Is Rosé Over?

Wine At L.A.'s Original Farmers Market

The Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles is a great place to meet friends for a bite or a sip, when the weather's nice.  And when is it not, in Southern California?  It's an institution at 3rd and Fairfax, a sprawling, casual, outdoor shopping area that was built in 1934.  Although it has gone through some upgrades through the years, it's still here.  You can stroll up to any one of the many food booths for a slice of cuisine from every part of the world.  The one my wife and I keep returning to is Monsieur Marcel Bistro.

Elaine was with us, while Brian and his entire family, in-laws included, were at a nearby table.  It was festive enough even before the drinks came, and it got better afterward.  Brian insisted on buying us an ale from the nearby bar - Marcel carries only wine - and it was a hit, although no one thought to make a note of it.  I did keep track of the wines I tried, although I failed to note which Rhône blend Elaine chose to go with her tuna tartar.

The 2016 La Croix Gratiot Picpoul de Pinet is from France's Languedoc-Roussillon region in the southwest.  The white wine is made from 100% Piquepoul Blanc grapes, and is loaded with minerality and freshness.  It's reportedly known as the "Chablis of the South."  There aren't many places in Los Angeles where one can find a Picpoul on the list.

The wine's importer says that the name of the appellation - Picpoul de Pinet - is spelled differently from the grape - Piquepoul - because French wine law does not allow a grape name to be included in the appellation.

Next up was the 2017 Terra Nostra Rosé from Corsica, a French island in the Mediterranean that is more closely identified with Italy.  There's little info I could find on the winery, but Marcel's list shows that the pinkie is made fully from Sciacarello (Sciacarellu in Corsica) grapes.  The grape is usually blended, not varietal, but they say it makes a smooth and spicy rosé.  They’re right.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Cork Expert Gets Testy Over Wine Storage

A Wine Mistake

It's terrible when wine goes wrong.  A reliable Argentine producer, under the wing of a rock-solid California company... it should have been a taste treat.

The 2015 Colomé Malbec was made from grapes of four estate vineyards in the upper Calchaqui Valley in Salta, Argentina.  Alcohol sits at 14.5% abv.  The bottling is part of the Hess Family of wines and was highly regarded by Wine Spectator, which ranked it as one of their top 100 wines of 2017.

However, every now and then in the wine biz, a bad bottle gets through.  That's the case here. 
Inky black, this Malbec has an unfortunate nose that reminds me of fingernail polish remover.  It's probably volatile acidity, a naturally occurring flaw in the winemaking process.  It's not a killer - in fact, some people find that VA is intriguing, interesting. 

I've had wines afflicted with VA before, to a lesser degree, and found them offbeat.  This one is too far gone for me to appreciate.  The chemical odor is overwhelming and the displeasure seeps into the palate.  It's always a disappointment to encounter a wine for which I just can't muster up any excitement.  Several of my Delectable contacts have assured me that it's an anomaly, and I am certain of that.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Hess North Coast Sauvignon Blanc - More CA Than NZ

The lion on the Hess label represents the winery and its founder Donald Hess.  With estates in Argentina and South Africa as well as Napa Valley, this winery really gets around.  Hess staked out a claim on Napa's Mount Veeder in the 1970s, when there was still room to move around.  He retired in 2011 and passed the torch to the 5th generation of the family to carry on old traditions and forge new ones.  Dave Guffy is only the second person to lead the winemaking team at Hess. 

The Hess North Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2016 is made to relax with, or have with some grilled asparagus.  The alcohol is predictably easy at 13.5% abv and it's also easy on the wallet at $11. 

The wine has an herbal nose, not New Zealand herbal, though.  There is some grassiness in the pale golden liquid, but it is well accompanied by lemon, lime, grapefruit and tropical notes.  The palate is so fresh, it makes you happy if it's hot outside.  Chill this wine and take a few degrees off the thermometer reading.  The aforementioned citrus and tropicals show up as flavors, with a hint of stone fruit in there.  The minerality is crisp and the acidity is zippy.  The wine somehow makes me want a cold black sesame noodle dish to go with it.

