Wine Things I Noticed This Week

Had a fun tasting in the Mayoral Cellar this week, and a few things come to mind to share. I have been trying to taste the Stephen Vincent Sauvignon Blanc for a long time. Have loved his Cab, and heard raves about his Chard. So I opened one for the guests as a starter wine. Don’t bother. Totally lacking in acid, or even California grassiness, this flabby effort tasted more like an oaky Pinot Grigio, and a cheap one at that. No real fruit, certainly nothing like the New Zealands. I like some vigor and balance, and got neither.
My next epiphany came tasting a Chateau Margaux from my birth year that same night. Now 1957 wasn’t the same quality year in Bordeaux that it was in Richmond, so I knew this fondly held wine was about done as far as style points go. I made this our first red since I knew it would be lighter than the ‘00 Burgundy and ‘98 St Emilion to follow. And it was...For a while. But when we revisited it after tasting the last two wines, the old gem came to life. Not because of additional air (we had opened all wines 3 hours early). Something in our mouths changed. All of us agreed that the ‘57 had the oomph to stand well beside the two younger bucks. And I have no idea why, but I’m glad we tried it. When you taste next time, keep your first wine around for another sample at the end. Watch your mouth work to make it shine a little differently.

James River Wine Festival

15th Annual James River Wine Festival
When: Saturday, April 29th, 12 - 7 p.m. Sunday, April 30th, 12 - 6 p.m. Rain or Shine
Where: The Pavilion at Innsbrook
Cost: $13 in advance/$18 at the gate

Tickets good either day and include a Festival Wine Glass & Sampling

Includes: Live Jazz, Great Food, Arts & Crafts, Free Parking
More Info: Call 804-353-1525
Please -- No Pets & No Coolers

Tickets available at the following Glen Allen/West End locations:

Market Cafe-10950 Nuckols Rd.
Total Wine & More-8099 W. Broad St.
Belle Kuisine-Short Pump Crossing
Capital Ale House-4024A Cox Rd.
Shacklefords Restaurant-10496 Ridgefield Pkwy
Private Stock Cigar & Wine Co.-10124 Brook Rd.

Buying Fine Wine at Auction

Virginia has a number of problems that work against the wine collector. Until recently, shipping into the state by wineries and retailers was strictly forbidden. Now, it is controlled and consumers can import wine, but only from licensed wineries who pay a tax to Virginia, which many wineries refuse to do. Further, it is illegal in Virginia for one consumer to sell to another consumer. This means that when a collector wants to sell all or part of his wine cellar holdings, he must get a wholesaler involved, increasing costs and effectively often times negating the effort. There are a number of on line houses available to purchase wine, but it can be trial and error whether the product is in good condition.
The safest method if you want to buy fine wine and older vintages is to get involved with sales from the high end auction houses. Sotheby’s, Bonham and Butterfield, and Hart Davis and Hart are three houses that deal only with known sellers and their cellars, providing quality goods, rare vintages and safe shipping to Virginia. All allow on line bidding, and each has many auction per year. I have purchased from all three, finding rare wines at reasonable prices, including two cases from my birth year. Don’t let the fancy names scare you away. Many lots are quite reasonably priced, many are partial cases and all are checked by the auction house for quality and condition. Even more fun is actually attending the auctions. Many time lunch is served and many attendees bring wines to drink and share. Check out the web links, and you may find something you can’t live without.

Tastings as I See Them

Cafe Gutenburg WineDown Wednesdays, half price wine by the glass 5-10 pm. 17th and Main. www.cafegutenberg.com

Can Can, Monday tastings 6-7 $1.Wine Dinners Wednesdays, Reservations required. (Carytown) 358-7274 www.cancanbrasserie.com

Wine Lovers Thursdays 530-7 Free. John Rolfe Parkway

Beer and Wine Westpark Thursdays 4-7 Free. Broad St. beyond Parham

Melting Pot Thursdays 6:30 Tasting and discussion $10. Gaskins Near Gayton

The Wine Cellar Fridays 5-8 Free. Huguenot at Midlothian

River City Cellars Fridays 5-7 Free. Carytownwww.rivercitycellars.com

Bin 22 Wine flights with light foods and cheeses. Tuesday thru Saturday. Carytown

