The
Rock And Roll Hall of Fame will induct new members on April 14, 2012 in
Cleveland, Ohio. It's the 27th annual induction ceremony, the 27th
time rock fans get to yell "It's about time!" or "Where's KISS?" With
all that shouting, we're going to need something to soothe our nerves.
With
that in mind, let's take a look at the 2012 inductees and pair a wine
with each. Our pals over at the excellent rock music blog 30 Days Out have had this post up for a while now, with some tasty pics and music attached.
Performer category:
Beastie Boys
If
you're singing along with “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To
Party!)” it's a good bet you're doing jello shots or drinking beer from a
glass with quarters at the bottom. The Beastie Boys' blend of funky
rock, rap and hip hop need not be reserved for the lesser beverages. In
fact, Beastie Mike D has dabbled a bit at wine criticism. Not
surprisingly, he likes wine with a bit of funk. Root around a bit in
the Côtes du Rhône aisle and pop for a Châteauneuf-du-Pape. You should be able to find a wine that brings enough funk to get a party started without fisticuffs.
Donovan
Donovan's
music is poetry, a delicate flower at one turn, a handful of
psychedelics at the next. His lyrics abound with references to wine,
including a lovefest for the "maroon-coloured wine from the vineyards of
Charlemagne." Sounds like a Burgundy is about to be opened.
Bonneau du Martray should do nicely, from the Corton-Charlemagne Grand
Cru. You may want to select a white wine, as Charlemagne's wife is said
to have preferred her royal hubby not mess his beard with the red
stuff. You are probably a much neater drinker than Charlemagne, though.
Guns N' Roses
In
the mid-1980s, when Guns N' Roses exploded from L.A. with a balls-out
Sunset Strip strut and an Appetite For Destruction, they redecorated a
rock and roll landscape that had become rather tired and listless. G
'N' R offered up a brashness which made other acts seem like they were
mailing it in. You may be tempted to go with a beer for them - a cheap
one, in a bottle you can hurl at something - but California has a wine
worthy of the Guns N' Roses brand of excess in old vine Zinfandel. Both
winemaker Joel Peterson and his Ravenswood Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel are brash enough for rock and roll.
Laura Nyro
If
any one of these inductees screamed for a wine pairing, it would have
to be Laura Nyro. It was, after all, she who suggested we go "down by
the grapevine, drink my daddy's wine." She also suggested "there'll be
lots of time and wine," but, sadly, her time ran out. Lift a toast to
her with Schramsberg's 2008 Brut Rosé. It's complex and dry and will fit with anything you bring to a Stoned Soul Picnic.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
BloodSugarSexMagik
would be a good name for a wine, if the Red Hot Chili Peppers hadn't
already claimed it as their own. Their funky guitar rock and throbbing
sexuality certainly puts one in the mood for a glass of something nice
to pair with their spicy gastronominal moniker. Chili peppers call for
something a little on the sweet side, like a nice Spätlese Riesling.
Dr. Loosen' Mosel-Saar-Ruwer efforts in that vein should provide enough
ripe fruit sweetness to offset the power of the pepper.
The Small Faces/Faces
This
dual-identity entry is remembered more for their hard-rocking,
hard-living '70s style than their mod '60s diminutive version. Rough
and rowdy, never afraid to let the rough edges show, The Faces have Tannat written
all over them. Choose a varietal selection from Madiran for that
swagger, or pick one blended with Cabernet Sauvignon to dress up the
palate like a skinny tie on a sharkskin suit.
Early Influence
Freddie King
The
electric blues master known as the Texas Cannonball, Freddie King left
his fingerprints all over rock and roll. He was a huge influence on
anybody who ever picked up a guitar and intended to do some damage with
it. So affected by his entire persona, Grand Funk shouted him out in
one of their big hits. Mr. King deserves a vintage Port,
full-bodied and luscious, with a whiff of smoke to reference the dance
halls and pool rooms of Texas, where the blues is still the king.
Ahmet Ertegun (non performer) Award
The Ahmet Ertegun Award goes to the late Don Kirshner,
a songwriter and song seller who played a big part in shaping the pop
music side of rock and pioneered the maturation of televised rock
concerts. For good or for bad, he was the creative fire in the hole for
The Monkees and The Archies. Kirshner's wine should be a commercial
success - natch - and should carry its years well. Mouton Cadet is a
best-seller from Bordeaux, so you can expect good things from it
with age. It's easy on the pocketbook, too. A bottle of the current
vintage will probably set you back less than a Monkees Greatest Hits CD.
The Award For Musical Excellence
You might not recognize his name, but Cosimo Matassa's
New Orleans recording studio was the place from which many great rock
hits of the '50s burst forth. Matassa eschewed gimmicks and audio
manipulation, preferring to let the music speak for itself. The
winemaking hasn't changed much at Lopez de Heredia since the 1800s -
they didn't like gimmicks and manipulation then, and they still don't.
