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

[ed. tBoW webmeister Dr. Dionysus practices Chinese Medicine in his "pro" life. He shares some wisdom concerning balance in life and wine drinking.]

In the practice of Chinese Medicine the topic of lifestyle choices and their impact on health comes up on a regular basis.

Our lives can be shortened and otherwise undermined by choices such as a sedentary lifestyle, smoking cigarettes, and of course drinking. Healthy choices include the obvious ones such as exercising, quitting or not smoking and not drinking. However, a balanced lifestyle also recognizes that enjoying life also contributes to a longer and happier life.

That's why I use the 80/20 rule. If you really want to prevent disease, live a long healthy life, etc., simply do the right thing 80% of the time, and the remaining 20% go ahead and drink wine. I still think you should get off your butt and put out the other butts, but enjoying life and drinking wine have both been shown to interact well, so 20% seems like a reasonable apportion. As long as you balance with the 80%.

I recently happened upon the aisle pictured below at a local bookstore which prompted these thoughts. It tickled me at the time, and I believe it will tickle you too. :)

Dr. Dionysus

Hopefully, you have read the posts on bodega touring in Lujan and Maipu and Valle de Uco, dining and wining in Mendoza, and Argentine wines found and purchased in LA. Here is the list of the best wines tasted by the tBoW team in Mendoza. We have tasted other Argentine wines found in SoCal but they are not covered in this post. Where possible, I am providing the importer, distributor and retailer in LA or anywhere. Lets' get to it.

tBoW's TOP NINE WINES FROM ARGENTINA...

One more minute. Let me tell you about the best restaurant in Buenos Aires that is not a tourist steakhouse where we found #9...

Tomo 1 (uno) is on the second story above a cheesy hotel close to downtown Buenos Aires. The room has about 20 tables. A couple of sisters well past their 60s moved their San Telmo restaurant to this location in order to go upscale (and probably post higher prices in line with all the praise they received for their inventive and peerless dishes.) Moving from San Telmo is like going from the East Village to Midtown. At least. We had three long term memorable meals in Argentina, one in Buenos Aires. This was it. We ordered five desserts: 2 dulce de leches (the Missus still seeking close replication for Argentina's caramel classic); an apple tartane; and two desserts that sounded so incredible we had to try both. First, a scoop of arugula sherbet with cardomon ice cream on top. Outrageously good. Indescribable. I will forget my birth town before I forget this. Second, pink grapefruit wedges in a gewurtztraminer and pear soup. Served in a martini glass. Uncle Don would call it fruit cocktail but then he refers to cordon bleu as ham and swiss.

Number 1 (M.I.A.)
2003 La Azul Reserve $20: What can I say. The memory fades as time passes and I fear I may never again taste my blue wine. I have borrowed an image from a touring blog Lost on Purpose. Now I am just ill that we blew this tasting. Even though we had more time with Chef Pablo at Andeluna I do think we missed something special. Blend of Malbec, Cab Sauvignon and Merlot. Woman winemaker - Flavia Manterola - from Valle de Uco. 500 case production. Sweetness in the nose. Minty, reminds me of Phelps Insignia character. Nicely balanced. Has to be more Merlot than Cab. Tasted it twice in country. Great both times. 14.3%. We will never see it!!!

Number 2 (found it! In Virginia!)
2005 Bressia Monteagrelo Malbec $26: One of the top two wines tasted in country. Amazingly, I may have found it nearby (within 100 miles). 100% Malbec juice. Smooth and thick but not like syrup. Just viscous. Deep flavors of black cherry with some polished and buffed wood. Think mahogany. Beautiful robe. Delicious nose. Winner! Pay the front line! Just so you know, tBoW also tasted the sparkler 2006 Brut Nature and the higher priced red 2004 Profundo. The sparkler was very very good. Great value at $30 and 12%. The Profundo was bought off the wine list at the fancy Pulenta restaurant; $45 and 13.5%. Over-ripe, blend of mostly Cab, Syrah, Merlot and Malbec. Fruit and charcoal. I ordered this online from Virginia. Fran Kysela via Timeless Wines is bringing it into the USA. Having some trouble getting it all the way out here on the West Coast. Like flat screens...hard to find them way out here in the western region of the country.

