grilled rib eye this holiday season. It spends 22 months in French oak, possesses a richness that I love, and will, of course, age with aplomb.

Seavey makes stellar Merlot.

We’ll stay in California for one more wine, and that is the 2014 Seavey Merlot ($85), a beautiful expression of this grape. If you are planning to prepare a pork roast this holiday season, drink this wine with it. The tannins will amaze, as will the lush mouthfeel. Seavey Merlots are among my favorite Napa wines, and I advise you to take possession of several bottles and age at least two of them for a decade or so. Jim Duane and Philippe Melka made this.

On to Italy. I chose this wine after sampling the 2018 vintage recently, and, at $15 a bottle, there’s no reason to not buy La Valentina Montepulciano d’Abruzzo DOC by the case. I also added it to my 2021 Holiday list for those who will be grilling or smoking meats between now and the end of the year, say, lamb chops, pork butt, or brisket. Uncork this wine and enjoy an uncomplicated yet satisfying pairing for your meat dishes.

Let’s close the red section with, yes, a Pinot Noir, one with elegance, great acidity, and wonderful depth. The 2018 ROAR Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot ($70) is a worthy companion for your turkey, and will also pair wonderfully with game birds (pheasant, duck) and wild boar. The Franscioni family knows from wine, and this bottle demonstrates that well. Give it 20 minutes to breathe after you pull the cork.

That’s a wrap. The wines on this list represent diverse styles of winemaking, and everyone should find at least one bottle on it to their liking. I’ve forgone the normal “stick to wines with just the right amount of acidity” holiday advice here, not because I disagree with that statement, but because I want to recommend wines that pair well with more than turkey. We are a diverse nation, and our holiday tables hold more than poultry, something about which we should be proud and grateful.

Ask for these wines at your favorite merchant, and order directly from the producer if possible.

And one final note: At the end of your Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, toast yourself, your great taste, and your guests with Amaro Averna.

Want more wine? Read on.

Pietro Buttitta Talks Wine and Nietzsche
Nick Goldschmidt and His Family Affair
A Loire Favorite, and Other Tasting Notes
Caitlin Cutler Really Likes Malvasia
Dan Petroski on Soil and J. Alfred Prufrock
A Canadian Makes Good in Mendocino
Bouchaine’s Chris Kajani Tackles the Challenges of a Pandemic
A Bosnian Winemaker Finds a Home in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA
From a Michigan Backyard Vineyard to Sonoma
Paul Hobbs Knew She Had Talent
Ian Cauble: From ‘Somm’ to SommSelect
Eric Sigmund is High on Texas Wine
Jeff Cole, Sullivan Estate’s Winemaker
Jon McPherson Talks Tokay and His Mentor Father
Two Reds From Chile
An Italian Chardonnay From the Cesare Stable
Mi Sueño’s 2016 Napa Valley Syrah
Joshua Maloney on Riesling and Manfred Krankl
Brothers in Wine
Two Bottles From Priest Ranch
A Derby Day Cocktail
Nate Klostermann is Making Some Great Sparkling Wines in Oregon
Matt Dees and the Electric Acidity of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay
Baudelaire, Pinot Noir, and Rosé: Kathleen Inman’s Passions
Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

Nick Goldschmidt, who hails from New Zealand, has made wines in myriad regions around the globe. He and his family have called Healdsburg home since 1990. (Courtesy Goldschmidt Vineyards)
Nick Goldschmidt, who hails from New Zealand, has made wines in myriad regions around the globe. He and his family have called Healdsburg home since 1990. (Courtesy Goldschmidt Vineyards)

Nick Goldschmidt Doesn’t Throw Good Wine Against The Wall

October 2, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I like to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

Nick Goldschmidt has a way with wine, and with words. The native New Zealander is gregarious and he’s passionate about his craft. The man is a walking, breathing repository of viticultural knowledge, lore and history.

He’s plied his trade for decades now, in many regions, and the wineries for which he’s worked and consulted  are too numerous to mention in this space, but here are a few names: Atlas Peak, Buena Vista, Simi Winery, Clos du Bois, Gary Farrell, and William Hill. Not to mention his own Goldschmidt Vineyards, which was established in 1998.

Goldschmidt’s career officially began in 1982, when he took a research position at New Zealand’s Lincoln University. He graduated from that institution with a degree in horticulture, and did postgraduate work in viticulture and oenology at the Wagga Wagga campus of Charles Stuart University, also in his homeland, and then at Adelaide University, in South Australia, where he was enrolled in the Hickinbotham Roseworthy Wine Science program.

I’ve long known of Goldschmidt, and have enjoyed his wines over the years. When I was contacted recently about Merlot Month and saw that he was one of the participating winemakers this year, I knew I wanted to feature him in Wine Talk. (October is Merlot Month, and PaperCity’s The Pour series will have more about that, so stay tuned, and in the meanwhile, drink more Merlot.)

A family of wine. (Courtesy Goldschmidt Vineyards)
A family of wine. (Courtesy Goldschmidt Vineyards)

Goldschmidt and his wife and business partner, Yolyn, have called Healdsburg, California home since 1990, and his passion is now a family affair. In fact, one of the wines I tasted in preparation for Merlot Month was the 2019 Chelsea Goldschmidt Guidestone Rise Merlot (Alexander Valley AVSA). There are five Goldschmidt children, and Chelsea is one of them (the names Hilary and Katherine also grace Goldschmidt labels).

