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

This is a blog about wine but not necessarily devoted to wine. Do not be surprised if you read about golf, healthcare, politics, media or anything else we feel like describing and weighing in on.

We knock off Victor Hugo because we are proudly literate (especially dokkerm), unbound by convention, and declaring a call to action. Molly Pitcher guards the right bank as we take on trophy wines and fashion-driven price-bloated trend-setters. If you agree with our battle cry then you will like this blog. NO WINES OVER $20. We date the beginning of our campaign to the first vintage of the Mondavi-Rothschild Opus project. We recall with a smile the Underground Wine Journal editorial titled Hokus Opus. Stand upon the ramparts of good sense. There are too many wines around priced at or below $20 to let them languish in the floor stacks of retail shops. Our raison d'etre is to approach these wanderers and let you know what they had to say about their terroir.

Given that, here is the first entry about trophy wines from our past. We are purging our cellars of the spoils from earlier collector wars. Here are the goods. Friday June 8 the evening's selections included in order, (1) 1990 Prince Poniatowski Aigle Blanc Moelleux Vouvray (2) Rochioli 1999 Estate Pinot Noir (not a designated vineyard), (3) Dehlinger Estate 1994 Pinot Noir Reserve, and 1997 Williams Selyem Allen Vineyard. I also opened a Lascaux 2005 from the Languedoc for those moments when we were out of wine and I did not feel like walking back to the cellar. DokkerM evaluates...

"Each was a perfect representation of the winery. For my taste, the Dehlinger was the favorite. Idiosyncratic but rich and balanced. The Rochioli is a classic - I'll have to rummage around and see if I have any single vineyard '99's. The W/S was spectacular, but more fruit forward than I would prefer (not that I would spit any out, mind you)."

Stu (that's me) says the 1990 Vovuray was outstanding. I tried this in May in a SF restaurant, Pres a Vie. Found it over the Internet in Glendale - ETC Wines. $21/btl. The restaurant offered 16 tasting flights that evening. The flight that included the Vouvray declared

"a dreadfully misunderstood varietal. Filling your glass with pineapple, spiced ginger and lime..."

DokkerM covers most of the rest. The 1999 vintage in Dry Creek was pretty great. The Rochioli bottle was released at $40 or more. The W/S was typical candy fruit in your face. That evening I think the good doctor said you just want to open your gullet and pour it in. Another guest said he would take care of the bottle if we thought it was so unsophisticated. He is so transparent and a W/S swine.

The Dehlinger was the last in my cellar. Bought it on release for ~$35. Five years on it had a repelling barnyard nose and flavor that made me wretch. Thankfully I laid it down for another 7 years and now it is a legend in our backyard. Delicate, cherry fruit, lacey, enchanting. Like a Nawlins madame.

The Lascaux is a great buy at $10. You can get it at Kermit Lynch in Berkeley. Light spice, mild pepper. Easy drinking and perfect with BBQ.

To arms!! (and legs)

I don't know where to start: under $20? The list goes on and on. So, I'll start here:

2005 Capestrano Montepulciano D'Aburzzo - between $8 and $12. Plums and leather and loads of character, better the next day.

Try Cline's 2005 Viognier. About the same price. Peaches and spice.

Try any white blend from SoFrance.

xxoo le king

Please take a look at David McMillan's youtube video that got picked up by the LA Times a couple weeks back. David is wonderfully talented and pretty dang funny. And I happen to know he likes wine and stogies. Don't tell his grandma.

Mouse sent some wine picks under or around $20. Mouse is the King of sub-20 wines. He begged me for years to try grenache blanc. Being a pinot apostle at the time naturally I thought he was silly. Cute. And here he is again suggesting any white blend from southern France. Believe him. I have a couple photos I took in a snooty LA wine shop yesterday of their sub-$20 wines. We are a movement!!

Southern France - the Languedoc and surroundings - is my #1 wine destination. When we visited in 2000 it was impossible to spend more than $10 on a bottle of local grenache/syrah/mourverdre etc. All wines are blended with distinctive styles. The Languedoc used to be the bottom of the French wine barrel 20 years ago. A favorite claim-to-fame is there was such an ocean of plonk coming out of the region they used to sell it off as fuel.

Wine meets golf idea: I am thinking that it might be fun to try and draw some correspondence between the ridiculously hard Oakmont course and wines that are equally tough to love. Example - the absurdly long 288 yd par 3 8th hole. Think excess without a point. Think only accessible to the biggest hitters. Is this not a metaphor for Screaming Eagle, Harlan and other similar trophy wines? What is the point of going to all the effort to be distinctive when after all is said and done you either make par or you don't. Or the Oakmont Brazil-waxed (thank you Mr. McCord) greens. Analog to wines so impossible to approach and at the same time so consistently the same (no flats, all slopes) I wonder if Robert Parker was on the design team.

Send your thoughts.

I just watched David Mac's vid once more, this time with peewee (darling daughter) and he inspired me to put this post out that has been marinating in my brain the past week. I have several topics including the "attack" bit, taking "no-wine-over-$20" too far, and whatever else spills forth.

Taste enough wine, read enough tasting notes and you will come across something like "on the attack the wine showed forward fruit with firm grip". What up with "the attack"? Never got this. Makes me think the taster plays alot of chess. Tasting wine requires a field of reference. If you are a competitive chess player when you choose to go on the attack is very important, downright strategic. I guess a real chess-playing, wine-taster would also have a place for putting the other tasters in mate. The ultimate move might be saying something so cool and sufficiently summative the other tasters simply tilt their collective kings.