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Beer More Popular Than Wine, Per Instagram Study

https://drugabuse.com/featured/the-state-of-alcohol-in-america/

LBD Rosé: The Perfect Accessory For Spring

My wife tells me that a little black dress is perfect for any occasion.  That's something you learn in Girl School, I guess.  I took shop class and learned how to make an ugly key rack.  Perfect for no occasions.  I grew up to wear my shirttail out whenever possible and comfortable shoes with all outfits. I think girls were probably given much more useful information in their youth.

Little Black Dress wine is intended to be the booze equivalent of that garment, a no-brainer, easy choice that solves problems on the spot. As they say, "Good taste is your call. It's something you wear proudly and pour boldly. It's your own personal flavor. And it looks amazing."

Margaret Leonardi is the winemaker in Mendocino County.  I don't know if she wears a little black dress or a pair of old jeans, but she certainly knows how to make a wine that's right for all occasions.
The winery likes to say that "a good bottle of wine is the best accessory," and I will concur.  It's certainly a much better accessory than a tiny black purse that only holds a couple of credit cards.  It's better than a belt that's six inches wide and shiny.  It's better than shoes that hurt your feet.  Of course, pretty much everything is better than shoes that hurt your feet.

The Little Black Dress folks like to say, "Confidence turns heads and sophistication is the rule," when talking about their wines.  They are confident, and with good reason.  Even without a fancy, single-vineyard label - actually, with only "California" to describe the wine’s origin - they manage to put a really distinctive wine in the bottle.  They did it with Chardonnay, and damned if the Mendocino winery didn't do it with the rosé as well. 

The 2017 Little Black Dress is the same size this year as last, but it's made from different grapes.  The newer LBD Rosé was vinified entirely from white wine grapes, 75% Pinot Grigio, 13% Muscat, 10% Chardonnay and 2% Viognier grapes out of Mendocino County.  The wine was fermented and stored in stainless steel tanks up to its bottling.  Alcohol is a calorie-conscious 12% abv.

The color is light pink, almost an onion skin tone.  Aromas are powerfully surprising, with a great earthy presence joining the floral and fruity expression.  The palate, is as dry as a bone and luscious, with stone fruit and herbal qualities.  The wine pairs beautifully with salad or toast but is a lovely sipper on its own.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Wine Shipments

Washington Cab Costs $20, Drinks Like $50

Pacific Crest Wine Company is named after the 2600-mile route that crosses some excellent wine regions as it winds its way up the western U.S.  The winery credits the "volcanic and sandy soils along the Columbia River" and the windy conditions which stress the vines for the depth and clarity achieved by winemaker Linda Trotta.

This Washington state wine, the 2015 McNary Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, comes from the Columbia Valley, a single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from the Horse Heaven Hills AVA.  Single vineyards are what Pacific Crest is all about.  They say the wine showcases "pure fruit flavors with depth and structure," and they aren't kidding.  Alcohol stays cool-climate reasonable at 13.7% abv and the retail price is $20.  That's a deal and a half, because this wine drinks like it should cost $50 or more.

The elegant 2015 McNary Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon is as dark as motor oil in the glass, a misleading look for a very restrained, yet full-throated wine.  Aromas are complex and gorgeous, with a soft, smoky character ushering in deep purple fruit, tobacco, oak, vanilla and graphite.  The palate is as beautiful as it comes, with rich fruit, silky tannins and and a loooooong finish.  It smells so good I didn't want to drink it, and drinks so good I didn't want to stop.

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

L.A. Restaurant Does Italian Wine Right

I'm disgusted with myself that it took me so long to get to Sotto in Los Angeles.  It's 15, 20 minutes from my home, right down Pico.  No excuses.  I should really get out more, and when I do, I should go back to Sotto.

