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

Lets' get something straight. The idea that the quality of a wine increases in lock step with its price is specious. It should be obvious to readers of this blog that there are plenty of good to very good to downright ridiculously good wines that cost less than $20. We cover a few (of course) on this post. However, the suggestion that the cost of a bottle of wine is a necessary and sufficient condition denoting quality is.....what is the word.....S-T-O-O-P-I-D.

Better criteria include region, i.e., where the grapes are grown; grower, who is the farmer and what are his preferences in wine growing practices; winemaker, what is his portfolio; and finally price, are we being asked to pay for advertising, vanity and a private jet. And if you can't dig the detail then you can take the shortcut and simply buy the importer.

[ed moment: Slate magazine's wine editor Michael Steinberger posted a recent article on this very same idea of "wine shopping shorthand" first proposed in tBoW in Oct 07 and Jan 08.]

Robert Mondavi was the greatest wine salesman ever. He created the "wine lifestyle" market which prompted a steady rise in prices without regard to quality or the other criteria listed above. Enter the new frugality. And new criteria for gearing down without losing quality and pleasure, courtesy of tBoW.

2006 Vinsobres Domaine Jaume "Altitude 420" $13: Purchased at K&L wines in Hollywood. Classic Rhone blend that tBoW loves; 60% Grenache, 40% Syrah, 30 year old vines. Gunflint nose (some would say pencil lead), blueberry flavors. Lots of spine (or grip if you are manual). The point is it has backbone, strength, goes past front palate. Typical pepper. Terrific wine. Outstanding value. 13.5%

2007 Doña Paula Estate Malbec $18: tBoW took the wine guy's word at the local Whole Foods and bought this bottle. The kid was on a roll after touting tBoW on the successful Nanni family of wines. Of course, those U10 wines make this look like high end juice. If I was buying wedding wine I would go with the Nanni Tannat for the red and the Nanni Torrontes for the white. But, if I was going to a summer BBQ (plenty of those coming up) with folks I did not know I would bring the Doña Paula. If it was in arm's reach. Here is what you get. Caramelo (not quite Carmelo Anthony), cherry flavors, classic Mendoza Malbec. A winner among the lumpen proletariat. 14%

2002 J Wilkes Pinot Noir Block Q Santa Barbara County $34 (we got a holiday deal): The expanded tBoW tasting team visited Santa Rita Hills in 2004 over Turkey Day. Jeff Wilkes offered to meet us at a Los Olivos tasting room where he poured and chatted for an hour. He told us his story how he went from marketer (18 years!!) for the 800 acre Bien Nacido vineyard to becoming a winemaker. It happens. Makes you wonder if he figured this ain't so tough and I know where are the best plots in the vineyard anyway so why not just buy the juice and put out my own label. We tasted his Pinot Gris and several of his Pinot Noir "block" wines. Intensity on the nose with citric scents. Not quite Pinot. Flavors are equally intense. Focused. Brambleberry and blackberry up front and parsley on the finish. The wine is exotic, delightful, intriguing and delicious. After 7 years it is showing beautifully. Bag it we are taking it home. Nice job J. Wilkes. Note the production was tiny at 215 cases. Worth searching out. Pricier now. 14%

1998 Bert Simon Weingut Herrenberg Serrig Würtzberg Riesling Kabinett $18: Picked this up at Palate after sommelier Steve Goldun poured it with our crab salad. Impressive. How many wines can work with any salad? tBoW has a weakness for the Mosel region. Even though this particular wine is from the Saar tributary, it is still a Mosel. German Rieslings from the Mosel are arguably the greatest wines in the world. The statement seems more than a bissel silly since how can anything be the best in the world? I realize the argument is fun to have...the best car, the best beach, the best Cabernet wine. If you said Mosel produces the best Rieslings in the world tBoW would enthusiastically explore the point. This wine is a perfect reason why. A ten year old Kabinett from a lower profile producer (pronounced See-moan as in Nina) that shows spectacularly. While German Rieslings are recognized as wines that can age beautifully - improving with every decade especially in the case of Auslese from the best vintages - Kabinett wines are for earliest consumption. They go 5 not 10 years. But this one has and it is special. The nose is dried flowers. There is a ferric quality that recalls rust. The color is somewhat rusty and perhaps the flavors are so suggestive they conjure unexpected memories. The slight petrol nose one associates with Saar wines (see Zilliken) is there although muted. The wine is perfectly balanced. At its peak right now. Somewhere between Washington and carb apples. Outstanding. 8.25%

Here are a couple of sites to brush on German Riesling wines. This quick and dirty overview is on the Wine Doctor's blog. Rudi Weist, the importer of this bottle, has many features on his website including this recondite slideshow. And finally, a blog that discusses Bert Simon and this wine (among others). If you read one make it this one.

