Spanish Vermouth Deserves Larger Role

Vermouth is an aromatic, fortified wine which is flavored with such things as herbs, roots, flowers, bark or practically anything that grows.  It originated in the 18th century as a medicinal aid.  Over the years, vermouth dropped from the pharmacy to the bar, where it became an aperitif and now resides as a necessary component of cocktails like martinis, Manhattans and negronis.

White vermouth - dry - is sometimes called French, while the red, sweet kind is called Italian.  Those two countries produce most of the vermouth that you'll find on the shelf, although it's also made in Spain as we will see.

The Jerez firm of Gonzalez Byass produces a pair of fine and surprising vermouths, dry white and sweet red.  The winery claims the century-old recipes are kept under lock and key.

La Copa Vermouth Extra Seco - the white - is made from 100% Palomino grapes - Fino sherry, actually - which was aged an average of three years in American oak casks in the traditional Solera system.  In addition to the grapes, La Copa Extra Seco includes wormwood, clove, cinnamon and the herb called savory.  Red fruits were added for a "balsamic aftertaste."  Alcohol in the extra dry vermouth tips in at 17% abv and it retails for $25.

This is completely different from every other white Vermouth I've tried.  It is aromatic and flavorful to a fault.  I smelled smoke, I smelled burnt caramel, I smelled thyme, cinnamon, clove, jasmine.  I tasted a burnt caramel or maple sap note.  It was actually one of the more expressive and interesting wines in my experience.  It sure as hell livened up a martini.  Don't spend extra on the gin - let La Copa white vermouth do the work.

La Copa Vermouth Rojo is made from 75% Palomino grapes and 25% Pedro Ximénez variety.  It's produced from Oloroso and Pedro Ximénez soleras, more than eight years old.  As in the Extra Seco, wormwood, savory, clove, and cinnamon are in the mix, along with orange peel and nutmeg in the sweeter blend.  Alcohol sits at 15.5% abv and it retails for $25.

The red vermouth smells of burnt raisins and tangerine.  The palate is sweet with a savory sword cutting down the middle.  The fact that it’s made from sherry is inescapable.

I used these vermouths in cocktails made with Beefeater London Dry Gin, which contains botanical elements like juniper, coriander, orange peel, lemon peel, angelica root and seed, licorice, almond, and orris root.  In a three-to-one gin blend, the white overpowered the gin.  I used the red in a one-to-one blend, which let the gin speak for itself but still allowed the sweet vermouth to contribute amply.  Both are also fine to sip all on their own.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

WINE COUNTRY: NEW HAMPSHIRE - MOONLIGHT MEADERY

New Hampshire is a relatively new entry to Wine Country.  The Granite State's wine industry didn't get started until 1994.  The New Hampshire Winery Association membership includes not only grape wine producers, but also makers of mead and cider.

Moonlight Meadery is based in Londonderry, New Hampshire, near the southeast corner of the state.  The town's name originated from its early settlers, many of whom were from Londonderry, Ireland.  The first American potato was grown there in 1719.

Londonderry was the birthplace of several governors and congressmen, but we'll try not to hold that against them.  San Francisco Giants pitcher Brian Wilson is from Londonderry, too.  As a Dodger fan, I'll try not to hold that against them, either.

The town is known for its apple orchards, and a meadery - Moonlight Meadery - which produces what they call "Romance by the glass."

Moonlight's mead maker Michael Fairbrother states on his meadery's website, "Mead, to me, is passion.  It's about living and love, it's about enjoyment, family and friends, and sharing."  Sounds good to us.  You can see Fairbrother in this video story from WMUR.

We have covered mead before in the Wine Country series.  Mead is wine made from honey, water and yeast.  It can range from sweet to dry and be produced as still, slightly fizzy - pétillant - or sparkling.  A melomel is a mead made with the addition of fruit.  A cyser is a melomel made with apples, and a pyment is a melomel where grapes are used in addition to the honey.

Fairbrother gives his meads names like Smitten, Desire and Sensual, playing off that "romance in a glass" analogy.  He supplied me with four samples of his meads for this article.

The mead he calls Wild is honey and blueberry wine made from unprocessed New Hampshire wildflower honey and mountain grown blueberries.  It carries an alcohol level of 14.2% abv.

Wild's medium ruby color allows light to pass through easily.  The nose shows a strong herbal note leading the way with blueberry aromas underneath and honey and flowers trailing.

The taste is completely dry and the blueberries really come forward on the palate. There's a strong sense of greenness on the palate, too.  Nice, gentle tannic structure matches well with a good acidity level.  It's very fresh and clean tasting.  I had blueberry wine from Florida which was much sweeter and more juice like than this honey and blueberry wine.  The Moonlight mead is much more like a red wine than a fruit juice.  I tried it chilled and not, and was pleased with the experience both ways.  The herbal finish is fairly lengthy.

Utopian is the strongest of the quartet I tried at 16.9% abv.  It’s a semi-sweet, limited edition mead which is fermented and aged in Samuel Adams Utopias barrels.

The color gives a beautiful, rich, golden glow.  On the nose, the honey gets down to business.  It smells much like a dark honey, maybe chestnut honey.  There’s a bit of sherry and a bit of coffee, too, in what strikes me as quite a complex package of aromas.

On the palate, Utopian's sweetness is delicate and the mouthfeel quite viscous, like a dessert wine.  There’s a sherry-like flavor that’s pretty incredible and the finish is looong with a note of coffee mocha in it.  It's really nice paired with almonds - you could even pour this over vanilla ice cream or a have it with pound cake.  Once again a very nice acidity is present.

Desire is a beautiful deep ruby color.  The nose again has a firm underpinning of honey aroma with a pretty straightforward display of the fruit used in making this melomel - black currant, black cherry and blueberry.  The palate is dominated by the currant to the degree that it bears a striking similarity to cassis.  It's not as viscous as Wild, but it definitely sits very full in the mouth.  The 16.7% alcohol content means it's a fairly stiff drink, at least in the realm of wine.  There's good acidity here, but I don't think I could bring myself to eat while savoring the texture and flavor of Desire. Well, maybe some chocolate.  Desire beat out 352 other wines in a New England competition.

The golden mead called Sensual shows a whole honeycomb full of honey aroma.   That’s no surprise, since it is a traditional mead, made only from wildflower honey, water and yeast.  The palate is dripping with honey, too.  Once again, a resounding acidity is present and the finish is very long and ridiculously satisfying.  The taste of pure honey is all that remains after a drink, and it’s there for quite a while.  The alcohol level for Sensual is 15.3% abv.  It's the simplest of the four featured here, but it may be my favorite.

Once again one of the American states brings mead to Wine Country, and once again I am floored by the quality.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Follow Moonlight Meadery on Twitter

HOLIDAY DESSERT

Maybe you're already so frozen with anxiety about selecting the wine for your holiday feast you haven't even given any thought to the dessert!  I hope that's not the case.

First of all, if you don't have the time or the inclination to get all wrapped up in selecting a wine for Thanksgiving - or Christmas - dinner, just drink what you like.  As long as you're with people you love, that's all that really matters.

Secondly, this tip from Roberto Rogness at Wine Expo in Santa Monica, California is too good not to pass along.

Roberto says, "whichever pie you serve, garnish it with whipped cream that has about one part in ten of a nice dessert wine whipped right into the cream!"  He suggests using Moscato for pumpkin pie, Sherry for pecan and Porto for fruit or chocolate pies.  "Just whip the wine right into the whipped cream!"