What about music as your field of reference? If you have trouble finding a vocabulary that fits your understanding and experience of wine try something with which you are more comfy.
The Large (photo, looking like Bobby Zimmerman from Nashville Skyline) would do well here being a music fiend. "The first taste is a straight ahead rush like Steely Dan breaking into Bodhi Satva at the SM Civic in 1998 on that bootleg CD you gave me. They pumped it almost double time. Then the wine finds a groove. Think Stanley Clarke on Dancer picking his bass like a banjo. Delicately busy".

Tasting wine? Forget the attack. What can you liken your experience to that you know and love?

OK. When we say no-wine-over-$20 we are not endorsing "2-buck-Chuck" and his gang of 1 million. $6 for a bottle of whatever in Pavilions is a step in the wrong direction. It seems like any decent wine shop I step into today has the floor stacks of the wines we love. Look cheap. Taste great. Even though I did find it difficult a decade ago to spend more than $10 for any grenache-syrah-carignane blend in Languedoc, I do not think that will happen again (until we get to Mendoza Spring 08). So in the meantime, until you fly to Argentina's wine country, I guess the corollary to our battle cry is "no-wine-less-than-$10". Prove us wrong.

Last note: summertime is rose' time and there are plenty of great pinkies under $20. The Large brought Commanderie de Peyrassol 2006 Côtes de Provence Rosé to (yet) a(nother) family get-together. Pick it up around $16 all over town. Color is dusty pale salmon. Flavors are mineral, bright, light, almost like a pouilly fume (semillon).

Congratulaciones a Angel Cabrera de Cordoba Argentina!! Campion golfero de los Estados Unidos!!

2006 Chateau Barbanau Cote de Provence $12: Dry mineral flavors. Everything I expect from a Provencal rose' which, in my experience, differs in a mineral style compared wines from Languedoc or other SE France regions. These wines are so easily distinguishable from domestic rose' wines because they rarely have the big fruit found in CA wines (of which I am also fond, see Anglim out of Paso Robles). However, the real story here - as I discovered - is the importer, Charles Neal. Get thee forthwithly to charlesnealselections.com and read what these folks at Paul Marcus Importer have to say about how to start and sustain an importing business. The first thing you will find is that Mr. Neal picked the region from which to import based upon where he could buy wines below the silly pricing threshold, aka $20. He also took a liking to wines he could drink everyday and that were regional in style and blend, that is, the region has not yet been Parker-ized. The tasting notes from the Paul Marcus Imports staff that toured with Mr. Neal are fun to read and educational. Compare the Neal notes with those found in the LA Times by the Food section's wine-tasting panel ("hint of lime, nice"). It is the difference between riding down a "technical" slope (fun and slightly dangerous) versus riding in your cul de sac (boring and only when necessary).

2005 Beaujolais Paul Durdilly Cuvee Unique Vielles Vignes "Les Grandes Coasses" $11.50: Ring that bell again!! Another winner from North Berkeley Wines. When I asked the clerk about this wine he said at $11.50 how can you go wrong? Put it in the box! Now I must reply how can he be so right? NB Wines - just call 'em up and order. You cannot lose. Perfectly balanced, rich fruit (perfectly ripe), middle-weight so a bit more heft than expected. I need more. So do you. Drink it right up to Turkey-day and put it on the table. How do they do it in Beaujolais? Great vintage, under-the-radar region. The label reads Red Burgundy Wine which is technically correct but without the trophy-wine pricing. I saw a pitch for a current release Leroy Bourgogne at $35. The pitch was this is cheap for Madame Bizes-Leroy. Well exxccuuuuuse me. Bag 'em and taste 'em blind. You may pick out the pinot but you won't tell me the Madame's wine is 300% better.

The next set was tasted at an Independence Day BBQ.

2006 Traversa Moscato d'Asti $15: Summer is for fresh and refreshing wines and that means rose' and moscati d'asti. We have already said plenty about rose' (not to worry I am confident we will say more) so here are some thoughts about moscati d'asti. They are low alcohol, between 5% and 7%. They are frooooty, think peaches, honeydew, melon. When not made well they are tooo frooooty. But when the winemaker hits the target they are like drinking starlight. They have a slight spritz and you serve them cold. This one had it all. Unremarkable house (Tarversa loyalists forgive my ignorance) with an outstanding product. I pushed this on the ladies as the men hit the 1999 Rochioli in protective seclusion. Fuggedaboudit. The moscato killed. "Please suh, cun I have some moh" they asked in their best Oliver impressions. Hell yeh. Going back for more.

1999 Rochioli East Block (cellar): Smoky nose, smoky flavors, bacon, ritz crackers (the cheese and dough thing). Solid unbroken flavor line like a Roman phalanx. A bit cloudy, dark brick color. Opening up after 15 minutes to lush ripe pinot fruit (neither strawberries or cherries). Rochioli is the class of Russian River wines (along with W/S). Extra special (I guess) since East Block is no more.

1995 Gary Farrell Rochioli Vineyard (cellar): Going against the grain here. This wine was over the hill despite perfect storage conditions. Brick-not-brown color but not much red either. A good wine with fruit fading fast. Ironic since I find his wines to be too fruity for my taste. If you're British born before WWII you love this wine and consider it perfectly aged. I confess I have never been a fan of GF (even though he made my favorite domestic pinot at Rochioli from 1982 to 1986). He gets the best grapes from the best growers and is highly regarded and certainly knows much more about Russian River Valley (RRV) winemaking than myself. However, I have tasted through many vintages of Williams Selyem (W/S) and Rochioli to know they are at the summit of RRV wines. If I see a bottle made by a highly regarded winemaker who has sourced a top grower like Rochioli I want to know how he managed. Somebody told me he (the somebody not GF) had tasted a Brewer-Clifton bottling with Cargassachi pinot grapes. This is like Vlad Guerrero going to the Yankees. You have to see know how it worked out when stars get paired. I am sure this was a better wine to taste 5 years ago. On the other hand, I have to say I have tasted wonderful W/S and Rochioli wines that were 13 years old (and older). They held up better. Of course, 1995 was not exactly a memorable vintage for RRV.

