Dave the Wine Merchant

Spring Has Sprung – Notes from a wine club shipment

April 22, 2013 by Dave the Wine Merchant

Spring came early to wine country this year. As I write this, the short-lived lupines are out in abundance, providing a purple-blue stage for the prima-donna golden poppies springing up in their midst. And in the vineyards, bud break came early too. Now the growers are sweating out the possibility of frosts for another month – we should be out of the woods if we can make it through Memorial Day without falling below 32°. It was 36° last night.

Serving temperature guildelines

And gardens are burgeoning with fava beans, asparagus, snow peas and edible greens – springtime vegetables providing a welcome change from winter fare. And when our foods change, so do the wines that go with them. So this month’s selections were chosen with an eye (or tastebud?) toward springtime ingredients – a Sauvignon Blanc (always a favorite), Chardonnays, a lighter style Cabernet, and of course, the ever-flexible pinot noirs, among others.

But with Spring comes the promise of heat. If it hasn’t already arrived in your neighborhood it’ll be moving in soon. And heat impacts how we experience a wine. As “room temperature” increases to its summer-time norm, a wine quickly becomes too warm to show its best stuff. And for those of us without wine cellars, that means calling your refrigerator into duty for calculated periods of time until your wine reaches its ideal temperature.

To make this task as easy as possible, I’ve provided the following guide (right). In summary, to move a bottle of wine from room temperature to its ideal temperature, count the number of degrees you need it to move and multiply by five minutes – that’s how long you’ll want to leave it in the refrigerator. Easy.

Cheers!

Dave

My “Grand Cru” Club Selections ($150/quarter)

Crocker & Starr, 2012 Sauvignon Blanc. $32 (all prices before member discount)

What were you doing in 1971? Charlie Crocker was planting grapes in Napa Valley. You would have too, if you were a 3^rd generation Californian and great grandson to the railway magnate. Charlie’s family has a Midas touch. Great Grandad helped bring the world to California, turning it into an economic behemoth. And there was something about a rather large bank too. And he created and sold some successful technology companies. You might say the Crockers were visionaries. Which is why he planted grapes in an unknown place called Napa, way back in 1971.

The “Starr” of the show, however, is Pam Starr, noted winemaker and co-founder of this blessed venture in 1997. I still remember the buzz surrounding this new partnership back in 1998 when I was working weekends in a Napa tasting room. Though one can find delicious Sauvignon Blanc for a lot less, I think you’ll agree this is an intriguing and memorable rendition. And a perfect wine for the foods of Spring.

Ghost Block, 2010 Oakville Estate Cabernet. $66

If you’ve toured Napa Valley, you know the town of Yountville. Home of the French Laundry, Bouchon, Bistro Jeanty, Chandon… and Napa’s first wine grower, George C. Yount. This wine comes from a vineyard that abuts the historic Pioneer Cemetery, and the wine’s name comes from the local lore in which Yount’s ghost wanders the area “overseeing” the modern development of the industry he began. Sounds to me like the sort of local lore a marketing department might create.

The very antithesis of ghostly, this wine is typical Napa – big and bold, expressing blackberries, cherries, mocha and sweet pie spices. A sure hit with any Cab lover, and a candidate for meats and veggies off your summer grill.

The winemaker – Rob Lawson – is very much alive and well. Hopefully, he has many more years before he joins Yount on his moonlit tours as ethereal overseer. This wine has just been released, after spending 24 months lounging in oak before bottling. Always allocated, it’s particularly rare this year, when only 800 cases were produced. Sadly, I have very little left, and with the approach of graduations, Mother’s/Father’s Day, and weddings, I suspect it will soon be as ethereal as Yount’s ghost.

David Fulton Winery, 2009 Petite Sirah, Old Vines, Napa Valley. $45

Another wine of historical significance in Napa, this rare gem hails from “the oldest continuously owned and operated family vineyard in the state of California”. Today, David’s winery is run by his Great Grandson, Fulton, and his wife, Dink. Yes, Fulton and Dink – names almost as rare as their wine. When I read about this wine and its historical significance, I called to see if any were available for you. Sadly, it was not. But then Dink contacted me with the good news that they could provide just enough for my club members. Rare in more ways than one, Petite Sirah can age like nobody’s business. If you can resist the urge to open this wine, lay it down for ten to twenty years. You’ll be amazed by the complexity it develops, and only wish you’d been able to buy more. Me too.

Love their tagline “One vineyard. One wine. Made great.”

Pinot Selections ($75 bi-monthly)

Elke Vineyards, 2010 “Croppy Fetcher” Anderson Valley. $29 (all prices before member discount)

Scene: You’re touring Anderson Valley wineries, sitting at a picnic table in Boonville as you wait for your travel partner (TP) to come out of the local coffee shop with picnic provisions.

(TP sticks head out door) Do you want a horn of Zees?

(You) Whaaaaa???

(TP) You know, to ward off the chill before these Brightlighters drive out to the briny to visit the Fog Eaters for a while before checking into our hotel for a little bilching. You can even break out the branding irons if you like. Then we can go for a drive and watch the croppy fetchers train for the upcoming trials, or maybe even join the abbers.