Number 3 (found it in SoCal!!)
2005 Colomé Malbec $25: Colomé certainly was the most enchanting bodega and we never came close to it. I refer you to the videos posted earlier. Grapes grown at 7,000 feet and wine made at their Salta area winery owned by Hess. Blend of Malbec, Tannat and Merlot. Works beautifully. Solid middle weight as so many of these wines are. Rich red purple deep blood red robe. Easy nose with aromas of spice, Maipu-like citrus quality. Well balanced. Had it with classic asado fare (grilled meats and chimichurri). Perfect fit. Get it at Hi Time Wine Cellar in Coast Mesa.

Number 4 (Henry Wine Group has it and is allegedly distributing)
2006 Andeluna Malbec $10: Buttered popcorn on the nose. Pepper, younger wine. Lean and middleweight. Excellent. Rich flavors. Unbelievable value. Hope we can find it. We should be able to. My god...what if we can't??? 14.2%. San Francisco Wine Exchange brings it in. Good luck getting information from them.

Number 5 (trophy hunters alert!! Very very rare...)
2007 Achaval Ferrer Finca Bella Vista Malbec ~$150: This is the big ticket wine from Mendoza. Has the pedigree. Most sought after wine from the most prestigious house. Small single vineyard at 3,000 plus elevation. Not blended with lesser vineyards. Refined nose. Candy flavors. Elegant. Powdery vanilla (soft tannins). The real story is the 2005 and 2006 vintages were lost to hail. So the market is thirsty for this wine. TGIC Importers brings it in. Bound to sell out. Great wine if yagottahavit!!!

Number 6 (here in Costa Mesa!!)
2007 Colomé Torrontes $15: They have it at Hi Time Wine Cellar in Costa Mesa. Blow your mind. Yellow gold color. Maximim Grunhauser meets Chateau Grillet. This bottle needs time. Buy it now and wait six months. I cannot believe I am ranking it this low. I must be biased against white wines. This wine is burning a hole in my brain. 13%

Number 7 (it is here...somewhere)
2005 Luigi Bosca Syrah $11: One of the nation's biggest producers [ed. only 1.2 million cases] proves size does not matter. Not the Syrah I might expect. Lighter and more viscous than a Chateauneuf de Papes. More like a Tablas Creek red but without that Paso ripeness. Lighter than Paso. Makes me want to taste other Argentina Syrah wines. Spicy, pepper on the nose and first taste. Well balanced. Soft. Subtle. A lovely drink. The fact it tastes so nice suggests something special about the grape in the Maipu region where the vineyard is located. Of three wines tasted at this meal (Tomo 1) this was my favorite. 14.9% Golden State Wine distributes in California. No web site.

Number 8 (see Henry Wine Group note above)
2005 Andeluna Cellars Reserve Chardonnay: As Jack Paar used to say, "I kid you not". [ed. Who was Jack Paar you old fart? Here he is interviewing Jonathan Winters. I know who was...] Outstanding wine. The first chardonnay I have tasted in a LONG time that is memorable. Some sulfur on the nose, minerals, green olives. Not your Napa banana boat. No oak flavors. Meringue. Grown at 4,000 feet. 12 months in French oak. Michel Rolland consulting here. Henry rep says try Whole Foods. That would be convenient. I called my local. Never heard of it. 13.1%.

Number 9 (M.I.A.)
2004 Arnaldo B Etchart Gran Reserva Malbec: Another premium bottle from another monster producer Etchart. A Cafayate valley (Salta region) blend of Malbec (50%), Cabernet Sauv (30%), Merlot and Tannat. These are high altitude wines (5,000 feet). Rich, ripe but without the tobacco and leather nuances tasted in other "older" Reserve wines. Very rich and just ripe enough. Not darkly brooding like a Cabernet Franc or the weighty domination of a Cabernet Sauvignon. Oak and tannins present but muted. Even and balanced. Very good wine. Even the cab grows better in Salta. 14.5%

Bonus video:
While searching for the distributor or Arnaldo B Etchart I came across this video in which Arnaldo Etchart is interviewed at his Cafayate estate. It is in Spanish and I cannot see how to shrink the image. No matter. The video is worth viewing just to get a sense of what this northernmost region in Argentina looks like. The rustic environment reminds me of Guadalupe Valley in Baja California.

