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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

“I wanted to drink wines like that forever and understand what made them so good.” (Photo by Emma K. Morris)

Ian Cauble, from ‘Somm’ to SommSelect, Keeps On Tasting

March 4, 2021 / / 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. 

Perhaps you’ve seen Somm, the 2012 film that chronicled the attempts of four men to pass the Master Sommelier exam. It’s an entertaining — and at times overly indulgent — look at the process, and has spawned sequels and Somm TV, a streaming service.

Ian Cauble was in the film, and he passed the test. Today, he is one of only 269 individuals in the world to hold the title, conferred by the Court of Master Sommeliers. (The organization and its nonprofit educational arm, GuildSomm, have been beset by (ongoing) controversy as of late; you can read a bit about that here.)

“I was deeply sickened to hear of the reports of sexual harassment and abuse. There is no room for that behavior in this, or any, industry,” Cauble said about the issue. “I stand with those who are ready to make long-overdue changes and create a more equitable organization. We must hold ourselves to the standards of excellence, integrity, and humility that we wish to exemplify.”

The world of wine on your doorstep

In 2014, Cauble founded SommSelect, to, he said, “bring the sommelier experience home.” He is the Chief Wine Officer of the company, an online venture that includes a daily offer, a wine shop, and monthly clubs. David Lynch, whose work at Babbo — at one time my favorite restaurant in New York — joined Cauble at SommSelect in 2017 as editorial director.

Today’s selection at the venture is the 2019 Château du Carrubier, “Cuvée Ingénue” Rosé, and I especially like the Germany selections in the shop, such as “Bacharacher Hahn” from Toni Jost (2017) and the 2014 “Hocheimer Hölle” from Domdechant Werner.

I spoke with Cauble a week or so ago, via Zoom, and learned that SommSelect was profitable. We discussed the complexities of shipping wine, and we talked about Riesling and Germany and Austria.

I look forward to tasting with Cauble in person, but until then, here he is in Wine Talk.

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

Ian Cauble: COVID-19 has obviously changed almost every aspect of daily life for people all over the world. In the face of a pandemic, and so much loss of life and suffering, the first and foremost reaction is just one of sadness for those who have lost loved ones, and tremendous gratitude to healthcare workers and frontline workers who have done so much to keep us safe and keep “normal” life going as much as possible.

As a business owner, of course our number-one priority has been to keep our staff safe and healthy. Some of us have been able to pivot our jobs at SommSelect to working from home, but we have an incredible operations team who have been working in our warehouse under new safety guidelines during COVID and making sure that we’re able to fulfill our orders for customers during the pandemic.

Since we have always been a completely online, DTC business, our model and infrastructure was already very COVID-friendly, and it has been interesting to see people who probably never thought they’d want to buy wine online realize that it’s actually pretty awesome to have wine that’s been hand-selected for you just show up at your door.

As the Chief Wine Officer of our company, one of my main responsibilities is sourcing wines from new producers and regions, so that usually involves a lot of travel in a given year. Cearly all of that came to a screeching halt last March. Of course, I’m itching to get out on the wine route again once it’s safe to do so, but thankfully our suppliers are sending us wines to taste with our team here in Sonoma, so the business hasn’t skipped a beat. I’m just extremely grateful to all of the people who have helped make that possible over the last year.

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?

IC: The first wine I would mention is a Nebbiolo from Piedmont called Conti Boca DOC 2012 ($70). I bought a case from one of our (SommSelect) Daily Offers two years ago and the wine is now firing on all cylinders. I open it with special guests that come over for dinner, usually paired with a slow-braised beef cheek pappardelle with fresh parmesan.

This is an incredible wine made in miniscule quantities just northeast of Barolo within “Alto-Piemonte” (high Piedmont), where it is slightly cooler, with the vineyards sitting in the foothills of the Italian Alps. Until recently the family farmed only about five acres of vines, and the wine is reminiscent of a top-class Barolo/Barbaresco meets fine red Burgundy. The higher elevation leaves more floral notes in the wine and the alcohol is a bit lighter, leaving more tension and minerality. When this wine is paired with the correct dish, served in a big Burgundy stem at just above cellar temp,  it can be magical. The production is so small SommSelect gets about 300 bottles a year only, and it is sold as a daily offer.