2005 Malm Cellars Sonoma County Pinot Noir $16: Smoky nose and flavors reminiscent of the Rochioli. Fresher, more fruit, balanced nicely. I mixed it 4:1 with the Martinez 1994 Oporto. Now that was very nice. This excellent value for Sonoma pinot. 14.4% alcohol is average for region. The problem is I have stopped chasing pinot noir so I will not chase this Malm down although it merits pursuit. Feces occurs!

2006 Domaine Cassagnoles Reserve Gros Manseng $10: Lean angular fruit; dry and brawny in a middle-weight way. Reminded me of Cung Le who I was watching on UFC fighting, he was pounding a veteran mixed martial arts guy with a 24-3 record. Cung Le is now 4-0. Le was tougher, faster, deceptively bigger with a wicked command of spinning kicks and backhands. This Gros Manseng is deceptively delicious with satisfying lean flavors and a devastating blend of near-tropical fruit. Find it at local fave WHW. Or make plans for a trip to the Gers region ASAP and find out for yourself over two weeks. This is Cathar country rich in history of the Inquisition with burned out castles and outstanding wines.

1994 Martinez Port (cellar): I bought this on futures at a reputable west valley wine shop (not Woodland Hills Wine Co - Paul and Kyle would never do what I am about to tell you). I paid $30/bottle pre-release. Somehow they had gotten Martinez to pour bottle samples a year ahead of release. The very young wine was terrific and I thought this will the last vintage of new release port I will buy in my lifetime. Martinez is a rarely seen brand with a strong reputation (i.e., Broadbent covers it). When I went to pick it up a year later the retailer wanted $32/bottle. This is, of course, a case of bad faith and I have never returned there for anything. I paid the price and took the wines. I looked it up on the web today and see it can be found although pricing is about double unless you order it from Scotland; g'head laddy. This is the first time I have opened a bottle. It has everything I want in a 13 y.o. vintage port. Still has a strong presence of tannins but softly firm like a Savile Row haberdasher's clothes brush. The peppers and hot spices common with young ports (why are you even opening ports before at least a decade passes?) have blended in. Balance is perfect with fruit now forward. Alcohol subdued in the background. I can look forward to bringing this out on any special occasion (July 4th 2008? Labor Day 2007?) and I know I will be pleased.

2005 l’Uvaggio di Giacomo Vermentino $11: Finally, an opportunity to write about a Jim Moore wine. First, a few words about Jim. He is one of many winemakers who are not media stars. However, he is widely regarded within the winemaking industry as a “go-to” person
when you need something done. Looking for premium juice for sale by a high-profile winery? Call Jim. Need more super-premium French oak barrels? Jim probably knows where they can be had. Want to start a winery from the ground up? Do a custom crush? Fill-in a sudden and unexpected hole on your winemaking team because the winemaker for your long-standing label just went elsewhere? Want to turn around your wine program for your winery that is one of the oldest in the valley? He is the man to see. I am sure there are others like Jim in Napa. He knows them all, too. And what of his wine? Distinctive, meaning his wines share certain qualities regardless of the grape or employer. This Vermentino has all the earmarks of Jim Moore wine. He got the grapes from old old vines in Lodi. My summer reading includes “Blood and Wine”, the unofficial story of Gallo wines, and Lodi goes way back in California wine history. Jim knows. Read more about Moore here. His Vermentino is from young Lodi vines, fresh and light, balanced with a subtlety that you do not even think about the alcohol (12.5%!!) or any kind of awkwardness. Perfect summer style. Flavors bring lime, some white grapefruit (Indian River?), citrus rind (pick-a-fruit). Acid supports the overall tart and bright experience. It is available but good luck finding it.

2005 Edward Sellers Grenache Rosé $12: The good dokker paired this Paso effort with the Languedoc wine below. The objective was to compare two fruity wines from the two distinctive regions that we are always yapping about. First sip showed hugely fruity and sweet flavors. I did not like it…at first. The dokker’s wife (see photo) was disappointed since she picked it on their last trip top Paso. It is a remarkable achievement that when spouses play bridge or taste wines together there is always something on which we can disagree. Aha! As my palate re-tuned from the more mineral continental roses’ I have been quaffing to the fruit bomb side of things I began to find the strawberry flavors more seductive and charming. We killed the bottle with flair. 14.2% alcohol. Nice wine from Edward Sellers. [URL]

2005 Mas de Brassandes Costieres de Nimes $10: Curiously, the good dokker had this rosé from last summer already chilled. He called it a transition wine (evening plans and all). It was also a fruit bomb. And from SW France. Nimes is squarely in the Languedoc which is a region everyone who loves wine should visit at least once. Topographically identical to SoCal with wall-to-wall vineyards and chateaus. The principal grapes are grenache, syrah, mourverdre, and carignane. I have probably already written it but let me do so again (in case I already have). The Languedoc is traditionally the garbage hole of wine. Critics love to tell how the region produces so much ordinary and sub-par wines that in years with an especially large harvest the wine is sold off as fuel. This has changed in some measure over the past decade as French and international winemakers have recognized the conditions are outstanding for producing quality and even better the cost of vineyard land is (was?) extraordinarily attractive. I like to recall our 2001 trip to St. Chinian when it was almost impossible to find a bottle costing more than 10$. And the wine was fine….bring-it-back-in-your-son’s-backpack fine.

