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

One of the early sequences in the Monty Python epic "The Holy Grail" is the "bring out your dead" scene (youtube link brings instant gratification lads and lassies). I am not sure why that scene reminds me of my Christmas Day party. Maybe because the day offers a few chuckles over some kinky exchanges. We had both this year with the surprise arrival of Little Stevie who moved to Paris several decades ago and made a life as a successful photog. Check out Steve Murez website. In the course of his very cool career he has been retained by the Wine Spectator to shoot wine dinners at 3 star Michelin restaurants around Europe and in the USA (that would be New York mainly). I wish I had pressed him more for Speculator stories. He did say something nice about Jim Suckling. He strongly suggested I rent Mondo Vino which is the Sicko of the wine industry so I could learn about the cozy relationships between big advertisers and high ratings. I will watch it. I already know that the Wine Spectator is the last place I would look for touts. I used to subscribe to WS and the Underground Wine Journal. More of that some other time. How interesting that Mondo Vino is also the name of a hot shit Denver wine shop (inadvertent web surfing outcome).

James Suckling has a blog where it appears he posts often. He lives in LA. His wine beat is Bordeaux. He posts vids (5 seconds with winemaker for Leoville Las Cases) which is cool. They were tasting the 2005 Bordeaux vintage. He tasted 900 Bordeaux wines in 12 days. This is a curse. He must be the Lebron James of wine tasting...skills and stamina beyond what is ordinary for the world's greatest athletes. The vids have decent resolution which makes me wonder what camera he is using so spontaneously. Maybe I will start doing vids! Check out Jim Suckling's blog. I expected much worse (some compliment, I know). In our wine tasting clique the Wine Spectator is the progenitor of everything wrong with wine. We certainly did not originate this idea but we do subscribe to it. I'm not saying I now am a reborn Bordeaux fiend. But I was pleased with what I found.

My beat is my Xmas party and the top wines were white on this day!! I have tossed in a couple reds from a dinner two nights later that are worth covering.

1978 Dom Perignon: Look what the Doc dragged in! Not a wine one sees every decade. Dotoré pulled it from Ma and Pa's closet. Looked to be in perfect shape from the condition of the box. Foil was flimsy but not stuck to the bottle so moisture contact was eliminated as a spoilage threat. Cork came out easily but not in a way that suggested leakage. Ullage (empty space at top of bottle created by normal evaporation) was absent, another good sign. We poured. Tiny bubbles rose to the top of our flutes...and kept rising. Brassy color like a slightly red lager. Caramel on the nose. Oxidation. Apple and cinnamon in the mouth. "The nose of history leads to mystery" said the Divine Ms. M who arrived early enabling her and her Rock to imbibe this rarity. And she was on the money. DP is the most widely known champagne in the world thanks to 007. The wine is a mystery to those drinking it for the first time because it is so damn expensive. But catch a sip and the next mystery hits; the wine is also quite austere. We saved a taste for Dotorés spouse who fashionably arrived 90 minutes later. We had to bring out the dead Dom as all life has passed by then.

Rene Geoffroy Rosé de Saignee $60: Purchased at Wades Wines on Wade's recommendation "20 cases came into the country; the French Laundry got 10 and I got the rest". First wine opened at Dr. Del's dinner party. Pink light strawberry color. Fresh, refreshing flavors. Delicate tang. Pinot Noir fruit from a premier cru vineyard. A non-U20 wine worth the splurge. Imported by Michael Skurnick Wines.

2006 Auvigue Macon-Villages Vendanges Manuelles $15: Manuelles means this is a hand-made wine. Outstanding value. White burgundy well made, balanced. Woodland Hills Wine Co purchase recommended by the redoubtable Steve Goldun (now shortened to WH/SG). Lemon rind, acidic, some bitterness but not off-putting at all. Fruity, steely. Loved it. I hope this is an indicator of what we can expect in wine bargains in 2008. Hardly seems likely given the dollar/Euro exchange rate. Here is a wine blog by someone who loves wines by Auvige. Worth reading, of course.

