Wine News Review

Category: Feature Story

  • Weekend wine list —experts’ picks: From ‘excellent’ fizz to superb Riesling

    Comparing the faves: A survey of recent selections from respected wine experts. Whenever there’s an option, I highlight their more-affordable picks, focusing on possible choices for weekend purchases. Check out their websites for background and other picks:

    2004 Chateau De Cabriac A.O.C. Corbieres, France:
    Natalie MacLean calls it a terrific value, “full-bodied, supple and smooth in texture.” $13.99

    Green Point Vintage Brut 2004 Australia:
    Jancis Robinson says it’s an excellent value, perfect “fizz (for) friends who aren’t champagne snobs.” £12.99

    2005 Bogle Merlot, Calif.:
    Jerry Shriver describes it as a good value, “smooth black cherry flavors, soft texture, not complex but decent varietal character.” About $9

    Firestone Vineyard’s 2006 Central Coast Riesling:
    Edward Deitch calls it a superb buy, with “notes of apricot, white peach, mango and touches of honey and herbs.” $11

    Frey Vineyards 2006 (Mendocino):
    Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher describe it as their best buy (“fresh, real and delightful”) in a great review of inexpensive Pinot Noir, following what they call the Sideways effect. $15.99

    Nothing tempting? Or just not available at the local wine shop?

    Dig into some perennial standbys at SFGate.com’s Top 100 Wines of 2006, the Top 100 of 2006 list (PDF download) from Wine Spectator and the list of 50 Wines You Can Always Trust from Food & Wine.

    Attracted to a bottle that’s advertised in the local paper or sitting on the local wine store shelf?

    Do a little background research with Wine Enthusiast’s free, searchable Wine Buying Guide—either with a specific name or by types and price. For a little extra info, try Robert Parker’s handy Vintage Chart. Or see what the online wine community says about it with the search tools at cork’d, snooth or Wine Log.

    Once you’ve selected the wine, you naturally want to decide what to eat with it. For some savvy guidance, try Natalie MacLean’s Wine & Food Matcher, which boasts a database of 360,000 wine-food pairings.

    Feel free to share your experiences. And of course, enjoy!

     

  • Web sips: Wine headlines, 9/6/07

    Handpicked stories from across the Web …

    Sexy Images, Wacky Names, Fine Art Help Wine Labels Stand Out
    Judging wines by their provocative covers: Like the one for Marilyn fans sporting a “fresh-and-fruity” Norma Jeane.

    Long Island wines get rave reviews 
    Here’s your chance to find out what Wine Advocate, the Wine Enthusiast and The New York Times have in common.

    French wine labels may lie
    It ain’t pretty: “Up to a third of wines sold under France’s regional appellation system might be from an entirely different region.”

    Most Expensive Wines of All Time
    Billed as the highest-priced bottles ever (including the priciest one ever broken), with pictures: Pick one up for $500,000, for a gift basket or something.

    Fall is the best time to harvest deals, including wine
    That’s when “new bottles from last year’s harvest show up on shelves,” says Natalie MacLean, editor of Nat Decants.

    Fine wine enters the mainstream via Target
    Georg Riedel explains why his glasses land on these particular shelves.

    Wine Tip
    Finally an answer to that age old question: “When should you pair food with an unoaked vs. an oaked wine?”

    Wet weather takes toll on French wine harvest
    Can the news get any worse? France is “bracing for one of its smallest grape harvests in 20 years,” a victim of summer storms and plant diseases.

    Thirsty for more news? Follow up this serving of new and notable headlines by digging into continuously updated feeds from national and international news outlets: The focus is on red and white wine bargains.

  • For some camaraderie with that salmon, head to a local wine bar

    Wine is good. Wine with food is even better. And the best place to enjoy both may not be the usual restaurant setting but your local wine bar.

    Case in point: the Idylwood Grill and Wine Bar, tucked away in a suburban Washington, D.C., strip mall that gives a newcomer little hint of the feast that awaits inside.

