What's Laird Drinking Now?

From the most deified, vilified, and revered winery in the world. Romanee st. Vivant is the most misunderstood terroir in the superstar galaxy of Vosne Grand crus. It has the most beguiling nose, taking the signature spice and earth to surreal levels; yet often leaves the palate wanting. Recently the Domaine has invested large amounts of time and money in the vineyard to help the fruit reach the full potential of its terroir. ’04 is a sure sign of those intentions. From a “lesser vintage” this wine simply stunned.

Wow! Stems, cinnamon, allspice, clove, and umami. Olfactory invading spices and the sexiest oak I’ve ever encountered. Ginger, campfire, Maremma cherries, and an earth-mineral core. The nose just kills. The spicy notes almost burn the nose and palate. How do they do this? Hints of iron and citrus; but it’s always the spice. The aromas of an eastern market, soy, and black tea almost overwhelm. The beetroot finally comes in and reassures that this is Vosne.

An hour in I am held prisoner by the nose. Just stunning! So fragrant it seems to be a creature of supernatural creation. The Vosne fingerprint really shows through. So earthy, but the spice holds sway again.

Another hour and the spice still kills. Dizzying, is that a hint of nitrous oxide? Seems to be alive with action and crackle with butcher shop, earth, and tantalizing opium. The cherries come out, the wine is utterly weightless, and shows so much complexity it is scary.

Why can’t more wines smell like this? This wine is singular. The ’02, ’05, and ’09 are reputed to be significantly better still. I would truly love to find out.

I owe a huge thank you to Jay for opening this treasure.

Champagne,

No food or wine is more widely associated with celebration or occasion than Champagne. That is all well and good but, sadly, many seem to think that is all Champagne is good for. Nothing could be further from the truth. Champagne might be the most food friendly of all wines.

1: They can be white or rose

2: They can be very light, medium, or full bodied

3: They can range from bone dry through dessert sweet

This huge range of styles allow for a huge range of food pairings. The effervescence of the wine also helps to refresh the palate with each sip. Why then do we relegate Champagne to New Years Eve, weddings, and brunches where it is covered up with orange juice? The culprit is bad sparkling wine masquerading as Champagne. Two glasses of bad bubbly swill will most certainly give you a headache or heartburn. The real thing, from Champagne France, is made to a much higher standard. Yes, there are poor bubbles from Champagne, but on the whole; the bar is set higher than many other famous wine regions. Assuming good storage, Champagne is a very good wine for the novice to buy because of the champenois’ mastery of blending. The cuvee, or blend, is used both to create a house style and to assure a steady supply through the changing demands of each vintage. A basic working knowledge of house styles allows the consumer a very easy way to select the right wine for any occasion.

The other evening our wine group met for a tasting of several vintages and styles, with an emphasis on just a few producers. Non vintages wines were also poured to emphasize their importance as the primary product of each house.

In order of tasting:

1997 Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blanc: Creamy lemon fluff with nuts and nougat. Enticing nose of lemon-sugar icing. A wow wine that eventually gives up a sherry and iodine quality and a bit of toast. Really gains wings with an hour or so open.

1999 Diebolt-Vallois Fleur de Passion: The Tete de Cuvee from Diebolt and tonight either in need of more time or not the greatest vintage for Fleur. Smooth citrus flavors and a silky texture are very good to be sure, but this is simply buried by the 2002 version. Honey, caramel, and acacia notes peek out with air. Good, not great.

(House Style: Only grand Cru grapes go into these wines, all from Cramant, all chardonnay.)

Jacquesson Cuvee 733: A favorite for Napoleon for whatever that is worth. Notes of flowers and a vivid, powerful backbone of nuts and apples. Has a sense of butter or sweet cream.

(House Style: Jacquesson is medium to very full bodied, depending on the bottling.)

Bollinger Special Cuvee: Oak & iron with big, assertive flavors of sherry and biscuits. Loads of weight and typical Bolly size.