WEEKEND UPDATE ON UPCOMING TOPANGA CANYON ART STUDIOS TOUR: tBoW travels through Topanga Canyon often. Once a year the Topanga cooperative art gallery hosts a tour of local artists who live in the canyon. This is hands-down the best one day summer activity for people who want to know more about the venerable, charming and mysterious canyon. If you want to see how and where Topanga artists live then you must buy a ticket at the gallery and spend Saturday and/or Sunday June 13 & 14 driving around Topanga. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Summer afternoon tastings that morph into evening wine campaigns is what the hottest season is all about. Strategy, tactics and logistical controls are so very important especially when conditions are harsh as in really really H-O-T. And when the tasting theme, suggested by the regent Mouse is Riesling served cold, temperature management is vital. As the outside thermometer burns through 100 degrees the glasses get warm just sitting around. The treatment? Cold conditioning for stemware which means rinse the glass in ice water before each new pour. Wine buckets no more than a quick reach away replenished with ice throughout the day. But what about the taster? Keep a swimming pool nearby, wear trunks or a discrete one-piece and dip every 30 minutes. Throw a towel over the chair and return to the table. Assemble a crack team with the inevitable hangers-on. Tactics include having the requisite plonk for the lumpen. To summarize...keep cool and moist, stratify wine selections, and ensure the tasting cadre are kept refreshed.

This tasting proved to be especially interesting.

2004 Ca' D'Gal Moscato d'Asti Vigna Vecchia ~$15: Peaches and apples, yummy, apple pie, crusty flan flavors. Really really nice especially for 5 years old. And it's a U20. 6.5%

1989 Milz Laurentiushof Trittenheimer Felsenkopf Riesling Auslese ~$80: First older wine. Riesling tastes great young but can be quite extraordinary with as many as 20 years on it. According to Rudi Wiest the 1989 vintage for Milz was "a near great harvest for quality. Best wines of the 80s". But what about 1983? [ed. coming, patience please] Color of a certain dehydrated bodily fluid. Flavors like Galliano. Still some green fruit. Baked goods, did somebody say Pfeffernüsse? [ed. fetching madchen at top and tBoW tasting vet EJ]. 30 minutes later...petrol and anise nose and salty licorice flavors. They don't make' em like this anymore with teetotaler alcohol level of 8%.

1998 Frtiz Herzberger Hochrain Riesling Spitz/Donau Wachau Smaragd ~$40: This bottle wins most-words-on-the-label prize. The wine is from a premium Austrian producer. Smaragd means it is at the Spätlese level of German Riesling wines. Unfortunately, it is over the hill. Long gone. Pretty dried out. Severe although even in its sunset years it has some appeal to the more disciplined tasters. Jawohl!! 10%

1979 Eitelsbacher Karthauserhofberg Auslese $55: An historical producer from Roman times coveted through the Napoleonic era. All the pedigree a German Riesling house could want. This 30 year old Mosel Auslese is very well balanced, with nose of bees wax, aged honey flavors. Very delicate. Not a crowd pleaser; more favored by some than others. Perhaps it was the age.Think Lauren Bacall in her 80s. Another low alcohol throwback at 8.5%

2006 Plantagenet Great Southern Riesling $11: Break away to a Riesling from the Land Down Under. Wild Willy notes the BBQ overshadows any aromas. Switch to oral sensory devices. Dry dry dry. Zesty, acidic, lean, lemon lime flavors. Clean. "Button down collar" says WW. Good value says tBoW. 12%

1992 Geheimrat J. Wegeler Erben Rudesheimer Berg Schlossberg Riesling $45: Splits the tasters. Licorice and anise on the nose and in the mouth. Cooked apples, light weight, petrol presence. It ain't Mosel. Big ticket for controversial wine. 9%

2001 August Kesseler Rheingau Berg Schlossberger ~$30: Great wine from a great vintage and a great winemaker. Perfectly balanced. "This is what Riesling should taste like" says one taster. All the acid, all the fruit. Just right. Shows what regions other than Mosel can produce. Wine of the day [ed. but not the evening!!]. 9%

next post...flight of red wines...and an incredible dessert capper...

They played Rebel Rebel on Monday Night Football as the broadcast went to a break.Came back from break with Bawwitdabaw. Too late to get tBoW interested in MNF again. Better than Bocephus...now if Kid Rock handled the intro...

2004 Emery Athiri Rhodos Amoryano $16: An El Vino purchase proposed by tBoW so don't hang this on the proprietor..necessarily. Blame it on a dream. If one was traveling to Turkey and planned to visit Rhodes sometime in the future one would like to know if there is any decent wine in that region of the world. After all the Knights Templar were French and the French are wine and even though the Templars did make vows of chastity and all that everyone knows they worshiped the skull of St. John the Baptist. Which is the reason why the King of France rounded them all up or as many as he could on Friday the 13th and threw them in prison.