That sounds so delicious I may have to try it before the actual holiday arrives.  I think I owe it to my guests to make sure it really is good.

Inexpensive choices for these wine pairing suggestions abound.  Barefoot Moscato is under $10, and so is Taylor Dry Sherry.  Dow's Fine Ruby Port is available most places for $15 or less.

Sweet Roussillon Wine

Rivesaltes is the AOC designation for naturally sweet, fortified wines in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in the south of France.

The Roussillon region allows nearly two dozen grape varieties to be used in winemaking. The Cazes vineyards produce such grape varieties as Muscat of Alexandria, Muscat Petit Grain, Macabeu, Vermentino, Grenache Blanc, Syrah, Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Tannat, Viognier and Carignan.

The Cazes vineyards are biodynamically free of pesticides and insecticides, and they claim to act upon "the true expression of the soil and the plant in their natural environment." They make Vins de pays, Côtes du Roussillon, Côtes du Roussillon Villages, Rivesaltes and Muscat de Rivesaltes wines at the Cazes facility.

The 1997 Ambré is described as a natural sweet wine, of vintage 1997.  100% Grenache Blanc juice is aged in oaken vats for 15 years, and is fortified to 16% abv.

This wine is beautifully brown - Cazes calls it amber, of course - and it looks even darker in color than a Newcastle. The nose is a dessert unto itself. Baked raisins, brown sugar and molasses are right up front, and the top of the glass throws a little smoke our way. The palate is as rich as we might expect after getting a whiff of the aromas. It is fairly viscous and has medium-high acidity, with a sherry-esque flavor that highlights the raisins. A salty note sails right into the finish, which is just as much a delight as the nose and the palate.

Pair it with a thick slice of cinnamon-raisin bread for either a lush dessert or a holiday breakfast.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Blood Of The Vines - Auteur Week

Pairing‌‌‌ ‌‌‌wine‌‌‌ ‌‌‌with‌‌‌ ‌‌‌movies!‌‌‌ ‌‌‌See‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌hear‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌fascinating‌‌‌ ‌‌‌commentary‌‌‌ ‌‌‌for‌‌‌ ‌‌‌these‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌‌movies‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌many‌‌‌ ‌‌‌more‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌at‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌From‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Hell.‌‌‌ This week we select a few wines to put alongside films of auteur directors, filmmakers whose visions for the scripts were so strong that we credit them almost entirely for what appears on the screen.

A number of auteurs have become household names for fine artistes. Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Ingmar Bergman, Federico Fellini and Akira Kurosawa are among those cited whenever the topic of auteurs comes up. Any of them is worth a wine pairing, in my humble opinion.

Army of Shadows is a 1969 film about the French Resistance in World War II. Written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, the script was adapted from a book by a real Resistance fighter, Joseph Kessel. The movie was not received well by French critics, who thought Melville kissed up to Charles de Gaulle a bit too much for their liking. It wasn't released in the U.S. until 37 years later, when it was hailed as a masterpiece.

The film does not sugarcoat the Resistance, presenting instead a stark and haunting view of the danger those men and women faced as they fought to free their country from the Nazis. It's a testimony to them that the word resistance came into popular usage during the Trump administration.

During WWII, many French winemakers acted bravely to hide Jews in their wine cellars and prevent the country's premier wines from being looted by the Germans. Bernard de Nonancourt, the head of the Laurent-Perrier Champagne house, was a member of the Resistance. Let's blow the cork on any of their fine Champagnes to pair with Army of Shadows. You can find some of them for as little as $40.

1972's Aguirre, the Wrath of God was written and directed by Werner Herzog. The movie fictionalizes the search for the gold of El Dorado. It was shot in what must have been a hellish five weeks on the Amazon River. 

Klaus Kinski, who stars as the Spanish conquistador Aguirre, reportedly ranted and raved like a madman at Herzog over their differences in how Aguirre should be played. Kinski wanted the ranting and raving madman approach, while Herzog opted for something a little more low key. Herzog got his way, and some say Kinski acted at gunpoint, although Herzog denied the story. If it's even remotely true, that would be one ballsy auteur. Herzog and Kinski worked together again on four more films, so there must have been an attraction that rose above the threat of violence.

It would be easy to select a wine from the El Dorado AVA in California's Sierra Foothills for Aguirre and be done with it. I even found wines called Conquistador from Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Chile. However, a Spanish conquistador deserves a Spanish wine, one that may have been on board the Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria. Lustau's Don Nuño Oloroso sherry is dry, dark brown and rich, and available for around $25.

From 1974, Celine and Julie Go Boating is a French fantasy from director Jacques Rivette. There is a bit of Alice in Wonderland in it, along with other literary inspirations, and it has a title that probably loses something in the translation. For most of the movie, you’re wondering, "Where's the damn boat?" A lot of people like it, though, and it is quite highly regarded by critics, too. 

There is a fanciful friendship which becomes fueled by eating mysterious candies and taking trips to a house in another time. The young ladies attempt to unravel a mystery at the house and find that time follows them back home and lets them become auteurs themselves, rewriting the mystery. It is a trippy film, and fully deserving of a trippy wine pairing.

Shroom Wines claims to sell non-alcoholic wine made from the grapes you know and love with a bit of magic mushroom mixed in with them. I don't know if the laws governing psilocybin have been relaxed - or tossed aside - but the last time I had magic mushrooms, there was definitely an air of illegality about the whole affair. Well, trippy is trippy, and if you’ve got some Shroom wine on hand, or just some shrooms, schlagers!

 

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

 

Blood Of The Vines - Happy 98th, Roger Corman

Pairing‌‌‌ ‌‌‌wine‌‌‌ ‌‌‌with‌‌‌ ‌‌‌movies!‌‌‌  ‌‌‌See‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌hear‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌fascinating‌‌‌ ‌‌‌commentary‌‌‌ ‌‌‌for‌‌‌ ‌‌‌these‌‌‌ movies‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌many‌‌‌ ‌‌‌more‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌at‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌From‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Hell.‌‌‌ ‌ This week we celebrate Roger Corman's birthday with wines for three of his films.

April 5th has special significance beyond the fact that it sits roughly halfway between my birthday and tax day, two auspicious occasions in their own right. It also happens to be the birthday of noted producer and director Roger Corman. It further happens to be birthday number 98 for the king of cult movies. We have three of his films this time, and wine pairings for each that we hope will be appreciated. Happy birthday, Roger! 

Attack of the Crab Monsters is a 1957 sci-fi, in case the title didn’t tip it off. It was produced and directed by Corman, with a cast of B-movie legends and TV character actors. Russell "The Professor" Johnson is in it, before his Gilligan Island days. Had he been professionally known as Russell "The Professor" Johnson, he might have enjoyed a career in wrestling and/or politics. 

A team of scientists experience what the one-sheet calls "a tidal wave of terror" as they investigate the effect of nuclear testing at the Bikini Atoll. We’ll give you three guesses as to what type of sea creature was most affected by the radiation, and the first two don't count. 

For crab, radiated or not, we want a white wine with plenty of acidity to provide counterpoint to the sweetness of the meat. Caves Messias has a Vinho Verde wine, from Portugal, which is called Santola. That's Portuguese for spider crab, by the way. You get an artistic rendering on the label of what the crab monster might have looked like before it was nuked. They also have it in rosé, each for around $10. 