Let’s see what the winemaker has to say.

James Brock: How has COVID-19 changed your work and life?

Nick Goldschmidt: I have a theory that the average white guy lives to 85 and I am 59, so I have 25 years left to live. Twenty five by 365 days is 9,125 bottles of wine to drink. If I drink one bad bottle of wine, that is like throwing a good one against the wall.

I had a dream COVID, as four of our five children moved home. What other time in my life would I have adult children living with me? It was truly an amazing experience.

As a result of the additional people in the house, my wine cellar has been severely depleted and I’ll be closer to 10,000 bottles by the time I pass. The second thing I learned was that my children were asking, “OK, if we are drinking five bottles of wine tonight, which ones are they? We need to start drinking them in reverse order.” This also made sense, so we drank the best wines first. Great idea to finish the evening with a white. Fresh and with good acidity like we now do at wine judgings.

From a professional aspect, I was actually in Chile when COVID hit so I saw the implications of trying to harvest and make wine with all these severe restrictions in place. This meant I knew how hard it would be when I was scheduled to do this in California six months later. I’ve also seen today countries on a slower route to recovery and some that are much faster in terms of vaccinations. This means each country has its own set of rules, not only in terms of getting in, but how it is to work.

For instance, without foreign workers it has been very hard to pick grapes in New Zealand, which I think has been the hardest hit. Getting around Chile takes many special passes each day, which requires getting online before I head off each morning. Then Argentina has been impossible to get into. Canada has also been difficult, but is opening up now. So yes, consulting has been a challenge.

We have also seen difficulty with shipping and trucking. Of course, containers from New Zealand are taking months just to book. But also getting rebar for a planting job I am doing on the Staircase Vineyard has been ridiculous. We ordered in November and finally got it in June.

The Staircase Vineyard: A study of soil.

As a result I think in some strange way that COVID has been good for me in terms of both my personal and professional life. I am much closer to all clients I’ve been in touch with during this time.

JB: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one? 

NG: I have started drinking what I preach. By that I mean I often talk about wines holding up over time primarily focusing on color and no “crusty deposit on the shoulder of the bottle”. As wines age, they move from purple to red to brown to orange, and I’ve always explained how I get my wines to only go purple and eventually to red. I learned many years ago how to slow the ageing beyond that.

This wine has a special place in the heart of Nick Goldschmidt.
This wine has a special place in the heart of Nick Goldschmidt.

So I started drinking older wines. For example, Goldschmidt Yoeman, which is the first wine that we made, in 1999. I have been drinking the 2001, marking 20 years for this particular wine. Remarkably, it has remained in a purple color with great liveliness, and it still has a fine freshness. No crust. Tannins are of course integrated and possess far more silky complexity than when released.

The second one I’ve been drinking a lot of is Singing Tree Chardonnay. We have been making this wine for a while now. It is from a field selection (no clone) and has a more lively mouthfeel on release and so really helps with its ageing. I have been drinking the 2014 and 2016, which really stayed alive. Both good vintages, of course. I think we have achieved what we set out to do, which is to make a wine with tension and liveliness without the high alcohol.

The reason for tasting is as I look back I wondered if I should add more weight to this wine like we did at Simi. I am carefully analyzing people around me and what their perception of the wine is. Do I make a change, or do I stay the course? So far, stay the course, but I do like analyzing over time. Thinking to how we farmed then and now and how our palates also change.

I don’t often drink wines from wineries for whom I consult, but as of late, based on amazing reviews, I’ve been trying Chadwick Cabernet in the Maipo Valley Chile. This wine has had two 100-point scores and I’ve really focused on those and the vintages around them. To me, it is not about the wine itself but a memory of the vintage. With the memory of the vintage comes my memory of the people who lead the winery and make the wine. I spend three months per year in Chile and have done so for almost 30 years now, so I know the area and the vineyard well. Chadwick 2017 is so far my favorite.

The Chadwick Cabernet Sauvignon was the first Chilean wine to receive 100 points from a wine writer (James Suckling, for the 2014 vintage). Image courtesy jackyblisson.com
The Chadwick Cabernet Sauvignon was the first Chilean wine to receive 100 points from a wine writer (James Suckling, for the 2014 vintage). Image courtesy jackyblisson.com

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why. 

NG: If cost was no consideration and it was something I could do each day, I would probably choose Vega Sicilia Unico, because it was one of the first great wines that, when I drink it, I drink with the memory of whom I was with, where and when. Even better would be that I would drink it in Spain in the DO of Ribera del Duero (Denominación de Origen).

I worked in the area when I was consulting with Tarsus. This was when I was the chief winemaker at Allied Domecq and so have many great memories of the region and the winemakers as well.

Vega Sicilia Unico: This wine evokes fond memories for Nick Goldschmidt
Vega Sicilia: When Nick Goldschmidt drinks this wine, the memories come flooding back.

JB: What is your favorite grape variety, and why?

NG: Cabernet, of course. It is so specific to its surroundings. I’m originally from New Zealand, and it is very hard to make there, so having lived in Napa and Sonoma for the past 30 years, I have learned a lot about it. I also see it in Maipo, Mendoza and Okanagan, all places I work. It comes in so many shapes and sizes. The future for me, though, is making these wines under 14 percent alcohol. We are doing it already in some appellations, but will it have respect if it is done in Napa?