    Hedi Ben-Abdallah toasts patrons at his Idylwood Grill and Wine Bar. By Denny Gainer
    Hedi Ben-Abdallah toasts patrons at his Idylwood Grill and Wine Bar.
    Photo by Denny Gainer

    A few friends and I recently paid a visit there to sample the wines (the list offers 108 choices, many by the glass) and discovered a gem of a place where fine food, delicious wines and camaraderie embrace. 

    If you have the impression that food might just be an afterthought at an eatery that bills itself as a wine bar, you’ve obviously never tasted Idylwood’s exquisite grilled salmon with hearts of artichoke, gnocchi and pesto sauce.

    Then there’s the atmosphere. A good wine bar is designed to delight the wine-aficionado’s eye as well as the palate. The Idlywood’s warm Mediterranean decor with its ubiquitous wine racks, for example, enhances the pleasure of whatever vintage you’re sipping.

    Most important perhaps is the appreciation you gain for a particular wine when it’s not served by someone whom you think merely read a blurb about it somewhere but instead, like Idlywood partners Hedi Ben-Abdallah and Marco Escudero, can rattle off multiple reasons why they’re recommending it, including the characteristics of soil and climate that impart a special flavor or aroma. As our discussion got more spirited, they even joined in the conversation and tasting, uncorking a couple of their own favorites.

    Which brings me to another point—one other appealing advantage of a wine bar is that it seems to promote highly creative conversations about the wine you’re drinking.

    As it did with the member of our group who described three Pinot Noirs as having the qualities of different types of lovers. To him, a Les Jamelles 2005 from France’s Côte d’Or was a “one night stand” and a Jezebal 2006 from Oregon was “easy to get comfortable with,” but the Argentine Luigi Bosca Reserva 2005 “takes you places” that reveal why one has a lover in the first place.

    For me, either one would have made a yummy complement to the salmon. Whether it was the power of my friend’s suggestion or the wine’s velvety smoothness, my favorite turned out to be the Luigi Bosca, too.

    Another companion, on the other hand, raved about the Les Jamelles’ “complex and elegant” fruit tones and noted that the aromas improved ever so nicely the more it breathed. Then, getting with the program, he added: “Not a woman of mystery—playful.” 

    At a hotel restaurant, by comparison, chances are the discussion would probably have included an appreciative nod to the wine (sadly, picked from a list with far fewer selections) but dwelt mostly on such relatively mundane topics as one’s 401K, some sports team’s woes or the latest home improvement project.

    Thanks to the Web, it’s fairly easy to explore the terroir, so to speak, of wine bars in your area. As a first step, this blog’s custom map provides a user-friendly way to pin down local establishments. Other helpful sources for reviews are Yelp and the wine forum at Chowhound.

    Give a wine bar a try next time you’re in a dining-out mood. Not all wine bars are created equal. But you might get lucky and find a fun-and-festive equivalent of Idylwood in your neighborhood. 

    As for vinothekid, this may be my first wine bar visit blogging for Wine News Review, but it definitely won’t be the last. And how about you? If you’ve found a wine bar you like, share it by posting a comment below.

  • Weekend wine list —experts’ picks: From cheerful Pinot Noir to Syrah

     

    Comparing the faves: A survey of recent selections by respected wine experts. I highlight their more-affordable picks (unless there’s a good reason to do otherwise), focusing on possible choices for weekend purchases. Check out their websites for background and other picks:

    2005 Conundrum Napa Valley, U.S.A.:
    Natalie MacLean says it’s her favorite white pick—with “stunning aromas of white flowers, orange blossom, lychee and honeysuckle.” $28.95

    2006 Oyster Bay Pinot Noir New Zealand:
    Richard Kinssies describes it as “fresh and cheerful with hints of spicy black pepper and a whiff of red cherry and raspberry fruit.” $19

    Viña Tabali Late Harvest Muscat 2005 Limarí, Chile:
    Jancis Robinson calls this a “sweet marvel…invigorating and explosively grapey mouthful!” Around $12 a half

    2005 Concannon “Selected Vineyards” Syrah, Central Coast, Calif.:
    Jerry Shriver says that while it misses the “meatiness of the best Syrahs,” it does a good job compensating with a helping of “sweet blueberry and blackberry flavors.” About $10

    Nothing tempting? Or just not available at the local wine shop?

