Calling all of my readers in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, and New York City, especially those who like great food and wine and romance: A contest is on, and entering this one is a no-brainer. It involves wine, food, and romance, and a California winery. But there’s a catch: The deadline to enter this contest is Wednesday, February 10, so do not hesitate.
I’m talking about Jordan Vineyard & Winery’s #MyJordanValentine Date Night at Home Contest, and it’s really something you don’t want to pass up. All you need to do is share your love story on social media — Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter — and you could win a date night for two from a top restaurant in your city.
The chateau at Jordan: If you are anywhere near this piece of property, make plans to visit.
Jordan wants to help couples celebrate the perfect Valentine’s Day night at home while also supporting local restaurants during the COVID-19 pandemic. Share your photos and stories by tagging @jordanwinery and using the hashtag #MyJordanValentineHouston (or your city) — be sure to tell the Jordan team why you and your Valentine should win the contest.
On February 11, 15 date-night winners will be announced — these lucky lovers will enjoy a four-course meal from the participating restaurant of their choice, delivered to their homes during the Valentine’s Day weekend. (Check out all of the details and rules here.)
Here is the full list of restaurants taking part in the Jordan contest:
A week or so ago an email arrived that piqued my attention, and appetite. It was a pitch for Valentine’s Day story, one that involved cake. Olive oil cake, to be exact.
I like to make olive oil cakes, and I order them often for dessert at restaurants. I’ve had some great ones in Italy and New York and Los Angeles, so I accepted the email’s kind offer to have one delivered to me.
Little House Confections is the bakery behind the item, named Bomb Ass Olive Oil Cake, and I’ll be a regular customer.
Once I opened the attractively wrapped box from Little House Confections, this is what I saw.
Moist and flavorful, dense and light in the mouth at the same time — such a pleasurable sensation— and not overly sweet. Cut a slice and the crumb keeps its shape and texture. My dessert fork’s tines accepted this cake ($42) in a wonderful manner … it was attractive on the plate as well.
Here are the ingredients, according to the baker: extra virgin olive oil, flour, freshly squeezed orange juice, orange zest, vanilla, sugar, eggs, baking powder, baking soda, and love. (Yes, it is always better if one bakes and cooks with love … ) Note: You can order a gluten-free version of this cake.
Liz Roth, the owner and founder of Little House Confections, began the enterprise in April 2020 as a charitable campaign to raise funds and awareness for Covenant House of California. Once people in the Los Angeles area began tasting Roth’s wares, which were made in her home kitchen, the clamoring began. Little House is now an ongoing business, and Roth and her team are still contributing a portion of the bakery’s profits to a local charity each month — consult the Little House Confection website for details.
Liz Roth has a hit on her hands. (Courtesy Little House Confections)
Roth began her baking journey in her mother’s kitchen as a youth, and a passion was born there. She enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in 2007, but had to undergo spinal surgery a few months later, which ended her studies. Interior design, her other passion, gained her talents when she left the culinary school, and Roth worked for Cliff Fong before opening Elizabeth Roth Home.
COVID-19’s arrival planted the idea in Roth’s head that took her back to the olive oil cake recipe she had perfected in her mother’s kitchen … and her charitable baking venture was born. Since then, Little House Confections has donated more than $25,000 to worthy organizations, and the cakes and other baked goods keep coming. (I’m looking forward to tasting Roth’s chocolate birthday cake.)
If you are in Los Angeles, I recommend that you order the Bomb Ass Olive Oil Cake for Valentine’s Day; unfortunately, Little House Confections does not yet ship its creations, but stay tuned.
The Laetitia Brut Cuvée seemed made to be quaffed with olive oil cake.
I had my first slice of the cake for dessert one evening last week, and paired it with two sparkling wines, a non-vintage brut cuvée from Laetitia Vineyard and Winery, and the 2016 Rouge from Frank Family Vineyards. I knew that both bottles would be ideal companions for the cake, and my dining companion agreed after we sampled them.