It has the power and the weight, but it is a spicy variety, and too often at high alcohol they finish sweet. I really do not like the term “Napa Style,” which is used around the world. We need to get away from that.

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? 

NG: I always find these questions very difficult to answer. I always wondered why we sell wine by the individual bottle and in 12 packs. Is it because we are supposed to drink one bottle per year, or 12 bottles per year? I’m never quite sure. Let’s say it’s 12 bottles per year. Drink one a month and then you choose the best month of your memory when the wine tasted best.

I think the wine that will taste best is always the one that was drunk in one of the happiest moments. Therefore, choosing a wine for an anniversary or another great celebration in your life has to come with some extra effort. I would choose Goldschmidt Game Ranch Oakville. It is a fairly rare wine of limited release, and a bottle can add to the special occasion and hopefully the happy memories that will go with it.

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle (outside of your home and workplace)?

NG: My children will tell you my happy place is down on the Dry Creek river with a bottle of Boulder Bank Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. I built a table down there many, many years ago and each Sunday night the family gathers at it. We cook over an open fire away from the Internet but with many bottles of wine and lots of great food. We are very fortunate to live in the Dry Creek Valley, and in particular on the Dry Creek River itself.

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

NG: I always wish people would keep in mind that wine is a living, breathing, evolving product, and it is of the earth. It is not like making beer or spirits where the goal is to make an amazing product but make it the same every day.

Wine is completely different because the vintage itself tells a story about the weather, the people, the soil and the culture, which is one part. You need to travel to the wine regions, getting to know the places. Doing so gives one great reference for when you are back home and assessing and enjoying the wines.

The second part is where you choose to drink the wine. When I go to a restaurant I always choose something that I cannot pronounce on the menu and the wine generally that I’ve never heard of before. Going out for dinner drinking wine with food is a memory and an experience. Don’t drink badge brands. This is the time to try something different, take a risk.

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

NG: For me it was a combination of processes. When I worked in the vineyards at Lincoln College in New Zealand I pruned the vines without actually knowing what wine was about. Then during the summer we picked the grapes and made the wine and then I drank the wine. For me, growing crops is fascinating, but to have it turn into something even cooler is amazing. This particular crop turns into a food product that is unique and different and truly represents where it comes from. There’s absolutely nothing like wine.

JB: What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career thus far?

NG: I don’t really have any strange moments, but I do have situations in which I suddenly had an “aha” moment.

One of the first ones was when I was making wine in Portugal for LVMH. The company owned Roses, a Port house, at the time. When you’re in Portugal with winemakers you pretty much have three ports — for lunch, breakfast and dinner — so after being there for three days I asked a winemaker if I could have a glass of white wine. He said, we don’t make white wine in Portugal.

Drinking Vinho Verde for the first time was an epiphany for Nick Goldschmidt.

But the young lady in the restaurant said, don’t worry I’ll bring you a glass. She filled the glass up to the rim. It was 120 Fahrenheit outside and we were eating barnacles, of which you need three for a mouthful. The condensation was flowing off the glass of wine and it looked so tasty. I took a deep gulp. But when I drank it my whole mouth puckered. It had so much CO2 and acidity in it, and my immediate reaction was, what the heck was that?

The enamel on my teeth was gone, the roof of my mouth was gone, and I had this whole unctuous acidic taste. I asked what it was and the winemaker said it was a Vinho Verde. Well, I didn’t know what Vinho Verde was. I didn’t even know it was a region. I also thought it was CO2, but actually it was minerality. But I always remember that experience. This wine either making me hungry or thirsty and I couldn’t quite work it out. That is sensation I’ve always remembered.

Try this at home.

JB: Your favorite wine reference in a work of literature?

NG: I have many, but they are all about winemaking, specifically production. This is one of my favorites: “Drinking a bad bottle of wine is like throwing a good one against the wall”.

Want more wine? Read on:

A Loire Favorite, and Other Tasting Notes
Caitlin Cutler Really Likes Malvasia
Dan Petroski on Soil and J. Alfred Prufrock
A Canadian Makes Good in Mendocino
Bouchaine’s Chris Kajani Tackles the Challenges of a Pandemic
A Bosnian Winemaker Finds a Home in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA
From a Michigan Backyard Vineyard to Sonoma
Paul Hobbs Knew She Had Talent
Ian Cauble: From ‘Somm’ to SommSelect
Eric Sigmund is High on Texas Wine
Jeff Cole, Sullivan Estate’s Winemaker
Jon McPherson Talks Tokay and His Mentor Father
Two Reds From Chile
An Italian Chardonnay From the Cesare Stable
Mi Sueño’s 2016 Napa Valley Syrah
Joshua Maloney on Riesling and Manfred Krankl
Brothers in Wine
Two Bottles From Priest Ranch
A Derby Day Cocktail
Nate Klostermann is Making Some Great Sparkling Wines in Oregon
Matt Dees and the Electric Acidity of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay
Baudelaire, Pinot Noir, and Rosé: Kathleen Inman’s Passions
Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

Jeff Cole, the head winemaker at Sullivan Rutherford Estate, has Merlot at the top of his list.

Sullivan Estate’s Jeff Cole on Pliny the Elder, Merlot, and a Quest for Hose Stretchers

December 24, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

Driving down St. Helena Highway, we approached the property with high expectations. The afternoon I spent at Sullivan Rutherford Estate was perfect.

