The Feiring Line

Last Minute Passover Wines

I was dragging my feet because I've been hating everything and was confused. One thing is for sure, regardless that the techniques for mevushal wines (flash pasteurized so non-jews can handle once in the bottle) is senseless, harmful and insulting and rude to the wine. Had a big old fight when I ran that wine tasting in Detroit with the mashgiach in Detroit--the kosher cop on the job. I felt like I was fighting with Rabbi Heisler in 5th grade all over again. Very energizing. And it was neat to have knowledge of halachah (laws) under my belt. I still lost. But it was fun. Okay, here goes for what I am and am not drinking. I had one terrific bottle of 3 Celliers Chateauneuf du Pape 07 @ $44 but the second one stunk. The first one was exciting. I could not believe it REAL kosher wine. But the second one was one weird bird. Could not figure what went wrong but it was kind of a bacterial chocolate soup. NOT bad, especially if you like the New World Order are the Segal's --white and red. THEY were right, people pleasers. Then, I think the best red I've had is the Capcanes Peraj Petita from Monsant ( spain--quite lovely--). Get the cheaper version at about $18 or so. (this was the one banned by the rav.) Herzog Alexander Valley Spec. Reserve Cabernet 28.00 I was shocked but lovely Garyf recommended (as well as the Capcanes) and he was right. I could tolerate it. California but in a girdle. For whites: Try to get anything from Alsace. I don't know if they're around but the Abarbanel ain't so bad---yet they went meshuval on me. oh dear. HELP In a desperate attempt, I hopped onto that kosher wine site. and bought some things that I haven't tasted. Lambouri Ya'in Kafrisin 2007 $20.99 Willm Riesling 2008 $18,00 Le Mourre de L'Isle Cotes du Rhone (cheap) $13? I'm hoping for the best. They arrived three days after purchase. Some serious mail order peeps over there. Oh! That Meursault--- Henri Darnat Meursault 2002 par Francois Labet Cuve La Domaine About $64---and I really don't think it's worth it...but it is Meursault! Hope this was helpful.... Sorry I am in such a rush. Racing against the clock here, have to find a vegetarian lamb shank. See you soon I hope and have a zeisen pesach! --Alice

AlchemyVinNatureliste enters the market

I arrived home. Instead of an ark on a mountain top, at the end of a five-floor walk-up I found a release on my desk. Hold on to your C02, because there's a premium wild yeast product for sale that is going to forever transform the wine in your glass. I had heard gossip about a freak yeast when I was at La Remise. It was M. Calek who told me of this mother's little helper coming down the pike that would let him sleep peacefully during fermentations. I asked--what? He whispered something softly in my ear, "Alchemy."

He told me that while it was being manufactured for the Cheval Blanc's of the world he knew there was something in it for him and perhaps even Marcel Lapierre too, maybe even Eric Pfifferling and Simonutti.

Here's how it all started.

A few years back, tired of hearing wine journalists yap endlessly about the joys and stories of natural wine, conventional winemakers (eager for some attention) struck back. They demanded tools from the laboratories, and like the Jews in Eygpt, their prayers have been answered. With the help of Dani Rolland, you-know-who's wife, the newly minted laboratory yeast is built to mimic the nature of vin -naturel, low-no sulfur wine. Dressner is said to have been an initial (if small) investor. That rumor is still unsubstantiated.

Here is JD bribing me last year. Too cheap a price, but as a freelancer, no price too low.

 

The big $ folk here? Constellation Brands. No surprise, right?

The talk is that they've invested seven figures in it for the 2010 harvest. Dard & Ribo watch out! Originally the yeast was supposed to be Feral101, but marketers struck it down in favor of the more glam, Alchemy. Look out for the series as they fine tune the yeasts applications.

For example, there will be a flavor extension of the yeast that can bring out your desired acetaldehydes, candida or otherwise. More ethyl acetate? More brett? You got it! All of the appeal and none of the risk.