The Laetitia, hailing from the Arroyo Grande Valley AVA, is comprised of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Blanc, and you can find it for $28 (or $22.40 if you join the Laetitia wine club). It’s Méthode Champenoise, and it represents great value. The fruit was harvested by hand, and was pressed whole-cluster. The brioche notes here are marvelous, and I think this wine deserves a place in anyone’s inventory.
If you want to pour a California sparkling wine at your table, this one, from Frank Family Vineyards, would be a great choice.
The Frank Family Rouge ($55) is a dramatic pour, in color and more. Its brilliant ruby tone is festive, rich, and inviting to the eye. It is 73 percent Pinot Noir and 27 percent Chardonnay. The acidity of this wine (Los Carneros AVA) appealed to me immensely, and I’ve added it to my “always have on hand” list. It was disgorged on April 26, 2020, after spending three years on its yeast. (Here’s a look at the people behind Frank Family Vineyards, a piece I wrote for PaperCity.)
I’m now inspired to make my version of olive oil cake, so check this space soon for the recipe and method.
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.
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.
A few weeks ago, a shipment of sample wines came my way from Texas, from Carter Creek Winery, which is located in Johnson City. I had previously tasted a Tempranillo from the producer, but that was several years ago, so I was looking forward to opening the bottles.
They did not disappoint, and I’ll have reviews of them in this space, but the man who made them is today’s subject. His name is Jon McPherson, and he has roots in Texas, and in the Lone Star State’s wine industry. In fact, one might call him a member of Texas’ Founding Family of Wine.
McPherson’s father, Clinton “Doc” McPherson, was a pioneer in the modern Texas wine industry; he began experimenting with grapes in Lubbock in the late sixties, and in 1968 planted Sangiovese in the Sagmor Vineyard (now owned by Kim McPherson, of McPherson Cellars, Jon’s brother). Doc and his business partner, Bob Reed, founded Llano Estacado Winery in 1976. McPherson senior passed away in 2014, at the age of 95.
Jon McPherson says that he has always known wine — he worked at his father’s winery digging postholes for stakes and planting vines, among other forms of manual labor. He attended and graduated from Texas Tech University (bachelor of science in food and technology) and holds a second degree in chemistry.
McPherson worked at the family winery for a while, then moved to California in 1985, taking a job at Culbertson Winery, where he earned much-deserved acclaim in the early 1990s for his sparkling wines. In 2003, he joined the Carter family group of wineries — Carter Estate Winery and South Coast Winery in Temecula, and Carter Creek Winery in Texas’ Hill Country.
McPherson has 43 harvests under his belt, and says that he hopes to make it to “at least” 50, a laudable and realistic goal, especially when you consider his mentor was “Doc” McPherson.
James Brock: How has COVID-19 changed your work and life?
Jon McPherson: We are viewed as essential workers, so beyond wearing a mask every day at work, we are making a little less wine, but still doing the same cellar work. Wholesale sales are up, but the tasting room is a little slower.
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?
JM: Our Carter Creek 2017 Maverick, a red Rhône blend, is drinking very well, especially if you pair it with grilled meat, like beef or lamb. The 2017 Viognier-Roussanne is showing wonderful fruit notes of peach and honeysuckle, very rich and very sexy. Any fish dish would be lucky to have this wine served alongside of it. Our new release of the brut sparkling is exceptional, and if bubbles are your scene, this wine gets very high marks. It is a Charmat product that drinks like a Méthode Champenoise.
Carter Creek Family Winery’s Brut Sparkling and Group Therapy red blend
JB:If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why.
JM: I would probably add a Château Haut-Brion or a Château d’Yquem. I think these wines are so elegant and such wonderful examples of Bordeaux and Sauternes.
JB:What is your favorite grape, and why?
JM: I love Pinot Blanc for its versatility in making not only great table wine, but for sparkling wine as well. Of course, that goes for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as well.
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.
JM: Cellaring for 10 years can be a bit of a crap shoot, but vintage Ports can cover that time span and then some. Late-disgorged sparkling (Champagne is always nice), or perhaps another first growth? I recently had the 2013 Ayala Blanc de Blancs and it was amazing.