1997 Rochioli Allen Vineyard Chardonnay (cellar): Controversial wine for me. I have been a wine club member since the early 80s. I have tasted Rochioli through 20 plus vintages. In 2006 I sold off my remaining collection going back to 1996 to a dear friend who was more than happy to take it off my hands. This wine is from the dokker’s cellar. It is complex. “Coconut” says dokkerm. “Quince” says I. We agree tropical aromas and flavors emerge over 40 minutes in the glass. Tons of acid. The wine is still young. Dokker says it will not get better. I play my collector trump card and say it will go at least another few years, possibly longer. Playing my collector trump with the dokker is silly since he has tasted through my entire collection. Still looking for a path through his usually invulnerable intellect I suggest this wine captures the problem for me with Rochioli. It is too complex. “Too serious?” he snorts. Yes. I ask Gail (see photo above) what TV game show she would rather, Championship Jeopardy or Deal or No Deal. No contest. Deal gets her vote. Williams Selyem is Deal/No Deal. The look-alike babes march over the grandstand in their short satin dresses with their black leather suitcases and it’s all downhill from there. Turn off sound and dig the chicks hamming it up. Rochioli is Championship Jeopardy. Stay sharp. Hit and miss hoping for a category where you actually have some expertise. Fight intellectual exhaustion. Pat yourself on the back 30 minutes later for surviving with some pride intact. “Too many notes” said the King. Rochioli is top of the RRV heap with possibly “the best situated vineyard in North America”.

2006 Curran Grenache Blanc ~$20: This is the 3rd vintage of this wine I have tasted…and enjoyed. In each vintage it is a late bloomer. Drink this in the first 6 months of release and you will ask yourself what is all the fuss. Wait 9 months (only another 3 or so, sit down) and you will be very happy. Give it a year and you will be amazed at how much this wine changed. At first it is recessive, withdrawn, almost sullen. Like first seeing Juliette Lewis in Cape Fear. So awkward. When she starts to mature a bit the charms emerge, slowly, gracefully. And after a full year she is all charm, delicate fruit, sparkling flavors, like a kiwi-blueberry-custard fruit tart. Too much to taste in one swallow. Kris Curran is a terrific winemaker (she makes Sea Smoke which is generally opened way too early). This meets the $20 criterion (maybe a little more but worth it) and is age-worthy (if a couple years count). That's Kris on the left and her dear friend Strummy on the right. Curran Wines

Today's LA Times flooded the Food section to talk about seasonal wines. I have been considering how wine follows seasons - just like fashion - following a recent tasting/dinner hosted by the good dokker.

One of the main points the Times writer(s) were out to make was that wine varietals correspond to the season. The writers were spewing forth on the wonderful white wines that are not "heavily oaked" that we can inconspicuously enjoy in the summer when nights are warm and "cool" is as transient as a cold breeze in Chatsworth. Translation? Forget your Napa chardonnays fercrissake and try something white and un-pronounce-able from Spain, Italy or France. The word "cheap" appeared a bit too often for my taste but it was there.

Ain't it clear by now? They are working our beat. Wines under $20 that are fun to taste and radically different from what we think we should be enjoying...instead of a big ticket over-oaked Napa chard. Is it news that we look for the culturally cool [i.e., correct] choice because we are just not confident [yet] about what we might not know?

OK. That's it for the armchair head shrinking. [Last shrinker's advice - find your experiential context and work it]. My point is that this same kind of blind thrusting can be encountered when folks bring a wine to a tasting among firends. For the oeniphilogically-challenged here are some simple rules to guide what wine you should bring to the next summer wine dinner.

Big red tooth-mashers for the Fall and Winter. I am talking cabs, zins, Montepulcianos, Barolos, St. Joseph, Vega Sicilia, Penfolds Hermitage...the list is longer than the Wine Spectator Top 100 rejected pool (been there). Bring your big-oak chards to the year-end holiday gigs. For white wines you can try the high-acid steel-driving Austrian and German Rielsings. The Fall/Winter is also the time for ports and dessert wines.

Softer, mid-weight reds for the Spring. Pinots, Burgundies, Alta Riojas, Barolos, and especially vintage Beaujolais. This is a good time to break out your steel fermented chards with their higher acids and naked chardonnay fruit.

Summer time is for the lighter, fresher and far more interesting rosés and exotic white wines - Alabriňos, Saumur, Eklekticos, Moscati, French and Calif Sauvingon Blanc, Vermentino! Why stop exploring new regions and new grapes. It's summer!

2005 Chateau Grande Cassagne Rosé Costieres de Nimes ~$10: I cannot recall where I bought this but I am going to guess it was Whole Foods. And I think I bought it last summer so it might have been sitting around a year. Of course, I also might have bought it a month ago at Woodland Hills Wine Co. With Steve's recommendation, of course. So what about the wine? Do you like strawberries but not a total infusion of? How about cranberries? Now blend them perfectly in wine that is not over-ripe (like so many domestic Rosés not that I am unable to enjoy those as well) with bright acid and light to medium weight. 13.5% alcohol makes for an easy and wonderful summer evening where ever you are (excluding the South Pole but maybe even there).

1999 LIparita Cabernet Sauvignon (well over $20) - Word is this is Grace vineyard pedigree. Unfortunately, the season is all wrong. I want this with an oyster stuffed turkey, cranberry sauce, yams. In the raw summer evening the green nose and earthy flavors overwhelm the cherry and chocolate lurking within. Fortunately, he has another. Wait a bissel.