Click To Play

We attended a wine dinner sponsored by a couple of nice gentlemen who call their business Wine Vine & Dine. The theme was Cotes du Rhone and they poured seven representative wines (three white). They purchased most if not all bottles at Du Vin in West Hollywood, a premium retailer with one of the best French wine selections in the city.

The dining room doubles as a deli. The chef served spuds, quiche and lamb chops (yummy). One diner wondered what he had against vegetables. The food was good but the wines were the main act.

A tasting is always something of a show. Why do people go into the wine business? The business is something like entertainment. It has glamour, lifestyle, enough complication to make it "intellectual". Ultimately, it comes down to the actors. Robert Mondavi was like Caruso or The Three Tenors. Everyone can't be Pavarotti, however, there is plenty of room for lesser stars (long as you are not sharing a booth with Luciano). Nyuk nyuk [ed. cue Curly vid].

And in the wine business you always end up with the wine. Here is what Joe and Will of VWD served up.

2006 Abel Clement Cote du Rhone Blanc $10: Blend of Claret, Grenache Blanc and Picpoul. Pale yellow. Light, fresh, just enough tartness in the flavor. Perfect to begin the tasting. 13%

2005 Condrieu Cave de Chante Perdrix $29: I am not fond of Viognier. Others at our table liked this wine just fine. I usually write the same notes...foxy, flinty, dry. The guys talk about peaches. I only taste the pits. This is not bad wine by any measure. It is nice to drink (if you like Viognier). Chalk it up to a bad marriage between the taster and the grape. 13.5%

2004 Cairanne Vieux Clocher Cotes du Rhone Villages $10: Strong red color. Tannic, lightweight body, toasty, dry. Opens with 10 minutes. Taste the grenache. Me likey. Good value. Not sure I would buy it over something else. 14.5%

2003 Guigal Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde $80: Every show has to have a big number, the show stopper (we hope). Like Le Marseillaise in Casablanca. This was tonight's show stopper. Syrah from the most well known producer in the Rhone. And it was excellent. The glasses were tough for getting much aroma. Not with this wine. Roasted nuts. Middle weight body. Dense, blacquisimo cherry fruit (that is very very dark cherry flavors). Beautifully made and wonderful to drink. I prefer these wines to most home grown syrahs which, it seems, have to be over-ripe in order to achieve this density and weight. Of course, I would never pay $80 for this bottle. I would rather spend twice as much for an aged La Landonne! Hey - 13%!

2004 Chateauneuf du Pape Lieu dit Les Combes d'Arnevel $39: Grenache based blend. Joe points out that as many as 14 different varietals can go into the CdP blend. Maybe that is why I rarely cozy up to a CdP wine. This one is light, with dark fruit. It is also spiny which in my vocabulary means it is lean, somewhat rigid, but not austere. 14.5%

2005 Gigondas Cuvee de Beauchamp Chateau de Montmirail $34: Imported by Beaune Imports. This should be the star as the 2005 vintage has been highly touted. Darkest wine of the evening. At first, I am put off. Too deep. The master beckons. Violets in the nose and flavor. Can taste the alcohol. After a rough start it comes together. Now I am liking it more. Getting balanced. Another example of a syrah wine that is not overripe but has plenty of stuffing. May be my favorite wine in the group. 14.5%

NV Muscat Beaumes de Venise Vignerons de Beaumes de Venise Vaucluse $21: A dessert wine. Golden color. Tastes like a young Sauternes, sauvignon blanc peach and chalkiness. Almond, wax. Very nice. 15%

Nice show.

You read it here second!!! Guest blogger Dotoré touches down in Paso Robles, one of California's premium and under-appreciated regions. He tastes. He knoshes. He leaves. He reviews a couple wines by name along with some nice places to eat when driving through the area. I don't think he will be stopping there again. He also shares some of his most private thoughts on how to maintain a healthy marriage. All in all a very strong post!