Now if that won't make you thirst for a decent bottle of red on the road to meet Prester John I don't know what will. Well if we were meeting with the elusive Prester John we would sure like to share something impressive with him and this bottle of indigenous red from Rhodes wold not cut it. Not much of a nose or flavor. Fairly dry. Maybe it should be opened young since it is a 2004. Internet says Amoryano is an ancient varietal that has been cultivated on Mt. Attaviros since ancient times." Turns out there is quite a bit of wine production in the Aegean. The Emery portfolio include numerous other selections so tBoW is encouraged. 12%

2008 Touraine Premiere Vendange Henry Marionnet $16: Talk about inspired obsession, this wine does not use sulfites as a preservative. Keep it refrigerated at all times until ready to pop the cork. No yeasts added. 100% natural fermentation. The way wine was made in ancient times. Aromas like Cabernet Franc or Grenache but it is hand picked Gamay. No chaptalizaiton or nuthin'. A bold wine with bold flavors for Gamay and plenty of character. Brawny and seductive. Impressive. Opens with time to breathe. Remarkable and delicious. U20 wine with archeological value. 12.5%

2006 Weiser-Kunstler Enkircher Ellergrub Riesling Kabinett $21: A Bill Mayer Age of Riesling selection. Sweet especially for Kabinett. The Rielsing naive have tough time with this wine as one does not "get it" right off the bat. This will be a keeper. Mosel that needs time in the bottle. An El Vino pick and I shall return for another two or three. 8.5%

2007 Dominique Piron Beaujolais-Villages Domaine de la Chanaise $15: Beaune Imports which is one of those importers one can rely upon to make a good choice. This wine is a bit tough for a village wine. Lean, twiggy, not so fruity, and it did not open after a day on the shelf. Would not buy this bottle again but I would be willing to try one of the Cru wines. 12.5%

The NFL playoffs is a good mark for looking back on the holiday season. Like the San Fernando Valley from the Top of Topanga after a big wind, the holiday wine landscape is suddenly brilliantly clear. Landmarks stand out so much better once the air clears. So much wine flows during the Christmas-New Year there just is not enough room to cover it all in one post. Here is the first of two.

2005 Fitou Bel Armant Chateau Champ des Souers $15: Toffee nose. Have covered this twice before on this blog. And we still like it! Very appealing flavors, soft, vanilla, fruity juice. Balanced. A Becky Wasserman import, a U20 wine, and one of her personal faves. Here is hoping we see more recent vintages. 13.5%

2004 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel $39: This cork got pulled during the tBoW Xmas Affair. To the winemaker's credit the well-wined crowd immediately slowed their conversations and took notice. Nice! Hardy wine. Agrarian?? Sophisticated and showing very nicely at such a youthful age. Kudos to Jason Haas. This series is destined to be the house mark. 14.5%

2003 Chateau Redortier Gigondas $19: After the more innocent party-goers had guzzled another glass of delicious juice our guest posed the $100 question "how do you know what to buy?" This is a compliment and the clearest recognition we are pouring nice wines that represent great value. The answer is "buy the importer like this one who is Robert Chadderdon". This is Syrah dark and with a dirty nose. We reject the bret option because there is also pepper and the fruit in the mouth is pure. As the wine opens the dirty nose blows off and the deep dark Syrah flavors get richer and deeper. Excellent wine. 14%

[ed. lacking label images we turn to pro football images and analogies]

2008 Cortese Frizzante Dell Alto Monferrato Terredicino $13: Don't you just love it when a guest brings an unexpectedly wonderful wine? This is Miles Austin of Italian white wines, completely surprising and far exceeding expectations. Not really spectacular but so dependable he could become your go-to-wine. Let's not get carried away. Biletnikoff he ain't but he does a pretty good impression. The wine is stone dry, bone dry and fizzy. Flinty like a musket barrel. It is very refreshing and the price is so good the guest very thoughtfully brought an extra bottle! 12%

2004 August Kesseler Rudesheimer Berg Roseneck Riesling Spatlese $40: The best wide receivers can turn a game around in one play. This wine, like Randy Moss, is highly touted, has an oily feel and telltale petrol nose. There was much talk about Randy stinking up the Patriots with his pouty aroma around mid-season. He turned up at season's end only to disappear in the Big Game. This Riesling has apricot flavors but not too sweet nor high acid. The same bottle was brought to a different party where it also showed well. But has the showy and much admired wine, like Moss, started its inevitable downward slide? 10.5%

2007 Domaine de L'Ancienne Mercerie Faugères $17: Imported by Peter Weygandt which is always a good signal. Dark, brooding chocolate flavors. Mostly Syrah, medium weight, exactly what we like from the Languedoc region at this price point. 15%

Next week conference championships and a chance for Dotoré to get some playoff pool redemption and start the March to find his Mojo.