    Dig into some perennial standbys at SFGate.com’s Top 100 Wines of 2006, the Top 100 of 2006 list (PDF download) from Wine Spectator and the list of 50 Wines You Can Always Trust from Food & Wine.

    Attracted to a bottle that’s advertised in the local paper or sitting on the local wine store shelf?

    Do a little background research with Wine Enthusiast’s free, searchable Wine Buying Guide—either with a specific name or by types and price. For a little extra info, try Robert Parker’s handy Vintage Chart. Or see what the online wine community says about it with the search tools at cork’d, snooth or Wine Log.

    Once you’ve selected the wine, you naturally want to decide what to eat with it. For some savvy guidance, try Natalie MacLean’s Wine & Food Matcher, which boasts a database of 360,000 wine-food pairings.

    Feel free to share your experiences. And last but not least, enjoy!

     

  • Two Buck Chuck’s Italian cousin

    People at work are starting to notice that I’ve begun writing a wine blog (who knows what effect my handing out cards has to do with it?).

    As a result, I’m getting hot wine tips from various co-workers—like the one who excitedly passed me a Trader Joe’s flyer touting one of the store’s insanely cheap but often surprisingly stupendous-for-the-price wines. This one being the D’Aquino Pinot Grigio delle Venezie 2006.

    For some reason, I’d missed that one in the past. So I thanked the co-worker for the hot wine tip and stopped at TJ’s after work to scout out whether the local shop had a bottle in stock.

    Silly me. There was a display about eight feet high of it.

    They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. But I always—always!—look a bottle over like it’s a legal document.

    Hmmm.

    Nice shape.

    Nice color.

    ($3.99)

    I’m sold.

    There have been recent reports about another one of TJ’s insanely cheap but often surprisingly stupendous-for-the-price wines. Namely, the legendary Charles Shaw Chardonnay, aka “Two Buck Chuck,” which sells at the insanely cheap price of $1.99 to $3.49 per bottle, depending on the region.

    Turns out, as ABC News reported last month, Two Buck Chuck took the top prize in a prestigious California tasting competition, trouncing 350 other Chardonnays—in California!!

    “The characteristics that we look for in our gold medal winner … a nice creamy butter, fruity … it was a delight to taste,” declared 2007 California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition judge Michael Williams.

    How legendary is that?!

    In fact, a Wine News Review reader yesterday happened to mention it in a comment, ruminating over how it might compare with the “good wines at great prices” sold by an importer spotlighted by uber wine expert Robert Parker in a recent Business Week article.

    Gaetano D'Aquino inspects his vines.Gaetano D’Aquino inspects his vines.

    The D’Aquino may not be as famous as Two Buck Chuck. But it has a long and cherished history, at least in TJ’s bottom line. The chain says it sells more than 120,000 cases of it in 280 stores every year, which is about as strong a public vote of confidence as any wine might wish for.

    The D’Aquino has been on TJ’s shelves for nearly 30 years, from the time when the chain had only 18 stores and Pinot Grigio was not the household name it is today.

    Dinner that night also came from TJ’s aisles: Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta with capers and canned Yellowfin tuna, which deliciously complimented the Pinot Grigio’s distinct citrus flavor.

    The wine had a lively aroma, was refreshingly light on the palate with a crisp medium dryness. It might not beat out 350 other wines, but it was definitely a winner.

    As a reality check, I paid a visit to the online wine community at cork’d and found the wine garnered an 82 score from a reviewer there—not a bad rating but probably an underestimation by several points.

    Moral of the story, it pays to tell co-workers you’re into wines.