Clearly, your travel partner found the crash course in Boontling while shopping for provisions. Boontling is a dialect created by the residents of Boonville in the 1800’s. Local winemakers often pay homage to the dying language, now spoken only by aging hippies and cunning linguists. I can tell you that “Croppy” is the Boontling term for sheep, and a “Croppy Fetcher” is a sheep dog, but to decipher the rest of your travel partner’s paragraph, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boontling

The Croppy Fetcher shown on the label was Mary Elke’s sheep dog, Ben. He patrolled the Elke vineyards for years before his demise last year, just a week before the wine was bottled. This wine pays homage to Boontling as well as Ben, so enjoy it with his spirit in mind – joyful, simple, smart and full of life.

Small Vines, 2011 Pinot Noir, Russian River $55.00

When I read about a wine over and over, I want to know about it. Especially when what I’m reading comes from multiple sources. And they are all credible, and all say good things. That’s how I came to spend a Friday afternoon in a small office/tasting room in remote Sebastapol sipping the Sloan Family’s pinots.

I know the label to the right is a bit too small, but can you see the logo at the top? At first glance it looks like a mirror reflection of two opposing grape vines. Look closer and you see a grape vine and its ROOTS – not surprising once you learn that Paul Sloan started his wine career with a vineyard management company. His firm still manages vineyards for some of Sonoma’s top properties, and the grapes for his wines come from these hand-picked growers.

Their wines are not the typical Russian River pinots, notable for their fruit-forward personalities and relatively short-lived (5-7 yr) aging potential. These are wines for the ages, and will improve for years to come before stabilizing and then slowly diminishing – beginning ten years from now. Only 300 cases produced. Unfined/unfiltered, 13.9% alcohol, 15 months in oak (33% new).

Collectible Selections ($55 bi-monthly)

Ousterhout Winery, 2010 Zinfandel, Bradford Mountain (Organic). $31 (all prices before member discount)

Gamine – French for “a girl with mischievous charm”. In San Francisco, it’s also the name of our local French Bistro, where Stephan, Susannah and Alex cater more to regular locals than tourists. And, oh by the way, they make the perfect French fry.

So I’m there a lot. Such as the day I stopped in for a quick lunch at the counter. Not particularly memorable, but on this particular day, at that particular time, a particular wine salesman made a delivery. Turns out he dropped off the Joseph Jewel Pinot Noir.

What are the odds? Earlier that week, our “Pinot Selections” club members had received that same said wine. It proved quite popular. So I stuck out my hand and struck up a conversation. Turns out JJ’s partner/winemaker, Micah Wirth, also crafts a Zinfandel for a San Francisco cosmetic surgeon, name of Ousterhout.

Turns out the wine is good. And so’s the price. Turns out I decide to use the wine for my “Collectible Selections” club members. And finally, turns out you made it far enough to read about it. Now it’s time to buy the wine – you won’t regret it. If you like Zins, that is. This one is classic Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel – cracked black pepper without over-the-top fruit. Delicious and satisfying.

RED ONLY – Fable Vineyard, 2009 Syrah/Mourvedre “Lions Whisker”, South Africa (Biodynamic). $29

First, there’s the package. Striking. Beautiful. Enticing.

But that’s just the outside. Inside is the wine. Distinctive. Nuanced. From Biodynamic vineyards. Following ‘Rudy’ Steiner’s strict practices is challenging enough. But doing so in South Africa, in a vineyard 1/3 of a mile high, where leopards, baboons, venomous snakes and brush fires add challenges of their own… well, that’s just bonkers. One taste and you’ll be glad that partners Rebecca Tanner and Paul Nicholls are just bonkers enough to persevere.

A blend of Syrah and Mourvedre (83/17), note the flowery, dusty fruit in the nose that gives away the wine’s feminine side. Then taste the fruit, tobacco and mocha that brings a masculine yin to that yang.

As the name implies, ‘Lion’s Whisker’ has a fable behind it. “Two sisters, who had always been very close, found out one day that they would be marrying men from different villages. Distraught that they would be separated by some distance and concerned they would grow apart, the sisters went to the village healer and asked if he had any potions to help cement their bond for life. He told them that yes, he did, but he would need a lion’s whisker to make it. The two sisters spent many weeks lingering near where the lion drank from the lake so that he would eventually trust that they meant him no harm. After many weeks, one of the sisters finally reached out and pulled a whisker from the lion, and they took it to the healer. “Alas,” he said, “there is no potion after all, but if you have the dedication and bravery to make a lion trust you, you already have everything you need to keep your relationship strong forever.”

Molnar, 2011 Chardonnay, Carneros. $25

After more than a decade of eschewing Chardonnay, I’m coming back into its fold. It’s not me who is changing, it’s the wine – lower in alcohol and post-harvest manipulations, the wines are more nuanced. These layers of flavor make a wine interesting beyond the first glass. And the 2011 vintage helped – long and cool, it allowed flavors to develop while maintaining natural acidity without spikes in sugar.