In 1962, Corman got on board the civil rights train with The Intruder. It's about a racist who tries to undermine school desegregation in a small town in the Southern U.S. The movie has traveled under several other titles, like The Stranger, Shame, and my favorite, I Hate Your Guts. I want the cast and crew jacket from that one. 

The film was produced and directed by Corman with William Shatner topping the cast. He drifts into town like a racist Henry Hill, whipping the populace into a frenzy about those kids of other colors. His character has everything but the MAGA hat. If he is still alive 50 years down the road, he has that, too. 

Here's a great way to get back at the racists: drink wine made by African-Americans. Anderson Valley's Theopolis Vineyards is owned by Theodora Lee, known by many as Theo-patra, Queen of the Vineyard. The former attorney makes a $40 Petite Sirah that people rave about. If you must have a white wine with this movie, try her dry Symphony for $25.

Corman directed The Tomb of Ligeia in 1964. Vincent Price starred in this adaptation of a story by Edgar Allan Poe, a favorite source for Corman. It was written by future Oscar-winner Robert Towne. We have mentioned before that one of Corman's great talents is his ability to surround himself with other greatly talented people.

The script has a dead wife inhabiting the body of a cat that lures the husband away from his new wife. I'm intrigued. Did I mention the dead wife is buried in the house? Talk about baggage. The new wife really shouldn't complain about the other woman's spirit padding around on four legs. It sounds to me like she got what was advertised. 

A little wine might take the edge off the situation, although it might require a lot of wine, depending on your tolerance for having the soul of your husband's dead wife hanging around. It might require a Valium. But let's say wine does it, and why not make it a wine from a Poe story? In "The Cask of Amontillado," the killer vanquishes his victim by entombing him in a wine cellar. Are there worse ways to go? Maybe. Let me think on it. While I'm thinking, I'll have Lustau's Los Arcos Amontillado sherry. It is bone dry and even more complex than Poe's villain. 

Follow Randy Fuller on X

Blood Of The Vines - Christopher Plummer

Pairing‌‌‌ ‌‌‌wine‌‌‌ ‌‌‌with‌‌‌ ‌‌‌movies!‌‌‌  ‌‌‌See‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌hear‌‌‌ ‌‌‌the‌‌‌ ‌‌‌fascinating‌‌‌ ‌‌‌commentary‌‌‌ ‌‌‌for‌‌‌ ‌‌‌these‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌‌movies‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌and‌‌‌ ‌‌‌many‌‌‌ ‌‌‌more‌,‌‌ ‌‌‌at‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Trailers‌‌‌ ‌‌‌From‌‌‌ ‌‌‌Hell.‌‌‌ ‌ We take a loving last look this week at the work of Christopher Plummer, who passed away recently at the age of 91.  R.I.P., Captain von Trapp. 

In the 1979 film, Murder By Decree, Christopher Plummer plays Sherlock Holmes as a human being instead of a pitiless thinking machine.  James Mason plays Dr. Watson as a man of science instead of a bumbling sidekick. These departures from the Holmes movies of decades before warmed the hearts of even the harshest critics.  However, the critics were not so kind to the film's writing, pacing, direction and solution, which clocked in at considerably less than seven percent.  Holmes puts his wits on the line to solve the Jack the Ripper murders, which are presented as a possible Masonic plot.  I didn't see a lodge in the movie, nor did I witness any secret handshakes.

Sherlock Holmes has enjoyed a number of different wines - Burgundy from Beaune, sherry - presumably from Jerez - and a few Port wines after dinner.  I would think that Holmes - particularly Plummer's Holmes - would like A Proper Claret.  California's Bonny Doon Vineyards has had one in recent years, but the winery was always more Rhône oriented than Bordeaux.  The wine seems to have disappeared from the BDV website, so maybe Holmes could help us track down a bottle.

The Man Who Would Be King is from 1975, which was as good a year as any to be a king.  Plummer portrays Rudyard Kipling, whom you may remember as the author of the novella on which this film is based.  Plummer gets to narrate the story behind lead actors Sean Connery and Michael Caine.  

While conducting a ruse in a small, out-of-the-way country, Connery's character is recognized as a god and named king.  He finds that it is good to be the king and wants to remain in the gig rather than rip off his nation's valuables.  He then finds that it is not so good to be the god.  You have to take your victories in small, easily digestible pieces, it seems.  Plummer kept his hands clean while simply relating the tale.

Kipling, in one of his more lucid moments, is said to have opined, "A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition."  I can back the red wine part of that quote, and I have a pairing of such for The Man Who Would Be King.  King Wine Estate in Oregon's Willamette Valley offers a handful of Pinot Noirs, mostly under the $100 mark.  For books and bullets, you're on your own.

In The Silent Partner, 1978, Plummer gets a role into which he can sink his teeth.  His Santa Claus bank robber is something anyone would relish playing.  At least anyone who had ever worked as a mall Santa.  I won't bore you with the details, but I think to this day that Bad Santa came about as a response to my own SoCal Santa stint.

Plummer's Santa is a tad on the psychopathic side, which I am told is an occupational hazard in the mall Santa biz.  Anyway, his plan to rob a bank gets sidetracked and the teller gets the dough.  The film follows Santa's efforts to reclaim the cash and exact some revenge.  Sounds like the perfect job for a psychopathic mall Santa.

Pheasant Run Wine has a Walla Walla Cabernet Sauvignon called Bank Robber Red, Bank Vault Reserve.  There's a story attached to the wine of a woman pulling a heist to win back her husband.  They say it didn't work.  Supposedly, the ex wasn't so interested in having a rich wife as he was in having one who wasn't crazy.

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Texas Tempranillo: Brennan Vineyards

Tempranillo is one of Spain’s many gifts to the world.  It takes an honored place alongside such wonders as Salvador Dali, Manchego cheese and sherry - we’ll just overlook that whole Spanish inquisition thing for now.

The Tempranillo grape is planted worldwide, of course - about 575,000 acres' worth - and it is the world’s fourth most-planted variety, with some of the oldest Tempranillo vineyards located in Spain’s Ribera del Duero and Rioja regions.  Tempranillo is known by other names in other places: "Ull de Llebre or Ojo de Llebre in Catalonia, Cencibel in La Mancha or Valdepeñas, Tinto Fino in the Ribera del Duero, Tinto Madrid in Arganda, Tinto de la Rioja in the Rioja, Tinto del Toro in the Toro, Grenache de Logrono, Tinto del Pais or Jacivera in other parts of Spain, Aragonez or Tinto Roriz in Portugal, and it may actually be the grape variety Valdepeñas in California."  Thanks to the awesome blog post on Under The Grape Tree for that information.

There are about 400 acres of Tempranillo planted in Texas, where it stands, arguably, as the Lone Star state's signature grape.  The climate and soil in Texas mimic those qualities of Tempranillo's Spanish roots.

During the virtual tasting event for Texas Tempranillo on that grape’s international day back in November, the Tempranillo Advocates, Producers and Amigos Society - @TAPASociety - tweeted, "Texas is now the 5th largest grape growing region in the US and Tempranillo takes center stage."  @TXViognier admitted, "I'm biased, but the #txwine kinda kicks the ass of the 2 Spanish #tempranilloDaywines."  On the subject of the grape’s many aliases, @shoozmagooz let us know why: "it mutated to adapt to the various Iberian microclimates, got new names each place."

The four wineries of Texas Fine Wine invited everyone to pick up a Texas wine for Tempranillo Day. They invited me, too, and this wine was provided for that purpose.