2005 Chateau d'Epire Savannieres $18: Dotoré loves to surprise me. And I love that. Here is one great example (there is another coming). This Chenin Blanc is downright feral. It actually reminds me of a Nahe Reisling. Oily, petrol. Also has grapefruit flavors. Exotic. The term I like is foxy. These are wines that do well with age. Drinking them now is interesting but they really turn out richly with time. Dotoré read this Slate article and took a leap. Nice hops my freng.

2001 Ipsus Passito $8/500 ml: The season's second miracle...a decent bottle of wine from Trader Joes. Can TJ's reclaim the mantle now covering Kirkland shoulders? This is a fine desert wine (muscat) from Sicily that brings dried apricots to your tongue. I read some pretty nasty reviews on the web that will probably deter me from buying more. Nevertheless, the bottle we had was just fine. Maybe it just goes well with honey-baked ham and tamales. Maybe it got better (passed a dumb phase?) after TJ got it on close out. Hard to beat this quality/price ratio.

REDS

2005 Chateau du Hureau Saumur Champigny $16: I get almost giddy when I learn a wine I tasted is a Charles Neal Selection...like this one. We were guessing what was the grape and ended up with Gamay and/or Cab Sauvignon (snobbily consulting the Hugh Johnson Atlas to learn these are two regional grapes). WRONG. This is 100% Cabernet Franc. I like cab franc a lot. Actually I prefer it to cab sauv. The Charles Neal site has an excellent description of the Chateau du Hureau and his wines Solid, middle-weight effort. Good plain fruit. I mean not tricked up with oak or over-ripeness. Cocoa in the mouth. I will be stocking up. Compare to domestic effort from Foxen below.

2005 Passopisciaro Rosso Sicilia $32: A WH/SG selection (haha!). Steve sold it to Dotore' telling him to think Pinot Noir. Well it has the weight of Pinot Noir and something like the game-y fruit. But the white pepper is not of Pinot Noir. But I like it in this wine. I do not usually describe the label but this one is worth it. Like medieval graffiti. LA Times food and wine critic S. Irene Virbila gave it an enthusiastic review. For pure style appreciation check out the Passopisciaro website. Molto forte!

2003 Foxen Tinaquaic Cabernet Franc $20: 140 cases made in 2004. Purchased at Wine Cask Futures tasting. Rich in nose and flavor. New world wine richness. Ripe, almost jammy. Black cherry, coffee/toffee. Middle to heavy weight. This is really good wine but I think I prefer the Saumur. Still, Foxen makes very nice wines, has a vision, and is located in really pretty country.

One more Python video... Only a flesh wound!

Bravissimo to Paul and Kyle Smith and the WHWCo crew for putting on one of the best breadth tastings we have attended in many years. The tasting featured the wine selections from Louis/Dressner. Mr. Dressner was there and he confidently assured us the new catalogue has expanded considerably since tBoW included him in our Best of Wine Importers group last year, mostly on the strength of the 2005 Clos de la Roillette which was our favorite Beaujolais in 2007 and a Dressner selection. tBoW faked the rest by cruising the very helpful Dressner website. This guy loves what he is doing which is very good for us. The only issue with Dressner selections is they can be hard to find. Enter Farm Wine Imports, the new distribution company for Louis/Dressner tasked with making sure the days of hunting down Dressner Selections wines are a faint memory. You do want to keep a lookout for these very well priced and made wines. Dressner is as opinionated as anyone in his field [ed. tBoW is being sarcastic having conversed with Neal Rosenthal among others] unusual and thank god for that. His opinions are lively and uncompromising about what represents a wine he would like to share with his customers.

Dressner has assembled a traveling road show of winemakers who were all in attendance at tBoW's local wine hang, WHWCo. Think about it. Wines from twelve estates were poured by winemakers whose first language is French or Italian. They are stopping in San Francisco and New York so stay alert for when they come to your premium wine shop. Tour info is posted at the Louis/Dressner website.