2004 Vincent Arroyo Petite Syrah - What an interesting bottle of wine. Petite syrah is one of the stalwarts of old time vines in Napa/Sonoma. In the summer evening against the rose's, vermentino and Saumur, however, this wine is lead footed. It cannot get past its rich over-ripe weight and flavors. They are delicious and well-balanced but we need it in 120 days Doc. This is why Italians drink Amarone in the Fall with game! And Moscato d'Asti in the summer with...another bottle of Moscato d'Asti!

2004 Chateau de Villeneuve Saumur Blanc <$20: Honey, plums, viscous. Heavier than the other roses and white wines we have been tasting. More serious. Delicious. Rich. Will age at least a year if not three. This is interesting wine. This could be served with the bird in November and it would sprint past Cakebread like a juiced biker from Kazakhstan! North Berkeley, of course.

Thanks to all for bringing wine. The spirit of sharing is always right.

As an old pal used to tell me "you know doc, it ain't easy". You can't find a wine deal just based on price. You certainly can't trust the labels, especially in the US, if they say reserve or special selection. "Oh look! Here's a reserve Cabernet for $14"! We need help. And we need to help ourselves. Help can be found in a local premium wine store. Not BevMo. Good tequila selection, same-old ordinary wines. Not TJs. Good beer, lousy wines. Of course there are exceptions however time spent buying wine is better spent in a wine shop. And we help ourselves by trying the wines your local wine pro recommends that are from unfamiliar locations. Try a wine with a name you can't pronounce...like from Europe. Fact is, there are a ton of Italian, Spanish and French wines that meet our call to arms criteria. Visit your local wine shop. Make friends with a smart-ass clerk who knows his shit. Here are some examples.

2006 Domaine de Cassagnole Cotes de Gascogne Vin de Pays $8: “You want a value in wine, try this one” said wine-sales-guy extraordinaire Steve at Woodland Hills Wine Co. If you are going to try out this <$20 wine campaign then you have to have a reliable wine maven. Find one and you will spend far more time enjoying gems than tossing out rocks.

And how do I love thee my leetle under-$20 nugget? As I open the bottle I think about everything that is great about this “find”. It’s not only under $20 it is under $10. That little smile passes quickly. Now I appreciate how thrifty is the “foil cap” choice. It isn’t foil at all. It is the flimsiest of plastic. Love that!! My foil cutter burns through it like a magnesium fire. The cork is, of course, composite. Anything else would be out of balance, pretentious, dumb. Out she comes. And the wine? What do you want for $8? Tastes like French sauvignon blanc. We’re not talking pussy foosy or Sancerre. This is Cotes de Gascogne where Charles Neal searches for gems like this. Thank you Charles. Thank you Steve. Serve cold.

2006 Verget de Sud Syrah Rosé ~$15: Southwest France wine. Orange-red color. Mineral tart flavors, refreshing, simple. From North Berkeley Wines.

2006 Verget de Sud Rosé de Cabernet Sauvignon ~$15: Interesting enough to try just because it is a cab. Darker red color within the rose palette. Bone dry to the point that the fruit is buried. Not so refreshing. North Berkeley pick. Sometimes they miss. Their slugging percentage is still close to .800.

2005 Clautiere Rosé de Grenache and Counoise ~$15: Remarkable bright orange color that looked a lot like transmission fluid. The wine is interesting for Paso. Not overripe. Bright acids. Even lean. Refreshing. Wine club shipment.

2006 Mattes Sabran Corbières Rosé “Duc de Narbonne” ~$10: Excellent Southwest France rose. Everything I like in this category. Sort of lean, simple, balanced, refreshing in the warm SoCal summer evening with pals. Woodland HIlls Wine.

Last note - these wines were tasted at a dokkerm dining & wining party. Other wines were presented that are described in the previous entry. However, a current favorite - at ~$15 - the 2005 l'Uvaggio Vermentino was opened and it was quickly quaffed. Big with with the ladies and men in touch with their vermentino side.

Note that the image is not of the Vermentino which features a new style simple and clean label. However, I do want to endorse his Mendocino Arneis because it is the right wine for summer for all the right reasons....including...Italian white wine grape grown in colder region, fresh bright flavors quite similar to Arneis one might buy in the Piedmont region of Italy, lots of acid to balance the fruit makes for the perfect summer meal combo. Great stuff. Now I wish I had some.

I am not finished with the recent entry about corresponding the wine to the season. The good dokker calls it wine intelligence. I agree. The immediate objective is to provide a few simple guidelines for how to know what to take to a wine dinner-slash-tasting. The longer term objective is to give some hints on how to enhance your enjoyment of wine.

The impulse that we must all fight is to take a heavy-hitter that we believe will guarantee savvy and breeding. Wrong. The better aspiration is to bring a bottle that fits a set of criteria, such as the taste of the host, the meal being served, the other wines, e.g., a theme‚ and the SEASON or time of year. Cabs in summer? Fogettum. Albariňo for Thanksgiving? Not really. Perhaps it is time for a seasonal wine chart instead of another tasting wheel? This past week we tasted an array of wines that showed intelligence on the part of the guests who trotted them out. Here are the notes. You can ascertain the reasons why.

2006 Chateau des Baumelles Bandol $16: Another rosé from Southwest France. I guess we will just keep drinking these until winter hits SoCal and the temps drop to 60 overnight. What is not to like? Well balanced with just the right amount acidity that, combined with the perfectly ripe fruit, gives the perfect mineral flavor. I liked this one quite a bit and will purchase some more. All rosés are not the same although they do share many similarities. And they seem most enjoyable in the summer season. 13.1% alcohol.