Look for Chardonnay’s tell-tale citrus zest, orange blossoms, caramelized sugar and warm vanilla cream. Molnar is a Hungarian family, and the only winery I know of that uses only Hungarian oak barrels (33% new, in this case), which bring a uniquely delicious sweet spice note without being over-powering. 1,070 cases produced, 14.3% alcohol.

Crowd-Pleasing Selections ($35 bi-monthly)

Heron, 2010 Cabernet Sauvignon, Mendocino. $14

Think climate change hasn’t impacted your wine? Here’s a sobering stat – Since 1980, the average Napa Cabernet has increased from 12.5% to 15.5% alcohol – a 24% increase. But Laely Heron marches to her own drum. Seeking Cabernet from cool, high-altitude vineyards she crafts lower-alcohol food wines that still boast of phenolic ripeness. That’s a snooty way of saying they don’t taste weedy.

What would you expect? Laely learned about wine in France, where alcohol levels are more reasonable. These are food wines at a price that makes them an everyday treat. Unlike most Cabernets, this wine easily treads the tightrope between bold and delicate – comfortable with stews, roast meats and braised dishes as well as lighter meals such as pork, roast poultry, pasta or grilled fish and veggies on the grill.

RED ONLY – Rock Hollow, 2010 Cabernet, Paso Robles. $23

Cabernet. You’ve tasted, what, maybe several hundy? God, it’s a great grape. King of Bordeaux and Napa. Makes it difficult to introduce a notable Cabernet. Which is what I’m always looking for – one that’s just a little better. Unique. Good value. More than just fruit and alcohol and a high price. Sameness stinks.

Well, this one is unique. Affordable. With 15% Cabernet Franc for greater complexity. Alcohol under 14%. So you can enjoy it with more than just steak.

Its Pedigree? This is the value label for the Firestone family’s Curtis winery. Yeah, THAT Firestone. Tires. The Bachelor. Breweries. Restaurants. Wineries. Guess I should say “THOSE” Firestones. The family that brought fine wine – and Andre Tchelistcheff – to the Central Coast a few decades back.

I’d say we owe them a little gratitude. You will too, once you separate the cork from this bottle. Why are you still reading this? Go get a corkscrew. And don’t worry, there’s more where this came from.

Sonoma Oaks, 2010 Chardonnay, Sonoma. $18

Rounding errors. If you’re like me, you pay your bills to the nearest even dollar amount. Anything less is just a rounding error. If you’re like the government, anything less than a million is a rounding error. And if you’re the Bronco Wine Company, the production numbers on this wine are a rounding error.

But Chardonnay fans will find here an affordable friend. Despite the use of certain winemaker’s shortcuts, or perhaps because of them, this wine offers the iconic Chardonnay experience without breaking the bank. Hints of vanilla cream balance nicely with the more austere citrus; and its lower alcohol level makes it a well-behaved dinner companion for a wide range of lighter fare.

0 Comments | Filed in Wine.

50 Shades of Gris (Grey)

March 22, 2013 by Dave the Wine Merchant

It used to be so clear. Things fell into simple categories. Black or white. Good or bad. With us or against us. Easy.

Then some braniac introduced the grey area – neither white nor black, neither good nor bad. Areas open to interpretation. Conditional morality. Circumstantial justifications. Flawed heroes.

And then, just recently, a pudgy middle-aged British mom-cum-best-selling-sex-author (the most unlikely sex guru since Dr. Ruth!) introduced the idea of FIFTY shades of grey, and forever more we’ll have to consider not just one or two shades of nuance, but FIFTY of them.

And the notion is spreading to other fields, areas one would never think of as being the subject of hued doubt. Even the world of wine, it turns out, finds winegrapes caught in this nether world of grey – not quite white and yet not quite red, either. These lightly-hued orbs look like a white grape that really wants to turn red.

What used to be a simple red or white is now a complicated situation I’m calling “50 shades of Gris, Grigio and Grey“.

OK, so I’m still working on the catchy title. But trust me, the wines are just plain yum.

Just one of the 50 shades of Pinot Gris!

Pinot Gris ready for harvest. Staete Landt Vineyards, Marlborough, New Zealand

The grape known as Pinot Gris (or Pinot Grigio – same grape, different country) produces a wide range of intriguing styles of wine. It can be light and crisp (Pinot Grigio from Northern Italy typifies this style) to wines that are rich and ripe with a distinctive waxy note (though I always felt that description was less pleasurable than the experience would indicate). To see what I mean, try one of the more viscous, oilier Pinot Gris from the warmer parts of California or New Zealand’s North Island. Compare this wine to a Pinot Gris/Grigio from a cooler climate – tighter wines offering more aromatics and rewards for the focused taster who enjoys layers of complexity, such as those from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France.

Whatever style you prefer, you’ll have to agree that a well-made Pinot Gris is simply a sexy wine. In fact, various descriptions I’ve come across sound as if they were ripped from the pages of one of the ‘Fifty shades’ novels – “Mouth-filling, rich and refreshing” are the words one producer chose to describe their Pinot Gris. Another claims their wine to be “An intense pleasure“. But this one takes the cake – “Enters with a mouth-filling creaminess that lends a generous texture to its long finish and pleasant memory“. Wow. Who’d have thought they were describing a wine?