All the wines were very good to excellent. Not a dog in this show. We did find wines we had to have. Without taking anything away from any of the wineries presented, here are the tasting notes for those we found to be the most compelling. Many are described on the Louis/Dressner website.

2007 Luneau-Papin Pierre de la Grange Muscadet $14-$18: Muscadet grown in the Loire is known as "melon du bourgogne". Almost clear of color, like light itself. Very nicely balanced, delicate, pleasing wine. Perfect oyster wine that is "light on its feet". The Wine Doctor provides a complete profile of this house. 12%

NV Terres Dorées FRV100 $15-$19: Worst label you ever saw. Buy a case. Dotoré predicts this wine will be the hit of the summer! Pink and sparkling Gamay. What a great idea. With the low alcohol it will compete wonderfully with Moscato d'Asti. Strawberry supreme. And cree-mee. 7.5%

2006 Domaine Louis-Claude Desvignes Morgon Cote-de-Py $21-$26: Big and beefy Gamay from Beaujolais. The 2006 vintage is known for its superb fruit and added stuffing. This one has the muscle too. The brother and sister winemaking team, Louis and Claude, poured. 6,000 cases total including the next wine. A very civilized 13%

2006 Domaine Louis-Claude Desvignes Morgon Javernieres $22-$27: A bit more feminine and elegant. Lighter weight. Delicate. Excellent. tBoW's preferred style. 13%

2007 Franck Peillot Altesse de Montagnieu Rousette du Bugey $20-$25: Another new grape (Altesse) for tBoW. Ain't it great to go to a wine tasting and try new wines? Tapioca in the nose. Full flavors, middle weight wine. Lush. No tannins. A winner. Here is another terrific blog that goes into more detail about the grape and this bottle. 12.5%

2006 Domaine Marechal Bourgogne Cuvee Gravel $24-$29: Entry level Pinot Noir from Burgundy. The whole reminded me of Dave Dascomb and East Valley Vineyard in Santa Ynez. Local guy making straightforward wines at very good prices. I prefer this Cuvee to other Bourgognes I have tasted recently. Smoky nose, sweet flavors. Beautiful. A bit of gamey flavors in the middle palate. Mssr. Marechal spoke little English and tBoW even less French so WHWCo staff David Russell intervened. Marechal makes 2000 cases of this bottle. He tends 30 hectares, some owned some leased, mostly near Pommard. So there is your pedigree and your selection. Isn't it cool Dressner finds under-publicized vignerons from Burgundy? We think so. 13%

2005 Azienda Agricola Montesecondo Rosso del Rospo $22-$28: Bella Signorini Francesca Padovani poured. Her twin sister Margerita stayed back with their vineyards in Tuscany. The sisters think nothing of clearing land, planting vinifera and making wine. Together. Then they make the traditional wine their way risking DOCG status because they followed their own rules more than the DOCG. [ed. they used the obligatory Sangiovese but only two of the other dozen Ital varietals that comprise Chianti]. But then, who could tell them no? She poured a Sangiovese along with this 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, both form the estate. This was remarkable wine, tannic and rich. A wine that begs for steak. It will keep a long time. Ripe and powerful without being overwhelming. 14%

2006 Occhipinti Frapatto $33-$42: My notes say "if there is one bottle of wine I have to have..." This is it but you got to love the funk. The nose is sweaty, funky, off-putting to some but not to the Epoises/Tallegio crowd. Then you taste. Delicate, balanced, sweet. Take a look at the winemaker Arriana Occhipinti [ed. oaky peen-tee] which means "painted eyes". Strong features with soulful eyes. 4,000 cases made in Sicily. I was surprised at the number of bloggers reporting similar moonstruck impression. This is a wine to toss in front of the King (visiting this summer, odd years on his calendar). "Oh Mouse, have you tasted many Frapatto wines? From Sicily you know." [ed. he'll know alright] She also makes a Nero d'Avola which Dotoré acquired. Cool. 12.5%