Their 1991 Viña Tondonia Tinto Gran Reserva is pure Rioja elegance.
As a scientist, Tom Dowd
worked on the Manhattan Project that gave us the atom bomb. As a
recording engineer, he worked at the Atlantic Records console and gave
us Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton and the Allman Brothers.
Both sides of his career packed a whallop. Would a fruit bomb be out of
place here? How about a warm-climate Syrah with plenty of depth under
all that fruit? Andrew Murray's 2008 McGinley Vinyard Syrah comes from the hot microclimate of Santa Barbara County's Happy Canyon - and it is the bomb.
British recording engineer and producer Glyn Johns
helped nuance storm out of the speakers with acts as diverse as Led
Zeppelin, The Eagles, Joan Armatrading and The Who. He could coax a
heartfelt ballad out of the recording session as well as bring the
thunder and lightning right through those gold-plated wires. Merlot here, with a silky, mellow side playing counterpoint to the rock and roll smoke and leather notes.
This article ran originally on the excellent music site 30 Days Out.
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Wines from Spain get a lot of press lately for being great values. Reasonable price points and generally high quality have many wine lovers looking to regions like Rioja, Toro, Calatayud and Rias Baixas for great buys. I recently attended a tasting event in which a couple dozen tables full of Rioja wine were poured. All of them were of high quality, even the ones retailing for $10 or less. I had high hopes for the Montebuena Rioja wine which retailed for all of $12. I picked it up for eight bucks at a Los Angeles wine store sale.
Montebuena is produced by Bodegas Burgo Viejo of Alfaro, in the Rioja's Ebro Valley. It's a 100% Tempranillo wine with a 13.5% abv number.
Upon opening and pouring, I'm a little disappointed there there's a good deal of alcohol on the nose and palate. Even on the second - and third - night the bottle is open the alcohol is the dominant aroma.
Bright cherries come across rather uncomplicated otherwise, with just a hint of spice, but the bite is sharp - too sharp for my enjoyment. The fruit is bright, but with so few supporting elements the palate is on the thin side. There’s also an astringency to it that helps tip the scales on the side of unpleasantness.
Even as the tannic nature of the wine lessens a bit - after three days - the flavors don’t deepen or get richer, they simply go flat. Unfortunately, the astringency is still there. It's not such a shock that an inexpensive wine fails to impress, but it is a disappointment that such a great wine region is so poorly represented.
My guess is that pairing the Montebuena with the biggest, juiciest, fattest piece of beef you can find would improve its lot - at least the tannins would have something on which they could work. I sipped it solo, and I have enjoyed Two-Buck Chuck more - a lot more.
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I wrote earlier about the Vibrant Rioja tasting event in Los Angeles, focusing on the Lopez de Heredia wines. Here are some of the other taste treats I discovered at the tasting.
Faustino had two wines I liked a lot. The Crianza '07 andReserva Cinco 2005 both show dense dark noses with earthy fruit. They taste just as rich as the nose leads me to believe they will. The Faustino Gran Reserva '98 is aging well and showing a trace of eucalyptus.
Big flavors came from the Beronia table. The '07 Tempranillo (100%), '07 Crianza of Tempranillo and Garnacha and the '06 Reserva of Tempranillo and Graciano offer big, mineral-driven cherry flavors. The '01 Gran Reserva shows more depth, having been aged three years in barrels and three years in bottles. It blends Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo. Beronia's III a.C. '04 is described as a "Super Rioja," blending Tempranillo, Graciano and Mazuelo grapes. Pepper, leather and tobacco notes adorn the cherry fruit.
Antano's '09 Viura was one of my favorites, a nutty white with great acidity. The Conde de Valdemar Rosé impresses me quite a bit - one of the better $6 wines I've tried. CdV Inspiracion Valdemar 2007 shows a lovely bright cherry flavor. It's 100% Graciano.
Bodeagas Landaluce poured some great wines, in particular the Tempranillo with the mocha nose and the Capricho de Landaluce '05. The latter is all smokey and lush, and it's one of the more expensive wines at the event, with a $47 price tag.
Castillo Labastida's '08 Madurado is rustic and full of minerals, while their Reserva 2004 gives a nose and palate full of succulent black cherry.
Navarrsotillo's Noemus Rioja Blanco '09 makes a huge tropical play, Noemus Rioja Rosado '09 is a 100% Garnacha rosé and the Noemus Rioja Tinto '08 blends Tempranillo with Garnacha and Mazuelo. It has a huge fruit expression. All three of those wines deliver a lot for under $10 each. Spend a little more - $19 - for the Magister Bibendi Rioja Reserva 2005 and you get a great red wine with fantastic tannins and no bite.
It was a Spanish wine tasting event that really got me started exploring wine years ago, and I am repeatedly drawn back to events which feature Spanish wines. The Vibrant Rioja tasting event of April 11, 2011 jumped onto my calendar instantly. It was held at Hatfield's Restaurant in Los Angeles.