The next wine I love right now is Walter Scott “La Combe Verte” 2019 Chardonnay ($36), from Willamette Valley. Walter Scott is an up-and-coming superstar in the Oregon wine scene who makes wines very similar to Burgundy’s famous village of Puligny-Montrachet, where many of the greatest white wines on earth are made every year.

The latitude, soils, and climate of the Willamette Valley are all very similar to Burgundy, and that allows producers to make incredible expressions of Chardonnay that can fool many great tasters into thinking the wine is in fact from a famous site in France costing much more. The “Combe Verte” is the entry-level wine from their offerings, which gives the viewer a sneak-peek into how good their top wines are, as their “entry-level” wine is better than other producers’ best offerings. This wine was included in our Explore 4 wine club as one of the four selections this month, where we focused on Oregon. It is a chameleon with food: I have enjoyed it with yellowtail nigiri sushi, and it can pair beautifully with a simple roasted chicken and potatoes. One tip: Make sure to decant their wines for 30 to 60 minutes, as they often need oxygen to open up properly. Also, do not serve this wine too cold — about cellar temp (55F) or so is perfect. 

My third selection would have to be Knoll “Schütt” Riesling 2017 ($68), from Austria’s Wachau region just outside of Vienna. The Wachau is one of the most beautiful wine regions in the world and is an UNESCO World Heritage site. These terraced vineyards are a sight to behold, and they produce some of the most spectacular dry white wines in the world. Weingut Knoll is one of the top producers in the region, and I feel honored each time I get to visit and taste the wines. They pair impeccably well with Cantonese cuisine, and I really enjoy pairing his Rieslings with fresh steamed fish with jasmine rice along with bok choy sautéed with ginger and a touch of sesame oil. The simplicity of the dish allows the deep complexities of the Riesling to shine. Alternatively, bring a bottle of Knoll Riesling to a dim-sum restaurant and prepare to be addicted to the experience. You will never forget it.

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

IC: I would add Domaine de la Romanée-Conti – Romaneé-Conti 1990. It is one of my favorite vintages in Burgundy, from my favorite producer, and is approaching its peak of drinking now. There are other wines that might be older and rarer, but the odds of drinking perfection are extremely high.

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

IC: My favorite grape is Pinot Noir. This is a tough one, but Pinot Noir has the ability to express so many different personalities all over the world. My favorite region of course is Burgundy, but other areas around the world are starting to make stunning expressions of Pinot Noir. Other than DRC noted above, the wines produced by Domaine Leroy are extraordinary, and her Musigny Grand Cru is truly magical. I rarely get to taste it.

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? 

IC: I would recommend Krug Champagne, Grand Cuvée in magnum or 3 liter. Before I started SommSelect, I worked as the United States ambassador for Krug, and that was an experience I will never forget. To see how these wines evolve over time is truly special, and one of the very best wines I ever tasted was an older bottle of Grande Cuvée out of a 3L right after I passed my Master Sommelier exam. In terms of price to quality, there are a few wines in the world that can compete, and the pleasure factor is an 11 on a 10 scale.

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

IC: I usually end up at Cadet in downtown Napa. Everyone that works there is extremely knowledgeable and kind, and the prices on the wine list are not much more than normal retail. It makes it easy to go in there and drink a couple of special bottles without breaking the bank. Their selections are top-notch.

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

IC: I think most people drink white wine way too cold and red wine way too warm. I also think people should be investing in nice glassware because, just like a speaker is to music, your wine will be only as good as your glass you are drinking out of it in terms of aromatic complexity, etc. Zalto makes some great glassware to consider; their Burgundy stem takes drinking Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to another level entirely.

So many corks to pull … (Photo by Emma K. Norris)

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

IC: When I returned from traveling overseas for a year and a half after college, I came home broke. I borrowed money from my dad to buy a suit and ended up getting a job at the Wine Merchant of Beverly Hills off Rodeo Drive. A few weeks after I started my boss asked me to go open up a bottle of Domaine G. Roumier Musigny Grand Cru 1990 for him and a special client nand pour it into these special Riedel stems. I polished the glasses and opened up the wine and poured myself a taste, and my life was forever changed.