When I first started out in this business I thought, VN, a category which can deliver bad wine but not cynical wine. Now with Alchemy. natural wine can be both bad AND cynical! AlchemyVinNatureliste43® ICV-D21 - S. cerevisiae . cerevisiae #15143 500 g (Lifted from their promotional material) This goes beyond Freudian analysis. Here is the go to yeast for those who want to give their syrah, cabernet, merlot or what-have yous the characteristics of pineau-d'aunis, romorantin, aligote, mourvedre, tempranillo, mauzac, gamay, savagin, ploussard and trousseau. #15163 10 kg * Isolated from the best Languedoc terroir during a special regional program run by the Institut Cooperatif du Vin's (ICV) Natural Micro-Flora Observatory and Conservatory. * Noted for its good fermentation performance even under high temperature and low nutrient condition with no diurnal swings. Produces very few sulfide compounds during fermentation. Releases SO2 into wine and is undetected in government testings. * Selected for fermenting red and white wines with names from the ridiculous to the sublime, noble to hybrid to skunk cabbage and maintains stable color, intense for-mouth-to gullet volume, mid-palate tannin structure and fresh aftertaste. Think cheesecake followed by Tom's! * AlchemyVinNatureliste43® can also be used with very ripe white grapes and rotted reds that are barrel fermented to develop fresh fruit aromas, volume and acidity. The dream of this yeast is that it releases the effect of volatile acidity and low level analyhidc qualities and just a hint of puppy breath. Your customers will swear this was direct from the latest "Dive" or 'Off" in France! * In highly clarified juices, maintain fermentation temperatures greater than 15C(59F) and supplement with proper nutrition.

To do some investigative follow up, I actually made a call to the Chief Wine Critic of the New York Times, Erik Asymov. "Hey, Erik, did you get that release on that yeast?" I asked.

"Yup," he said.

A man of few words.

"Wild, yes?" I said, hoping for more.

But he was silent. I knew I'd had to go a little harder on him. "What did you think?" And then I bribed him with a bottle of Selosse Substance.

Worked!

"I don't think I can comment, the paper might get upset."

"Erik, come on," I pleaded.

"It is innovative."

"That's all?" He paused, " I heard Dressner invested." "He wouldn't confirm it for me either way, but I don't put it past him. By the way, I  heard they asked you for an endorsement."

"They told you?" He said in earnest. Then he turned loquacious. "I told them the paper wouldn't allow me as it's a conflict of interest. But between you and me, the guys at my Dojo are not going to believe this." .........April 1, 2010

Caleb Picks Up Chalk

So Caleb. I like intense men. Caleb has this whole messianic aura about him. You just know before he dies he's going to discover a new religion, as a matter of fact there I was in his near the airport winery, crammed with cement tanks and old wood fermenters and mostly old barrels getting down on the floor, squatting on his green Crocks, he wielded a piece of chalk. Other visionaries have done this thing with me, including Nicolas Joly and Jacques Lardiere, from Jadot. Jacques once drew so many diagrams I got dizzy. In a few minutes Caleb's lecture turned into this: The wines. Good. Like them. They have spark and spunk and foot stomping and plenty of stems! Stems I believe is the saving grace for those of us in the Anti-Flavor Squad. Wines to look for: '09 Semillon/Sauvignon with a nice lemon edge (shit, did I just recommend a Washington White wine?) Les Collines syrah. But frankly, all of his wines are worth giving a look see to see what is possible in that area. I leave it up to you--what do you think Caleb was getting at? Did I say you can't reduce Art through Science did Caleb or did Ken Wilbur?

I'm a Sangio man: Matt Steiner of Stella Fino

I didn't taste too many of the local wines when I was out for the lecture. The tone was set when Kevin and I met Robert Ames for dinner @ Brasserie Four. As promised Ames, a gentleman and a scholar, showed up with a Larmandier-Bernier 1996 Cramant. The depth and complexity, layers of litigation. Damn, it was so great that Allemand's 1998 Chaillot couldn't live up to it's patchouli nose. Under discussion was who was I going to visit? I wanted to revisit Caleb Foster of Buty. I met him when I was in Walla Walla in 2004 and had a good feeling about his future progression in winemaking. So that was in place. I asked Ames for some tips for my open slot. On the second morning of my visit, he picked me up and we raced along the road to visit some guy by the name of Matt Steiner. "Nice last name," he stated, with a wink. The name of the winery is Stella Fino. Turns out Matt is a thinker, a good wine maker and what's more he's got spunk as well as about 1200 cases and a day job. (sorry, bad and sloppy iphone) He left New York with his wife after 9/11 'cause he wanted to make wine and the wind basically blew him to Walla Walla. Well, actually someone at the enology school told him to come out. He did and didn't even last one semester. (Matt, if I got that wrong, correction please.) He had never been to Walla Walla. He just moved there. I'm still amazed. I am always in awe of people who pick up and move. Just do it. Action is so terribly sexy.