It was a warm, sunny day in March of last year, and the vineyards and flowerbeds invited one’s gaze. We pulled into the driveway and parked, then strolled to the residence, where our tasting was to take place. I now have a favorite house in the Napa Valley, and the wines were excellent.

Jeff Cole, Sullivan’s winemaker, and the estate’s general manager, Joshua Lowell, led the tasting — mainly Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon — and gave us a tour of the rest of the property, 26 acres in total.

Sullivan was founded in 1972 by James O’Neil Sullivan, who, following the advice of his friend André Tchelistcheff, planted Cabernet Sauvignon. Sullivan, a graphic designer, worked with architect John Marsh Davis on the design of the estate’s residence and production facility (the home’s kitchen I covet). The living areas of the residence are situated one floor above ground level, giving one an expansive view of the property.

A bird’s eye view of the Sullivan Estate, courtesy Jak Wonderly.

It was a family affair, and though the estate was purchased from the Sullivans in 2018 by a group under the leadership of Mexican businessman Juan Pablo Torres Padilla, Ross Sullivan, James’ youngest son, is an advisor to Padilla. (James passed away in 2004.)

I’ve visited many wineries, and Sullivan is one of my favorites; if you find yourself in the area, make an appointment to spend some time on Galleron Road.

Cole has been the winemaker at the estate since 2013. He studied at California Polytechnic University, and began his career at Schramsberg Vineyards and J. Davies Estate Vineyard. He knows a thing or two about sparkling wine, and he’s making some great Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot at Sullivan.

“It’s no secret that great wine begins with a great site, and I don’t know of anywhere else in the world that offers the potential presented at this estate,” he says. “My goal is to continue to make wines with structure and density, allowing the richness of the terroir to shine through. With the on-going investments in the vineyard and production, we will deliver wines that are indulgent upon release and that have immense ability to evolve beautifully with aging.”

Here’s Cole in Wine Talk.

James Brock: How has COVID-19 changed your work and life?

Jeff Cole: Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, my house has become a school, with my wife now doubling as a teacher. We are cooking a lot more and I have not traveled outside of the city of Napa in seven months. Fortunately, work must go on. The silver lining is having even more time to spend in the vineyard and cellar.

The Sullivan estate: 26 acres of vineyards and gardens.

JB: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?

JC: The Schramsberg 2011 Reserve sparkling wine is a really fantastic bottle. It is a wine that is primarily made from Pinot Noir grapes and is aged over 8 years before release. You don’t need to pair it with anything because of its richness and vibrancy, but it would go well with any light meat such as duck or pork. You can find it on the winery’s website for $130. 

When I traveled  to Portugal a couple of years ago, I was introduced to Vinho Verde wines, and they blew me away! Vinho Verde wines can be blends of many different white grape varieties such as Albariño, Azal Branco, and Avesso, to name a few. These wines are refreshing, low in alcohol, possess high acidity, and are super affordable, typically selling for less than $15 a bottle. They are awesome on their own, but also pair well with any seafood or dish higher in fat. You can find them at BevMo or any import wine shop.

Lastly, I am enjoying our 2017 J.O. Sullivan Founder’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine is the best to ever come off of our estate, due to the culmination of perfect growing conditions, farming, and winemaking execution. It is a powerhouse that will only get better with age. It is structured, layered, rich and dense, yet there is fresh acidity that carries through the wine. It represents the estate from an identity standpoint and also represents our winemaking style. It is limited in production, and can be purchased through our website and tasting room for $250.

The Sullivan Estate residence features a kitchen I covet.

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why.

JC: If cost were not an issue, I would choose the 2008 Pol Roger Winston Churchill Champagne. Pol Roger is one of my favorite Champagne producers, and the Winston Churchill always delivers. The 2008 has all the richness and pleasure that is expected from a tête de cuvée, but there is still a freshness and vibrancy about it that gives it life and balance.

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

JC: There are a few grape varieties that I love working with, like Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot, but I right now I have an affinity for Merlot. New World is definitely underappreciated, but if grown in the right condition and handled properly in the cellar, it is a variety that can rival the best Cabernet Sauvignons in weight, density, structure, and, ultimately pleasure. We are currently replanting some of our Cabernet vines over to Merlot, since it grows phenomenally well at Sullivan.

The 2014 James O’Neil Merlot sells for $280 a bottle.

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? Can be one of your wines, but does not need to be.

JC: This is a no-brainer! The one bottle PaperCity readers should buy to cellar for the next 10 years is Sullivan’s 2015 James O’Neil Merlot. This wine was built to age. 

Jeff Cole is a Napa Valley native and attended Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle (outside of your home and workplace)?

JC: There is a little hole in the wall in the town of Yountville where I grew up called Pancha’s, and I might not be going there necessarily for a glass of wine, but it is definitely good for a pint of beer and a game of pool.

JB:If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

JC: If it smells and tastes funny, then it probably isn’t a sound bottle of wine. I know people want to attribute weirdness to terroir or winemaking style, but in reality, wines should provide pleasure and each person’s palate should be the ultimate judge of quality. 

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

JC: There was no romantic time in my life when I was eating foie gras and drinking a glass of Rosé under the Eifel Tower that triggered a eureka moment. I think there was a perfect storm with the fact that I grew up in the Napa Valley and subconsciously the wine industry was imprinted on me.

When I got to college, at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, there was a budding wine program that was ultimately calling my name. At that point in my life, it was something I had never thought about, but I saw it as a great opportunity to blend art and science. More than any single bottle of wine, Cal Poly’s philosophy of learning while doing is what inspired me and opened up the gates of creativity for me in the cellar.