Here’s a fun idea for an inexpensive night at home – order your favorite Thai food, or whip up a bit of ceviche, or roast your favorite bird. Then invite the neighbors and separate three or four Pinot Gris/Grigio from their corks. Dinner for six, under $100.

Three Pinot Gris In Contrasting Styles:

Morgan, 2010 Pinot Gris, Monterey, $18 - This wine personifies the warm, round and ripe style of Pinot Gris, with a tinge of color from brief skin contact. Good acidity keeps it from being cloyingly round and banal, with enjoyable spice notes complimenting the fruit notes.

Mary Elke, 2011 Pinot Gris, Donnelley Creek Vineyard, $16 - Slightly crisper than the Morgan, this wine is from the cool Anderson Valley area, and expresses that fact with more mouth-watering acidity and a leaner body.

Boeckel, 2008 Pinot Gris, Alsace, $19 - Alsace-Loraine is that region in North-Eastern France that abuts Germany. An even cooler growing region, these beautiful wines are capable of considerable aging, as seen in this particular wine.

Try All Three and Save 17%!- $44 - One bottle of each wine – the perfect start to your tasting party!

Cheers!

0 Comments | Filed in Food and Drink and Wine.

Breathometer – Buy One Now!

March 19, 2013 by Dave the Wine Merchant

I value all of the buyers in my online wine shop and want them to stay alive, out of jail, and free of DUI blemishes. So if you’re one of my customers you simply have to buy one of these Breathometers – perhaps the best $50 you’ll ever spend. Click here to buy.

What’s a Breathometer?
The Breathometer is a small device that is used in tandem with a dedicated smartphone app to provide an instant read of your Blood Alcohol Content (BAC).

Just plug the portable device into the audio jack of your smartphone, open the app, and blow into the sensor to get an instant, color-coded read of your BAC – green means you’re good to go, red means you’d better book alternate transportation (see photo at right)!

The Breathometer isn’t the cheapest portable breathalizer you can find, but it’s easier to use than other models, and because it uses just a small attachment to your ever-present smart phone, is more likely to be available when and where you need it. This just-in-time presence is it’s greatest benefit, as we already know from the success of weight-loss programs involving wireless connections between scale and smartphones, allowing dieters to automatically monitor their progress.

There’s a handy Youtube video for this new product, but my TypePad blog software seems unwilling to embed videos, so you’ll have to click here to watch it in a new window

Future Development Plans
The Breathometer is new – in fact it’s still in Beta – and is currently taking orders for future deliveries (the website has conflicting information – one page says the device begins shipping this summer, another says January 2014). And while experience has taught me it’s never wise to mention features that are not included in the current release, the company says these two enhancements are currently in the works:

The app will record and “learn” your metabolic rate and use it to predict how much time you’ll need before your BAC returns to a safe driving level
Whenever your BAC enters the red zone, a button will allow you to dial a taxi with a single tap

This intelligent device is the brain child of serial entrepreneur, Charles Yim, who led the mobile division of Plum District and the founder of the neighborhood rewards program “Chatterfly”. To fund his current venture, he used the the crowd-sourced site Indiegogo, and has already surpassed his initial goal. His Bay Area roots include graduating from Stanford’s Executive Development Program.

I wish Charles great success with his life-saving product. Click here to buy the Breathometer ($50).

Cheers!

2 Comments | Filed in Current Affairs, Food and Drink and Wine.

Nude Wine Harvest Demands New Phrase

March 13, 2013 by Dave the Wine Merchant

You’ve undoubtedly heard the phrase, “Once in a blue moon“, indicating something that doesn’t happen often. A “Blue Moon” is the astronomical term for that rare month in which two full moons can be seen (about once every 2-3 years). Oddly, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the actual color of the moon.

But there’s no phrase that describes the occurrence of two full moons in a single night. And I think we need one. At least, we will when Australian winemaker Mike Hayes adopts his latest plans to harvest by the light of the full moon, sans clothing. And we’re weeks away from harvest in the Southern Hemisphere, so astronomers will have to work quickly. I implore all such star gazers to put down your pens and the Times Crossword, gather ’round the water cooler and get to work.

Harvesting in the nude by the light of a full moon may seem like a thinly disguised stunt designed to gain visibility for his winery, Symphony Hill (a notion I’ve not yet written off!). But the winery already enjoys considerable fame without resorting to cheap tricks – they’ve won armloads of gold medals and were recently listed as one of Australia’s 5-star wineries by the nation’s top guru, James Halliday. Still, un-oaked Chardonnay enjoyed a bump in sales, presumably, after adopting the generic term “naked Chardonnay”, so who’s to deny the path to success?

Hayes says the idea was just part of the knowledge he brought home after studying ancient winemaking techniques while studying on his Churchill Scholarship. The scholarship funds global travels so Hayes can study old world winemaking techniques and obscure grape varietals. I want to get me one of them scholarships.