1999 Bollinger Grande Annee: Big and bold, such a youngster. This is not as big up front as the NV but is actually hiding more in reserve. A bit of a coiled spring here, rich and yet suave.

(House style: Bollinger is known as a “big” producer. Full bodied wines with long life spans emerge from this producer.)

De Venoge Rose:Classic salmon colored rose. Very dry and harmonious, this is the antithesis of the currently trendy electric reddish roses one sees everywhere. Biscuits and strawberries are hidden in a vinous lean form. Not flashy or explosive, just good in an old school way.

(De Venoge is owned by Burgundy house Louis Latour and it shows in the elegant style employed here.)

Moet & Chandon Rose Nectar Imperial: Sweet cream & toast. Kirsch and crème fraiche come through on the palate and roll through the sweetish finish. Many folks are scared by sweeter bubbles but this works.

(The Moet style is tricky to define since they make so much wine in so many styles. My overall impressions are of medium body and high dosage in an attempt to appeal to the widest audience.)

Champagne, just the name evokes images of decadence and the high life. I would argue, however, that Champagne should be part of your lifestyle. Not a beverage to mark a celebration, but to create one. I try to pour it at least once a week. Life is too short to fail to enjoy the wonder of Champagne. But in case you need further proof here are a number of folks more articulate than me.

"I drink it when I'm happy and when I'm sad. Sometimes, I drink it when I'm alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with it if I'm not hungry and drink it if I am; Otherwise I never touch it - unless I'm thirsty." -Madam Lily Bollinger.

"Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right." -Mark Twain.

"Remember, gentlemen, it's not just France we are fighting for, it's Champagne!" -Winston Churchill.

"In victory we deserve it, in defeat we need it." -Winston Churchill.

Sundays are special here. It is our one day to share and we try to do them right. We prepare a nice meal or two and I try to serve a little really good wine to taste and share with friends. Sometimes, despite careful planning, you just miss the bullseye. In this case I was confident heading in, I had the top sparkler from an under the radar producer that I like a lot and a pair of reds from two top flight wineries in Europe. The results were a bit less than I had hoped and planned for. None of these were bad, not at all, just lacking inspiration and soul.

1998 Gloria Ferrer Carneros Cuvee Late Disgorged:

Spicy, ginger inflected nose is followed by citrus (bergamot and lemon), vanilla, and a hint of yeast. With some air the wine turns into a broad shouldered, generous tasting bubble with a very fine bead. I like this wine a lot and would love it if it was ten dollars cheaper. At $42 cost it has to be compared with Pierre Moncuit Grand Cru and Diebolt-Vallois Blanc de Blanc and it loses its luster at that point.

2004 Alois Lageder Pinot Noir:

Very cool in the mouth with limestone drenched Morena cherries and burnt matchstick. Aromas of spent shell casing and rose water with a hint of tar & candlewax. This is a very vinous style and Stacey did not like it one bit. I enjoyed it as an academic exercise but it really was a lot more fun two years ago.

2004 Artadi Rioja Orobio:

I believe this is a second wine for Artadi. It’s a big wine with loads of oak and extract. Not my cup of tea really but it is very well made. Overflowing with blackberry fruit, vanilla, and molasses this is the kind of wine that you drink as a cocktail. It shouts out at you but never really speaks. I should say that many folks would really love this wine even if I do not.

For the second year in a row we attended Will and Kathy Stolzenburg’s Chile pepper roasting party. It is a great event that evokes a real sense of community with all the neighbors wandering over bearing chili pepper themed dishes and kids running to and fro. We ate too much (the tamales were especially good) and I was full before Will even fired up the Chile roaster.

While we were there I got to meet George Durazzo who is involved in a project to bring the wines of Veleta winery in Spain to the U.S. He tasted me on three wines and sent me home with a fourth. I was not taking notes since it was a party, but they were all very good. There was a white made from Vijiriega , a native grape dating back some three thousand years. It was good, dry, and almondy with white stone fruits. My favorite for the chilies was a rose of Tempranillo that had a pronounced spicy character to it. It was certainly one of the best roses I have had this year. Finally we tasted the Nolados, a proprietary red blend. It was rich without being heavy and very well balanced in its cassis fruit and deft oaking. I believe these are all to be very well priced but could not get firm quotes as they are still working out distribution. They are well worth looking out for in the future. The Cabernet a few days later was also very tasty and went well with some hanger steak.