JB: What has been the strangest moment/incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

JC: My first vintage in the Napa Valley was in 2007, at Schramsberg Vineyards, and there was a ritual/rite of passage for greenhorns. I was sent on a mission to several wineries to find the “hose stretcher,” and unbeknownst to me, all the wineries I went to were in on this prank.

Sure enough, every time I arrived at one of the wineries in on the prank they had just given it to the next. It was at the fifth winery when I knew something was up and called off the mission. Needless to say, there is no such thing as a “hose stretcher,” and when I arrived back at Schramsberg I was greeted with laughter and a pat on the back.

That experience taught me some humility, and that message is something I try to implement on a daily basis. It reminds me that every day working in the Napa Valley should bring enjoyment and that we can’t take ourselves too seriously.

Pliny the Elder was a wise man.

JB: Your favorite wine reference in a work of literature?

JC: My favorite wine reference in a work of literature is from my good buddy Pliny the Elder, with his quote “In Vino Veritas” — meaning, in wine, there is truth.

Want more wine? Read on:

Jon McPherson Talks Tokay and His Mentor Father
Two Reds From Chile
An Italian Chardonnay From the Cesare Stable
Mi Sueño’s 2016 Napa Valley Syrah
Joshua Maloney on Riesling and Manfred Krankl
Brothers in Wine
Two Bottles From Priest Ranch
A Derby Day Cocktail
Nate Klostermann is Making Some Great Sparkling Wines in Oregon
Matt Dees and the Electric Acidity of Sta. Rita Hills Chardonnay
Baudelaire, Pinot Noir, and Rosé: Kathleen Inman’s Passions
Colombia, France, and California: This Winemaker is a Complex Woman
Michael Kennedy Talks Sailing and Zinfandel
Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

Michael Kennedy makes wine in Bordeaux and Napa.

Michael Kennedy Has Sailing and Zinfandel on His Mind

July 6, 2020 / / 0 Comments

I love to talk about wine with people who share my passion for it. We open bottles, we trade stories about travel and soil types, terroir and residual sugar, and we talk of taste and food and restaurants. We recommend wines to one another, we drink, and we learn a lot.

In Wine Talk, I introduce you to friends, acquaintances, and people I meet as I make my way around the world, individuals who love wine as much as I do, who live to taste, who farm and make wine. You’ll appreciate their insight, and I hope you’ll learn something from them as well. 

I was waiting on Michael Kennedy at the bar. I had tasted his wines the week before, and was looking forward to meeting him in person. Email correspondence had given me a good idea of the man — thorough, enthusiastic, intelligent — and I’m always happy when my initial assessment is verified. In Kennedy’s case, I was correct.

He had come to Houston to sell his wine, which I was representing with Monopole Wines. Component is Kennedy’s label, and wines bearing the name hail from Napa and Bordeaux. He and his partners have three lieux-dits (left and right banks) in Bordeaux from which they source fruit (Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Cabernet Sauvignon), and in Napa they have made wines with grapes grown in the Yount Mill Vineyard (Semillon), the Caldwell Vineyard (Cabernet Franc), and on Pritchard Hill (Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot).

Lunch was a glass of wine and a croquet madame, paired with lots of conversation, and afterward, I was convinced that Kennedy was someone I would be glad to know. We visited a few restaurants, and a country club or two, and sold some wine. We had dinner that evening, at Tony’s, joined by a few people Kennedy had met on Grand Cayman — he was a sommelier at Blue by Eric Ripert at the Ritz-Carlton — and the conversation continued (and continues).

Kennedy’s career includes serving as the beverage director at the Cayman Cookout, and his first vintage at Component was 2013. If you haven’t tasted what he is making, you will be in for a pleasant experience. I look forward to again sharing a table with him after the pandemic’s demise allows such pleasures.

Here is Kennedy in Wine Talk:

James Brock: Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile? How about a food pairing for each one?

Michael Kennedy:  In our portfolio, I have really been loving our Sémillon this summer. It’s über fresh, with a bit of saltiness — perfect with raw oysters or other beach foods like ceviche. I have also been drinking quite a bit of our 2017 reds from Bordeaux. It’s a “fresh” vintage, so that means they’re drinking well young. Unlike in 2016, where our wines were austere and serious, the ’17 allows for some immediate pleasure out of the bottle. Strange, of course, to say young Bordeaux at this price point is drinking well, but I love vibrancy and acidity, which it delivers.

I am drinking these wines with summer meats — meaning pork tenderloin, crispy-skin chicken — especially if prepared simply on the grill, perhaps with some herbal friends like grilled rosemary. This will really trigger the herbacious qualities of the wine, while allowing the juicy acidity to play well with mid-weight meats. (2018 Component Semillon, Yount Mill Vineyard, Napa $68 a bottle, 2017 Component La Carrière Cabernet Franc, Saint-Emilion, Bordeaux  $170 a bottle.)

JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?

MK: If cost was no matter … I’d love to have a cellar full of Château Lafleur. I truly have not had an experience quite like I had visiting the estate and learning from their winemaking team. The wine is so light, almost hard to believe it comes from Bordeaux, but what it doesn’t have is where I fall in love. It replaces weight with flowery elegance and toys with your mind. At one moment, the wine is intense, in the very next it is subtle. Alternatively, I’d love to acquire all of the old American Zinfandels out there — the classics from Ravenswood, Ridge, Swan — even further back from Martini and others. This varietal is so underappreciated — in fact, I like it that way.