Hayes says the ancient tradition of nude winemaking made sense. Clothes made from animal hides were not easily washed, and quickly hosted numerous strains of bacteria. Many of these microscopic bugs would have no affect on the wine, but a few did, and therefore wine was traditionally crushed by the feet of workers wearing nothing but their birthday suits.

Odd, that. I’d have thought the wine’s alcohol would have killed just about any unwanted bacteria. But hey, who am I to put logic in the path of a good story?

Cheers,
Posted by (a fully clothed) Dave Chambers
www.DaveTheWineMerchant.com

0 Comments | Filed in Current Affairs, Food and Drink, Travel and Wine.

Take Israeli wine out of the liquor store ghetto

February 1, 2013 by Dave the Wine Merchant

A good friend and customer of mine went to Israel a few years ago. He went with his Chinese wife and a couple dozen members of his extended Jewish family. He was a bit leery of the whole affair prior to going, I mean, traveling with your immediate family is challenge enough, but aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins…

But when he came home he was excited. Not only had they had a great and memorable visit, but he’d discovered the wines of Golan Heights Winery and couldn’t wait to tell his wine merchant buddy about them. He couldn’t bring me any of the wine, but he did bring one of the winery’s hats, which is on permanent display in our home (I really do need to get a better hat model).

This seems as good an intro as any to the subject of Kosher wines, which have been seeing a huge upsurge in quality over recent decades. Hence this timely (and particularly well-written) guest post from Juda Engelmayer. Enjoy:

Guest Post By: Juda Engelmayer

Having become somewhat of a wine enthusiast over the years, I have tasted many fine wines from all over the world, and have toured wineries in the United States and abroad in pursuit of a recreational oenophile’s whimsy.

Over the past 20 years or so, the market for kosher wines – don’t laugh – has grown, as post Baby Boomers acquired money and taste, and began seeking finer alternatives to the old style syrupy sweet Malaga and Concorde Grape selections of Kedem and Manischewitz.

My late step-mother loved to tell this story. She went to a local liquor emporium known for its kosher wines, and asked for two gallon-sized bottles of ritual (Kiddush) wine, one Malaga and one Concorde. The owner pulled her over to the side and said, in a low voice, “You know, you don’t need to drink that anymore. We have a large selection of really good kosher wines.”

“I know,” she said, with a tinge of regret. “But my husband loves this stuff.”

That was over 15 years ago, and the “large” selection is now a huge one.

In a sense, kosher wines have become ultra-westernized, and along with the fine cars, nice homes, single malt scotches, boutique distilled bourbons and golf outings, kosher baby boomers now collect fine wines.

Fine wine and kosher used to be contradictory terms, but with the rise of so many wonderful vineyards in Israel, the race to produce the best kosher wines soon expanded to Spain, Australia, France, Italy, Chile, Argentina, Australia, New York, California, and every other place non-kosher wines have been made for centuries.

Grapes, like all foods that grow in the ground, are inherently permissible foods, as is the alcohol produced during fermentation. Any wine can be “kosher,” and some kosher consumers accept that they are. A biblical prohibition prohibiting “pagan wine” ceased to be a problem in the first millennium, according to the rabbinic literature of the period, but social contact with non-Jews was an issue, so the ban on “non-kosher” wines continued. “Cooked wine,” on the other hand, was permissible, even during social contact with non-Jews. Thus, “mevushal” (cooked) wines became the standard until only recently. Why that is so is subject to debate. To get into that debate here is beyond the scope of this article. Besides, it would force me to examine why I can do tequila shots in a dark bar with my non-Jewish friends, but sitting down with them for a sedate dinner with wine is frowned upon.

Needless to say, the cooking process does sound as if it will certainly make any wine taste off as compared to typical non-mevushal wines. Yet, two important phenomena have occurred in the past two decades: flash pasteurizing, which maintains the essence of the flavor and qualities while super heating the wine; and the growth of wineries in Israel that are controlled and staffed by Orthodox Jews. These developments have allowed for an increased production of non-mevushal wines.

Now, I am good friends with Jose DeMereilles, the owner of and inspiration for the kosher New York bistro, Le Marais. He is not only a master chef, but a wine connoisseur who enjoys traveling around in search of the best. At his restaurant, he has some of the very best mevushal wines (they must be mevushal, because kosher certification agencies insist on it).

In recent years, he has come to know Israeli and Spanish wines of the kosher variety, and now buys them for his own home. He once believed that kosher meat could not taste as good as the non-kosher equivalents he served at Le Marais’ sister eatery, Les Halles, the home of chef Anthony Bourdain. Then Jose perfected the aging process for Le Marais, and his food now ranks among the best eateries in its class, kosher or non-kosher.

He also remembered a time when kosher wine was undrinkable and unthinkable for non-Jews, but has come to respect greatly the wines made today. That leads to his thought about wine marketing.