Mrs. Dotoré and I spent last weekend in to the Central Coast. The trip crystallized my thoughts about the region, in general, and, specifically, the wines grown there.

First, for those expecting specific wine reviews in this missive, there will be few. In fact, let's get them out of the way early.

2006 Sancerre Terroirs, Domaine Sylvain Bailly (Beaune Imports/Woodland Hills Wine Co., $18): Everything you'd want from a young Sancerre. Lean, floral, balanced. Seamlessly integrated with food. A David Russell recommendation. [ed. David Russell was standing in for Steve Goldun now both are MIA. So it is with the wine biznuss.]


2001 Pinot Noir,West Block, Rochioli (Bought from winery directly, approx. $65 at the time). Blueberry, hints of anise, velvet, masculine, went as well with Gail's steak as my herb-crusted halibut. A great bottle of wine.

Notice nary a Central Coast wine mentioned. Why? Because they aren't worth mentioning.

[ed. tBoW has been sitting on this post for well over a month as he has instead chosen to rave like a lunatic about Argentina wines. In the meantime tBoW has been scooped by a May 5 LA Times Op Ed piece [click here for your own hard copy] confirming everything Dotoré claims to be true. Both are companions to a January 2008 LA Times article [linked here] in which Adam Tolmach echoes the same theme then reveals he cannot drink his own overblown wines!!]

Drove up to Avila Beach on Friday and stopped in Los Olivos for lunch. Found a great place that is not to be missed--The Sidestreet Cafe. Very ambitious chef who aspires to have his restaurant be the opposite of that fussy little place on the Main Street (you know the one...Miles got drunk there and called his ex). Hearts of Romaine dipped in warm olive oil with balsamic/bleu dressing--sounds awful, but tasted delicious--and an order of sublime Paella split between us. Mrs. D. had a glass of local Sauv Blanc, D. had a local Pinot. Don't ask what they were, because I can't remember and it doesn't matter.

Dinner in Pismo at the Cracked Crab. A bucket of crab, shrimp, lobster, sausage, potatoes (how do you spell that anyways, Dan Quayle?) and corn on the cob is dumped on the table along with implements of mass destruction and you go to town. All was fresh, delicious, and the Sancerre not only tied everything together, but I gladly paid the $10 corkage as opposed to the $30 price for a local $8 white.

Next day drove to Paso. Visited Edward Sellars tasting room in town and bought the obligatory bottles of Grenaché Rose to make the missus happy. 15% alcohol. 2% residual sugar. Yecch! (Any man out there that hasn't bought a stupid bottle of wine for his wife just to avoid the argument hasn't traveled with his wife to a winery. Just ask our Editor how many bottles of overoaked, overpriced and utterly useless Chard he has bought for his wife over the years.) [ed. shrugs weakly and sighs at the nakedness of this truth] Again, had a great lunch. An absolute must meal is Artisan. Wife had shrimp/pasta (how girly!), and I had home-made corned beef, Gruyere, and pickled cabbage on grilled rye (how manly!). No wine...just couldn't bring myself to do it.

The lovely Kendall (is that a wine name, or what!) at Ed Sellars referred us to L'Aventure to taste wines that she was certain fit my sensibilities. Boy, was she wrong. Talk about overpriced, overextracted, over-alcoholic, undrinkable wines (at least as those of us with U20 taste believe). Most telling statement from the pourer: "Hey. It's 100 degrees in the day and 50 at night. This is the way the wines are going to be." Drove up to two other tasting rooms, looked at the lists and left without tasting. Went to the tasting room around the corner from the hotel, tasted only one of eight wines (horrible Pinot Grigio--just what the world needs!), and gave up on Central Coast wines entirely.

Had the Rochioli that night in San Luis Obispo. Restaurant very good, not great. "Something Blue".

So here's my point: I maintain that it is IMPOSSIBLE to make world-class wines in the Paso Robles area. Climate just won't allow it. Unlike Oregon, Sonoma, Napa, or even Santa Barbara County, where the differences in expression of the grapes, be they Cab, Pinot, of Chard, are STYLISTIC, there is enough latitude for the winemaker to craft his wine and create his/her vision.