The room was perhaps a little small for the gathering of 20 or so importers, all pouring a number of wines at their tables. Space was extremely limited and enthusiastic wine dealers, sommeliers and writers jammed the dining area for the afternoon event.
Great wines abounded, and I'll cover some of them in another post. Today I want to concentrate on my favorite table of the event, the one that was so crowded the whole afternoon I could hardly edge myself in for a few tastes. That would be the table where the wines of Lopez de Heredia were poured.
Lopez de Heredia was founded in 1877 and is a Rioja institution, still owned and operated by the same family. They are particularly proud of their Tondonia Vineyard on the right bank of Ebro River, around which the Rioja region is drawn. Heredia also has three other vineyards, also in Rioja Alta - Cubillo, Bosconia and Zaconia.
The winery is known as much for white wines as for red, maybe more so. They age their whites and rosés in much the same manner the reds are aged, and they stand as a testament to age-worthy whites. White, pink or red, this is what old-world wine is all about.
Heredia's Viña Gravonia 2000 Crianza is a white wine made from 100% Viura grapes. This golden treat is tasting great, with a smokey and nutty taste. It's nice and dry with great acidity.
Viña Tondonia Rosado Gran Reserva 2000 - This brownish peach-colored rosé is a blend of 60% Garnacha, 30% Tempranillo and 10% Viura. The unusual, smokey nose leads to a palate decorated with a nutty strawberry flavor.
Viña Cubillo Crianza 2005 - A red blend of 65% Tempranillo, 25% Garnacha and some Graciano and Mazuelo filling out the rest, this wine offers a hint of anise on the nose and rustic, earthy cherry flavors.
Viña Bosconia Reserva 2002 - Smooth, dusty cherry aromas and flavors dominate this blend of 80% Tempranillo, 15% Garnacha and Graciano and Mazuelo. It's aged in French oak for five years.
Viña Tondonia Tinto Gran Reserva 1991 - Heredia says 1991 was one of the best vintages in the history of the Tondonia Vineyard, and this wine bears out that claim. Toasted vanilla notes and a full mouthfeel are featured in this very dry Tempranillo/Garnacha blend filled out with Graciano and Mazuelo grapes. Aged in barrels for nine years, this wine is old-world elegance defined.
Viña Ijalba Graciano 2007 - Amanda Linn of WineWise was also pouring this new-world style, almost as an afterthought. Its extreme fruitiness was delicious and served as an excellent counterpoint to the Heredia old-world style.
The Lobster in Santa Monica is one of those restaurants where I expect to order white wine. On my last visit to the seafood-with-an-ocean-view mainstay at the entance to the Santa Monica Pier I was seeing red. Even though it was a brilliantly sunny day and we were seated right by the window, the ocean breeze blowing in through the open window actually gave me a bit of a chill. I opted for a little warmup in the form of Martin Codax Rioja Tempranillo. I certainly wasn't giving up the window seat!
The Spanish Tempranillo, at $7 per glass, is one of the more affordable offerings on The Lobster's extensive - and pricey - wine list. It also served as a wonderful pre-lunch drink for folks like me who don't particularly go for Bloody Marys. Looking around the restaurant, it seemed I was of the minority opinion on that issue. There were a lot of celery stalks bringing in the noon hour.
This dark wine is very fruit forward on the nose with minerals apparent. Cherry aromas mingle with an earthiness that makes me anxious to taste.
The lean and elegant palate shows earth and leathery blackberry and cherry, quite a dark flavor profile. It's very dry with smooth tannins and a great acidity.
It's almost a shame I had no skirt steak or ribs to pair with it, but I was happy to sip it while dragging a slice of bread through the olive oil. The fabulous pairing would come later. when my scallops would meet an Oregon Pinot Gris.
Temperatures are warming up in Los Angeles - again - this week, and this afternoon's "Sunny and 81" has me in mind of a Spanish rosado I tried a while back, Marques de Caceres.
This Rioja rosado is either a light strawberry color or a darker salmon. Either way, it makes a beautiful statement in the glass. 13.5% abv, it's a dry rosé made from 80% Tempranillo and 20% Garnacha. Let's smell it.
Aromas of raspberry dominate the nose for me, but there's a very nice floral layer underneath it. I wanted to say hibiscus, but I don't know how accurate that is. I'll just say it's a beautiful fragrance without any further elaboration.
Don't worry about this rosé being too sweet for you. It's nice and dry. The strawberry flavor is matched with raspberry notes and the taste lingers quite nicely afterward. The label suggests the usual pairings (paella, chicken, seafood) and I wouldn't argue with any of those. However, I had it with a dessert my wife made and the taste was exquisite. She created a mascarpone-based whip which we put on a cracked pepper and olive oil Triscuit. The wine really had a good time pairing with that unlikely match. We were duly impressed. Not to mention a bit surprised.
