No Wine Over $20-Reviews and the LA Wine Scene

Richard Belloff is a pioneer in Westlake. He opened his cozy wine bar/restaurant Bellavino in Westlake CA in 2003. He has gone through several chefs and enough personal re-tooling to test anyone's survivability. Yet here he is with his very warm dining establishment, a terrific chef, a wine director, an outrageously attractive Monday night $30 three course special...and a superb wine list.

2005 Michael David Petite Petit $20: Richard recommended this wine to go with my crab cake and pork chop. He also noted the importance of staying under $20 without sacrificing quality. This wine does it. Great balance. Medium weight. Some cranberry, light pepper. Could pass for a Southern France Carignane blend. And it is such an unusual blend. Michael David Winery hails from Lodi. He makes the 7 Deadly Zins which is a very popular label. Not a zin fan but who knows now? We love Lodi having learned about the historical importance of Lodi in California wine history. You could call it the motherlode. More like the motherland.I usually frown on the zin-cab or cab-syrah stylists. As my good pal who took me to Mastros might say Igottatellya this blend works really well. Now I have to bring Igottatellya to Bellavino on Monday night.

14.5% on the alcohol which is the new goal for Adam Tolmachl! If you did not read the incredible LA Times article on high alcohol levels in Central Coast wines with the courageous admission from Tolmach - one of California's master wine makers - that he is boycotting his own high-alcohol wines - then you must click on the preceding link. Of course, tBoW has been pounding the table (like Krushchev at UN in 1960) for this cause for a long time. This is why we post alcohol levels. Let me step down from my soapbox.

[ed. for all the puppies who read this blog, the link goes to a 1960 newsreel showing Russian Prime Minister Krushchev and komrades pounding the table with their fists to demonstrate Soviet strength and pugnacity. tBoW's Bacchus was 11 y.o. then and this stuff played big but you had to go to the movies to see newsreels, or you could just read the newspaper. Now I feel like Andy Rooney.]

Holy jumpin' elephants now here's a goodun. The Michael David winery was supposedly sued because this label looks too much like Barnum & Bailey artwork. All I can say is the wine is not listed on the winery website nor could I find it on the web. I had to take this pic of the Micahel David label above myself so you could make up your own mind.

Jesse Casanova is the wine director. Jesse brings his experience working with Terlato Wines International which handles many high-end Italian wine plus domestic standouts such as Rochioli. So Jesse know wine. Better yet, Jesse is on a mission to help Westlake wine fiends learn about wines other than the same old same old (nuff said right there). So he has initiated a series of wine dinners called Vine and Dine. These feature different varietals paired with well-matched foods. How about a Riesling tasting? First one I have seen in the Conejo Valley. Check these guys. If you are there on a Monday say hello to me!

Here are some other nice wines recently tasted.

Pipestone 2003 Grenache ~$18: Jammy-lite, ripe fruit. One day later the fruit backs off and blends in much more nicely. Ripe plum notes. Rich tasting. Can only dream of what this wine might offer with a bit less ripeness and alcohol. Following the development of this winemaker is worthwhile.14.9%.

2005 Domaine de Combiaty Brouilly $18: Imported by Beaune Imports, an importer to watch. We are pretty much in love with the 2005 and the 2006 vintages in Beaujolais. Something is happening in the region. This wine is made by Dominique Piron. We think we can always tell the old world wines because they do not have the big bright fruit (generally, there must be exceptions). This is not the exception but it does have a lot of good fruit. A day later (as above) it is better, more blended (melded?) and nicely balanced. Moreso than the Pipestone. Would I buy it again? If other wines from the same vintages were not available. Would I buy it if I had never tried it before? Well I already did. Best of all? 12.5%

2004 Barbera d'Alba Vigna San Lorenzo Bartolo Mascarello $22: Steve Goldun tout (he left WHWC!! What will we do? We throw our corks in with Dave Russell). Think Gamay fruit with spicy pepper. Absolutely delightful. Very nicely balanced. Open one day and stored in half bottle. I will get more of this. 14%. Once upon a time Barbera was not very glamorous. Maybe it still is not. Then it got glamorous kind of riding the coattails of the Barrique Barolistas. Those would be the Piemonte winemakers who broke ranks with the old timers and started aging the wine in small oak barrels instead of monster Slovenian oak - or traditional cement - barrels. My point is Barbera quickly shifted from being sort of obscure and for locals only to a "re-discovered" varietal that "deserved its due". Thank god that movement faded. Here is a locals only wine that tastes like the wines we would like to taste more of. Who is Bartolo Mascarello? Mascarello is a high profile name in the region and a defender of the "old ways". Click on the preceding link to read a bio on the elder statesman of Barolo.

Everyone has or should have a mentor. Whether we know it or not we are all influenced by someone who, in our view, has a profound knowledge about something we would like to be more expert in ourselves. This does not negate the influence of friends and others who also hold sway over our views. What I am saying is that there is someone to whom, when he speaks, we listen a little more closely.