I don't believe this is true with the current Central Coast wines. If it is impossible to create wines that are not approaching 15% alcohol (or, most often, above), and then have to sell them for $30, $40, $75, who needs them? They will, in my opinion, ALWAYS pale in comparison to their brethren grown in the indigenous soils of France, Italy, or Spain, where they have flourished for centuries. And, by the way, sell for half of what you'd pay for Central Coast wines.

Bottom line...Paso is a nice place to stop for lunch, without wine, on the way to anyplace else that grows wine.

[ed. would it be trite to say touche' my freng?]

Here is a wine Dotoré would like because it has qualities not found in Paso wines HOWEVER it is more than a shade away from other wines from this region he and I have enjoyed in the past.

BEWARE STEPFORD WINES!! (this ain't one but forewarned is forearmed).

2005 Vietti Barbera d'Asti Tre Vigne $15: Lush, fruity, much more so than Barberas of recent memory, at least years in a dog's life and, after all, don't most wine snobs bear more than a casual resemblance to a lazy pooch? Vietti has always been a kind of forward looking winery from the Piedmont. And Baroli have definitely moved in the direction towards fruit-forward and away from Slovenian oak styles tighter and more monstrous than the Bush White House (in the good Rove years). What happened to the local vin du pays Barberas? Gone with the Dolcettos to a place where people want fruit forward and food friendly. It ain't Parker but it is kind of close. At $12/bottle I am sure you won't mind if I help myself to another pour. 13.5%

We visited the Gaudalupe Valley in Northern Baja Mexico. Drive south from Tijuana til you get about10 km north of Ensenada and make a hard left. When you get to San Antonia de las MInas (another 15 km) you are there.

We survived the tourist warnings about getting caught in the crossfire of narco gun battles or being kidnapped by marauding gangsters. We did not even see Chupacabra.

There are much better sites that present this region than I can, such as this one at cliff.com. The Guadalupe Valley is Mexico's wine region. It is rustic. One paved highway traverses the east-west valley. Make a left or right and you are driving on dirt. The valley is not at any significant elevation although it is bordered north and south with peaks that look like 1,000 feet.

The valley width is probably 10 miles. Length is 20 miles. It is R-U-S-T-I-C. No Ferrari Carrano or Coppola gift shops. That said, there are two monster wine facilities: Casa Pedro Domecq (Presidente Brandy) and LA Cetto. Each produces more than 1 million cases of mostly plonk annually. LA Cetto is a popular family destination. We bought the olive oil.

If you like isolation and quiet you will love the Villa del Valle; a handsome estate with 6 guest bedrooms. Call it a B&B but it really is more elegant. You get there riding a road ruddier than Russel Crowe's face. This is mountain bike country for the cruisin' set. Fire roads, hills, aerobic workout. Followed by the late afternoon wine hour.

No phones. No newspapers. No TV. Wireless so one is not completely out of touch. Bring books, an MP3 player and a camera. Or just hang out an enjoy the hilltop views across the valley. An island of cultured civility in a rural rustic valley. And Phil is building a very nice and representative selection of local wines of which his are among the best.

But is it a true wine destination? Maybe not quite yet. Do not let that put you off. There are ~40 wineries. New planting from one year ago says something is growing. We tasted wines from four vignerons trying to make something happen. You decide.

Liceaga: New roadside facility. Conventional aspirations. Known for their Merlot. Met Steve Dryden in the tasting room. He was dropping off the Baja Times with a couple of his columns. He moved here five years ago from Paso. Sees it coming. Wines are unremarkable. Of the majority group trying to grow Bordeaux varietals in a Rhoneisima region. They did have a grappa!

Vinisterra Winery: Nice couple runs this facility off the main road. A bit hard to find but what else we gonna do? We found them. New brick facility. Plans for a tasting room. Producing 4,000 cases with a goal of 6,000. Good plan. They have three lines that include a Grenache Rose, a Cab-Merlot blend and a Tempranillo. And they have a Syrah-Mourvdre blend. They are the Rhone Rangers al Sur. All young vines so they source alot from the two valleys to the older-planted south (San Vicente and San Tomas). Patti and Abelardo are going in a more interesting direction in terms of valley wines. We buy the high-priced bottle ($45!!) just to see what it tastes like. tBoW thinks the price point is all wrong but we liked the place and the idea of making their high-end line Rhone-style mucho. Good luck and think about the pricing.