Brennan Vineyards Tempranillo 2012

Brennan Vineyards puts their motto in all capital letters, as if they are screaming on the internet: “100% TEXAS GRAPES, 100% TEXAS WINE.”  Maybe they feel nobody thinks to look first in Comanche, Texas for great grapes and wine.  However, that’s where the Texas Hill Country meets the High Plains, so a proper inspection should be made.  I spent a night once at a motel in Comanche, and awoke to find it was across the road from the Comanche Livestock Exchange.  The aromas were quite ripe, as I recall.  Brennan’s winery is located a bit further to the southwest, but you might still pray for a prevailing wind that will blow the other way when you visit.

The land was bought in 1997 and vineyards were planted a few years later.  In 2005, the sale of "Sophisticated Wines with Texas Roots" began.  They grow Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Viognier and a TexItalia grape that we know as Nero d'Avola, owing to its Italian hometown.  Who knows, though?  Maybe someday, Nero di Comanche.  Winemaker Todd Webster will be able to turn such a grape into a Texas-sized hit.

Webster says the Tempranillo grapes for their 2012 vintage - the winery's second effort with the grape - "are from our Newburg Vineyard and from the vineyards of Bob Ossowski and Adrian Allen in Cross Plains."  The 2011 version won awards all over the place - gold awards, mind you - and I would not be surprised to see the 2012 follow suit.  It clocks in with alcohol at 14.3% abv and retails for $26.

It’s a very dark wine, with a nose that shows plenty of darkness - blackberry, juicy tar, spices and some good ol' Texas dirt.  The palate strikes a dark chord, too, with black fruit leading the way for black pepper, smoke and a pleasant dash of cinnamon.  It finishes earthy, and takes its dear, sweet time doing it.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Another Bone Dry Sherry

Álvaro Domecq bought this bodega in the late 1990s, adding wine to his horse ranching empire. This Fino La Janda is one of more than a dozen wines in his line of sherries. It is made from 100% Palomino grapes, grown in Jerez, Spain.

The website in one place shows nine years of aging, then references six to seven years in another. The aging is done in American oak casks, in the solera method. Alcohol hits 15% abv and the wine retails for around $10. 

This wine has a golden yellow color and a very expressive nose. There is quite a bit of a yeasty aroma, with bread and citrus notes following. Hints of brown sugar and raisins are also present. The palate is very dry and somewhat bitter, in a good way. The taste is a savory experience, with barely a trace of the citrus fruit that appears on the nose. The acidity is fresh, almost bracing, and allows for a wide range of pairing options. 

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

DESSERT WINES

My friend Art Meripol shot me an email recently, in which he raved about a particularly wonderful dessert wine he had just finished off.

Art’s a wonderful photographer for a name-brand national magazine and has a website featuring his concert photography and shoots pretty amazing stuff on his iPhone, too.  You can keep up on that by following him on Twitter.

He wrote to me about a wine he had bought at a winery when shooting a travel story on Sonoma a few years back.  Of the Sapphire Hill VLH Zinfandel 2003, Art said, "It was superb.  Sweet, dense, intense black fruit, tar ...everything a great dessert wine should be."

I see this Very Late Harvest Zinfandel on the Sapphire Hill website in the 2006 vintage.  It sells for $26, half bottle.  This sweet product of Alexander Valley grapes is dubbed "liquid candy for grown-ups" in the winemaker notes.  At 9.5% residual sugar, it would not appear to be cloyingly sweet on its own, but is recommended with cheese or chocolate.

Not that I don't think about dessert wines a lot anyway, but Art's email prompted me to sift through my tasting notes of this past year for dessert wines I liked a lot.  Here are a few:

La Quinta Crema Marsala, California NV - Sampled at the San Antonio Winery winemaker dinner a while back, this Marsala shows a nose of raisins, spice and honey with a sherry-like flavor of candied fruit.  This brown-colored, fortified wine would be right at home after a big Thanksgiving meal or Christmas dinner.  FYI, the alcohol level nudges the 20% mark.

Coquelicot Slow Hand Dessert Wine - All late harvest fruit, 50% Chardonnay and 50% Riesling.  It tastes like a baked apple with raisins.

Kalyra Orange Muscat 2006 - Kalyra Winery, up Highway 154 in the pastoral Santa Ynez Valley northwest of Santa Barbara, makes several great dessert wines.  The grapes for this wine were sourced from Madeira, California.  Fortified to a 15% abv number, this viscous liquid is a rich, golden color and so thick and heavy it almost tries to stay in the glass.  On the nose are flowers, honey and apricot candy.  The palate shows even more honey, more apricots and some orange peel notes that play off the sweetness beautifully.  Nice acidity, too.

Pessagno Griva Vineyard Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc Arroyo Seco 2006 - Stephen Pessagno makes small quantity wines from single vineyards in Monterey and San Benito Counties of California, all estate grown.  His Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc is a Sauternes-styled wine made from grapes affected by Botrytis cinerea, or the noble rot.  It has a harvest brix of 48 and a residual sugar of 18.4%.  This is definitely a sweet wine.  The nose shows pear juice, pear cobbler aromas, and a pineapple candy profile.  The sweet custard and caramel flavors are a delight, but it’s not just a sweetie - the acidity is almost bracing and can match any dessert you may put next to it.  The suggested retail price is $35 for a half-bottle.

Graff Family Vineyards Chalone July Muscat 2007 - The Graff Family of Sonoma makes very limited-production wine.  July Muscat is a cross of four different Muscat varieties.  The grapes for this wine are grown in the Chalone appellation in California's Monterey County.  Very pale in the glass, the nose of the Graff Family's July Muscat is incredibly floral and drenched in sweet, ripe peaches and apricots.  Apricots dominate the palate and a mild acidity realizes its full potential on the finish.  That finish is a delight, lingering long with traces of fruity sweetness.

Abundance Vineyards 2008 Bacio Dolce Carignane Dessert Wine - 100% Carignane, plum notes abound in a setting which makes it easy to see why they named it the "sweet kiss."  At 19.5% abv, it’s a hefty drink.

Roxo Port Cellars - This Paso Robles producer does only Port style wines.  Roxo has quite a variety of delicious Port wines made not only from Portuguese varieties, but also Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Pinot Noir.

Mer Soleil LATE 2004 - LATE is a late harvest Viognier kissed by that favorite fungus of dessert wine fans - Botrytis cinerea.  The color is an extremely rich gold with aromas and flavors of honeyed apricots.  An orange zest profile reveals itself in the flavors, too.  

Liberty School Central Coast Chardonnay 2010

It’s getting to be that time of year - no, it’s already gotten to be that time of year - when we start to think of wines for the holidays.  Port, sherry, dessert wines, lush Cabs - they all get a little higher on my radar as Thanksgiving and Christmas approach.

As for Chardonnay, I generally prefer a leaner, crisper type - unoaked, if possible.  When the holidays roll around, though, I become a sucker for the big, oaky style sometimes called “California Chardonnay.”

Liberty School comes from the Hope Family of wines in Paso Robles, California.  The wines from that line which I have tried are not bad at all, and priced low enough that I’ve seen them as house wines in restaurants and bars.

Their Chardonnay was only $5 at River Rock Lounge in Studio City’s Sportsmen’s Lodge during happy hour.  It retails for about $14 per bottle online

The wine has a brilliant yellow-gold tint, which foretells the significant effect of oak.  On the nose, tropical pineapple aromas are immediately noticeable, but so is the oak spice.  The oakiness in the flavor profile all but obliterates the fruit.