I had no idea a wine could be so perfumed and thought-provoking! It smelled like strawberries and cream in a cold forest … underbrush, roses, mushrooms, and black truffles. I was literally getting emotional from smelling it. From that moment on, I put all of my focus into learning as much as I could about wine because I wanted to drink wines like that forever and understand what made them so good.

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

IC: Probably the time when the table I was serving asked the proper way to open a bottle of Champagne. At that time I opened up dozens of bottles a day, but had no idea that this particular bottle had just been delivered a few hours before and had been shaken up all day on the delivery truck. I showed them how to leave the cage on and remove the cork and cage together at the same time for safety while holding the bottle at a slight angle. I then slowly removed the cork from the bottle as usual, and the moment the cork released the wine sprayed all over me and the roof like an explosion, giving a nice gift of Rosé Champagne spray to the ladies in front of me. Ironically, the next week I flew to Athens to compete for the Best Young Sommelier in the world and won gold for the U.S. I always laugh about that story. 

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

IC: The Jerk (1979). Steve Martin, when asked if he’d like another bottle of Château Latour: “Yes, but no more 1966. Let’s splurge! Bring us some fresh wine, the freshest you’ve got. This year’s! No more of this old stuff. He doesn’t realize he’s dealing with sophisticated people here.”

Want more wine? Read on:

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

Joshua Maloney began his career in New York's Finger Lakes region.

Wine Talk: Joshua Maloney on Manfred Krankl, Riesling, and Introversion

October 9, 2020 / / 1 Comment

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.)

2019 Roaming Dog Chardonnay, Columbia Valley ($14)
2018 Roaming Dog Red Blend, Columbia Valley ($14)
2018 Dixie & Bass Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley ($18)
2018 Be Human Merlot, Columbia Valley ($17)

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.

Want more wine? Read on:

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

Nate Klostermann loves sparkling wines, and he's been making some great ones in the Willamette Valley.

Argyle’s Nate Klostermann on Riesling, Rainy Harvests, and Townes Van Zandt

August 27, 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. 

Earlier this year, I received a few bottles of wine whose arrival made be happy. Very happy. I was excited because I had not had a taste of Argyle sparkling in about five years, and a bottle of it was in the box. It was a 2016 Vintage Brut.

A few days later, the bottle properly chilled, I opened the Brut. It was excellent, as I expected. If you are not familiar with Argyle, I promise that you want to get to know the winery and its offerings, which include — but are not limited to — Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, Rieslings, and Pinot Meuniers.

Looking for a sparkling wine for your table? The 2016 Argyle Vintage Brut is one to consider.

The 2016 Vintage Brut is a continuation of what began in 1987, when Rollin Soles went on a mission to produce great sparkling wines in the Willamette Valley. In order to do so, he would need to grow outstanding Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

More than three decades later, it is widely held that Soles accomplished what he set out to do. The estate program he envisioned and developed now encompasses more than 400 planted acres.

Rollin Soles, who grew up in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs, hangs out with some fine people. (Courtesy Rollin Soles)

Enter Nate Klostermann, who is the subject of this Wine Talk. He succeeded Soles as winemaker at Argyle in 2013, having been chosen by the man himself after serving as his trainee for eight years. Soles has good taste, and is a discerning judge of character, because Klostermann’s portfolio is full of noteworthy vintages.

The Knudsen Vineyard, in the Dundee Hills AVA, is planted with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Petit Meunier.

Klostermann was born and raised in rural Wisconsin, and has a degree in food science from the University of Minnesota. The hobby of home brewing sparked an interest in wine, and he took a job at Falconer Vineyards — located in Red Wing, Minnesota — an experience that cemented his career path.

I like Klostermann’s approach to winemaking; he loves to experiment (skin soaking, mixing ripeness levels, whole cluster), and he’s making wines that will last.

In addition to the Brut, I also sampled the 2018 Argyle Nuthouse Pinot Noir, and the 2018 Nuthouse Chardonnay, both of which are drinking well. (I have another bottle of the Pinot cellared away.) My next Argyle tasting will be Riesling-centric. I look forward to visiting the Willamette Valley next year, and Argyle will be on the itinerary.