2005 Domaine de Fondreche Cotes du Ventoux Instant Rosé $15: The label with the cute "Instant" name says "for the American market." Great. I am buying. Cotes du Ventoux is in the Rhone region which is north of Provence. So what's in the bottle? Grenache, syrah and one or two more grapes in combo? Alcohol is 12.8%. Wine is more ripe than the Bandol above but you would still probably not mistake this for a California product. This is one of those rosés that supports the stereotype all rosés taste alike. Compared to the Bandol it comes in a distant second. I am glad I tried it. Purchased at the local premium wine store Woodland Hills Wine Company (but not a Steve tout!).

2003 Magnien Morey St Denis Herbuottes ~$20: Now this is smart wine toting. Bring this to a dinner to which you are invited and everyone will be impressed with whatever-heck-was-that-wine-you-brought. The designation (MSD) is lighter for red Burgundy. While Burgundy is arguably the most expensive and collectible region among wine cognoscenti, the region of Morey St Denis is not what the big collectors search out and bag like the big game hunters they are. Why? Because it is just an ordinary little village that makes great wines in certain vintages from the same fricking grape that goes into DRC La Tache or Romanee Conti. Some will laugh and more will scoff at my declaration‚Ķnevertheless, this bottle is plenty of evidence that what I say is at least worth looking into. North Berkeley Wine seems to have an exclusive with this producer. NBW selected the barrels and had it bottled just for them. This is the kind of red wine one can drink with sockeye salmon on a totally relaxed summer night discussing presidential candidates and children and/or choices in prospective spouses. Great nose, fruit is right there, violets, tannins. Good fruit flavors‚ raspberry? - right up front. Tastes like the best wines from the 2005 Beaujolais vintage. Even better. Holds up for a couple hours. Wonderful wine.

2005 Curran Grenache Blanc $24: My last bottle from the 2005 vintage. My experience with this wine is consistent as 100+ heat in Palm Springs in August. This wine needs time. I first tasted the 2004 at the Wine Cask March tasting and it was not appealing. I did not understand the grape of the wine, especially as constructed by Ms. Curran. I next had it at a tasting I put together at which Kris Curran poured the same vintage. Blew me away. Where did all the honey and peaches come from? I bought the 2005 and sat on it for 6 months. Drank it Thanksgiving 06. Perfect with bird and stuffing showing the same rich peach and honey flavors. Tasted the 2006 a few weeks ago and covered it here. Not even close to ready. But now I know better. This 2005 is now almost 18 months past release. Honeysuckle nose with acid evident on the nose. The wine is viscous, rich, exhilarating. We kept tasting it against the Morey St Denis. I know. Sounds silly but it held up impressively. Sip of Morey. Sip of Curran. Stupendous. Probably the two most memorable wines so far this summer (excluding the 1995 Dehlinger Pinot Reserve).

Part two in a couple days; a Santa Rita Viognier and a couple domestic Pinots.

Here in the dog days of August we cool off in the evening with an outdoor meal. The wine often includes Rosé or, when the fare commands, a summer red from the Languedoc. These are good reds for summer because they are not terribly bulky or muscular but they do offer something interesting in the way of flavors. The red grapes are typically a blend of grenache, syrah, mourverdre, carignane among others. And since SoCal is so much like SW France the fit seems natural. Best of all the wines meet our watershed criterion - under $20.

2004 Mas Carlot Costieres des Nimes Les Enfants Terribles $12: You can read all about the wines from this 40,000 case producer at their website, but you cannot read about this wine there. You have to buy the bottle or do your library reading in the wine shop - in this case local vendor supreme Woodland Hills Wine Co. Turns out the cuvée is a blend of old-vine Mourverdre and Syrah "Created by the winemaker, her hubby and Mr. Bobby Kacher. Robert Kacher is a primo importer who is a member of the virtual guild of select importers living the dream, traveling through Europe and discovering great wines which they import to the USA. Need an entry soon on this guild, I can tell. I am going to bet the majority grape is Mourverdre. Flavor profile is different from Syrah. Instead of deep fruit there is more bottom. That's right, I said bottom. Like an ample tuchus, think bubble booty. Flavors are more restrained. Plums. Tannins are mild to moderate. Syrah is in the background, kind of shy. Very pleasant with the local chicken shack meal. 14%.

2006 Chateau St. Jean de la Gineste Rosée de la St. Jean $12: A Corbieres rosé also purchased locally at WHWCo. They are doing the job there. Zees leetle wine is delightfully dry and just fruity enough to prevent zee mouse pucker. Great summer evening wine. Even the Renoir-inspired label says relax, enjoy, have some more cheese and cherries. There are so many wineries in the Languedoc region in and around Narbonne, Pezenas, Carcassonne, Beziers, Minerve and St. Chinian just like this one. Soon as the dollar/euro ratio improves I see traveling back there in my future. 13%.

I snapped some photos of the Woodland HIlls Wine crew recently. Here are pics of founder Paul Smith and the store's heart and soul, Joe. Now you know who to say hi to! A couple of teddybears who routinely bring wines for every fan to the store.

The summer is drawing to a close. As we hang onto the last warm evenings now mingled with some cool-ness we rush to determine which have been the greatest Rosés of our Summer 2007 Festival of the Pank. Here are a few candidates recently compared.

2006 Cotes de Provence Chateau du Rouet Cuvee Reserve Tradition $12: Good wine to start the evening. Orange copper color. Dry with strawberries in mouth. Easy drinker without much finish. 60% Grenache 40% syrah. 12.5%.