If you want a really big, old-style California Chardonnay, this could be a nice choice.  It’s actually a little oakier than I prefer, even in the holidays.  I’d pay a few dollars more and choose the Hope Family’s Treana White Rhône blend instead.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

The Earth Of Spain, With Bubbles

Vilarnau is a cava House located outside Barcelona.  I understand they date back to the 1940s, although their parent company goes back much further.  Manuel María González Ángel founded his sherry winery in 1835, then joined up with his English agent Robert Blake Byass.  Gonzalez Byass continues today under the descendents of Señor González.  They sell a large variety of wines, like the cavas of Vilarnau.  The wines are crafted by winemakers Damià Deàs and Eva Plazas.

This bottling is the winery's Trencadis Edition.  "Trencadis" is a style of mosaic art that utilizes small fragments of glassware.  You see the style emulated in the wrapper that covers the bottle, the avant-garde design of Antoni Gaudi

This delightful Vilarnau Brut Reserva non-vintage cava is made from  50% Macabeo grapes, 35% Parellada and 15% Xarel-lo.  Wine Enthusiast says you can say "zuh-REL-o" and not embarrass yourself too much.  The trio of Spanish grapes are typically used to make the sparkling treat.  The bubbly is aged from 15 months to two years in the bottle.  Alcohol tips in at a low, low 11.5% abv and it sells for $15.

The bubbles disappear quickly, but they're a blast for the short time they hang around.  Once they go away, the yeasty nose comes on strong and brings tons of citrus and minerals with it.  The mouth is full and dry, with earth and Meyer lemon to flavor the palate.  There are minerals aplenty.  Yeast and dirt linger on the finish for a long time.

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Kalyra Muscat

A little bottle can hold a lot.  The little 375 ml bottle that holds the Kalyra Muscat dessert wine also currently holds my attention, along with my intermittent fascination with sweet wines.

I love sweet wines, but I don't love them all.  Those that I do love, I don't love all the time.  This one carries the qualities that do make me drink sweet - flavor, balanced sweetness and acidity.

Winemaker Mike Brown is Australia-born, but now operates out of Santa Barbara County's Santa Ynez Valley.  His dessert wines have been favorites at our house for a number of years, and the little bottle of Muscat pictured and written about here was purchased at the winery on our first visit there, a number of years ago.

This one is a non-vintage wine, and it appears to be slightly different than the current offering in that it has a little more kick to it.  This one hits 18% abv, while the current Kalyra Muscat comes in at 16%.  It's made from Black Muscat grapes and is fortified with brandy.  Also, this older bottle is described on the label as a "product of Australia," while the current product is sourced from Madera County, in California's Central Valley.

The Kalyra website says that the wine has been "aged in the Solero style, which is quite common practice in some regions, particularly in Australia."  Brown says it is "best paired with contrasting flavors like French Vanilla Bean ice cream or crème brulée."

The wine's color is dark brick red, almost brown, like a red with some age on it.  The nose is heavily laden with alcohol (18% abv) and raisiny caramel notes.  It smells like liqueur or sherry with a shot of cognac back.  The palate is just as rich.  Thicker, it might be molasses; sweeter, it could pass for raisin pudding.  The caramel notes are burnt just right and the acidity is rippingly fantastic.

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Spanish Bubbles - Vilarnau Cava Rosé

Cava house Vilarnau is located outside Barcelona.  I understand they date back to the 1940s, although their parent company goes back much further.  Manuel María González Ángel founded his sherry winery in 1835, then joined up with his English agent Robert Blake Byass.  Gonzalez Byass continues today under the descendents of Señor González.  They sell a large variety of wines, like the cavas of Vilarnau.  The bottles are wrapped in the avant-garde design of Antoni Gaudi.

Vilarnau Brut Reserva Rosé NV

Vilarnau Brut Reserva Rosé is a Catalonian, non-vintage DO Cava that provides bubbles and substance at a very fair price.  Alcohol sits at only 12% abv, and the sticker price is only $16.

The wine is made from 85% Trepat grapes and 15% Pinot Noir.  The Pinot was grown in the Penédes region of Catalonia, while the Trepat grapes came from Conca de Barberà in Tarragona. That red grape is probably indigenous to northeast Spain, and used mostly for making rosé wines.  The color is extracted from the grape skins for 18 hours, and fermentation takes place in steel tanks, while the secondary fermentation - from whence the bubbles come - happens in the bottle.

This fun bubbly brings the brut.  It's Sahara dry, with a strong earthy and yeasty streak running through it.  The unusual grape - Trepat - comes on with some of the earthiness of a North American variety, and provides a nice counterpoint to the Pinot Noir.  It's my first time to taste Trepat, by the way, and I would do it again.  Minerals all over the strawberry aromas and flavors hit very well, and provide food friendliness. 


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Oregon Vermentino

If Vermentino grapes were as commonplace in American vineyards as Chardonnay, maybe the ABC attitude -- Anything But Chardonnay -- would be ABV instead. They're not, though. And they probably won't be anytime soon. That's why I cherish them whenever I can.

Troon Vineyard's Craig Camp talks about two of their Vermentino wines, sounding like he's trying to choose his favorite child: "The 2016 Troon Red Label Vermentino, Applegate Valley is in the classic, richer, but still zesty style of Sardegna. The 2016 Troon Blue Label Vermentino, Cuvée Rolle, Applegate Valley was a co-ferment with 10% marsanne. It was named Cuvée Rolle (rolle is the name for vermentino in French) as the inspiration for this co-ferment comes from the richer rolle blends of the Languedoc in Southern France. As an interesting side note, there is actually more vermentino planted in France than in Italy." That should have them Rolle-ing in the aisles at the next tasting. The Red was fermented in steel tanks, while the Blue was done in oak barrels. Both were aged four months in neutral French oak.

Troon Red Vermentino Applegate Valley 2016

Camp calls the red label Vermentino a "decidedly different" expression of the grape, "grown on the granitic soils of the Kubli Bench in Oregon’s Applegate Valley."

This wine is one of three different styles of Vermentino produced at Troon. They call it their "sitting on the Italian Beach" Vermentino, made from grapes grown in Troon's sustainably farmed vineyards in southern Oregon's Applegate Valley. They picked the grapes a little earlier for this bottling than for the Blue Vermentino, which was left to ripen longer. Alcohol hits only 12.5% abv and it retails for $15.

The Troon Vermentino is a light straw gold color and very clear in appearance. The nose is savory despite apple, lime, peach and tropical notes. There's a waxy, lanolin scent and some minerals, but the salinity is just what I always hope for in this grape. The mouthfeel is full, yet the acidity is racy. Sea salt tones color the apple-meets-lemon-lime fruit and an earthy element weaves its way through it all. That salty flavor stays around a good, long while, too.

Troon Blue Vermentino Applegate Valley 2016

Don't over-chill your white wines. Troon's website pleads with you to refrain from refrigerating their Blue label Vermentino. They say a slight chill "emphasizes the wine's fruitier character," but a serving temperature in the mid-60 degree range "emphasizes the wine's savory qualities as well as its lightly tugging texture." They claim that, chilled, you're looking at notes of "yellow plum, papaya-with-a-squeeze-of-lime and guava." The slightly warmer expression "favors aromas of Spanish almonds and whispers of amontillado Sherry."

In old-country fashion, they tread the grapes by foot for this old-country varietal wine. It hits 12.5% abv and retails for $22.