Tempranillo and Texas: an evolving and growing relationship.
JB:Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle (outside your home and workplace)?
JB:If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?
JM: Appellation and price are not always the answer.
JB:What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?
JM: I was in Hungary and drinking a pre-WW1 Tokay. The wine was amazing and the history that it held was equally amazing. It came from the cellars of a producer that had been a supplier to the Czar.
The Carter Creek tasting room is located in Johnson City, Texas.
JB:What has been the strangest moment/incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?
JM: When an intern left a valve off of a tank and she started filling it without us being aware she was operating a pump without supervision. A big no-no.
JB:Your favorite wine reference in a work of literature?
JM: Hugh Johnson’s Vintage: The Story of Wine. Not only a great book, but it became a great PBS series as well.
A recent tasting featured two wines from Chile that I’m making sure will be in my holiday rotation. I tasted them on their own, and drank them with a standing rib roast, with which they were ideal pairings.
The wines are made by Viña Baron Philippe de Rothschild in Buin-Maipo, about 30 miles south of Santiago. (Baron Philippe de Rothschild SA is, of course, behind the brand, and it was created in 1999 by the baron’s daughter, Philippine de Rothschild.)
Emmanuel Riffaud, an agricultural engineer and oenologist who joined the Rothschild concern in 1999, has been the managing director of the Chilean enterprise since 2015.
Viña Baron Philippe de Rothschild planted its French roots in Chile in the late 1990s.
Escudo Rojo is the name of the wine — Red Shield in English — and I tasted the 2018 Gran Reserva (SRP $21.99) and the 2018 Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon (SRP $17.99).
We’ll begin with the Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon — this Escudo Rojo line also includes Carmenere, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc — which is the wine I sampled first in the tasting.
Pair this with meat.
It’s 100 percent Cabernet Sauvignon — Chilean law requires at least 75 percent — and you would not likely mistake it for anything else. It’s deep red in the glass, veering into purple when viewed at certain angles in a certain type of light. (The sun was streaming brightly through a large window when I noted the wine’s color.) Tannins are smooth and succulent — you’ll enjoy this wine now, and feel free to hold it until 2024 or thereabouts.
Blackcurrant and dark cherry make themselves known on the palate here, in a pleasing way, as does plum. Subtle spice and soil are also in the mix. If you like to serve approachable wines on a daily basis, bottles that drink far above their selling prices, this one will find a place in your repertoire. Aging is carried out in one-year-old barrels for 6 to 8 months.
The Escudo Rojo Gran Reserva is a wine that punches well above its cost/weight.
The 2018 Gran Reserva is the Escudo Rojo flagship wine, and it’s an impressive blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (40 percent), Carmenere (38 percent), Syrah (20 percent), and Cabernet Franc (2 percent). Half of the 2018 vintage was matured in one-year-old oak for 12 months.
As with the Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon, color in the glass (in this case, a Schott Zwiesel “Pure” stem) is deep, dark red, captivating to the eye. As one might expect, black fruit dominates here — plum, cherry, a touch of brambly blackberry —accompanied by fleeting graphite and lightly roasted coffee bean. Refined tannins proclaim themselves early on.
As I wrote, you’ll be happy pouring theses wines at a meal featuring a standing rib roast, and duck breast is another protein I’d serve with them. Add Bill Blass’s meatloaf or a rib eye steak to this category as well.
This rib roast for two married well with the Escudo Rojo selections.
If you typically avoid Chilean wines in this price range, thinking their heat and sweetness will repel, give these two bottles a chance. If you don’t like them, call me.
The Pio Cesare winery was founded in 1881, by the man himself, Pio Cesare, in Alba. If you appreciate Barolos and Barbarescos, you certainly know the name. The fifth generation of the family is now involved in the business, and I am comfortable stating that —barring a climate catastrophe — the 10th generation of the family will one day make great wines under the label.