When you go to most, if not all, liquor stores that carry kosher wines, the kosher wine is sectioned off, and few real wine lovers will stop in the kosher section. What a grand idea it would be for Israel’s wineries — any kosher winery for that matter — to be displayed in the regional sections alongside their non-kosher peers.

This is where my public relations and marketing background comes into play, alongside my enthusiasm for wines. Kosher wineries now make a bulk of their revenues off the Jewish, and kosher in particular, consumers who enjoy good wines. That Jews are not big drinkers is a myth, but the number of Jews who drink only kosher wines is limited, and that limits market share. Consumers who want to see kosher wine sales really soar and who want to support Israel on a larger scale should work on a campaign to lessen the emphasis on kosher wines and increase the awareness of the regions where they come from.

There are few “Israel” wine sections in wine stores across the United States. There are French, Italian, Spanish, Chilean, New York, and Californian sections, as well as every other country where wine is made. Yet the Israel sections are found only among the kosher wines, and the kosher wines from every other country are relegated to that small section, as well. Take that section away, market Israel as a wine-producing nation unto itself, and place it among its fellow regions, then put the kosher wines from every other country within its own regional section. Kosher Italian with the Italians, kosher French with the French, and so on.

Kosher wineries such as Tura, Castel, Recanati, Rothschild, Elvi, Capcanes, to name a few, are perfect for the tables and cellars of both connoisseur and high-end restaurant. There is no reason they have to be put in sectioned off in ghettos in the liquor store.

Juda Engelmayer is an executive at the New York PR firm, 5W Public Relations.

0 Comments | Filed in Current Affairs, Dave's Journal, Food and Drink and Wine.

California’s Foie Gras Ban, 6 Months Later

January 12, 2013 by Dave the Wine Merchant

Tomorrow night, I’m attending a “Speakeasy” dinner, one held at an address known only to the lucky attendees. It invitation came complete with secret password for entry. But unlike a prohibition-era Speakeasy, this dinner doesn’t feature illicit alcohol. It features Foie Gras, a gourmet food ingredient turned into contraband last summer.

In July, it became illegal in California to farm, prepare, buy, sell or think about the artisanal delicacy known as Foie Gras – the liver of certain types of fattened fowl. The ban was in response to the successful campaign by some very radical animal rights activists, the most extreme fringe even resort to hideous and violent measures against chefs who support and serve Foie Gras. They even threatened their family members – imagine receiving photos of your kids at school along with a threatening note, and you’ll get an idea of what these chefs endured.

“But what of the fowl”, you may ask? You see, the animal rights groups, with whom I find myself in sympathy on many issues, objected to the forced feeding – gavage, as the French call it – that is usually used to fatten the bird and their prized livers that become Foie Gras. And to hear a description of gavage, well, it does sound quite cruel – forcing corn down a funnel and through a tube inserted into the mouth/throat of the bird in order to fatten it suddenly and quickly – resulting in a liver that is several times its pre-fattened size.

But here’s the rub – left to fend for themselves, these birds naturally gorge every fall in preparation for their long migratory flight. You see, they don’t stop to eat very often, sort of like our family vacations with Dad at the wheel.

So, aside from the funnel and tube, gorging is a natural part of their birdly existence. If you’re interested in such things, I encourage you to watch this great video by Dan Barber as he describes his visit to the award-winning Foie Gras farm in Spain, of all places, where no gavage is used at all. It is well worth the time, as is his follow-up presentation about his failed attempt to replicate this experience back home in New York.

But even if your scorecard still comes down in favor of the animal activists, even if only slightly, I do have to wonder why they chose to do battle over such a minor part of our food chain. Ever since Upton Sinclair published “The Jungle” in the early 1900′s, we’ve yet to truly clean up the beef industry. And you’d never eat cheap supermarket or fast food chicken again if you saw how they were raised. And then there’s the issue of the sea lice infecting farm-raised salmon, and how they’re now spreading to the wild salmon outside the high-density farming containers. All of which would have been far wiser bogeymen to pursue if you’re an activist whose goal is to reduce animal cruelty and improve the planet’s food supply. (a thoughtful list of 8 foods to go after before Foie Gras appears here).

So I’m looking forward to tomorrow night’s dinner, with Foie Gras served three ways. And given the guest list, the wines are sure to be memorable, with at least one bottle of Sauternes and a domestic “ice wine” from Tudor Vineyards to provide the classic sweet-salty deliciousness that have attracted international gourmands to this classic combination.

Cheers!

0 Comments | Filed in Current Affairs, Dave's Journal and Food and Drink.

Wine-Friendly Recipe: Pork “Stew” with Andouille Sausage, Lardon and Mushrooms

January 4, 2013 by Dave the Wine Merchant

Most winter stews feature beef and pair with red wine. This refreshing alternative features pork and pairs with a Chablis or unoaked Chardonnay (see all my available Chardonnay’s here). Equally warming during cold winter months, but less fatty.