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

MK: I wish I was cool enough to say something like Palomino or even Chenin Blanc, but I have to say the white wine I drink most at home is Chardonnay. I am a sucker for Bourgogne Blanc. Benjamin Leroux described it as the “red wine of white wines,” and that’s true. It can be so complex — texturally, aromatically — and confounding as well. If there’s another varietal I love, it’s Cabernet Franc — the feminine to the masculine Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Component has roots in Bordeaux and Napa.

JB: How about one bottle that our readers should buy now to cellar for 10 years, to celebrate a birth, anniversary, or other red-letter day? 

MK: Buy more American Zinfandel — something like Bedrock from a historic vineyard site (Monte Rosso, planted in 1886, is a good start). Not many people realize that some of the consistently oldest vines for commercial production are right here in the US. Plus, Zinfandel ages beautifully.

JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle?

MK:  All I want to do right now is go sailing with a bunch of friends and a cooler filled with entry-level white Burgundy, Vinho Verde, Muscadet and Pinot Grigio. Maybe next year …

JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?

MK: Wine is wine, you know? One of the coolest guys in the business is a man named Alessandro Masnaghetti. He’s an Italian mapmaker, and he said something that struck me recently in regard to “famous” winemakers. He talks about the phenomenon of “genuises” in winemaking being compared to Einstein or Dante — and the ridiculousness of this. One of those men discovered the theory of relativity, winemakers make wine for people to consume. I don’t know, I guess I just wish people would enjoy wine more — and stop “analytically tasting” wine. Just love what’s in your glass (but make sure it’s tasty). 

JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?

MK: I feel like I’ve been talking a lot about Bordeaux, but, oh well. I have two moments, and both over a bottle of Bordeaux. 

First, a 1996 Château Montrose with my then-mentor, Allyson Gorsuch. We had worked a long tasting event and one of the benefactors of the event put out cases of wine from his cellar for us (the sommeliers working the event) to enjoy. I was just studying for my Certified Sommelier, and Gorsuch was studying for her Advanced. Everyone immediately took the Burgundy and Napa big shots, and we went with Montrose. It was in the “bret” days of the estate — and man was it awesome. We popped the bottle, sat down, and talked for two hours, watching the wine evolve. Over that conversation (which was arguably better than the wine), we saw this wine take a wild ride. It taught me about complexity.

The most important wine lesson I learned over a bottle of wine happened in 2012, when I had been given a bottle of 2005 Carruades de Lafite (the second wine of Lafite). I opened it with essentially the only wine collector I knew at the time. He had an excellent old-world cellar, and in an effort to prove to him that I knew something about wine (I had recently passed my Certified Sommelier) I googled everything on the internet I could find about the estate, the winemaker, the vintage, etc.

I opened the bottle and started babbling through everything I memorized earlier that day. This kind and experienced collector was so gracious; he listened and engaged sparingly. And when I ran out of information, it was a much quieter turn in the evening. After some time of silence, he started telling me things like, “This wine has really improved since I tasted it shortly after release five years ago,” and, “It reminds me of how the 1990 tasted at this stage,” and, “It seems to me that this wine will have a similar path of aging to the 1996”. It was in that moment that I realized I cannot “memorize” experience and that I should shut up, listen, and drink as many great wines as I can. To this day, I have to fight the urge to say too much, because I don’t want to miss something of meaning from someone more intelligent, experience, and generous than myself. (Although look how much I wrote here.) 

JB:What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?

MK: Too many to mention. It’s an industry filled with characters! One of my favorites, though, is also one of my most embarrassing. I was 21, first month in the industry — straight out of college — and my brother’s friend who owns a really excellent distribution company invited us to a portfolio tasting. We of course decided to attend and loved every minute of walking around experiencing the different wines and producers.

It was all well and good until we walked up to the table of a top Italian winemaking family, hosted by the beautiful daughter of the founder. She was in a stunning white dress and had opened some of their family’s top red wines. There was even an older vintage in a large, wide-based decanter. I tasted through, somewhat starstruck about the wines, and when it came for her to pour us the older wine, I took a deep sip of it. My wonderful brother whispered a comment about her not being able to use the decanter well right as the wine hit my palate, and I sprayed the family’s rare red wine all over this woman in the white dress. I was mortified, and basically blacked out and ran away. I saw her years later from across the room at Food & Wine Classic in Aspen and immediately changed course to avoid her in the off chance she recognized me. So, yeah. 

And it was good …

JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature or a film?

MK: I feel like there are plenty of deep and philosophical references out there, but I recently started looking at biblical wine references. I found a diagram of a wine press from Jesus’ times and then decided to see exactly how much wine Jesus made as his first miracle. Turns out, we know quite exactly how much wine: “Six stone water jars, containing 20-30 gallons each”. That’s about equal to 1 ton of grapes or two standard barrels, or 50 cases of wine. Man, I would have loved to have tasted that. 

Want More Wine? Read On:

Spain Opened the World of Wine for Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf
Alta Colina’s Molly Lonborg Wants a Bottle of Château Rayas
Mumm Napa’s Tami Lotz Talks Wine and Oysters
James MacPhail on Pinot Noir, White Burgundy, and Russell Crowe
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

Gundlach Bundschu’s Merlot Was Made for Lamb Meatballs

May 19, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Virtual tastings: How many have you participated in during the past week? I’ve enjoyed several, including one a few days ago that featured a Chardonnay, a Syrah, and a Cabernet Sauvignon, all from California, from different producers, and all representing great value (look for a review soon).