The family that makes wine together stays together …
I wrote Barolo and Barbaresco, but a few days ago I drank a Chardonnay from Pio Cesare, the 2016 Piodilei Langhe DOC. It’s a barrel-fermented wine from the Il Bricco vineyard in Treiso and the Colombaro vineyard in Serralunga d’Alba. The Il Bricco vines were planted in 1980 (the very first Chardonnay planting of the winery).
I loved this wine. It’s a serious Chardonnay, with an elegant, long finish. Apples cooked for three hours at low heat, wet speckled stones, flowering lime, almonds … those things and more struck me while drinking the Piodilei. A profound and refreshing creaminess is also evident.
A serious Chardonnay
This Chardonnay begins fermentation in stainless, then is moved to French oak for eight months. Six months of bottle-aging then follow. It represents what the family says is “our desire to produce a white wine with the same body, complexity, and aging potential of the great reds historically produced in the area.” They met their goal with this wine.
It comes with a $50 suggested retail price, and you can enjoy it now, or hold until 2022. I would happily pair the Piodilei with a mussel risotto.
Rolando Herrera’s story has been told many times, and it is certainly a tale worth knowing. What follows is a summary, a relaying of the highlights of a life, because this piece is about the 2016 Mi Sueño Syrah (Napa Valley). First, the man behind the wine.
The story can begin when the Herrera family moves to Napa, in 1975, relocating from Michoacán, Mexico. Rolando’s father takes a job in a vine nursery, and the 8-year-old Rolando enters school. In 1980, the elder Herrera, ready to retire, returns to Mexico, taking his family with him.
In 1983, Rolando and his brother move back to St. Helena. Rolando said that he missed the American way of life and the beauty of the Napa Valley. He enrolls in high school and work nights and weekends as a dishwasher at Auberge du Soleil.
In 1985, Herrera starts working as a cellar rat at Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, where he learns the craft of making wine from Warren Winiarski. Three years later, he is named cellar master at Stag’s Leap.
Lorena Herrera is the co-founder and co-owner of Mi Sueño.
Chateau Potelle is Herrera’s next stop. In 1995, he joins the winery as assistant winemaker. In 1997, he marries Lorena Robledo, and that same year the couple launches Mi Sueño Winery with 200 cases of Chardonnay made from fruit purchased from Lorena’s father. It was an instant success.
This summary does not do justice to the Herrera tale, which is nothing short of an archetypal American success story. Rolando went on to work at Vine Cliff Winery (beginning in 1998) and at Paul Hobbs Winery (beginning in 2001), and in 2003 he and Lorena founded Herrera Vineyard Management.
Before we get to the 2016 Syrah, a few more notes about Mi Sueño:
The 1999 Mi Sueño Los Carneros Chardonnay was served at the Bush White House at a state dinner honoring the president of Mexico, Vicente Fox.
The 2006 Mi Sueño Russian River Valley Pinot Noir was poured at the Bush White House during the 2008 Cinco de Mayo celebration.
President Barack Obama’s first state dinner, honoring Mexico’s president at the time, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, featured the 2006 Herrera Rebecca Cabernet Sauvignon. (In 2004, the couple founded the Herrera portfolio, starring single-varietal and single-vineyard bottlings named after their children.)
Rolando Herrera knows how to prune vines.
In 2004, Rolando began devoting all of his time to Mi Sueño, and in 2016 he and Lorena purchased a property on Mount Veeder, where they plan to construct a winery and a tasting room.
The 2016 Mi Sueño Napa Valley Syrah
To the Syrah: 2016 was a great growing season in Napa Valley, marked by moderate temperatures in July and August and an increase in heat closer to harvest. The fruit was in great condition when it was picked, in mid-October.
This 2016 Syrah (Coombsville AVA) was aged for 20 months (50 percent new French oak); it is 100 percent Syrah, and the fruit came from the Cortese Vineyard. Alcohol is at 14.5 percent, and 290 cases were produced.
If you like Syrah, you will want to buy a bottle of this wine; if you are not overly familiar with Syrah, this bottle a good one to add to a Syrah tasting panel. You will certainly note the peppery characteristic here, white pepper to be exact. Vanilla and black fruit are also evident.