We really love this party and hope to attend for years to come. Community events like this are too rare and that is a shame because they really bring people together in the best of ways. I really enjoyed meeting George and talking shop about his restaurant days. The wines, as I said, are worth seeking out.

It was one of those sit around the house and read books nights. I love evenings like that, especially this time of year. We had the door open for the breeze and a starry night overhead.

2007 Pali “Bluffs” Pinot Noir Russian River Valley: Shows warm sun kissed plum and cherry fruit with a hint of baking spice and a good dollop of vanilla. The fruit takes on a briary edge with air. It seems plush and velvety, with a core of decent acidity that seems to focus it on the back end. A good wine, but not up to the quality of their single vineyard offerings that are just a few dollars more.

2002 Calera Selleck Vineyard Pinot Noir Mount Harlan: Calera is one of my favorite California Pinot producers and the Selleck is, to my mind, the flagship. Sadly, it is also the rarest of their offerings. Calera wines need time and this really showed it. At seven years of age it is just beginning to show its stuff. The nose is spellbinding with pomegranate molasses, graphite, stone, and chocolate covered raspberries. It is medium in weight with a cool, clean tone; it really sails on the palate. Air changes this wine from moment to moment, as it rolls out a crescendo of aromas and flavors. Iodine, figs, and aged balsamic evolve into cherries, cedar, and orange pekoe tea notes. The neat thing is that while intensely fruited, it is so deft and subtle; a really tough trick to pull off. It is a really beautiful, noble wine that evokes true Grand Cru Burgundy from a great producer and vintage. The complexity is surreal and it has sneaky length and palate persistence. I have not had many better wines this year. Many thanks to Jay for sharing.

Last Thursday night we went over to chateau Asam for a long overdue visit. Always great hosts, Kerry and Christian, served grilled steak salads and an appetizer pizza. After the kids went down we sat outside enjoying the autumn air and a few wines.

2007 Chehalem Three vineyards Pinot Noir Oregon: Horse merde and cranberry nose with a good dose of earth. Montmorency Cherries in the mouth with hints of black truffle and purple flowers; this is rather vinous in style.

2007 Paraiso Pinot Noir Santa Lucia Highlands: much broader and more lush than the Chehalem, almost opulent. It has good acids along with loads of ripe red & black cherries. With air plum, saddle leather, barnyard funk, and a hint of poppy flower make an appearance as well. This is easily the best Paraiso I have had. In the past their wine always struck me as a value, but rather indifferent. In 2007 they have crafted a wine that tastes like it is worth seeking out for flavor, not just a price point.

2007 Foley Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills: This has a nose of wet hay and a blast of purple fruits. Allspice, clove, and a medicinal quality take over the mouth. Easily the biggest and heaviest of this trio, this is a tad too rich for me, but I know in the right setting it would please many. There is a lot of fruit and plenty of oak so if you like the thicker more glycerol style, pick some up.

Sitting out back on Christian and Kerry’s patio with friends, a starry night, and their perpetual breeze is a wonderful way to spend an evening. Hope to do it again soon.

A brilliant salmon color greets you at first pour. Good, juicy melon and strawberry flavors are lush and welcoming. There is a tiny hint of menthol hiding behind a good bit of vanilla and sweet butter. This rose is yummy and very easy to drink, I wish it was a little less fat and creamy but that is a personal preference. This would be very popular at about any gathering, just bring more than one.

We went to casa Bonfili for a last dip in the pool and a sendoff to Summer. It was a pretty day and the water was 78 cool degrees. We enjoyed a game of horse and the little man got in to take a few shots as well.