Let’s see what Klostermann has on his mind.

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

Nate Klostermann: The daily operations in the winery have slowed down a bit in terms of pace and spacing with bottling and disgorging, but we have been lucky in that we have such a spacious facility, we’ve been able to keep good distance from each other. We’ve been tasting and blending wines outdoors more recently, which has brought a new and interesting aspect to the interpretations of the wines. No more travel, public tastings, or wine dinners, but the Zoom tasting experience has been positive in that we can interact with more tasters across the globe. 

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?

NK: 2009 Argyle Extended Tirage Brut ($80) — Disgorged one year ago, this wine is really coming together, highlighting the freshness of recent disgorgement with the deep and complex palate of extended lees aging. I like to drink this on its own to feel the different levels on their own, but I would pair with grilled prawns. 

2018 Argyle Nuthouse Riesling ($30) — I love the depth of the 2018 Riesling vintage; it really builds power and length with incredible acidity. We’ve been experimenting with extended barrel aging on our Riesling in the last five years, and I think we’ve hit the sweet spot of freshness and depth at about 11 months of aging. It’s a great food wine; I always gravitate to Southeast Asian, as it can pair with so many foods from there. We’ve developed an annual tradition of including a food pairing only for the Riesling in the tasting notes since 2003 — this year I’ve chosen Cao lầu from Hội An, Vietnam, a rice noodle dish with pork and greens. 

2018 Pray Tell Chardonnay ($40) — Fresh, vibrant, subtle spiciness, incredible length, and purity. This is very small production, made by a wonderful husband and wife duo in McMinnville whom I adore. Their wines are both serious and playful, and are a treat to get your hands if you can catch them in time. My favorite pairing with this wine is Oregon Dungeness crab with lots of melted butter and flaky sea salt. 

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

1979 Krug, Clos du Mesnil. I’d love to try any of these Clos du Mesnil wines from this era, but 1979 was the first vintage of this bottling and I feel would be an incredible glimpse into the historical style of blanc de blancs, which is my favorite style of Champagne. 

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

NK: Chardonnay is my favorite grape because there are so many beautiful expressions throughout the world, both with still wine and sparkling wine. 

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? 

NK: I would recommend the 2018 Nuthouse Pinot Noir to lay down for 10 years. With incredible balance of depth and freshness, it also has firm structure from the Eola-Amity Hills that will age gracefully and provide tension for many years to come. 

Pinot Noir and Argyle are a great team.

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?

NK: My favorite two places to drink and explore Champagne are in Portland: Ambonnay and Pix Pâtisserie/Bar Vivant. They have incredible curation and a selection of wines at great prices from the two most passionate Champagne heads I know. 

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

NK: Sparkling wines should be drunk more often than just on special occasions and celebrations. Incredibly versatile and food friendly, they should be enjoyed year-round and with foods of all kinds. 

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

NK: My “aha moment” was when I started as an intern at Argyle in 2005, tasting a freshly disgorged 1995 Extended Tirage Brut. I was young and was just starting to learn about sparkling wine. I was blown away by the time invested, precision, love, and purity that went into it. Explosive freshness, deep complexity — the idea that you could make a wine like this for a living got me hooked and has kept me continually engaged in the exploration of long-aged sparkling wines. 

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

NK: The strangest/most challenging moment in my career was the harvest of 2013. The fruit was right on the edge of ripeness and Mother Nature opened up a deluge of rain upon the Valley. Some say that we got 8 inches in one weekend. It was my first harvest officially being in charge. Grapes were exploding on the vine and juicing out on the trucks. We had to drink a lot of whiskey to get through it. Thankfully, we were still able to make some excellent prestige wines that year, despite the challenging vintage.  

Townes Van Zandt: “Now I’ve seen the light and heard the word
And I’m staying away from that ol’ dirty Thunderbird
A message come from heaven radiant, and fine,
All I drink now is communion wine
Six days a week”

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

Townes Van Zandt, Talking Thunderbird Wine Blues. Favorite songwriter of all time … playful, dark, brilliant 

Want More Wine? Read on:

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

Another harvest nears ...