I opened this bottle immediately upon taking it from a 55-Fahrenheit environment, and sampled it shortly thereafter. Dark purple color in the glass, and the tannins are soft, even supple. (I left the bottle uncorked for the rest of the day, until dinner, and the tannins grew a touch softer.) With the elapsed time since the cork was pulled, subtle notes of bay leaf and cola emerged.
A rack of lamb goes well with the Mi Sueño Syrah.
Pairing this wine is going to be fun. I plan to have at least one bottle at the table come Thanksgiving, because I think it will marry perfectly with the smoked turkey we’re ordering. Lamb is another way to go with this Syrah, which is what I did on the tasting day, a rack crusted with panko and Parmigiano-Reggiano. You can order this Syrah directly from the winery, or inquire at your favorite merchant.
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.
Another day, another Zoom Virtual Tasting … and an excellent one at that.
Joshua Maloney was the main attraction, along with wines from three brands for which he serves as consulting winemaker. They are highly enjoyable pours, and they represent great value. These are wines to purchase by the case and share with family and friends.
Here’s a rundown of what we tasted, after which we’ll get back to Maloney. (I’ll publish reviews of the wines on Mise en Place soon.)
Maloney, who has a degree in chemistry from Cornell, started out in the industry as an assistant winemaker at Heron Hill Winery, in New York’s Finger Lakes region. His next stop was Napa, and Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, where he spent time as a lab technician and cellar worker. Estancia Estates was next — he was in charge of the Merlot program there — and in 2005, at 32, he moved on to Chateau Ste. Michelle, where his title was red winemaker.
Maloney has also added to his experience at Milbrandt Vineyards and Wahluke Wine Company, and boasts more than 100 90-plus scores (thus far) for his wines. In addition, he has a single-vineyard project that intrigues me: “Each year I will contract one acre of Cabernet Sauvignon from a grower and vineyard I respect. I will tailor the winemaking to accentuate the terroir of that site. I will document the winemaking here.”
Since 2016, Malony has worked as a consultant, and Aquilini Family Wines, the name behind the brands we tasted during the Zoom session, made a wise decision when it hired him. You can taste his experience in the bottle. Here is Maloney in Wine Talk:
James Brock: How has COVID-19 changed your work and life?
Joshua Maloney: I’m embarrassed to admit this, but the pandemic hasn’t affected me adversely, either professionally or personally. I’ve been working remotely since 2016, when I started consulting exclusively, and that work has actually expanded considerably over the last year. As far as personal impact, I’ve been able to spend a lot more time with my daughters (12 and 14), which I’ve enjoyed immensely. Please don’t ask them how they feel about that. I’ve always been a homebody, so not being able to go out and socialize in person hasn’t bothered me that much. Quarantine hasn’t been too difficult for introverts like me, which hasn’t received much press, probably because we’re introverts.
JB:Tell us about three wines you think are drinking well at the moment. What makes them worthwhile?
JM: I’m knee deep in harvest right now, so I’m not actually drinking much wine. Partly because of the old adage that “it takes a lot of beer to make wine” — but mostly because I try not to drink too much during harvest — I frequently get calls or texts at 4 a.m. with issues that arise during picking and don’t need my judgment clouded from the night before.
However, like most winemakers, much of what I drink is wine made by colleagues. Recently, I had some Chenin Blanc from Pacific Rim that was really enjoyable, very dry and crisp to the point of being almost austere, with very lively aromatics. I also had a Roussanne from Goose Ridge that impressed me, very rich and lush on the palate with ripe fruit character on the nose. One wine that I made for Aquilini that I’m also enjoying at the moment is the Be Human Rosé of Cabernet Sauvignon. I really like how this incredibly powerful grape can make a Rosé that is very delicate and perfumed.
Manfred and Elaine Krankl, of Sine Qua Non and more. (Sine Qua Non photo)
JB: If cost was no consideration, tell us the one bottle you would add to your personal collection, and why?
