Fleming's Napa Wine Experience

Next week I head out to Napa for a long weekend sponsored by Fleming's for their Magnum Club Members. As the only Richmonder to jump on this opportunity, I will be alongside 29 other good customers from all around the country where Fleming's has locations. I arrive a day early to meet up with friends from San Francisco and join them for dinner in Berkeley at Chez Panisse, considered one of the Bay areas finest restaurants. The host resort for the weekend is Meadowood, pictured above. A full service spa and resort located in the heart of Napa Valley, this awsome site has played host to the burgeoning wine industry in Napa since 1964. For the last twenty five years, it has been the preeminent destination for discerning travelers visiting the region. Thursday evening begins the Napa Wine Experience with dinner at Paul Fleming's home in Calistoga, overlooking the Russian River. The highlight of the evening is the unveiling of his wife Kelly's first release of Cabernet Sauvignon.
Friday is a grueling day of tasting and touring, beginning at Beringer, where we have a tour and wine and food pairing class. Cakebread hosts our luncheon, and a class on blending wine from barrels with Dennis Cakebread, the owner. Our afternoon is a private tour and tasting at Francis Ford Coppola's historic Niebaum-Coppola winery. Friday evening, we are off to Quintessa, where we enjoy a reception and four course dinner prepared by the Fleming's Executive Chef Russel Skall at the residence constructed on the "Island of Quintessa".
Saturday we are off to a morning tour at Honig winery with the owner and a discussion of organic techniques in winemaking. Then across the vineyard we will walk to Frog's Leap for our tour and discuss the "biodynamic" farming techniques, followed by lunch the their "Ghost Winery". An afternoon off is well deserved and I plan to take time out for a Grape Seed Body rub, and facial. If I wake up, I rejoin the crew for our theme dinner and toga party at the Franciscan Oakville Estate.
Sunday morning is a champagne brunch at Gloria Ferrar and departure back to reality and my cross country flight home. I'll take lots of photos, and post them, and I'll be sure to keep my notes safe so that I can write the story of the trip. Looking forward to sharing this with all of you!

Recent Tasting Photos From the Cellar

Couple of photos from a recent tasting. The wines were reviewed to some degree in the April 29th post on the Blog.

Quite a line up....

Latest List of Tastings

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. Carytown
http://www.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. May 17, 6:00-8:00 Stony Point Fashion Mall
http://www.flemingssteakhouse.com/

Second Label Find of the Week

Many good wineries whose offerings are too expensive for the typical pocketbook put out “Second Label “ wines. Generally, these are from grapes that didn’t make the first cut for quality, or are blended with grapes from outside the premier wine’s region. Most of the classified chateaux in Bordeaux bottle a second label, as do the big guns of Napa. Opus One only sells it’s second label , called Overture, at the winery. At about $40, that’s about one fourth the cost of the premier label. Still not cheap, but for the incremental decrease in quality, it’s a bargain.
This week, I stumbled onto the second label from Chateau de Beaucastel, a premium make in the Southern Rhone of France. The premium wine is a Chateauneuf du Pape, and is routinely one of the better, and more costly wines of the region. Second label Coudoulet de Beaucastel is a Cotes-du-Rhone, required because some of the grapes are purchased and are from outside of the Chateauneuf region. Parker weighed in at 89 points for this 2003 effort, and promised that the 2004 would exceed that. My notes include wonderful dark cherry, tar and a dense mouth feel. I picture this with something gamey, duck or even rabbit, slow cooked and with a fruit demi-glace. The long finish tells of it’s quality, and the herbs and spices on the nose deliver differing nuances to each sip.
Carytown Wine and Beer stocks this at $33, and for a nice dinner or other special occasion, you might grab a bottle of this and enjoy what the “Old World” does best.

Big Brother Hits Wine Corks

New technology is being used now to track a myriad of information about individual bottles of wine. A microchip is now available to be placed into the synthetic cork of a wine which will send, receive and hold pages of data about the wine inside. An Italian designer has created this RFID cork insert and labeling technology, called SmartCorq, and Arnaldo Caprai is using it on his new Comtemporare Sangiovese. By utilizing radio frequency identification (RFID) technology, a wine's provenance, harvest information, flavor profiles and even suggested food pairings can be inscribed on a rice-sized chip that resides inside the cork. The reader will likely be available at retail stores and various other outlets. Costing about $140 a piece , the reader will not likely be for most consumers to purchase.
Another likely use will be to combat fraud at wine auctions where mislabeling can make a cheap wines sell for many times their value, masking them as expensive collectibles. Collectors will be able to know provenance, temperature extremes and other data that will increase the value of properly handles wines, and exposing poorly handled wines for what they are.
Besides Caprai in Italy, Gallo in the US has been testing RFID since 2004. Many large retailers use pallet attached RFID’s to track loads of many types of product outside of the wine industry. Walmart is a retail industry leader at this time. But in the wine trade, most are waiting to see what the large wineries do. As more and more advantages appear, and the technology becomes affordable., look for more chips to be installed and more data to become available to the consumer.