Wines For Summer and Beyond

July 22, 2020 / / 0 Comments

How’s your summer going? Is it summer? Judging by most of the conversations I’m having, it’s a summer like no other … I do not count among my friends or acquaintances anyone who remembers the global pandemic of 1918-1919.

As usual, I’ve been tasting a lot of wines, for review purposes and otherwise, and every time I sit down to write about them, I hear a voice in my head saying something along these lines: “Wine? You are writing about wine? The world is falling apart, the alleged leader of the U.S. performing on par with the leaders of Russia, India, and Brazil, a pandemic is killing hundreds of thousands of your fellow citizens, and you are extolling the wonders of Riesling?”

I listen to the voice, and I know it has a great point. “I am writing about wine, I respond to the voice, but I am also working on a piece that will attempt to lay out my emotions and thoughts about the chaos and dysfunction we are all experiencing.” The voice grows quiet, for a moment …

Yesterday, I published Wine Talk, this one featuring Bibiana González Rave, and today I’m going to sample one of her wines, a Syrah. She makes a Sauvignon Blanc that I wish everyone could taste. Get to know her, and buy some of her wines.

My Summer Wine Guide was published last week, at PaperCitymag.com. It is a selection of bottles I love, wines from, among other places, Italy and Oregon and California and Germany. Give it a read here.

As always, drink well, with those you love.

Want more wine? Read on:

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

Aron Weinkauf has been a part of Spottswoode since 2006.

Spottswoode’s Aron Weinkauf Has Spain To Thank for His Life in Wine

June 23, 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. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has put me behind in meeting new people in person. Fellow writers, cooks and chefs, sommeliers, and, of course, winemakers. Aron Weinkauf (oh yes, he definitely has an appropriate family name!) is one of the individuals I look forward to meeting when next we are in Napa, and he’s the star of the latest Wine Talk.

Weinkauf is both vineyard manager and winemaker at the storied Spottswoode estate, whose team he joined in 2006 (as assistant winemaker). He is only the fifth head winemaker in Spottswoode’s history.

Weinkauf grew up in Nevada, where his family tended a vegetable garden (organic at that) and raised a variety of animals, including pigs, chickens, and horses. He went to school at Berry College, where he studied Spanish, a major that, though he did not know it at the time, put him on the road a career in wine.

During his junior and senior years at Berry, Weinkauf studied in Spain, where he learned to appreciate a glass of wine at meals. While working as a teacher after college, he volunteered at a winery in Nevada, and fell in love with the processes of growing grapes and making wine. Fresno State University was his next stop.

At the California school, Weinkauf, who was born in 1976, studied viticulture and enology, and he worked as an assistant winemaker at Ficklin Vineyards (which happens to be America’s oldest Port winery) while attending Fresno State. A stint at Paul Hobbs Winery was next.

And then came Spottswoode. Weinkauf oversees the estate’s 24 blocks, making some excellent Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc — if you have not had the pleasure of tasting these wines, do something to change that. He also makes a Syrah, from Sonoma County fruit.

Let’s see what Weinkauf has to say …

Aron Weinkauf with Panda and Cachou: Every estate needs a dog or two.

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?

Aron Weinkauf: First, if you can still find a 2012 Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc, try it. One doesn’t age Sauvignon Blanc that often, but I really love ours with a little age on it. They can be so nuanced and yet still so fresh and youthful. You can get current vintages and try them young and try and age one if you can. My wife makes a salad with grapefruit, lettuce, shallots, a mustard dressing, and then crab or abalone (or any fish/shellfish), that is pretty awesome with it. 

Next, a Keller or Emmerich Knoll Riesling (Trocken) with some Thai or southeast-Asian stir fry.  

Drink this wine, says Weinkauf: Good things come from Weingut Knoll. (Courtesy The Source)

You can get the above bottles online, or ask at your wine shop; the Spottswoode can be ordered directly from us. 

I am very anxious to try a few more Priorat wines, too. I just had one and was amazed. The overripe, jammy versions of the 90’s seem to have made way for some really beautiful, balanced styles now. I want to see if that is true. 