The Troon Blue Label Vermentino looks so delicate in the glass. The pale color made me anticipate a light-hearted wine. It's a deception. The nose has notes similar to the Red Label, perhaps a little more savory - even yeasty. On the palate, the mouth is full and has great weight, while bringing a little more salinity to the show than the Red. Despite the almost creamy mouthfeel, the acidity is zippy and fresh.

The third Vermentino in Troon's line up, the Black Label, spends a year in barrel on the lees. The 2016 is expected to be bottled in the spring.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

THE STARS OF PASO ROBLES

The Stars of Paso Robles trade tasting was Wednesday at The Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills.  Over 30 wineries of the Paso Robles AVA were represented at this event, staged by Ian Blackburn's Learn About Wine.  Blackburn is a pro at staging wine tasting events, and he likes to go for the grand flourish.  That suits Paso Robles well, as the wines from that neck of the California woods - er, vineyards - are deserving of some fancy notice.

I didn't get around to all the tables - why does that always happen to me? - but I got around enough to find a number of really fantastic wines, which I will list here.

Anglim Winery 

Showing a penchant for the grapes of the Rhone, Anglim poured their 2006 Cameo, a white blend with 50% Marsanne, 25% Roussanne and 25% Viognier.  It's flowery and floral.  I especially like the '07 Roussanne, a 100% varietal wine, where nuttiness abounds on the nose and palate.  The 2007 Viognier takes its fruit from Santa Barbara County's Bien Nacido Vineyard.  It is rich in aromas and flavors, with a floral nose and tastes of melon and peach.  Their reds are equally impressive.  The '06 Grenache is all Paso Robles fruit, with a little Syrah and Counoise in the mix.  It shows peppery raspberry flavors.  Their 2005 Best Barrel Blendis a Paso Robles mix of 45% Mourvèdre, 45% Syrah and 10% Grenache.  Earth, spice and dark fruit dominate.  It's a very dark wine, but oh-so-smooth.  Anglim's Zinfandel offering, the 2007 St. Peter of Alcantara, is 100% single-vineyard Paso Robles Zin.  It's vibrant and spicy with a big cherry taste.

August Ridge 

Off Highway 41E in Creston, California, August Ridge brought some interesting Cal-Italia wines to the show.  The 2008 Arneis features fruit from Pebble Ridge Vineyard in a blend with 10% Sauvignon Blanc.  It's aromatic with apples and shows grapefruit and tropical notes on the palate.  Their '07 Sangiovese is an estate wine with 9% Cabernet Sauvignon.  Smokey cherry aromas lead to lots of red fruit on the palate, with leather on the finish.  The 2007 Nebbiolo offers brambly cherry with a spicy, black pepper finish and some fairly big tannins.  Jovial 2006, their Super Tuscan-style blend, contains 69% Sangiovese, 18% Cabernet Sauvignon and 13% Merlot.  Smokey plum flavors with a nice tobacco profile come forward.

Caliza Winery 
The Rhone Valley serves as big inspiration for this Paso Robles producer.  The 2008 Kissin' Cousins is a white blend of 47% Viognier, 30% Grenache Blanc and 23% Roussanne.  A floral nose gives way to a tart beginning and a lot of influence from the Grenache Blanc and Roussanne.  There's good acidity here with a long, nutty finish.  The 2006 Azimuth consists of 51% Syrah, 19% Grenache, 14% Mourvèdre and 8% each of Tannat and Alicante Bouschet.  The latter two grapes are new for this vintage.  A big blackberry taste is abetted by coffee and firm tannins, with a really nice finish.  The '06 Companion is a blend of 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre and 10% Tannat.  They call it "opulent and sexy," and I can't argue either one of those points.  It's a full-bodied, meaty wine.  Caliza's 2007 Syrah is 100% Paso Syrah and it tastes it, with a smokey flavor laced with black pepper.

Cerro Prieto 
The Bordeaux Rhone Blend 2007, from Larry and Teresa Stanton's estate vineyard is 85% Cabernet Sauvignon and 15% Syrah. The vineyard's limestone quality comes forth with a wonderful minerality.  Larry Stanton not only tends the vineyard, but also writes about the process in Larry's Blog .

Derby Wine Estates
I tasted the two whites which Derby brought to the table.  Their 2006 Chardonnay features Edna Valley grapes with tropical flavors overlaying a bit of oak, and that special minerality for which Edna Valley is known.  Fifteen 10 is a VRM blend, Viognier, Roussanne and Marsanne in equal parts.  The fruit is from Paso Robles, the Derby Vineyard.  While it seems a bit light in acidity, it certainly makes up for that in flavor and is extremely drinkable.

Eberle Winery 
Gary Eberle co-founded the Paso Robles appellation in 1980, so it's fitting that he is invited to any Paso Party.  Eberle's '09 Viognier is produced a third in steel, a third in neutral oak and a third in French oak.  It has a big, floral nose and a lush mouthfeel.  The '09 Chardonnay is produced the same way and sports green apples on the palate.  The 2007 Zinfandel gets American oak and shows spicy berries on the nose and palate.  The '06 Estate Cabernet Sauvignon comes from 32-year-old vines and spends 18 months in French oak.  It is complex and very smooth.

Ecluse
The winery is west of Highway 101 and north of Highway 46W.  Their featured wine is the 2008 Prelude, a Rhone-style blend of 37% Viognier, 35% Roussanne, 18% Grenache Blanc and 10% Marsanne.  This is a great wine for sipping, with a lovely nose and a taste that's fruity, floral and nutty at once.

Four Vines Winery
I tried the Four Vines Biker Zinfandel, 2008. and found it to be one of the highlights of the day for me. It's an incredibly smooth and delicious Zin.

J & J Cellars
A small, family owned outfit in San Miguel, the group has grown grapes and citrus for 100 years.  I was struck by the lightness and freshness of their 2006 Vintage Flight Cabernet Sauvignon.  It reminds me a bit of an Italian red.  Barrel-aged for two years in French, American and Hungarian oak. this may be the "summer red wine" of the show.  Their 2008 Tempranillo is spicy - you may think Syrah, but it's not.  The 2007 Juliet Fiero Zinfandel is brash and spicy - a little too much for my taste.  Their '07 Petite Sirah seems lighter than I would expect from a PS, but it still has guts.  By the way, all the J & J Cellars wines I tasted are available for under $20.  Bargains.

Lone Madrone
I was particularly looking forward to sampling Lone Madrone's white blend, La Mezcla again.  Alas, they could not send a representative to this show.  One wine was available, however - the 2007 blend called The Will.  Sweet on the nose and dry on the palate, this mixture of 41% Grenache, 40% Petite Sirah and 19% Zinfandel is everything you would expect a blend like this to be.

Nevarez
Their '07 Cabernet Sauvignon is dry and fruity with pencil lead on the palate.  The '07 Nevarez Vineyard Syrah is almost dessert-wine sweet and rich with spices.  I can't help but feel that many Christmas parties will be brightened up by this wine.  And many barbecues, too.  The '08 Roussanne has a great nutty nose and guava on the palate.

Ranchita Canyon 
The 2007 Pinot Noir contains Monterey County grapes.  It's pale purple, a bit faint on the nose but smooth as silk.  The nose on their old-vine Zinfandel (planted in 1970) is what purple smells like.  A tiny bit of Petite Sirah is included, and it's brambly and smooth.  Fusion - their '05 Grenache/Petite Sirah blend - is a dark wine they refer to as "the beauty and the beast."  Ranchita has a 2005 Cabernet Franc that is deep and heavy, very smooth with an intensely grapey nose.