Steiner had a European influenced palate thanks to his dad and that's where he was headed, not to Europe but to refined. The results, so far from this self-professed Sangio man, is pretty. Think restrained Italian varietals with almost no new oak and no acid adjustment. 2005 Barbera seemed to be a great pizza wine. He's beginning to play around with stems and just experimenting with some native yeast. In fact, the 2009, native and stems has a little pickle but a nice cherry underneath (tastes better than it sounds) but with that lace of licorice is the kind of wine you want to discuss. $ is getting in the way of the lovely piece of land he wants to plant and tend. I say, this is a Steiner to watch. And after finally tasting the Harrington wines yesterday at the Bowler tasting, which I was greatly interested after the video, I have to say the Stella Fino are way more my kind of thing, enough so that I will be back to take a second look.

Basalt and Other Walla Walla Musings

Delivering a lecture to about 200 about terroir is a little unsettling. Especially when a good chunk of them are in the wine industry. I'm better than Q&A than in the body of delivery, but what could I do but get up there and try to measure up. I hit some pressure points. I couldn't avoid them. All I had to do was bring up that the best sites are often not the most fun to farm or to live in. Or, perhaps there's too much reliance on irrigation and not enough on finding the right sites that don't need water. Another one that won me Miss Popularity was recounting the story of Pascaline being shocked, stunned, to see on Long Island vines planted next to corn. "Grapes for terroir wine," she said, "need different soils than corn and wheat need." And when I followed up with the musing that sometimes I wonder if the New World translates terroir into, "What a gorgeous view," was enough to get me tarred and feathered. Oddly enough, it was not. Oh sure, there were a few odd questions, as if some folk were out to get me, "Well, what about Burgundy. They get 39 inches of rain a year!" One gentleman said and asked..."Isn't that manipulation?" I was not quite sure how to take this question so I handled it as if it was genuine. Another question/statement, "Irrigation isn't used to grow a grape for flavor." That one was another odd one. I sort of said, "And what is extended hang time? For example?" But, the group was terrific, mostly interested, engaging and just a mix of every view point. However, if I had any doubts, they all melted away like a spring snow, when at end of the lively Q&A a group of Eno students surrounded me and said, "We're the next generation and we're going to make changes!" (or something like that.) The next day Geology Prof. Kevin took me around to a grower in the middle of wheat fields which looked to be planted on a soil of pure silt. The winemaking was good. The terroir limited. The wines tasted hydroponic. I found myself a passenger through the eerie hills, looking for Basalt. And when Kevin reminded me that basalt is also the main ingredient in Sicily's Mt. Etna as well as the Carnaries, I was further intrigued. Here's a little Canary for you In other words, I'll looking forward to seeing Walla Walla, next stage.

1st Stop Cayuse

Christophe Baron, aka the Bionic Frog, settled in Walla Walla when he fell in love with a river bed. He thought Chateauneuf. Well, a Chateauneuf with much darker stones. But you get the idea. Christophe said he was attracted to the vine freedom of America, but I'm not sure what exactly why he decided to go whole hog with biodynamics. It seems to suit him and the wines quite well. The whole operation is like an oiled glove and it smacks of Virgo with Leo rising. When I was there in 2004, the place was a work in progress. Now? He's got 55 acres and a real winery with Noblot eggs and other more conventional but gorgeous cement fermenters. Outside in the beginning of March the horse was plowing, the workers were toiling away rather happily. Each vine is tied with straw. The elements are obsessive. In biodynamic spirit, Christophe added pigs, bunnies, cows, chickens and sheep as well as cherry trees. He's even preparing this kind of land next, in the 'canyon.' There is no doubt that this is the work of a maniac, and I say this in only the most complimentary way, in fact he's a little crazy and obsessive the way Thierry Allemand of Cornas is. The wines of course, are quite different. While Christophe was taking a little R&R on the beach, Trevor who has worked with him for years e showed me the 2007's, a vintage that most people will say is more Alice. More restrained. Not as powerful. Probably on purpose. The wines are big. Yes. But definitely had a lot of interesting things to say. Plenty of nuance. The syrahs, single vineyards, were all slightly different. Most of the soil is the same, elevation different, and the roots are different. I tended to like the francs pieds vineyards the best, Cailloux and En Cerise. If you can believe it, I even liked the Widowmaker '07--cabernet, which seemed to me more carignan-like. And he even has a tempranillo, called Impulsivo. Suspend any idea of Spain, but even it's home country can't figure out the grape these days. Meanwhile, I tried to figure out what this had to do with it all.