Finally, I would also get a bottle of the Spottswoode’s 2016 or 2014 Estate Cab. Both are exceptional vintages and in very good shape, in youthful places. The 2017 is also great, yet one is rewarded by drinking Cabernets with a little more age on them.   

Weinkauf likes birth-year wines, and this one, from Heitz Cellar (1976), is on his list.

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

AW: I’m a big fan of birth-year wines. It’s so special to open up those bottles to celebrate with friends and loved ones. For myself, a ’76 Heitz Martha’s or Fay. 1977 Taylor’s Port for my wife. My brother’s and sister’s years are still around, too.  I guess I’m lucky in that most are not considered amazing vintages in general, so hunting them can be more affordable. 

Aron Weinkauf wants you to know the stories behind the wines you buy and drink, including those of the people who make it and the places from which it comes. (Courtesy Spottswoode)

JB: What is your favorite grape, and why?

AW: I would say Cabernet Sauvignon. I work with it, always getting to know it more, and love how it grows in the vineyard.  It has a health, structure, and balance in the vineyard, and I see so many of its physical traits in the wines it becomes. We don’t always see how dynamic it can be, but it can be very much so, though always with a more tannic edge.

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? 

AW: Without a doubt I have to say Spottswoode Estate Cab. It’s from a special place, will age beautifully, and I’m proud of what we make. 

Buy this, and let it age.

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

AW: At one point in time I would have told you Willi’s Wine Bar in Santa Rosa. It burned in the Tubbs Fire of 2017, and I now have two young kids, so if not work or home, going out is probably only going to happen with family or at a friend’s … and now socially distanced. (Note: Willi’s Wine Bar reopened, in a new location, in 2019.)

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

AW: Now more than ever, I wish people would know the story behind anything they purchase. Who owns it, how it’s made, farming practices, the effort, labor, and passion that has or has not gone into what you’re buying. There are real people behind each — where we choose to spend our money is how we pick whom we are supporting.  

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

AW: I was lucky enough to have studied in Spain. It was my first introduction to wine at the dinner table, and I loved it. I was lucky, too, that Spain makes some great wines and the people I was with would open good ones. Nothing collectible, just good table wine. 

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

AW: The making of the 2017 vintage wines. The heat spikes of 2017 were so extreme … we hadn’t seen anything like it, and every day brought something new and peculiar. And then to have the vintage punctuated by all of the fires … It was a wild ride for sure. 

Jawohl, Herr Goethe, life is too short to drink bad wine. (Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, Goethe in der roemischen Campagna)

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

AW: There is a quote that I think Tony Soter mentioned to me, but many have heard it: “In winemaking we are all interventionalists, otherwise we’d be making vinegar.”

 On a truer literary basis, I must admit, an immediate reference did not come to mind.  So, I looked up a few things and followed those wormholes a bit.  

From Goethe’s play Götz von Berlichingen: “Wine rejoices the heart of man and joy is the mother of all virtues. ”

And from Groucho Marx: “I shall drink no wine before its time! OK, it’s time!” (I know, a little cliché, but I did have to look this up quickly. )

Want More Wine? Read On:

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

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

L-R: American author Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), his wife, Mary Welsh, Leland Hayward's wife Nancy Hawks, American actor Spencer Tracy (1900-1967), American actor George Jessel (1898-1981), and American producer Leland Hayward (1902-1971) sit in a booth at the Stork Club, New York City, circa 1950. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A Wine (Pinot Noir) For the Fourth of July

July 1, 2017 / / 0 Comments

Oh, Pinot Noir, you can be so vexing. Or perhaps I should restate it this way: Oh, makers of Pinot Noir, some of you can be so vexing. The popularity of the varietal makes for some bad examples. We don’t need any more bad wine. We don’t need overly fruity, sweet Pinot Noir. We need more elegant, complex Pinot Noir. It’s a particular grape, and needs care, not mass production.

Now I write the above with full knowledge and recognition that some people like the type of Pinot Noir that I don’t, and that’s fine. I’m not a wine snob, and I don’t get a kick out of dropping names. I drink what I like, and you should, too. But I do recommend against limiting your palate.