COVID-19 has made this type of tasting a regular thing, and I am looking forward to taking part in more of them later this week, and well (who knows for how long?) into the future. Let me know how yours are going.

Today, I want to tell you about a 2016 Merlot, from Gundlach Bundschu, an estate that traces its founding to 1858, when a Bavarian, Jacob Gundlach, purchased 400 acres in Sonoma, an expanse he named Rhinefarm. He then returned to Germany, married Eva, and the couple traveled in their homeland and France on their honeymoon, during which Jacob bought the rootstock he planted on the farm. The following year, 1859, Jacob and his three partners established 60,000 vines on the property.

The 2016 Gundlach Bundschu Merlot is well worth its $35 price.

The sixth generation of the family is now in charge at Rhinefarm, led by Jeff Bundschu, who became president of the family-owned venture in 2001, when he was 33.

To the 2016 Merlot. It marked the 40th anniversary of the wine for Gundlach Bundschu (the first vintage was 1976), and here’s the rundown on the varietal composition: 82 percent Merlot, 9 percent Petit Verdot, and 9 percent Cabernet Sauvignon. It was aged for 17 months in 100 percent French oak (Nadalié), 40 percent new. Alcohol is 14.6 percent.

I opened this bottle one evening last week, and sampled it immediately. I was met with aromas of dark cherries, tobacco, earth, and mushroom, an entirely pleasant experience. The spice notes rang out in the mouth, along with mushroom, vanilla (slight), ripe cherry, and leather. Tannins here are rounded, relaxed. My next taste came 20 minutes later, and the time benefitted the wine’s balance.

Pairings? I had laid out a block of Gorgonzola earlier in the day, and it was perfect for this bottle. The main course that evening was lamb meatballs, and I cannot think of anything I’d enjoy more with this Merlot, which can be had for around $35 — it’s sold out at the winery, but is available at many merchants.

Want more wine? Read on:

James MacPhail Has His Way With Pinot
A Very Proper Sparkling Wine
Talking With David Ramey
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

“It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it… and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied… and it is all one.” ― M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

Grace Amid Discord and Despair: We Talk Ramey, Cline, ‘Sideways’, Riesling, Zinfandel, Syrah, and More

August 19, 2018 / / 6 Comments

Fires out west, Twitterreah in D.C., and collapsing infrastructure in Genoa: The woes continue unabated (it’s always been that way, of course), and as summer progresses toward the autumnal equinox, despair and dismay seem the manners of the day. What to do?

Well, once you’ve checked on your friends and acquaintances in wine country, those dealing with the deadly fires, once you’ve donated to relief efforts there, after you’ve made sure your friend in Genoa is OK, after you’ve read the latest piece from Maggie Haberman about the goings-on in the White House (has there ever been a leakier bunch at 1600 Pennsylvania?), it’s time to cook and drink and eat and give thanks for the solace that can be had in those activities.

A few weeks ago, I was at State of Grace in Houston, drinking Rosé and enjoying some oysters. Matt Crawford, the restaurant’s general manager and beverage director, stopped by and poured us a Mezcal, and we talked briefly. Matt’s a great guy, and he just happens to be the subject of my latest Wine Talk. Give it a read, and next time you decide on oysters, pair them with Mezcal.

Drink Mezcal with your oysters. (Brockhaus photo)

Briny heaven (Brockhaus photo)

Continuing with wine, we move to Germany (my favorite wine country), and a great cause. (Drink Riesling every day!) But first, let’s hear from Mark Twain on Deutschland:

My philological studies have satisfied me that a gifted person ought to learn English (barring spelling and pronouncing) in thirty hours, French in thirty days, and German in thirty years. It seems manifest, then, that the latter tongue ought to be trimmed down and repaired. If it is to remain as it is, it ought to be gently and reverently set aside among the dead languages, for only the dead have time to learn it.
– “That Awful German Language,” Appendix D of A Tramp Abroad

Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence, that is the last you are going to see of him till he emerges on the other side of his Atlantic with his verb in his mouth.
– A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court

…mastery of the art and spirit of the Germanic language enables a man to travel all day in one sentence without changing cars.
– Christian Science

A dream…I was trying to explain to St. Peter, and was doing it in the German tongue, because I didn’t want to be too explicit.
– Mark Twain’s Speeches, 1923

The Germans are exceedingly fond of Rhine wines; they are put up in tall, slender bottles, and are considered a pleasant beverage. One tells them from vinegar by the label.
– A Tramp Abroad

Twain’s sarcasm and humor set aside, if you read this today (Sunday, the 19th of August, 2018) before 4 o’clock in the afternoon or so, and if you are in Houston, Texas, hightail it to Camerata and drink some fine German wines and contribute to a good cause. (Click here for more details.)

All of this talk about German wines takes me back to a fine summer day a few years ago; my friend Holger and I took a journey that included a stop at Schloss Vollrads. We drank and ate well.

A fine setting for Riesling.

I enjoy a Riesling at Schloss Vollrads.

Drinking Rielsing with Holger on the Rhine near Bingen.