My mentor is Master Gee. He has been around wine for a really really long time. He has been in every crook and cranny of the wine business. He has been affiliated with some of the most notable wine projects in SoCal from retail to wholesale to everything else. He knows everyone. If he does not know you then you do not exist.

He pulled the cork on the single most memorable bottle of wine I ever tasted. The wine was so bizarre and at the same time so exquisite that all my preconceptions about wine were obliterated..an experience that would and should happen again...when I might least expect it...I can only hope.

Master Gee told one of the funniest wine stories I ever heard that same evening. One of the guests at a small tasting in a root cellar was the youngest son of a seminal California grape family. Gee recalled visiting this fellow's uncle every year for a decade in one of the gazillion acres of vineyards the family owned in the Central Valley.

"Your uncle liked to meet in the vineyards. Every other year he arrived in a brand new Cadillac, dust flying off the dirt roads, we could see him coming for miles. My question to you is did he ever drive it anywhere else? Or was that his tractor?"

Gee has presently made a niche in a very low profile and very unglamorous end of the business (not for the first time). I asked him recently did he miss all the hoopla?

"Not at all. I am really done with wine. [Gee leaned back] Look, wine is all about one story. The point is to convince everybody that this beverage can only be produced on this plot of land by this winemaker. I call it the Magic Chef and the Hallowed Ground".

I am listening. Please continue.

But first...an appropriate (and much loved) introduction for a fairy tale.

The Magic Chef is the only person on earth who can prepare chicken just so, with these special ingredients in these secret amounts. The wine is made perfectly because he has the magic touch.

The Hallowed Ground is that very rare spot where the vineyards grow, producing the grapes that the Magic Chef turns into wine. The Hallowed Ground is comprised of terroir that cannot be replicated or replaced. It can be emulated but it can never be exactly copied because the Hallowed Ground only exists right here.

This incredibly delicious and justifiably expensive and highly rated wine, therefore, can only be made by this chef working with grapes from this place.

This is the story driving all wine markets.

Over the holidays I pulled a bottle from a place in our warehouse where everyone dumps their soiled labels, Australian gewurtztraminers, and otherwise forgotten wines. It was a 2004 Chilean Cab Merlot blend. This wine sells out at $8 in 1 day. I took it to a dinner with friends and wine people. The usual array of high end overripe high alcohol reds were opened. This Chilean blend was my favorite. 12% alcohol, easy to drink.

I see from where many of my biases traveling in wine country have arisen. Where do yours come from? Master Gee thought my recent entry on The Best of Wine Importers Part 2 was a scream. "What pompous jackasses!!" Then he told me to see Mondo Vino (I did, click to read review).

We looked at his new fleet of temperature controlled trucks with naugahyde seats. Very nice.

[ed. Hanna Barbera vids including complete Fractured Fairy tales are abundant on youtube]

Here are a few wines recently uncorked...

1996 Pira Barolo Marenca $40: Another bottle from the terrific 1996 vintage. This wine has developed almost perfectly. Any nuance of tar and roses has given way to pure black cherry fruit in a well balanced solution. This wine is drinking very nicely right now. Not sure I would hold it much longer. 14.5%. Best I could find was the 1999 label.

2003 Giessinger Port Cucamonga Valley $26: What you say could this be? And where is the Cucamonga Valley? Who can be interested in the wine before the other mysteries are investigated. About the wine...this is dessert wine made from zinfandel grapes grow somewhere near San Bernardino which is otherwise known for being one of the two major Inland Empire cities. It is hot in San Berdoo (where the Hells Angels began). The wine has a nutty nose and ripe date flavors. I believe there are substantial date crops in the region. The wine is nicely balanced and the whole presentation is fairly subdued. Zin has a tendency to be overwhelming. This is not. Nice pick by Pee Wee, wine novitiate. Alcohol not listed but I would guess it is less than the typical 16% for port wine. Nice. Who is this Giessinger Winery? They could not be more local so we will have to learn more. You know, once upon a time more wine was produced in Southern Cal than the rest of the state. Giessinger, Hells Angels and Pee Wee...three SoCal originals.

I really should tease the reader before getting to the Russian wine...but what the hey. The first wine is from the Republic of Georgia which is an ancient land with tremendous pride. I am posting the flag in case someone should get the wrong impression.

Kindzmarauli Kahketi Region NV$16: The wine was a gift from an associate(Georgian NOT Russian of course) who wanted to impress with a wine from the motherland. "I guarantee you have never had this wine". I did find it on the web as Georgian Royal Collection Kindzmarauli, naturally semi-sweet wine, 100% Saperavi varietal, from the Kindzmarauli microzone of the Kvareli area in the Kakheti region, Republic of Georgia. It has a distinguishable varietal bouquet, intense aroma, harmonious and velvety flavor". It is from an historical wine growing region in Georgia's Tusheti mountains and it is semi-sweet. 11% alcohol which is always commendable. The important point is that the sugar content of the wine is not enhanced. Is it late-harvested like a Primitivo? Dried on straw mats in the Tushetian sun like an Amarone ? A wikipedia entry claims Georgia is the "birthplace of wine" and the oldest wine producing region in Europe. Hold that correcting thought...Georgian wine apparently has neolithic roots (~7,000 years). We tasted this wine in granite goblets served with braised Mastodon. The missus did a nice job on the hairy relative of the elephant, a little tough from the retreating glaciers. The wine gave semi-sweet cheer to a generally hostile environment as we huddled around a fire shielded in a Kodiak bear's jawbone. Not a terribly long finish in a terribly long night. Yzumitelno!!