Rotta Winery
One of the few dessert wines at the show is from Rotta.  Their non-vintage Black Monukka features grapes which are in barrels, out in the sun, for two years.  The burnt-caramel and raisin flavor is sherry-esque, if there is such a thing.

Roxo Port Cellars
This Paso producer produces primarily Port.  Nothing but Port, in fact.  One of the more interesting stops among the tables, Roxo has quite a variety of delicious Port wines which are all fortified with neutral grape spirits to allow the fruit to put on the show.  The Paso Melange is made with Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir.  The Ruby Tradicional is a combination of five Portuguese varietals, all grown in Paso Robles.  Roxo's Negrette is big and bold and begs for chocolate.  They also have a Barbera Port and the Magia Preta, made from a half-and-half blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.  Truly a niche producer, Roxo fills the niche quite nicely.

Terry Hoage Vineyards
The Pick, an '07 Grenache/Syrah/Mourvèdre blend shows lively cherry accents.  The 46 - just Grenache and Syrah in this 50/50 blend - has spicy raspberry flavors.

Treana /Hope Family Wines
 
The 2007 Treana is 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Syrah.  It's luscious and full of berries and tobacco notes.  The white Treana - 55% Marsanne and 45% Viognier - has flowers to spare on the nose and an enticing grapefruit core.  The Austin Hope Syrah 2008 is all Syrah all the time, estate grown with very fine tannins and a silky, even velvety texture.  It's one of my favorites of the show.

Venteux Vineyards
Venteux's Fleur Blanc is a Viognier/Roussanne/Marsanne blend in which the Viognier does not take over.  There's a lovely floral nose, but a nutty guava flavor that's irresistible.  Their 2007 blend of Petite Sirah, Mouvèdre and Syrah shows the dark side of cherry.  Tache La Verre, I'm told, means "stain the glass," and that's what this big, beautiful '07 Syrah does.  Santa Barbara County fruit with a big nose and lots of tannins.  The 2007 Estate Petite Sirah is deep, dark and delicious with a long finish.

Juana de Sol Reserva Malbec Mendoza 2010

In 2010, Argentina’s government named wine as the national liquor.  The list makes for some interesting reading.  Bourbon whiskey Is the national liquor of the US, while it’s vodka in Russia and Sherry in Spain.  Iceland’s national liquor is something called Black Death.  That makes the palm wine of the Phillippines sound absolutely wonderful.

Argentine wine is fascinating to me.  The wine industry there turned around completely in a decade or so to become a great source for quality wine.  Mendoza is the hottest tourist spot in Argentina now, thanks to wine.  The grape that made Argentina famous is the Bordeaux variety, Malbec.

The 2010 Juana de Sol Reserva Malbec was provided for review by Wine Chateau, a New Jersey based online wine outlet which carries wines from over 30 countries.  The lion's share of their offerings are from California and France.

A single-vineyard bottling, the Juana de Sol Reserva carries an alcohol number of 13.5% abv.  The wine is inky purple, no light gets through the glass.  It's richly aromatic, with floral notes giving way to luscious dark fruit, spices and cedar.  The palate bursts forth with plums and blackberries, a highly concentrated fruit attack.  Oak makes a play, but it knows its place.  The wine spends six months in oak, and the effect it makes is quite pleasing.  The spice and cedar - so prominent in the aromas - fall in line as flavors on the finish.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Follow Wine Chateau on Twitter

BORGHI VIN SANTO DEL CHIANTI 2002

Vin Santo wine is about as close as I'm likely to get to a religious experience. The Italian traditional wine - the wine of the saints - was made in small batches for family and church use for centuries. Many wine regions in Italy produce their own versions of Vin Santo, using a variety of local grapes. It didn't become a commercially exported product until the 1970s.

Grapes for Vin Santo are harvested by hand and hung from rafters to dry - this may take three months or so. Once dry, they are pressed and the juice is placed in small oak or chestnut barrels -caratelli - to ferment for up to 10 years, even longer. The wine is produced in sweet, dry or semi dry types.

The type I'm drinking - Borghi Vin Santo del Chianti 2002 - is a dry type, produced from a blend of 70% Trebbiano Toscano Bianco and 30% Malvasia del Chianti Tuscany. This dry white wine - brownish amber in color, actually - is a single vineyard and single vintage wine which is aged a minimum of three years in those little caratelli barriques. It's a strong wine at 16% abv.

It smells a lot like sherry to me. The alcohol is prevalent on the nose and the aroma of raisins cuts through the heat. On the palate, this Vin Santo tastes of dried fruit - not a surprise - and has a delicious sweetness, like caramel. It's a dry wine, to be sure, but it has a wonderful sweet edge to it. The finish lingers forever and leaves the sensation of an Irish whiskey, if you'll pardon the ethnic juxtaposition.

I may not buy much of what the Catholic church is selling, but drinking Vin Santo is pretty close to finding religion in a bottle.

WINE FOR THANKSGIVING

A couple of Sundays back was a genuine fall-weather day in Los Angeles.  There was chilly rain and a foggy grayness outside.  Inside, thanks to Denise, there was the aroma of a beautiful lentil soup, then a gingerbread experiment.  She didn't think the gingerbread a success, so I won’t detail it.  I was, however, plenty happy to be the guinea pig.

While we were enjoying our "inside day," there was an old "Twilight Zone" episode showing on TV.  It was the one in which the actor starts to think he's actually the character he's playing.  Ultimately, he chooses to live in the pages of the script rather than on the streets of Los Angeles.  Wouldn't it be nice If we could all have a choice like that?  I think I might choose to spend that chilly, rainy Sunday as the guy who writes about good wine choices for the upcoming Thanksgiving feast.

Turkey is the popular favorite for serving as the Thanksgiving dinner centerpiece.  Pinot Noirgets high recommendations for pairing with turkey, turkey dinner and gravy.  Pinot Noir is also a good choice with ham, particularly smoked ham.  The earthiness of mushrooms also dovetails with the darker expressions of Pinot Noir.

Grenache and Merlot, with their fruit-forward tendencies, also get good marks as a turkey mate.
For smoked turkey you might find the big jammy fruit and peppery spice of Syrah attractive.  For an American holiday celebration, why not an American grape?  You can't go wrong with a livelyZinfandel on the holiday spread.

If you’re in the mood for a white wine to serve with holiday turkey, try a wine with some interesting aromatics to offer.  Riesling and Viognier come to mind and Chardonnay is a perennial favorite.  Feel free to get crazy, though, and go with an Albariño or Torrontes if you are hosting adventurous types.

I think an imperative purchase for the Thanksgiving - and Christmas - holiday is a dry rosé.  For my money, nothing pairs better with leftover turkey sandwiches than a bone dry rosé.

Don't forget that Beaujolais Nouveau arrives a week ahead of Thanksgiving, on the third Thursday of November (the 18th in 2010).  For the uninitiated, Beaujolais Nouveau is a freshly made wine of the Gamay variety - from Beaujolais - which some eagerly await each year and some decry as not worthy of all the marketing attention it gets.  Finding it fruity and almost completely devoid of tannic structure, I’m in the latter camp.  Each year I marvel at how wrong 60-million Frenchmen can be.  Each year I also find myself picking up a bottle, then swearing I’ll not do it again.  Fortunately, Beaujolais Nouveau is cheap.  You can, however, pick up aBeaujolais Cru and join the party with a fully mature wine of substance.