Finally, there’s Zinfandel and Syrah, and Cline and Ramey. Two bottles we opened recently, two vintages that I recommend highly and that will pair with everything from hamburgers to beef stew and grilled ribeye or lamb. David Ramey and Nancy and Fred Cline are the names behind these two bottles, and you’ll want to add both wines to your inventory.

Zinfandel from old vines is in this bottle.

Terry Theise: A man of wine.

Wine Talk: Graceful Memories and Inspiration, Born in Bottles

November 11, 2017 / / 0 Comments

One of the things I love about this crazy planet we call home is that our ancestors learned how to cultivate grapes and create wine. For thousands of years, vines growing in some of the most beautiful (and not so beautiful, in some cases) places in the world have mystified, confounded, pleased, nourished, and sustained multitudes of people: farmers, winemakers, drinkers royal and low, and all sorts of others in between have been changed by the grape. Those small orbs are miracles, worshipped by characters hailing from all walks of life.

I’ve been partaking of those miracles for a long time, since I was a high school student in the Rheinland Pfalz, home to, among other things, my favorite grape and wine, Riesling, and my Fußball team, 1. FC Kaiserslautern. I was introduced to both of them at around the same time, and though the team has been going through a period of crisis for too long now, a mere shadow of its Glory Days version, Riesling and her companions shine on.

God’s country, and home to some outstanding Rieslings. (Photo courtesy Germany.travel.com)

When I open a bottle of wine, I almost always think of the individuals who produced what’s in it. My mind wanders to the land on which the vines are growing and I mentally draw a picture of the harvest, imagine the tractors and baskets and weather and calloused hands. Without people, the wine would be nothing. Never forget that.

People. Beginning with the man — hand deformed on a battlefield in Germany — who sold me my first wine book (I recall still how he would hold the ink stamp he used to mark books purchased at his store), to Terry Theise and the woman who poured me a revelatory Crianza in a small tasting room in Rioja, people are the unifying factor in my journey with wine. There was the high school teacher with the cellar in the Pfalz who let me taste with him, and the restaurant owner in Florence who slipped a bottle into my backpack (he was, I guess, paying me back for the kindness I showed his elderly mother during my meal on that evening). Wine has been the common denominator in some of my most satisfying experiences and graceful memories, and I look forward to that continuing. That first book? “The Companion to Wine,” by Frank J. Prial.

Wine Talk, a series I started several years ago, is still going strong, and, similar to the world of wine, it has few limits. In it, I’ve introduced readers to scores of people and vintages, and I’ve made some friends. Their insights and recommendations and passions are laid down for the record, and I’m happy to put some of them (plus a few pieces on bottles I’ve enjoyed) in one place for your approval.

Below you’ll find Chris Nishiwaki, Donald Patz, Gerry Dawes, Vanessa Treviño Boyd, and David Keck, to name but a few. You’ll also, I hope, find the inspiration to go out and buy a few bottles based on what you read. Please create some graceful memories of your own. (And stay tuned for more Wine Talk.)

Wine Talk: From Paris to Houston and many other places, the goodness flows
A Merlot That Your Snob Friend Will Love
French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

‘If They Want To Drink Merlot, We’re Drinking Merlot!’

June 20, 2017 / / 0 Comments

I know what I like, of course, and one of the things I like is the wonderfully gigantic variety of wines that exist in this world. From Albariño to Dornfelder, Riesling to Rkatsiteli, and Xynomavro to Godello, exploring the wine universe is a pleasure and an adventure. I’ve said before that one should never bring hard and fast preconceptions or prejudices to a tasting, dinner, or wine merchant. Try. Sample. Taste. Don’t like white wine? That is, frankly, nonsense. Sure, we all have our favorites, the stuff we go back to again and again and put in our inventories and Eurocaves or closets. But if you don’t color outside the lines, you’re depriving yourself of a lot of life.

Which brings me to Merlot, and a wine I tasted recently. It’s the 2013 Merlot from Swanson Vineyards, and I loved it. So did a woman with whom I shared it, a woman who had told me on more than one occasion that she did not care for Merlot.

You can read my take (and hers) on the Swanson Vineyards Merlot by clicking here.

And if you want more wine, check out these pieces:

French Couple Make a Sauvignon Blanc in California
A Perfect Afternoon Chardonnay
Terry Theise Talks Reisling
A New Wine Wonderland
Paris Wine Goddess Tells All
Rice Village Wine Bar Has a Cleveland Touch
A Texas White Blend for Your Table
A Pinot Noir Full of Flavor
This Pinot Gris From Oregon Pairs Well With Cheese
Willamette, Dammit!
A Value Rioja
Drink Pink!
Underbelly Veteran Goes for Grenache
A Man of Letters and Wine
Ms. Champagne Wants a Nebuchadnezzar
The Wine Artist Goes for Chardonnay
This American Loves Spain and Its Wines
Houston’s Wine Whisperer Has a Soft Touch
Blackberry Farm’s Somm Pours in Splendor
Mr. Pinot Noir: Donald Patz of Patz & Hall
A Cork Dork Wants to Spend More Time in Tuscany
Sommelier Turned Restaurateur Daringly Goes Greek
Texas Master Sommelier Debunks Wine Geeks
A Bottle From Gigondas Changed This Houston Man’s Life
Oil Man Falls in Love, and the Rest is Good-Taste History
Ryan Cooper of Camerata is a Riesling Man
Mixing It Up With Jeremy Parzen, an Ambassador of Italy
Sommelier at One of Houston’s Top Wine Bars Loves Underdogs

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