2005 Fannucchi Trouseau Gris: A pretty obcure white varietal (my first ever encounter) and a very interesting introduction. Grass, meyer lemon, and celery on the nose give way to tropical fr uits like pineapple and mango. The wine shows additional complexity with notes of honey and lychee. Certainly not old or browning, this could probably go another year or two. It is always fun to try a completely new grape and to learn a bit about it.

2006 Argyle Reserve Pinot Noir: This was not singing quite the way their 2005 Nuthouse bottling we had six months ago was, but still really good. Graham cracker crumbs, roses, and raspberries pop up from the glass and with air complicate with black tea, violets, and a bit of earth. Really juicy acids play nicely with lingonberries and red cherry fruit and eventually a hint of mint seems to tail in on the finish.

2007 Rivers-Marie Pinot Noir Occidental Ridge Vineyard Sonoma Coast: Smashing black violet color is the first impression while pouring this into glasses. Boisenberry, marionberry, and plum flavors are really full throttle on the attack and are reined in by truly mouth watering acids. There is some coconut oak and a real impression of tea like tannins hidden under all the fruit that suggests more structure than is first noticeable. The Rivers-Marie signature sweet sour flavor duel is here in a big way with the 2007 vintage hallmark fruit making it a very difficult wine to resist now. I do think that some bottle age will make it even better in a few years. To my mind the Rivers-Marie project represents the state of the art in Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. They are never under wined, nor are they over blown and stewy, just pure expressions of great California fruit and soil. Sadly, I am far from the first to know this and not only is the mailer full; there is a huge waiting list as well. It is always real treat to get to taste their wines, thanks Jay.

Pterre Moncuit Grand Cru Mesnil Champagne: Mesnil, here Chardonnay finds a voice that is epic, equaled only in Montrachet and Grand Cru Chablis. Chalk, brioche, and almost crystalline mineral flavors come right to the surface; followed up by lemon, ginger, vanilla wafer, and iodine. Red apples peek out from the pitched acidity in a way that seems both piercing and yet mellow. The long finish hints at dry sherry with its nutty character.

2007 Domaines Leflaive Macon Verze Burgundy: Anne Leflaive is a towering figure in the world of wine. Her white burgundies are highly prized and sought the world over. Most of her wines are also quite rare and priced stratospherically. What is a poor wine lover to do? Luckily for us the Domaine has started a project in the much lower rent Macon area. This offers a chance to see the Leflaive style without another mortgage. Lemon custard, talcum powder, and split vanilla bean lead into nectarines and a stony quality. This wine is as clean as a whistle with a tremendous sense of youth and freshness. The Macon is up and coming and if more really serious winemakers from the northern end of Burgundy keep coming down it could get very interesting.

Potential, It is a word assigned to up and coming regions that have not yet ascended to places of true respect. I have believed for ten tears that Monterey has had potential. Recently some wines have tickled my palate that seem to indicate the time has come to take this region seriously. The 2007 Kali Hart is a second wine (meaning that the fruit for this wine was not good enough to make it into their premier bottling, the Talbott). If that is true, hold on to your hats for the 2007 Talbott Sleepy Hollow!

The Kali Hart is utterly delicious, even; and I mean no slight, Yummy! Plums, mulberries, black tea, orange marmalade, and burnt matchstick all make an appearance at the taste party. The nose is even more campfire than the mouth, suggesting the Talbott families love of oak, but it is buried by the fruit. Stony, minerally qualities emerge with air and this seems like a pure Cali rendition of chambolle Musigny with time to unwind. A fresh pour reveals saddle leather and more camphor. The orange peel notes get stronger and become reduced until a burnt orange-pomegranate note completes the finish.

This is a real sleeper of the vintage. Real flavor and texture reveal themselves for a fraction of the price of the big boys. Yes there are better 2007s but for $ 19 wholesale or $25-29 retail you would be hard pressed to even match it. If you see it buy one or two to drink and share with friends now, buy the rest of a case to enjoy over the next four or seven years.