A week or so ago I opened a Pinot Noir that I appreciated, and you can read about it here. If you are persuaded to try it, write and let me know what you think.

The Fourth of July is around the corner, and the menus are being planned. We’ll be doing a pork shoulder low and slow with wood and charcoal … and will have pulled pork sandwiches for the holiday. Along with Craig Claiborne’s baked beans, German potato salad, and a watermelon salad. Click this link for the watermelon salad recipe.

Todd and absinthe in Prague

You need la fée verte …

Wines? Oh, there’ll be a Riesling in a the mix, and some cava, as well. A Pinot Noir is not out of the question, and a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon has been promised by one young woman who will be at the party. I imagine Todd will be making a fine cocktail or two, and we might even be treated to some absinthe.

I’d be remiss if I did not mention a certain Fußball tournament going on right now in Russia. It’s the 2017 Confederations Cup, and Die Mannschaft plays on Sunday in the final against Chile. It kicks off at 2 p.m. EST, so turn the match on and enjoy. (Yesterday, the German U21 team beat Spain in the final of the U21 European Championships, in Poland. Deutschland über alles.)

However you choose to celebrate, relish the long weekend, hug your friends and family, and share your table with people you love.

My Long and Winding Journey With Riesling Continues

November 26, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Terry Theise: A man of wine.

Terry Theise: A man of wine.

So many bottles, so little time. Still, you recall hundreds of moments when the cork slid from the green vessel, the friends near you, the setting (a winery in Rheinland-Pfalz, a castle in Bavaria, Holger and Gudrun’s house, a Houston restaurant, a patch of grass in Brooklyn), the food, the laughter and conversation. It’s a journey that began for you during a magical time, and you’ve learned much in the days and nights since. And through it all, Riesling.

Several years ago I initiated an email conversation with Terry Theise. (Many of you will be familiar with him, and to those of you who aren’t, if you are in the slightest interested in wine, I recommend you get to know him; Reading Between the Vines is a good place to start.) Theise agreed to answer a few questions for me recently, and he’s the star of my latest Wine Talk. Give it a read here, then open a bottle and make some memories.

Brockhaus Arrives: Semifreddo and Salmon Tartare … Reserve Your Place at The First Supper

August 26, 2014 / / 2 Comments

 

Brockhaus is here. Join us on September 27 for The First Supper, and stay tuned for more.

Brockhaus is here. Join us on September 27 for The First Supper, and stay tuned for more.

Two years ago I left Dubai to work in three of Europe’s finest restaurants. I staged at Arzak, Amador, and Spring, and though I was able to stay in those great kitchens for a short period of time only, the cooks and chefs I worked with and for taught me a lot. I will forever be grateful for the opportunities they gave me.

Those experiences helped me fine-tune the skills I developed in my own kitchens and through years of self-guided learning and dinner parties. Over the years, friends and guests have encouraged me to cook more formally and introduce my food to more people. That time has come.

I am in Houston now, and am proud to introduce The First Supper, a six-course meal that will take place in September. The evening marks the launch of Brockhaus, a culinary think tank focusing on dining events, discussions, cocktail gatherings, symposia and educational programs. Stay tuned for details.

Fried sage deserves a place at your table.

Fried sage deserves a place at your table.

Here is the menu for The First Supper:

1st salmon tartare / roe / crème fraîche

2nd sea and earth: scallop / lardo / bean purée 

3rd prawn / sorrel

4th bisque of wild mushroom / pomegranate 

5th duck breast / peaches / port

6th bacon semifreddo / pigñola brittle

 (complimentary wines served with each course)

If you wish to attend, please RSVP by September 10 to [email protected]

For details – and if you have questions – call 718-360-3988.  Suggested donation of $100 per person.

I have assembled a very fine team for Brockhaus: Isaac Johnson, a sommelier and restaurateur who has worked in Austin and Houston; Vanessa Treviño-Boyd, a sommelier with experience in New York and Houston, among other places; Angela Shah, a journalist and writer who has dined with me across the globe; and Christopher Stanton, a great cook who has worked with me in kitchens in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Houston. We look forward to meeting you, nourishing you, and introducing you to some great and unique wines and some very interesting people.

Bon appétit!

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