Having Trouble Posting Comments?

You are not alone in this communication breakdown. Even I have trouble posting comments and replies. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But later or sooner, there will be a new improved blog. Watch this space for further details. I am told commenting is going to be in our future. Miss you all.

And the final day...

I was ultimately in the area to be part of a round table on wine homogenization. On the panel was a man often called the Michel Rolland of Spain. When our moderator, an adorable Cristina Alcala asked us, Ignacio as well as Cesar Cubillas, a rather simpatico wine importer, what are the components of great wine, Ignacio said, "Land is the least important." Then he went on to tell us about a viognier he made far, far, away on soils and in a climate that even made Ignacio wonder if planting the grapes and making the wine would disturb the natural order of the universe. A woman in the front row glared at me. She probably heard what I was thinking and hated me. It was her favorite wine. That night, Cristina, Rosa and Marta, all friends from Madrid went out to dinner. Remember this address, it was one of the best meals I've had in ages. Talent. Big talent. Casa Marcelo Rue Hortas 1 Santiago de Copostela casamarcelo.net amuse was frozen rhubarb, looking like a slab of tuna on crushed ice, all bitter, sweet, limey, acidic. A lovely alvarinho. Loved it. From Marcial Dorado,, previously a Galcian mussel fisherman and now a Portuguese winemaker. Perfect, salty, angular. And even though there was a parade of dishes, as there is no menu and Marcelo just cooks, this slab of shiny mackeral was like pure lardo in an assertive and smokey Pimenton sauce The next morning I left for the airport. Twelve hours and a few cancelations and fits later, I landed in Paris. Having missed my flight I was hosted by the Ibis (now known to me as the abyss) Ville, B&B. There are three Ibis at CDG. I went to all until I found the right one. As soon as I saw the desk I knew I was in for it. I could smell the critters when I walked across the threshold. I was carefu, didn't leave anything on the bed. I went down to eat--they give you free dinner and all. Great, I thought. I was suprised to find a very palatable celeraic remoulade. A decent pichet of quaffable cote du rhone. An odd place, it felt like an airplane even though I was on the ground. I left my nightgown behind. I had a sneaking feeling that it was the right thing to do. Two days later I was covered in bed bug bites. And am still watching and waiting to see if I brought them home with me. So far so good!

Galicia. Ribeira Sacra(Part 5). Hijacked

On Monday morning I, with the help of a local sommelier, headed out to see what I could see in Ribeira Sacra, about two hours from Santiago. Stunning. Steep. The hills have ghost vineyards underneath the brush. At one point before World War 11. the mountains were covered with terraces and now you can just feel the erosion. It's wet. The soil sags. And when you're talking about a potential 80 degree tilt to the land, disaster is around the corner. Even I began to think, perhaps it's time to retire this land. Of course you can't grown anything else on it. Vines can survive. It is not for wheat, not tomatoes nor potatoes. It is vineland. But I have to say I really was wondering if after centuries, as the Ribeira can claim wine back to Roman times, perhaps it's time to give the land and the farmer a break. I was happy to see this magical place, with rose quartz proudly strutting its prettiness in the vineyard. But ladies and gentlemen, I was hijacked. On the way up I asked my host, "Where are were going?" I admit, I asked because I was not trusting. He responded, "Where you requested." But first he had to stop, a wine pick up. The pick up started at 11am and ended at 5pm. He loved these wines. I did not. I was captive. There was no rental car in sight. I was trapped. The man, I cannot utter his name, because he was quite hospitable and kind, has a star winemaker. But wine after wine, from the garnacha to the mencia to the espadeiro (my new favorite grape) to the bastardo, they all had the same gritty texture and color. Tannins, I suspected. They weren't terribly tarted up but tarted up enough. "When I started out in 2001" he said, "people didn't understand these wines. They were looking for Parker wines. But Jay Miller gave these a 91 and that's the difference between Jay Miller and Robert Parker." Then we went to lunch, which iwas lovely, I must admit. A typical Galician soup of bitter greens and potatoes. A gorgeous fried egg. Why risk one's life to farm that land, laced with rose quartz amongst the slate, and fuck it up. I left my day, my only day in the RS, not having a clue what the soul mencia was, and this was my desire. Foiled.