2005 L’Uvaggio di Giacomo Lodi Il Gufo Babera Rosato $11: Jim Moore’s almost beefy rosé is almost like something else – syrup! It is not thick enough for waffles but it might make a great cosmo! A manly rosé for all manly men (and stout women I suppose). This deep red, near-purple wine goes with BBQ as easily as it goes with a fruit cup. 12.5% alcohol. Bravo Jim!

2006 Nicodemi Montepulciano d’Abruzzo Gerasuolo $13: Another bigger than usual rosé, bright deep red color (without blue tones above), rich dry flavors. My first Tuscan rosé was a hit. Both of these wines deliver a kick in the cajones to the pink wine naysayers who complain about rosé simplicity. From North Berkeley Wines. 12.5%.

Time out for an observation (bitch-pitch). “Serious” wine drinkers who complain that rosé cannot be taken “seriously” because it is too simple ("not serious") cannot be serious themselves can they? To them I say…what about the legions of over-oaked and over-ripe cabs and chardonnays considered serious? Are these wines not simple in their own stupidly complicated, out of whack (i.e., unbalanced) ways? Puhleeeze. Think Rubiks' Cube and "Rube Goldberg". The Rube Goldberg machine takes something simple and makes it ridiculously complicated. "Serious" wines? Rubik's Cube takes something simple (block of colors) and makes it quite complicated. That is serious simplicity. Simple and serious are rarely antonyms.

2005 Verget de Sud Rosé de Syrah $15: A second appearance this summer and if it is up to me this wine will make a 3rd and 4th. Here is what my wife said as she sipped in the spa. “What I like about this wine is that it is dry and still has the hint of strawberries but not sweet”. And I always agree with my wife. In the salmon pink color camp. North Berkeley Wines. Lovely. 12.5%.

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 plain trooth. A golfer recently told me "Costco has the best wine selection in the country". All things considered - golfers know putters, not wine - it is hard to challenge this observation.

Take Bob Seger and Bruce Springsteen. In a recent Vanity Fair article Bob Dylan says "many folks think Seger is the poor man's Springsteen. I say Springsteen is the rich man's Seger". [ed. Sounds more authentic if you hold your nose while speaking.] Costco is no Hi Time but then Springsteen sold many more albums than Detroit's favorite son (along with the Ig as in Iggy Pop and Alice Cooper). Dylan settles things by admitting "I love them both".

The point is that you can't go wrong with Springsteen and that is how folks today think of Costco's wine selection. But if you want to "take a little trip" with wine then you have to find the Hi Time in your neighborhood. Or listen closely over and over to Hollywood Nights and Night Moves if you want to catch the rarified discriminating vibe.

"Workin' on mysteries without any clues". This is the point isn't it? You can always find a Springsteen CD in a SecondSpin bin but finding vintage Seger is a bit tougher.

What does that have to with wine? Dotoré has earned the respect of his family and friends as a wine snob such that he is tasked with finding the right wines (this always means U20s) for a Kansas City wedding. A quick run through the KC Internet directory of fine wine stores pulled up some home pages more suited to the wine department at Ross Dress for Less. The go-to store in KC is a liquor store that you can be sure is the name that falls off the tip of everyone's tongue when asked who has the best wine store in town. Like Brooosss the Boss. Not an inspiring selection but hard to argue against given the widespread belief.

In fact the local KC liquor emporium did not list any French wines. Or Italians or Spanish. Argentina? Let me be Frank. Shirley you're kidding. We did find a party planner with a palate who probably has a tiny local following of wannabe but tooscaredtabe polygamists. At least she had a decent wine list that didn't look like a BevMo 2-for-1 clearance. Then it hit me. Kirkland. Buy the freaking wine at Costco, Dotoré. I hope people don't have some kind of misplaced attitude about Costco being low class. As Beastie Boys Mike D once said..."let me clear my throat".

Back to the trooth. The new wine buyer at Costco has a more adventurous palate than the former gal. I see all kinds of wines in the Costco bins that look interesting to me. Along with the usual uninteresting retread Napa trophies (BV & Silverado), Aussie Syrahs (oh, I mean shiraz) I saw a Kiwi white (but no pinot...of course we aren't really sure there are any worth buying), some interesting Rhones from the 2005 vintage, a Spanish Grenache Rosé ($24, however, is not competitive in this sector), and two Argentina Malbecs from the right regions...and at the right prices. There are even more online.

2005 Fabre Montmayou Malbec Gran Reserva $18: A bargain steal go-get-some Gold Medal winner in a nationwide Malbec competition. This is a great example of how Costco is moving to the head of the U20 class. Elegant and high-toned. What does that mean? It means the wine holds together well. The flavors are not too extreme, the tannins actually contribute to the flavor profile without overwhelming, the weight is just right neither heavy and overbearing or porous like tissue. Here is somebody else's review (why not?).

A magnificent Malbec! It picked up a trophy at the inaugural Wines of Argentina Awards held in Mendoza in 2007, having wowed the international panel of judges - included among them wine expert Jancis Robinson, who gave it an impressive 17 out of 20.

Ripe blackberry and bramble aromas merge seamlessly with spicy oak and vanilla flavours. Full bodied, yet seriously smooth and warming. This 89 Parker point wine is sure to survive for many years to come. Definitely a wine to enjoy with fine food ... try it with rare roast beef or a juicy steak.