Fleming's First Monday of each month 5:30-7:00 Free. Charity Wine Wednesdays 3rd Wednesday of each month. Reduced priced glasses, all proceeds to charity.
April 19, SPCA. 6:00-8:00 Stony Point Fashion Mall http://www.flemingssteakhouse.com/

Around the World with G

Went to a Pinot Noir "Workshop" last night with Cordell (of Fleming's Fame) hosted by Genevelyn Steele (aka "G") at a local Wine Shop. Timing was perfect with Wine Spectator's Issue featuring the temperamental grape released just two days prior. So I pre-briefed the event by checking out the article. The tasting was five Pinots from various locations, three US and a New Zealand and a French. WE started with New Zealand and were rewarded with an acid bomb which G mentioned was typical in her experience of the country's output. I noticed also some oak in the nose, and was rewarded with a confirm that many of these wines are indeed stored in french oak. An Oregon Pinot followed, this style being more typical of the Burgundian benchmark. Chateau Bianca from the Willamette Valley held my attention longer, it's finish and balance making it my top wine of the evening. California and New York were the next two, and while I was pleasantly surprised with both, the style is not in my wheelhouse at this time. Fruit in the nose, no earth and a clipped finish relegated these two to also-rans for me. The French Burgundy we tasted last was from Albert Bichot, and showed awesome color, with bright cherry/garnet tones and high reflectivity. Red fruit driven, it belied it's origin, but still had the nuances I expect from the Old World.
Pinot is a temperamental mistress, hard to grow, and harder still to make quality wines without manipulating the process. Reverse osmosis, adding water, blending are becoming more accepted with this varietal, and with mixed results to my mind. I prefer the old stylings of Burgundy, from the classic makers, but alas they crimp the pocket book. So Oregon is my best value/least manipulation destination when it comes to Pinot now, and even they can't seem to keep their hands clean.

Bin 22 News from the Owners

We are starting up our Tuesday night wine tastings again. On Tuesday, April 18th at 7pm we will feature a Spanish wine and food tasting with Chris Reynolds of Dionysus Imports. Wines included:
~ 2 cavas by Avingo
~2 Basque whites from Txakolin
~2 reds from Rioja
Price is $27pp (includes food and wine). Please call 358.4501 for more details and reservations.


Sophia Minis are here! Little pink cans of blanc de blancs ($6)-perfect for sipping on our patio.

Please stop by to see our April artist, Layton Grier. Her photos from Provence and Tuscany are beautiful and for sale.

If you're interested in having a private party on a Sunday or Monday evening, we can customize a tasting and food pairing (minimum 20 people-we can accommodate 60 with the patio)~just let us know the dates you are interested in as the calendar is filling up!

We hope to see you soon.

Cheers,
Greg and Jen Pullen
Bin 22@ betsy's
804.358.4501

Partisans of Red Wine Says It Loosens the Arteries

Research by The NPD Group suggests is loosens up the wallet as well. The study tracked the amount of money people spend at casual and fine-dining restaurants, then correlated it with the sort of alcohol that they drink. "People tend to have a higher check when they order red wine, a moderate check with white wine, and a lower check with blush wines." The study also found that people who order wine with their meal are more likely to order dessert than are wineless restaurant goers. So much for the notion the alcohol satisfies one's sweet tooth. Elsewhere on the wine front, a study by Canadian researchers finds red wine may fight periodontal disease. The anti-oxidants in the wine appear to have anti-inflammatory properties that help keep gums healthy. Given the worldwide glut of wine these days, we look forward to seeing a cheap red marketed as mouthwash.

Copied without permission...so sue me... from Adweek Magazine.

The Acacia Wine Dinner

As promised, I attended the Wine Dinner at Acacia last week with both BW and BD. We three enjoy such different things, I was looking forward to how a fixed menu would work for us. BW stuck with one wine through the night, an Aussie Shiraz, which is her bent. But BD and I went with the pairings as offered and found them all to be "spot on" as our buddy Luke would say. We started with the Celery Root Soup, a puree with pancetta and chives. This was a bit thin but still had a creamy texture which held up to the wonderful substance and flavor of a Burgundian Rosé Sparkler, the Michel Freres Cremant. I am deeply fond of the current trend towards dry pink wines. Don't ever assume that good rosé is sweet; the French make wonderful dry rosés.