Galicia; Rias Baixas (Part 4)

What's left of a home winemaker's 200 year old caino vine. He was wearing Sunday shoes and was wary of the muddy ground. As he tried to stay Sunday Clean he told us, "Albarino was never made in oak, it was always made in chestnut," he told us. The man's wine was terribly underripe, nice old vines, but still making wine for quantity not quality. It put the region's vinous history in context. Maybe as he suggested, they needed octopus. Honorio and Todd then ferried me to Forja del Salnes. The wines there are made by Raul Perez, the most famous winemaker in the area and farmed by Rodrigo Mendez, otherwise known as Rodri. Importer and all round fabulous man, Jose Pastor met me there, having flown up from Valencia earlier that morning. I was glad to see his cheery face. The best part of this visit was when Rodri took us to see a very special vineyard he started to rent. We piled into three cars, (these winemakers seem to travel in packs) and twenty minutes later we were at La Signora's who had always made wine purely for home use. Rodri seems to be the Tegan Passalacqua of Galicia. (Tegan finds old vines in peculiar spots for Larry Turley as well as Abe Schoener.) Like Tegan, Rodri's tail points when he sees a likewise pristine, old vineyard. And he found a good one. A great one. A star. We pulled up at dusk to a stone house, in the compromised light, it could have looked like a farmhouse in Walton. It was Sunday, and through the house's lace curtains we could see the family hanging out in some post lunch stupor. We walked into the backyard, with the alvarinho and caino vines pulled up on top of the grid, as if they were clothes being hung out to dry. It was too dark to see the soil, and I have no idea if the vines were farmed chemically, but I doubt it . "Look," Rodri said, "The subsoil is all granite." Yes. The soils was extremely poor, all vines were on their own roots. In fact, this vineyard had only been replanted through provinage--the method of sticking in the branch of one vine into the soil, as if the vigneron was stitching the soil. To my knowledge, I'd only seen one other winemaker farm this way. In Bordeaux of all places. In the north of Blaye. Dominique is a fanatic, on a mission and treats his vines like his garden. And here was the same situation in Galicia, in the back of a 72 year old woman's home. There is something about the soil being granite and the poles that support the vines being granite that struck me as truly holistic. "The vines give 1000 kilos per hectare because of how poor the soils are." I like Rodi. I like the way he talks about the soil. There was no doubt that vineyard with its 125 year old vines was remarkable, We headed into the winery in the garage, several ancient barrels, and La Signora's daughter who now makes the wines, showed us a few. Her 2009 Caino was peppery in that pineau d'aunis sort of red zinger meets pepper quality. Acidity barked, the fruit was very pure and pretty. The daughter is talented and in my opinion, the daughter of La Signora is the regions next star who has no interest in making wine commercially. Someone please draft her. Jose Pastor and La Signora's daughter. Back at Rodri's winery, we tasted wines from her vineyard. With more technology they just didn't have the life the woman's had. Case closed. If I had any doubt about the talent in those granite soiled vineyards behind the Walton-esque stone house, at dinner we had a 1964 Albarino from La Signora. There was a touch of old wood, like on Lopez de Heredia whites. But it had that edgy, mandarinity, just like I tasted in Todd's wine. I rest my case. Albarino is Spain's answer to muscadet. Keep it pure. Keep it simple. This grape on granite rocks (sorry, couldn't avoid the pun) as melon de bourgogne on granite sings. The area has terroir. To deny it and mess with it, as so many do, challenges my imagination