Ingredients (6 Servings)
- 3 lbs Boneless pork shoulder
- 2 Andouille sausage, cut into thirds
- 6 Ozs Lardons or thick bacon, cut into 1/4 inch squares
- 12-16 Ozs Mushrooms (washed and trimmed and roughly chopped)
- 12 Baby onions
- 1/3 Cup flour
- 100 g of butter
- 1 Large carrot
- 5 Ozs Water
- 1 Bottle of Chablis or un-oaked white wine
- 1 Bouquet garni (2 springs ea. tied in cheese cloth: Parsley, Thyme, Bay leaves)
- 3-4 Tbsp of butter
- 12-18 Small Red or Yukon Gold potatoes as accompaniment.

Procedure:
Cut the pork into 1″ pieces (or save time and have your butcher do this after de-boning the shoulder). Place an empty stew pot over medium heat for three minutes, add some olive oil, count to five, then add the meat, carrot and the baby onions. When the meat is browned on all sides sprinkle in the flour, stir well, then add the butter.

Stir to integrate and then add the bottle of wine, the water, and then the bouquet garni. Simmer for ~50 minutes, then add the lardons, salt and pepper and the mushrooms, increase the heat slightly and simmer another 10 minutes without the lid, allowing the sauce to reduce. Add the sausage pieces and simmer for another 5 minutes. If still not thick enough, combine 2 Tbsp flour and 1Tbsp butter by hand, then stir into the pot, increasing heat to maintain a steady simmer (small bubbles on the side only).

Serve with steamed potatoes splashed with your best olive oil and a pinch of coarse sea salt.

To Serve – spoon the pork into the center of a shallow dish and surround it with the sausage, then carefully pour the thickened sauce over all. Place a bunch of parsley at one side and the potatoes at the other, then sprinkle with finely chopped parsley as a final garnish.

Recipe adapted from Madeleine Berthier, Auberge du Barrage, Le Coudray-Montceaux.

0 Comments | Filed in Main Course and Wine & Food Recipes.

Wine Club Selection: Speedy Creek, 2009 Zinfandel, Knights Valley

December 27, 2012 by Dave the Wine Merchant

Crafted to please lovers of the big California style – big, rich and with 15.4% alcohol! $29

Speedy Creek Winery is in Knight’s Valley – Sonoma’s Northeastern section where the county abuts Napa. The vineyard and winery name was inspired by the sound of the rushing creeks you’d hear if standing in the vineyards during the wet season. But because CA gets nearly all of its rainfall in winter, and the creeks are eerily silent during the dry season, it could just as easily have been named “Quiet Creek” if inspiration had struck during the dry summer months! Surely it was these quiet summer months that inspired the name of the famed “Dry Creek” region due West of Knights Valley?

Knights Valley is well protected from the Coast’s cooling influences, and is one of the hottest zones in Sonoma County. This high heat begets uber-ripe grapes which beget big wines. Drink it in moderation, or you’ll be getting a big headache!

With this vintage, Speedy Creek brought in their Zinfandel grapes at the tale end of the harvest season, allowing for maximum ripeness. Vinification was followed by aging for 20 months (with 25% new French oak barrels).

Tasting Notes:
This Zinfandel is crafted to please lovers of the big California style – with a big, rich body that is balanced by a whopping 15.4% alcohol. Big dark aromas of just-baked bramble fruit pie, a bit of smoke (perhaps a pie cooked in a Dutch oven over a camp fire?) and sweet spices. It closes with a long, layered finish.

Only 390 cases produced. Limited availability, $29/bottle.

Cheers!

Dave “The Wine Merchant” Chambers

0 Comments | Filed in Wine.

Wine Club Selection: Joseph Jewell, 2009 Pinot Noir, Floodgate Vineyard

December 24, 2012 by Dave the Wine Merchant

I discovered this wine at the 2012 Family Winemakers event where I met the two (impossibly!) young owners – Micah Joseph Wirth and Adrian Jewell Manspeaker.

Micah brought the winemaking experience to the partnership, while Adrian contributed business and construction experience (a helpful background when things break down in the cellar during the fevered rush of harvest, which is exactly when things choose to break. Yes, Murphy’s Law is alive and well in the wine industry!)

Without a winery of their own, they rent space and equipment from the Peay Vineyards facility in Cloverdale. And as any of my long-term customers know, there are few better producers, or facilities, one could hope to find than Peay Vineyards’. When asked why they chose this facility the answer came quickly “because they hand us the keys and let us do our own thing!” So this wine is completely Joseph and Adrian’s creation, made with equipment they could never hope to own as new producers just out of the gate.

Note, the Floodgate vineyard was also used for one of the Pinots I previously selected from Cartograph wines – a popular selection from our August Pinot Selections wine club shipment. If they’re not careful, the folks at Floodgate will develop a reputation for selecting and supporting hot young winemakers. In fact, I think they already have.

Tasting Notes:
A subtle pinot nose with earthy aromas and bright, sweet cherries, black tea, raspberries and spice notes of cinnamon, clove and leather. The palate shows delicate fruit against a very firm structure that suggests a few years in bottle will see a nicely matured wine. A subtle, delightful food wine that uses oak as a seasoning instead of a major, in-your-face starring role (30% new for 10 months). The lighter alcohol (13.8%) and good acidity (pH of 3.42, TA of 6.2 g/L) hint at its Old World sensibilities. A Scrooge-like 250 cases produced.