Vena Cava: Our hosts at Villa del Valle have planted a couple acres on a southwest facing hillside. In the meantime he bought grapes from a local vigneron cherry picking exactly what he wants. We tasted three Vena Cava wines and liked them all. He sells them from the wine list. His second vintage from mature vines. All priced around $20 at the villa. Now doesn't that make sense?!? Terroir-driven.

2007 Chardonnay: Tastes more like a Chenin Blanc. No obvious oak and plenty of ripe fruit. Very nice. Mineral flavors enhance the wine.

2007 Sauvignon Blanc: Lemon lime nose and flavors. No grassiness or grapefruit. How refreshing. Unctuous. VIscous. Unfiltered so it has some dust in the bowl. Delightful. Think juicy Loire wine.

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon: Citrus quality (like Argentina). Mid weight. Slightly sweet. Soft tannins. No tobacco or leather flavors thank you. No big oak thank you. Akin to the Tres Mujeres Cabernet. These three wines seem terroir-driven. Not trying to be something else from some other place.

Tres Mujeres: "Go up this road" says the missus. She has spied a hilltop winery (Rancho Mogrocito) that looks promising but when we get to the entrance the chain link fence is locked and the sign says (in English) by appointment only. So we continue a few hundred more yards until we arrive at a house with a ceramic hand pointing to an "artisan winery". The dozing hounds do not budge. It is wineries like this one that make Guadalupe Valley special.

Three women make wine at the home site of Ivette Vaillard. She is a pot thrower (the ceramicist who made the directional hand) and an accomplished artist. Not sure what the other two ladies do but they all love wine and so, like their neighbors, they make wine. She slips out of her apron and guides us to the entry to the wine cellar. In the tiny cave we tasted the ladies' three wines.

2006 Grenache $20: A blend of Zinfandel, Carignane and mostly Grenache. I was surprised to learn zinfandel was growing in the valley. "Our neighbors gave us our first cuttings. We did not what they were until a few years ago". Middle weight body. Fruity, not over-ripe. The Carignane gives sweetness. Zin is also there with a familiar prune flavor. A modern day "field blend" that she makes work. Gentle, warm, restrained like our hostess. Charming, unassuming, sweet. A woman's strength. This is her seventh vintage.

2006 Merlot $20: Caramel flavors found in the Vinisterra Merlot not showing here. Once again, not a knockout wine but a wine that seems to reflect the salt and mineral qualities of the soil. A wine I love? No. An effort I love? Absolutely.

2006 Cabernet Sauvignon $20: Expecting the worst from a Cabernet grown in salty soil in a hot and dry region. BUT...we are surprised. Here is a cab that seems to represent Guadalupe Valley terroir. It does not taste like every other cab trying to taste like Napa or Bordeaux. In fact, I will bet if I put this in front of a snob pod they will be unable to not only peg it as Cabernet but to identify the grape at all.

These wines are only available at the winery which makes only 800 cases. Tres Mujeres is about making wine under tough circumstances. This is marathon winemaking. The soil and the heat are not even the greatest challenges. Check this out.

Ivette and her two fellow vignerons make wine about 100 steps uphill from the home on a make-shift cement pad with a trellis that they will cover during harvest and fermentation. She used to make the wines on the back porch. Their wines are only available at the winery. "Is there a white wine" I ask recovering my senses from trying to fathom the effort and love required to get it all done. "Oh yes. We make a Sauvignon Blanc but only enough to drink at home". Why? "You know it is too much work making white wine with temperature control. Always bringing more ice up the hill". I hear you sister.

We loved visiting with Ivette. She could not have been more accommodating and humble. We will return and we will visit once more.

We bought a bottle of each wine. Wish I had bought more. The Merlot and the Cab have labels. Ivette used a silver sharpie to inscribe her bottle with the "label". I am still grinning.