Next was the salad course, and as we have discussed, any vinegar based salad dressing makes wine pairing difficult. Herbs and greens were joined by a piquillo pepper stuffed with goat cheese. The wine was Cluver's South African Sauvignon Blanc, which holds up against the balsamic as well as anything and was crisp and citrusy, providing a nice counterbalance.

The main course provided us a choice of Salmon or Grilled Sirloin. BD and I chose the salmon, which was pan roasted and accompanied by a sweet onion tart and a pecan sauce. The salmon prep was on target, moist and tasty, just enough carmelization to match the pecan sauce. The wine paired with this was a Santa Maddalena from Thomas Mayr. This is from Northern Italy along the Austrian border and was earthy but light, reminiscent of a good Pinot Noir from Burgundy. BW got the Sirloin with a potato and mushroom ravioli, and garlic sauce. She stuck with her aussie wine, but the pairing selected would have been Chianti Classico from Buondonno.

The service was impeccable, and I happily looked through the regular menu, reminding myself what a neat destination this is. It's back on my list, especially for weeknights and al fresco dining outside on the porch looking over Carytown. Julia from River City Cellars ( http://www.rivercitycellars.com/) was in attendance and had selected the wines. All are available at her shop, just a couple blocks west on Cary St.

More Rhone Tasting Notes

Ok, by now you may be getting sick of listening to me as I spout off about my current favorite region, but off I go again. This week I tasted two “new to me” wines, one a Cotes du Rhone, and the other a smaller appellation called Cotes du Ventoux. A gift, the 2003 Paul Jaboulet Cotes du Rhone Parallele 45 is available at Kroger and elsewhere and is value priced (~$10). Typical for the region, with some additional tannin that might bring the errant cab drinker into the Rhone fold. Plum, fig and black cherry abound in the mouth. Equal parts Grenache and Syrah.
The 2004 Vielle Ferme (the Old farm) Cotes du Ventoux is an effort by the Perrin family, of Chateau de Beaucastel fame. This blend of Grenache and Syrah is supplemented with Carignan and Cinsault. When you see carignan added in a blend, you can suspect some tannin and spice to be the goal of the winemaker, adding depth to other lighter style grapes. Chock full of fruit, this effort belies it’s high hillside location with deep flavors of it’s neighbor, Chateauneuf du Pape. I believe I bought this at Wine Lover’s, and recommend it.
The smaller regions of the Rhone Valley offer great values in French tasting. Look for Cotes du Ventoux, Gigondas, Vacqueyras and Lirac to make your Rhone dollar go farther. For higher quality at a price, Chateauneuf du Pape and Cotes du Rhone-Villages are the “go to” regions.

Cafe Gutenberg

On advice of a friend, I snuck down here today to catch a glimpse of this multi-faceted gem. Boasting breakfast, books, international news, wine flights, Filet Mignon for Dinner and tapas, it's hard to conceive of anything you can't do here. Outside veranda seating, inside bookstore/reading room, and spacious upstairs seating. WiFi free internet. Scheduled foreign language practice sessions on Thursday nights. And Half Price wine by the glass on Wednesday's. I don't know bout you but I'm thinking this place is a winner. Maybe we should all meet some Thursday...speak a little Spanish...Have the intellectual scene... (OK name that reference!)

I started with a Sicilian Mimosa (Spanish Cava and Blood Orange juice...cute!) and then had Nicoise Sandwich (picture the salad on a artisinal roll). Mom always said if the sandwich doesn't drip off you elbows, it's no good, and she would have approved mightily of this one. Even the girl at the next table warned me about tryong to eat it without a knife and fork. But with the gauntlet passed, I had to finish it en mano. Glass of White Haven New Zealand Sauv Blanc topped it all off. So West End boy lives thru a trip into the Bottom! And didn't even have anyone to hold my hand or guard the car! This city is getting down right civilized. Now if they could only tame Northside.

17th and Main by the Farmer's Market

www.cafegutenberg.com