2006 Preludio Malbec $12: This is one Tempus Alba wine we did not taste when we visited this past March [ed. tBoW coverage here]. Of course, as the self-described big boutique (350,000 cases) there is enough of this to be handled by the Kirkland Nation. Aromatic nose. Syrupy. A bit thick. Very Rollandian even though I do not think he consults here. Doesn't that say it all? Fruity, forward, some tannins. Looking to go over the top like Reggie Bush on the goal line. Maipu fruit which is a good thing. Check out the embossed label. All Tempus Alba labels seem expensively embossed like this. 13.9%

2001 Mouliniere Les Sigillaires St. Chinian $9: Picked from the wall of bargains at Woodland Hills Wine Company. At 7 years this wine has to be peaking if not even entering a long snooze. St. Chinian is one of the longer lived appelations in Languedoc. Most likely a Syrah and Grenache blend. Very nice if soft out of the bottle. Tannins have slipped out the back door. This wine is ready as Norma Desmond for her next blockbuster. Unlike the femme fatale of another era this St. Chinian is simply happy to have one last shot at applause. It gets mine.

Veramar Vineyards Rooster Red $17: Jim Bogaty of Veramar VIneyards in Virgina's beautiful Shenandoah Valley tips his hat to good old fashioned Dago Red [ed. PC apologies to those offended by tBoW's use of a crude name for fine old world style wine.]. If only those old style wines were this good. Rooster Red is one of those unusual and pleasant Proustian experiences. As I drink this little gem I vaguely recall every Italian table red I ever tasted...except this one is much better than any of the others ever were. Sweeti-ish, balanced, Chianti-style. Excellent job!

Here is possibly the rocking-est song every recorded - smoke, trip lights, long hair, leather everywhere. After this photo of tBoW with Allison and Maya of the rocking-est girl band to ever bash a guitar and drums (respectively), the Donnas. [ed. This post really slid into a musical maelstrom. It can happen. What next? Betty Page?]

1997 Williams Selyem Allen Vineyard Pinot Noir: As Dotoré purges his cellar tBoW benefits. We opened his 1997 Richioli Riverblock at the last Super Bowl. Loved it. Fact is the wines from WS are best enjoyed in their youth. In my experience the Allen is among the slowest WS wines to come around. At 11 years this bottle is not spry but it still has some hops. Maybe not as spectacular as the Rochioli Riverblock but nothing to sniff at. Perfectly balanced. Showing some red brick color in the bowl. The first impression is how delicate. Like a dragonfly showing wonder and light. We can smell and taste the figs. "As good as California pinot gets" declares Dotoré [ed. obviously he is coming around to you position that WS trumps Rochioli in sheer pleasure which was originally noted by IGTY]. Yes, it is more fruit forward than Burgundies. Aren't all Calif Pinot Noirs? But only Williams Selyem has the candy. 13.8%

2005 Williams Selyem VIsta Verde San Benito County Pinot Noir: Contributed by IGTY. Unusual source prompts discussion about from how many vineyards WS sources their fruit. Where is San Benito County? Hollister, which you fellow Angelenos know is where they grow garlic and asparagus. This is inland farm country on the hottest stretch of the 101 freeway. Nevertheless, against all odds the wine is pretty nice. Has a deeper color than the Allen, but then it is 8 years younger. Rich, more dense flavor, and still delicate consistent with the WS style. 13.9%

2006 Siduri Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir $24: The odd bottle from a highly reputable Pinot Noir specialist vintner. "37% Sonatera Vineyard, 31.5% Terra de Promissio, and 31.5% Hirsch Vineyard" which sounds like pretty good pedigree. Very different form the Williams Selyem wines. Earthy. Like a Gevrey is to a Volnay. Almost (but not quite) rustic. Liked it. Did well in this group. Very nice. 14.1%

2006 Paul Lato Larner Vineyard Syrah $60: Opened it first which was probably a mistake. Should have let it air out. Needed the time. Very intense and focused. Too big too soon. "Hot" with high alcohol. This needs to be aerated. It is a pricey wine but then when you fall in love... you do crazy things! Paul Lato wines are the only ones I am willing to buy from the region. I hasten to point out that Paul makes his Pinot Noir from Santa Maria which is like being on the Eastside of the 101 in Paso. He is now being sought as a winemaker by the premium growers in Santa Rita Hills. I do not blame him for charing premium. He makes so little and his winemaking style is absolutely right when it comes to working with SRH fruit. "The fruit is so muscular it does not need more muscle. I try to give it some grace and intelligence". Hell yeh. 80 cases. 15%

2005 Abbaye de Tholomies $14: Purchased at K&L Hollywood. Grenache based from the Languedoc. The village of Minerve and its historical tragedies at the hands of the Papal armies are documented in another post [ed. with photos of the "island" village]. This wine shows the hot and arid country surrounding Minerve. Highlands, up-river. Hardy country where head cut Grenache and Mourvedre grows well. The "story" is that the winery and vineyards were purchased in 1980s by a surgeon obsessed with quality. Dark red color. Sweet high toned fruit with plenty of backbone acid. The mIssus would call it thin. Call it sinewy, muscular like a dancer (not a gymnast or a diver). [ed. tBoW concedes a lone Olympic reference] Good hot dry fruit. We have happily witnessed the resurgence of Languedoc wines in the past decade. Now will this make me forget Tablas Creek or Gauby? No. But for $14 I can forget a lot of overpriced cabs and red burgs. 13.5%

1995 Weinlaubenhof Alois Kracher Grande Cuvée TBA #12~$80: Not a U20 but a wine probably worth the splurge if you like sweeties. Fantastically delightful and delicious dessert Riesling blend from Kracher. At 13 years there is plenty of time to enjoy this wine. We had it with a cheese plate that matched very well. ..and coffee. Topped off another great meal at Palate. Sommelier Steve Goldun says this vintage is the last of Kracher's more acidic Kracher sticky styles. Apricots, apples, just enough acid to keep it firm. Most amazing...only 12%