Italian food from a chef who knows Italian food, with Italian wines to match.  Steve Samson owns the joint, and the food is fantastic.  The pizza crust nearly brought my wife to tears; the pork meatballs did it to me. 

It's the wine I'm here to blather on and on about, though.  Wine Director Jeremy Parzen brings his knowledge of Italian wine to bear on what people are calling one of the most interesting wine lists in L.A.  Parzen, like me, writes about wine.  Unlike me, zillions of people read his blog - DoBianchi.com.  It's one of the more widely read wine sites on the web, and one of the better ones, too.  Parzen is a wine genius, I know because I read him.  He may be an actual genius, too.  I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me.  Because of his involvement in Sotto, my expectations of the wines were high.

The 2016 Cirelli Trebbiano d'Abruzzo is $12 by the glass at Sotto.  Abruzzo is an Italian region, east of Rome, between the Adriatic Sea and behind the rain shade of the Apennine Mountains.  The Agricola Cirelli farm is organic, downright biodynamic with such attention given to the interaction of animals with the vines. 

My wife says she gets pork drippings and honey on the nose, the pork a memory from her childhood in an Italian household in Pennsylvania.  She also likes the savory, herbal flavors.  I get a nose full of wet rocks, the seashore and a slightly smoky note that seems almost shy.  The palate shows a grand salinity and stone fruit, dry as a bone. 

Denise had a Sicilian wine, probably because we’ve never been let down by one.  This one was the Biondi Etna Bianco Outis, at $18 by the glass.  It's made from the indigenous Carricante grape, in the Etna Bianco region.  The area covers the foothills of the Etna volcano, both north and south sides, and the Biondi grapes grow in the south.  The Carricante is blended with other local white varieties, like Moscadella dell'Etna, Minella, Malvasia and Catarrato.  The wine got about eight months aging in stainless steel.  We both loved the ocean on the nose and the volcanic rock on the palate.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

It's Always Rosé Season

Spanish White Wine Shows Plenty Of Complexity

It was Spanish wine that started my own interest in the broad spectrum of vino.  It dragged a self-described "beer-only" guy into the wide world of wine after attending a tasting of Spanish wine on a lark.  I think about that tasting every time I have a glass of Verdejo.

Under the umbrella of Bodegas González Byass, Beronia Rueda operates sustainably in the Rueda region, using two different vineyards for its Verdejo wine.  The 100% Verdejo grapes were taken in two passes, one early and another later, the former for aromas and the latter for flavor.  The two lots were vinified separately and blended together.  Their website indicates plans to start using a huge oak vat in the vinification process.  This wine offers alcohol at 13% abv and an easy price point of about $13.

An early frost, late heat and hardly any rain made for a tough 2017 vintage in Rueda.  Beronia explains that the stony soil soaks up daytime heat and releases it at night, which they credit for the complexity of the wine. 

The wine shows green-gold in the glass and looks clean.  It smells crisp, with a big grapefruit play up front and other citrus notes joining apple and anise. On the palate, there's a brisk acidity to accompany the nectarine, citrus and minerals which produce the clean mouthfeel. 

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Indian Kiwi Wine

Basketball Meets Wine In Israel

Former NBA star Amar'e Stoudemire has a thing for Israel.  He also has a thing for wine.  Stoudemire finished his career playing basketball for Hapoel Jerusalem.  He owns a chunk of the team and won a championship with them in 2017.  He had been in talks for three years about making wine in Israel before moving there and grabbing his chance. 

The Stoudemire Grand Reserve Capernaum is produced by the Tulip Winery, from grapes grown in its vineyards in Kfar Tikva, in Israel's north.  It carries the Galilee appellation.  The wine's label points out that Noah was the first recorded viticulturist.  After the flood, the good book says, "he planted a vineyard."