The wine website Snooth listed the top five most-searched-for wines for Thanksgiving 2009, and there were three Pinot Noirs, a Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon.

Here are some specific suggestions to make your Thanksgiving dinner even more special:

Hitching Post Pinot Noir Bien Nacido Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley offers the flavors of cherry and spice that are always at home over the holidays. 

Cambria Winery struck gold with their 2007 Pinot Noir Julia’s Vineyard.  They say their ‘08 offers “red fruit, vanilla and cinnamon balanced with subtle earthy flavors.”  

Bonny Doon Vineyard says their '09 Contra red blend pairs especially well with turkey.   Food and Wine Magazine likes the "abundance of savory and peppery notes" of Bonny Doon's '07 Le Pousseur Syrah for the Thanksgiving table.

The Palmina '06 Nebbiolo Santa Barbara County sounds like it was made for the entire holiday season.  From Palmina's website: “A deep molasses thread, interlaced with an entire cadre of spice that spans the spectrum of cinnamon to allspice to clove.”

Niner Wine Estates has a Paso Robles entry cited by Guyot as one of the top wines for Thanksgiving.  Guyot says of the ‘07 Bootjack Ranch Merlot, “it begins with aromas of raspberry tart, violets and white pepper with a hint of lavender.  Flavors of cherry cocoa are backed by chewy tannins.”

Wine critic Edward Deitch has suggested the Viognier from Zaca Mesa Winery in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County.  Viognier’s aromatic floral notes appeal to him.  He describes Zaca Mesa's Viognier as “gorgeous, with notes of melon, honey, vanilla and touches of cinnamon, butterscotch and minerals," and thinks it would pair beautifully with Thanksgiving meal featuring many different flavors.

One of my favorite rosés is Panky, from Fontes & Phillips Wines.  Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah from Camp 4 Vineyard in Santa Ynez, CA brings the flavor of all those grapes in bone-dry fashion.  It’s great with turkey sandwiches.  

La Quinta Crema Marsala has a nose of raisins, spice and honey.  It could serve as dessert on its own, but you wouldn’t want to miss tasting it.  A sherry-like flavor of candied fruit pairs well with the assortment of pies you're likely to find over the holidays.  This brown-colored, fortified wine is 18% abv and would be right at home after a big Thanksgiving meal or Christmas dinner.  From San Antonio Winery in Los Angeles.

Is there anything I've missed?  Feel free to leave a comment if there's a favorite Thanksgiving wine tradition you'd like to share.

Dessert Wines of Monterey County

The holidays always call for special wines.  You can bring out all the heavy-hitting Cabernets, big Bordeaux blends and dry-as-a-bone Rieslings you want.  The wines that create the biggest stir and the ones that make the biggest impression on your guests are dessert wines.  Sweet and delectable, dessert wines fit in with the holiday mood almost as well as cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.  As a matter of fact, they fit right in with the cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.  The Monterey County Vintners & Growers Association supplied me with a small treasure chest of these sweet delights and asked me to pass along my impressions.  The following wines were provided to me at no cost for the purpose of review.  All of them are in 375ml bottles - except the Potbelly Port, which is in a 500ml bottle - and the prices were provided by the MCVGA.

 

J Lohr Vineyards Late-Harvest White Riesling ($25) -  The 2006 vintage was the first White Riesling crop since 1995 for J Lohr's Bay Mist vineyard in the Arroyo Seco region of Monterey County.  It's a 100% varietal wine with 12.3% abv and a luscious 10.3% residual sugar.  Don't write this one off by sniffing "sweetie" and moving along.  The sugar belies a wonderful acidity that makes this wine great for pairing with desserts.  You may like it with an apple tart and vanilla bean ice cream.  You may also like it all by itself.  There's a nose of honeyed fruit and, on the palate, that wonderful "bitter with the sweet" sensation one hopes for in a Riesling.  A beautiful, rich golden color looks great in the glass, too.

 

Joyce Vineyards Pudding Wine 2007 ($28) - The Johannesburg Riesling grapes for this wine came from the Franscioni Vineyard.  Luscious to look at - it's a deep, rich golden color - the aromas and the flavor remind me of a very fine sherry.  It should go very nicely with a pumpkin or pecan pie.  If your sweet tooth isn't shouting for attention, you may find that it makes a fine dessert on its own.  12.5% abv may be a tad high for some, in a dessert wine, but you could minimize the effect of the alcohol by doing as the Monterey wine people recommend - have a pear poached in Pudding Wine.

 

Paraiso, Souzao Port, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County NV ($25) - Listed as a "tasting room only" wine on their website, this 18.5% abv port-style wine is made from the Souzao grape, which is a Portuguese varietal but now becoming more common in California.  The Paraiso Estate features only about three acres of Souzao, but they managed nearly 600 cases of production.  The wine is aged in French and American oak for two years before bottling.  Quite viscous and very full in the mouth, it's got a rich nose full of candy cherry aromas and an explosive taste that reminds me of raisins and chocolate-covered cherries at the same time. It's a bit rough and over-the-top, so don't expect too much subtlety.  Serve this with chocolate and score big with sweet-toothed guests. 

 

Graff Family Vineyards, Chalone, July Muscat 2007 ($16) - Billed as a sweet table wine, this is made from grapes grown in the Chalone appellation.  It's 100% July Muscat, quite a rare grape variety developed in the '50s at UC Davis.  Its 10% residual sugar and 11.3% abv level gives a soft and aromatic wine with strong floral notes.  It's an amazing accompaniment to an apricot or pear tart.

 

Ventana Vineyards Orange Muscat 2008 ($18) -  Tropical fruit and vanilla greet the nose, while the flavors of peaches dominate on the palate.  The alcohol level is 15% - quite a bit higher than most Muscats - and residual sugar is 7.2%.  You can serve this chilled as an apertif, or alongside a biscotti.

 

Mer Soleil LATE Late-Harvest Viognier 2004 ($36) - Botrytis-influenced Viognier gives a warm, golden color in the glass and the aromas are as sweet as honey.  The taste is sweet, too, but with a good level of acidity that sports a nice hint of orange peel.  Expect a lush and long finish.  Pair this with Foie Gras or with warm blue cheese-stuffed Mission Figs for a delightful dessert.

 

Pessagno Late-Harvest Sauvignon Blanc 2006 ($25) -  Fully Botrytised grapes from the Arroyo Seco appellation clock in at 13.8% abv and 18.4% residual sugar and spent five months in wood, making this a dessert wine lover's dessert wine.  This Sauterne-style wine is dessert all by itself, but you can drizzle it over fruit or let it make a Creme Brulee memorable.

 

Kendall-Jackson Late-Harvest Chardonnay 2006 ($25) - Floral and cinnamon aromas lead to candied fruit flavors in this lush drink.  The winemaker calls it "the nectar of the gods."  He may be biased, but he does know what he's talking about.  This sweet Chard really dresses up a plate of butter cookies.

 

Mission Trail, Potbelly Port ($36) - Maybe the unflattering name arises from the fact that this wine is jammed full of grapes.  There are six Portuguese grapes here - Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cao, Tinta Roriz, Souzao, Tinta Madeira and Tempranillo.  Brandy was added halfway through the fermentation.  The result is a Port that is jammy and rich, with flavors of chocolate-covered cherries, black pepper, anise, tobacco and clove.  Top off your feast with this portly port and a chocolate bread pudding for a dessert as memorable as the holiday.