JM: Probably something from Sine Qua Non … I’m not sure which one, though. I’ve always been a big fan of these wines, but also of the winemaker, Manfred Krankl. The wines are incredibly expressive and powerful, and his approach to winemaking has been an inspiration to me.
JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?
JM: Cabernet Sauvignon, hands down. This grape can produce wines in such a broad spectrum of qualities. They can be simultaneously powerful and elegant, with complexity and layers that show pronounced characteristics unique to both the vintage and the vineyard in which they were grown. I also like the fact that it takes a practiced hand to bring out these qualities and frame them in an enjoyable fashion. With other varieties, one can be accidentally successful with application of technique and produce an enjoyable wine, but that rarely happens with Cab. Discipline, study, and attention to detail are required to show the best of what this grape has to offered. It’s not a grape for the faint of heart.
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?
JM: Not a terribly specific answer, but any full-bodied red wine from Washington from the 2018 vintage would fit this bill. The 2018 reds are turning out to be some extraordinary wines with dense, rich tannins that will definitely allow them to age well.
JB: Where is your go-to place when you want to have a glass or bottle? COVID-19 has put a crimp on going out, but pre-pandemic, where did you go?
JM: I don’t really have a go-to place outside my own home, especially in 2020. But before this year, it would be most common for me to have a glass (or more) of wine at a friend’s house.
Most of my friends are in the wine industry, many of them winemakers, and it’s very common when winemakers get together for them to open an obscene number of bottles of wine, take a taste or two of each, then set them aside. It may seem wasteful to many to end the night with a dozen or more open bottles that are more than half full, but for winemakers that’s not the case. Wine cannot be truly enjoyed until it’s opened (although a case could be made for the anticipation also being part of the enjoyment). And winemakers, perhaps more than most people, enjoy the experience of learning about a new wine most of all. So for us it’s not a waste, but an amazing gift to have another like-minded person with whom to share so many new experiences.
JB: If there was one thing you wish everyone would keep in mind when buying and drinking wine, what is it?
JM: It’s not as complicated as you think it is. There’s always been a lot of gatekeeping in the world of wine, but there are no right or wrong answers anymore. In fact, there never were. Drink what you like, how you like, and pair it with whatever food you like.
JB: What is your “wine eureka moment,” the incident/taste/encounter that put you and wine on an intimate plane forever?
JM: Spring semester, my final year at Cornell (1995), Introduction to Wines class. A few weeks after the class started we got to the section on Burgundy, and the last wine we tasted was a 1959 Vosne-Romanée (sadly, I don’t remember the producer). I vividly remember having an emotional response to this wine, akin to chills up and down my spine. I had never had a reaction like that to food or drink before, but many times from music and art. I thought to myself, “If wine can make people feel this way I need to be a part of this world.”
JB: What has been the strangest moment or incident involving wine that you have experienced in your career?
JM: I don’t think I’ve had many strange moments or incidents involving wine, but I did have a notable encounter that set me on my current path. After college, I was struggling to find an entrance into wine production and instead flirted with a few different careers. During that time my paternal grandmother died, and I traveled with my family back to Upstate New York for the funeral service. During the wake, I was chatting with lots of relatives and family friends. Many were asking me what I wanted to do with my new degree in chemistry, and I inevitably started talking about wine. It turns out that one of the friends at the service had a son-in-law who was the head winemaker at a winery in the Finger Lakes. He arranged an introduction, and a short time later I was offered an assistant winemaker job, and the rest is history.
JB: What is your favorite wine reference in a work of literature or in a film?
JM:“Reamde”, by Neal Stephenson, has a very quick, almost throwaway reference to a dry Riesling from Horse Heaven Hills. I was almost giddy when I read that, because I know the author lives in Seattle and was probably thinking of a specific wine when he wrote that, and chances are I know the wine (or at least know of it). It made me feel a personal connection to the author for a brief moment.
A heatwave was upon us in downtown Los Angeles late last week.
Our apartment’s living room boasts a wall of windows — glass from floor to ceiling — and while the view is a fine thing to possess, the south-facing orientation becomes a heat trap, a condition heightened when the temperature hovers around 100 degrees Fahrenheit, as it did for two days last week.