Joseph Jewell, 2009 Pinot Noir, Floodgate Vineyard, $39.

Cheers!

Dave “the Wine Merchant” Chambers

0 Comments | Filed in Wine.

Lila Farms Olive Harvest 2012

December 20, 2012 by Dave the Wine Merchant

Our olive harvest took place this past weekend. We can not be sufficiently profuse in our thanks to those who trekked the 2.5 hours to our humble farm, and helped harvest 600 pounds of olives – enough for up to 10 gallons or 38 Liters of oil. Work began a week earlier… no scratch that, it actually started with the Spring flowering, when our olive trees exploded with tiny little flower buds (see photo) that look deceptively like, in their early pre-flower stage, little baby olives. Sadly, the vast majority are infertile, and will expire unexercised so to speak.

Of the remainder, tiny olives will form, though they are a long way from finding their way into the picker’s bin and the olive press. Betwixt and between, the fruit is subject to the whims of Anderson Valley’s barely hospitable olive climate, assuring that Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory will once again prevail.

We’ve grown fairly adept at rating the spring bud break and the fall fruit yield of each tree on our farm (photo, left). We walk the rows, laptop in hand, rating each tree on a scale of 0 – 3, and by a fairly simple set of calculations, we’ve been able to estimate with a fair degree of accuracy, the resulting amount of oil the farm will produce in a given year.

As December draws near, our harvest invitations go out to friends and family. The event is a lot of work for all involved, but a lot of fun as well. Food and drink flow throughout the day, and into the early evening, and conversations ebb and flow from tree to tree.

This year produced a record number of guests who accepted our invitation – almost 70 – so a week before the harvest we bought more food than the US Army. Our 2012 menu included pulled pork sandwiches, and we started slow roasting the meat on Wednesday, with three 5-hour batches finding their way through our ovens over the course of two days. Thanks go out to friend and neighbor Rick Wallace, who helped cook for six hours on Thursday evening in exchange for nothing but a bit of wine and a bite of dinner. Ok, a lot of wine. But still. That same night marked the beginning of our wave of cancellations – illnesses, a theft, exhaustion, and competing holiday plans, all took their toll. We knew early on we’d have way too much food!

The weekend before our harvest saw one of the worst storms of 2012, with flash flood warnings, road closures and power outages. So we were pleased to see the day break on Saturday with our farm sitting above the fog bank, and nearly clear skies. We set out the first of three waves of food and then welcomed the ever-reliable Sverak family – the first to arrive by a long shot – and we commenced to pickin’. It was about 10AM.

Oddly, we have no photos from the 35-40 people who arrived to help during the day, and hope that our attendees’ sea of cameras produced some shots you’ll deem worthy of sharing. But what we CAN tell you is that, as the afternoon wore on, it became very clear that we had far more fruit than daylight. Even with 70-80 hands hard at work (well, assuming two each), we knew we would have to leave at least a hundred pounds on the trees, as we had to have the fruit to our milling appointment by 8:30 Sunday morning.

Here’s the odd thing. There was no management, no overseer, no verbal agreement to keep going – just a group of friends eager to share our challenge and hated to admit defeat. Ever pick blackberries and find it difficult to leave because there was “just one more unpicked spot” around every corner? Yeah it was sort of like that, only without the thorns.

After sunset, we worked by car headlight and headlamps until the cold crept into our knuckles and other aging joints, and we recessed to the warmth of our kitchen, den and living room. I’d selected wines to accompany pulled pork – Anderson Valley Pinot Noir from Phillips Hill, a Berger Zweigelt from my select import portfolio, and for those with contemporary palates, a Zinfandel from Speedy Creek – among a host of other wines from my portfolio. And for the beer lovers, Anchor Steam’s Celebration Ale was a delicious pairing, offsetting the pork’s spicy dry rub with its round and rich Holiday spice notes.

Once inside, we celebrated December birthdays (all five!) and rewarded our hard-working friends with some good conviviality. It was a fairly early evening, however, as we had to get up by 7AM for the one-hour drive to our 8:30 appointment at the olive press the next morning.

Our little four-car caravan toted almost 20 yellow bins to the press at Dry Creek Olive Oil Co., where our 579 pounds of fruit was turned into oil.

The fruit gets washed before being crushed, because there aren’t that many people who like spiders in their olive oil.

After crushing, the must is warmed up to 80 degrees (max) to help extract the oil – this is the process known as “Cold Press” you’ve likely seen on the labels of better olive oils. Though higher temperatures extract additional oil, its more bitter and lower in quality.

How much oil did we get this year? A gallon of olive oil generally results from each 60 – 80 pounds of fruit. But this year’s heavy rains increased the water content of our olives so our yield required far more olives – 89 pounds – to produce each gallon of oil So our total for this year’s harvest was just 6.5 gallons of oil for all our valiant efforts.

Fortunately, a good time was had by all, and we thank all participants for their enthusiastic contributions.

Cheers! Dave