Half Cabernet Sauvignon and half Petit Verdot, Capernaum is aged for 24 months in French oak barrels, hits 14% abv and is priced as lofty as a slam dunk, at $100 per bottle.  It's kosher, and is distributed by the Royal Wine Company

This Israeli wine could fool me into thinking it was from Napa Valley.  The nose shows black fruit, a bit of tar, sweet oak and a touch of graphite.  The palate is bold and very Napa-esque on its own.  The darkness flows through the flavor profile as with the aromas.  It's a rich and heady wine that probably needs a bit of time to show its full potential.  The young tannins are toothy and beg for red meat off the grill. 


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Wente Vineyards Chardonnay: Nth Degree

If you love Chardonnay, you probably love Wente Vineyards, and you may not know it.  The grape clone which is used to make 80% of American Chardonnay is here thanks to German immigrant C.H. Wente, who in 1912 planted a cutting from from a French nursery vine.  That Chardonnay plant became the Wente clone of the grape which is so popular today.

To get a bit geeky, In viticulture a "clone" refers to vines descended from a single plant by taking a cutting or bud.  Each vine grown on a clone is said to be genetically identical to the original vine.

Wente is the country's oldest continuously operated family-owned winery, now run by the family's 4th and 5th-generations.  A virtual tasting event was hosted recently by the family historian, Phil Wente, and winegrower Niki Wente, who walked us through five different styles of their line that defined California Chardonnay.  You can visit that experience here.

The Wente Nth Degree line features not only this $70 Chardonnay, but also a Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Merlot, all limited production wines.  The Chard holds alcohol at just above 14% and is made from 100% Chardonnay grapes taken from the estate’s Ernest and Herman vineyards, which are part of Wente’s heritage program.  They only made 21 barrels of this wine.

The Livermore Valley appellation sits near San Francisco Bay and offers winemaker Karl Wente some fairly great fruit with which to work.  The 2016 vintage was reportedly fairly dry despite more rain in the winter than in previous years.  The winery says the additional water made for larger yields of the small, concentrated berries.  Full malolactic fermentation was allowed in French oak barrels before aging on the lees for 14 months.

This wine is easily as rich as its price tag.  Looking as dark as apple juice, there's a smell of oak to this Chardonnay, but more than that is a buttery, creamy nose of apricot and Meyer lemon.  The palate is just gorgeous - similar fruit and rich notes, but with a racy acidity that surprises, considering the full mouthfeel.  Is it worth $70?  That's up to you and your bank but it's a damn good wine, that's for sure.

Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Women Tasting Wine

Argentine Malbec Wine

The Amalaya winery, in Salta, Argentina, is owned by the Hess Family.  The California producer also has branched out from Napa Valley into South Africa.  Amalaya - which means "hope for a miracle" - sits a mile high in Cafayate, in northwest Argentina's Calchaqui Valley.  The family contends that the high elevation of their vineyards gives the grapes a "ripe, concentrated fruit expression with brighter acidity and extraordinary balance."

The Amalaya Malbec 2016 is a blend of grape varieties - 85% Malbec, 10% Tannat and 5% Petit Verdot.  It is aged for eight months in French oak, but only a quarter of the wine sees wood.  The wine's alcohol mark is just under 14% abv and it retails for $16.

As you might guess, the Tannat and Petit Verdot contribute to an extremely dark Malbec wine with a powerful nose of black fruit, black tar and black pepper.  A smoky quality shows up if you let sit for a bit.  The palate shows much more smoothly than I expected.  The tannins are firm, yet juicy.  Very dark flavors dominate, with the oak showing well and a savory finish to remind you how good it was.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Boozy Soda

Wente Vineyards Chardonnay

If you love Chardonnay, you probably love Wente Vineyards, and you may not know it.  The grape clone which is used to make 80% of American Chardonnay is here thanks to Wente.  In 1912, German immigrant C.H. Wente planted a cutting from from the vine nursery at France's University of Montpellier.  That Chardonnay plant became the Wente clone of the grape.

To get a bit geeky, In viticulture a "clone" refers to vines descended from a single plant by taking a cutting or bud.  Each vine grown on a clone is said to be genetically identical to the original vine.