2004 Chinon Les Chiens-Chiens $15: Bought at K&L Wine Merchant. Cabernet Franc from the best known region in France for this grape. These wines stand in sharp contrast to California Cabernet Franc which is the source for my cab franc wine knowledge. The most famous cab franc is Bordeaux's Cheval Blanc which Miles downs with a burger in Sideways. [ed. Link goes to Miles dissing a Paso Robles cab franc!]. The vintage was 1961 which furthers the inside joke to wine snobs. Chinon is in the Loire Valley southwest of Paris (see map link below). I am learning these Old World Chinon wines are quite different than New World versions. California Cab Franc wines often a clear bittersweet chocolate flavor like 65% cacao bar. Chinon wines are more like 90% bittersweet. Almost dirty, earthy, dry. The fruit is there but needs time to emerge. I will not open these wines (I have a few in the cellar) until June. With BBQ skirt steak. Expect to be tasting more Chinons in 2008. 13.5%

2005 Chateau Champ des Soeurs Fitou Bel Amant $15: I have not run out of wines to review. Yes, this wine was reviewed in September. Six months later it still rocks. Now I have the labels. A Becky Wasserman Selection which is always a good place to begin. 60% Grenache then Syrah then Mourvedre. Yummm-meeee. Wonderful balance. On the flavor spectrum think of the Fitou as the mid point between jammy Cal wines and dry Chinon wines. We liked this one a lot and will return to get more.

2002 Beaune Vignes-Franches Premier Cru Domaine Chateau de Chorey~$35: Wasn't this special? Premier Cru vineyard outside the town of Beaune. Chateau de Chorey is a top producer. This is Red Burgundy at its price/quality best. Delicate nose. Cherry and game-y flavors. Light to middle in eight. All tannins resolved and gone. Showing very nicely for 5 years. Just perfect with the glazed plum chicken. 13.5%. Not a U20 but a very worthwhile O20 that defines wine intelligence. Excellent wine.

It is the worst of times for home prices. They just keep falling. It is the best of times for the best of wines. When wine prices start sinking that is a good thing. Excellent wine values just seem to keep on coming. When we started this blog we thought we were busting new ground. Not exactly. Looks like we were just feeling the pulse of a wine market losing its glitz. Good!
The absurdly priced trophy wines need to clear out. Mondo Vino is correct. Robert Parker is narrow-palated. Storm the Bastille of Bombastic Bordeaux. Beaujolais, Cote du Rhone, Languedoc! Savoie, St. Chinian, Minervois!

Here are some recent tastes while preparing another Molotov for the aristocratic folks over at World of Wine!

2002 East Valley Vineyard Santa Barbara County Pinot Noir $30 then: Kudos to Wades Wines for bringing this one to our attention. Dave Dascomb has a day job at some technology firm in Goleta. When he isn't building GPS (spy) satellites he tends the family vineyard up in Santa Ynez. He makes the wine too. Rustic, simple, deep Santa Rita Hills fruit. This vintage produced 55 cases. Can you buy better wine for $30? Maybe. But can you buy better Pinot Noir from SRH at this price? Not likely. I would buy this one again. 14.2%. Low for those parts.

2004 Perrin & Fils Chateuneuf du Pape Les Sinards $23 (Costco): Grenache from the homestead of the Tablas Creek partners. Softer than Paso juice. Lovely perfumed nose. Doughy. Lip smackin' good. Smooooth. I know it does not sound appealing but I am left with the impression of doggy biscuit on a long finish. I guess that is some dusty earth. Definitely resembles the TC style. 14%

2005 In Extremis Chateau d'Agel $23 (Costco): Minervois wine of Syrah and probably Carignane. Very tasty. Rich red "robe" (color). Black berry nose with spice and pepper. Minervois in the Languedoc is known for more mineral and leaner wines. This is not exactly that. Must have been a hot harvest?
But it ain't Parker either. And I will tell you something else - somebody is buying some really interesting wines for Costco. Like this little gem. I am seeing Rhones, the Sud. I would not be surprised at all to find a Hermitage Blanc soon! Tasting just perfect for the summer that is threatening to break out now here in SoCal. 14.5% alcohol.

And one for the road...
2003 McKenzie-Mueller Malbec $30: As I am getting ready for a trip to Argentina I have decided I need to become at least a bit more familiar with the Malbec varietal. Bob Mueller makes this wine in each vintage. Nice red fruit nose and flavors. Cinnamon, allspice and tarry finish. Reading tells me tar is not unusual in the more extracted style. Not a fruit bomb nut kinda fruity. 14% Cant' wait.