A wine I sampled recently is ideal for the current heatwave (I would drink it on a cooler day as well, because the quality/price ratio here is solid). It’s the 2019 “Didyme” Salina IGT from Tenuta Capofaro. It has a suggested retail price of $26.
How much do you know about Malvasia di Lipari the grape? Well, according to Ian D’Agata’s Native Wine Grapes of Italy, it’s been produced since at least the first century B.C.E.; the esteemed botanist Francesco Cupani (1657-1710) mentions it in 1696, using the word malvagia. Sicily is its domain, and Carlo Hauner Sr., a painter and designer, is credited with popularizing it for modern palates. Hauner, from Milan, maintained a second home on the Lipari islands — situated off the northern coast of Sicily — and began producing wine there. (The wine made from the grape is known as malvasia delle Lipari).
“Malvasia di Lipari is immediately recognizable due to its very scrawny, elongated, cylindrical (rarely cylindrical-conical) grape bunch and small, round berries with thin skins,” writes D’Agata.
Malvasia di Lipari
This is a grape, D’Agata continues, that buds early, is susceptible to spring frosts, and is sensitive to oidium. It is an irregular producer, and it is low-yielding. It loves volcanic soil, but is not that vigorous.
At one point, this grape was in danger of becoming extinct, but Hauner Sr. and his compatriots have done more than enough to save it, and while it is not a household name in most wine-drinking parts of the world, it is available for purchase at a good numbers of retailers in the United States (inquire at your favorite wineseller).
Drink this wine with sautéed shrimp or a grilled fish.
To the bottle at hand we go. Tenuta Capofaro is owned by Tasca d’Almerita, and is located on Salina — the same island on which Hauner established his estate. Salina IGT is the appellation. Drink this slightly chilled — it was kept at 55 degrees Fahrenheit in the Eurocave, and I put it in the refrigerator for 20 minutes before uncorking.
The Didyme is slightly aromatic — apricot is evident — and I appreciate the way it expresses its volcanic terroir. Crisp, bright, marvelous acidity, and pleasant citrus blossoms are notes that come to mind. You will detect herbal activity as well … acacia perhaps foremost. The grapes used here grow at 20 meters above sea level, and the wine is aged for four months in stainless steel. Alcohol is at 13.5 percent, and residual sugar comes in at 2 grams per liter.
If you are curious about food-pairing suggestions, I know that sautéed shrimp (olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes) go well with this wine, as would grilled fish or scallops. Drink now.
I am sampling other wines in the Tasca d’Almerita portfolio now — all of which are imported to the U.S. by Dalla Terra Winery Direct — and will be writing about them soon.
The fires continue in California, and the feelings of despair and hopelessness can at times (all the time?) overwhelm. Loss of life, property, personal belongings, historic buildings and wineries, crops and vintages … the still-burning Glass Fire, in Napa Valley, is but the latest conflagration to beset the state, and our collective psyche. As I am writing this, on the afternoon of October 1, it is 5 percent contained.
When I am channeling hopelessness about the situation, I flip the script and bring to mind the firefighters and other individuals saving lives, battling the flames, and helping people find safety. Their bravery and tireless work make me feel better. I also think about what I can do. And many others are asking about what they can do, as well.
Here are a few things you can do to help the citizens and organizations of Napa Valley; I am listing them in no particular order.
First, buy wine directly from the wineries of your choice. This is a no-brainer. Purchase by the case. Join a wine club or two. This is a direct way to benefit the people making the wine you love to drink.
If you want to donate funds, The Napa Valley Community Disaster Relief Fund is a great way to go. The 501(c)3 public charity is providing grants for services including housing and legal assistance, as well as cash assistance to homeowners and renters affected by fires.
Here are a few additional organizations you can consider (I will update this list as conditions change):
There will be an end to this fire, of course. But for now, people need our assistance. Let’s do what we can.
To close, I recommend this excellent piece, published in Wired. It is an awe-inspiring look at these fires and the men and women fighting and hoping to prevent them.
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