Graduation Toast

As I read the various Commencement and Graduation speeches in the paper, it seems to me a proper time to note how much younger the wine drinking public seems to be these days. There's a shift toward wine, certainly from harder alcohol, and to a lesser but still noticeable extent, from beer. And the young drinkers are savvy. Sauvignon Blancs and Gruner Veltliners are replacing Pinot Grigios and the range of reds from all over the world seem to surplant the Merlot request we became tired of hearing. It follows the symbolism of graduation. Our young friends are moving away from the comfortable surroundings, whether by hook or crook, and embracing trying the new exciting world that is out in front of them. New venues replace the college bar and good food replaces cafeteria fare. As they open themselves up to these new experiences, new cities, and new careers, remember to support their new habits, welcome them into what we laughingly call adulthood, and raise a toast to our new wine loving friends. Congratulations Graduates! You have worked hard, and we are so proud of you.

Unfiltered and Unfined

Filtering wines of their impurities prior to bottling is a technique steeped in controversy. Many good winemakers feel that this process, actually passing the wine through a membranous filter, not only removes the particulate matter, but invariably some of the nuance or character of the wine. Filtering leaves the wine crystal clear with little sediment. “Fining” is a different technique in which an agent, like activated charcoal or even egg white, is dropped into the wine and as it sinks to the bottom, collects the microscopic particles that can cloud the wine. This method also can be used to remove color from white wines or even flawed odors. Once the fining agent sinks to the bottom, the wine is “racked” to skim off the top clean wine. Racking involves siphoning the wine from the top into a new vessel, leaving the bottom impurities in the original cask. Racking can be used in conjunction with filtering and fining, or by itself to remove any particulate matter which may cloud the wine. Winemakers are typically vehement in their selected method, and often list their choice on the label. Wines listed as “unfiltered and unfined” use racking or other “natural” methods to remove particles without losing the ultimate character of the wine. Do not be surprised to find small bits of sediment in red wines listed this way. My personal experience is that these wines carry with them the body and structure that I enjoy in a wine, at the expense of complete clarity that another may prefer. Smile when you see a little sediment. All the goodness that the wine gods intended have been left in the wine for your enjoyment.

Technical Glitch

Hey my good readers and friends. Due to a technical glitch (read: Screw up by me), only people with blogs on this server were permitted to post comments to my blog. MY BAD.

Now you may comment to each article as I write it. Sorry for the unprofessional set up, but now it works. Thanks for keeping your comments clean, but do comment.


Da Mayor

Barbara uses the Porron

Careful! Notice that the wine we were tasting here is the "Rosado" which was one of the Cavas, a sparkling wine. Barbara spilled nary a drop, owing to her her awesome hand/eye coordination, and great desire for the free wine. While you get used to this method...I'd stick to whites!

Bin 22 Spanish Tasting

Ok, so I went to the Spanish wine tasting at Bin 22 (Carytown) on Tuesday. Greg, the proprietor, assigned my group of three to a table of six, and creating a family style tone to the evening. Six wines tasted, 2 cavas (sparkling) 2 whites, and 2 riojas (one white) with food pairings which as always at this venue punctuates the wines and shows us different old world nuances not available in a simple wine-only taste. Even a sweetish blueberry brie with the whites worked against the stainless steel acids. Our table decided that as new friends we would discuss no religion or politics, so we quickly debauched into the only subject left. Cordell was particularly over-endowed in conversational talent. With the wine still flowing and frequent visits by our tasting host from Dionysis, Chris Reynolds, we did explore the variable varietals that Spain offers. Toward the end, Greg broke out a tasting vessel, Spainish in origin we were told, shaped like a tall decanter with an additional pipette horizontally attached to the side. Called a "Porron", the idea is to pour slowly from the pipette into your mouth, and as you become comfortable with the stream, increase the distance from bottle to mouth by extending your arm. The result is typically a less than accurate aim, wet shirt, and in some cases, damp socks. On my unfateful try, the vessel became so empty, that the angle required actually allowed wine to flow out of the top, splashing onto my head to the great merriment of the collected entourage. Photos taken will be posted on the blog, grainy and unfocused as the subjects in them. Bin 22 is a gem. Experience it. But bring a raincoat.

Tasting List from the Event:

Avino Cava
Avino Cava Rosada
Gatariako Txacoli
Xarnant Txacoli
Ostatu Blanco
Arbanta Rouge

Latest Tasting Venues

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

River City Cellars Fridays 5-7 Free. Carytown
http://www.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. May 17, 6:00-8:00 Stony Point Fashion Mall http://www.flemingssteakhouse.com/

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.