Wente is the country's oldest continuously operated family-owned winery, now run by the family's 4th and 5th-generations.  A virtual tasting event was hosted recently by the family historian, Phil Wente, and winegrower Niki Wente, who walked us through five different styles of their line that defined California Chardonnay.  You can visit that experience here.

Wente's Celebratory Chardonnay celebrates 135 years of making wine.  2018 marks that accomplishment, and they've come a long way since 1883.  It's 100% Central Coast Chardonnay which is sourced from their estate vineyards in the Livermore Valley and the Arroyo Seco AVA in Monterey County.  Karl Wente made a thousand cases of the wine, which clocks alcohol at 13.8% and retails for $40.

The wine was fermented both in barrels and stainless steel, with the barrel lots receiving malolactic fermentation for a full, rich mouthfeel.  It was aged for 16 months in a combination of new and neutral American and French oak.  They stirred the lees a couple times a month.

This Chardonnay comes on big and bold, sporting a nose of apples, peaches and oak.  The mouthfeel is creamy, but the acidity still zips.  Wood dominates the flavor profile, too, but if you're in the mood for it, it hits the spot.  Behind the oak lies stone fruit, pineapple and citrus flavors.  The finish carries the memory of those barrels quite a distance.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter

Affordable Bordeaux

Bordeaux needs no introduction.  But they've decided to write one for themselves anyway.  One that centers not on the great taste and age-worthiness of their wines, but on their affordability. 

It sounds a bit like a San Francisco real estate agent trying to convince us that she actually has quite a few reasonably priced homes on her list.  Nevertheless, the affordability of Bordeaux wines can't be overlooked, you simply have to know where to look.

I recently attended a "Goldmine of Planet Bordeaux Wines" tasting and pairing event, which highlighted Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur wines which sell for under $20.  Sommelier Michael Madrigale led the event, which was held at Republique in Los Angeles.  The back room was packed with writers, trade and PR people who all wanted to be surprised as Madrigale unveiled the shocks of their lives.  Although most of the audience was probably hip to the notion that Bordeaux doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg, the response he got was great enough that he sometimes couldn't shout loudly enough to be heard over the roar.

Madrigale said, "The perception is that Bordeaux is out of price range for most people.  That isn’t true."  He proceeded to taste us through a selection of fine wines which he said were under 20 bucks.  All the wines were impressive, and none would have disappointed at a $40 price tag, much less $20.

Republique's Dover sole with Morel mushrooms and white asparagus was paired with two Bordeaux blancs.  Clos de Lunes Sauvignon Blanc 2016 offered more minerals than grassiness, but so did its companion.  CDL was smoother, a Sauternes blend of 70% Semillon and 30% Sauvignon Blanc grapes, oak vinified.  The Château Reynon  2016 gave heavier herbal notes, as might be expected from 100% Sauvignon Blanc grapes.  The wine was made in a 50/50 mix of oak barrels and steel tanks. It was the more tart of the pair. 

The wood-fire grilled lamb with charred spring vegetables drew a pair of Bordeaux rouges.  The Bad Boy (Mauvais Garcon) 2015 was dark with big jammy plum on the nose and bold, black fruit on the palate, which was affixed with extra tannins.  The Château Lafont-Fourcat 2015 showed a nose of perfumed black currant and a palate of black and blue berries, with sweeter tannins.  Both are Entre-Deux-Mers wines, from the part of Bordeaux that's "between two seas" - the Garonne and the Dordogne rivers.

After dinner, the cheeses were paired with two Bordeaux Superieur selections.  Château Le Conseiller 2014 had a beautiful, perfumed nose that literally smelled purple.  The big, dark palate matched and the stiff tannins begged for softer cheeses.  The Château La Cour d’Argent 2015  smelled of red fruit and tasted like red currant.  Firm tannins paired better with the cheese, but the cranberry and walnut bread worked well with both wines.

If you shop for Bordeaux with an eye on the price tag, you'll find values that will surprise.


Follow Randy Fuller on Twitter