Wine Recommendations for the Holidays

[Andrew D]

This being the time of year for get-togethers, and my just having spent the better portion of the day tasting wines in the Sonoma Valley, I thought I'd share some lovelies which I encountered. This year, St. Francis (California Highway 12 at Pythian Road) has pulled off a trifecta.

Before dinner -- you don't want to drink this wine with food; its beauty will get lost -- the 2009 Dry Creek Valley Amman Vineyards Zinfandel . A splendidly constructed wine. It starts with a dark and smoky aroma with a strong suggestion of its full-bodiedness. On the front palate, it brings out a strong red berry flavor -- raspberry, cherry, a bit of cranberry -- and just enough astringency to be savory without being puckery. On the back palate, the grape comes through with gumption; the red berry flavors take a back seat, but they do not disappear. And the finish brings back the dark smokiness to combine with that gumptiony grape. All in all, it is just fabulous.

With dinner, the 2009 Sonoma County "Old Vines" Zinfandel. A worthy cousin of the Amman, it has all the same features, but differently balanced and less intense. The dark smokiness and the red berry flavor lurk somewhat in the background. The astringency is more pronounced, which helps to make it an excellent companion tomato-based sauces, blue and other strong cheeses, etc. The gumptiony grape is prominent throughout, though not as intense as on the back palate of the Amman, and the finish is short, which, again, makes it an excellent food companion.

After dinner, the 2009 Sonoma County port is a good choice. It is a relatively soft port (although at 20.0% alcohol, softness can be deceiving). It does not have the kind of fiery spice one expects from, say, a Fonseca Bin 27. Rather, it is lush and fruity, with a long finish that comes through the nostrils backwards -- from the back palate forward when one exhales. It pairs nicely with a medium-dark chocolate (66% give or take); I would not pair it with a really dark chocolate (in the 80%+ range).

The Amman Zin is in the medium-low range for premium wines: $40 per bottle. The port is also in the medium-low range for premium wines: $38 per bottle. The "Old Vines" Zin is a bargain for its quality: $20 per bottle.

For those who prefer a Cabernet Sauvignon to a Zinfandel -- and I love Cabernet Sauvignon; it and Bordeaux are, overall, my favorite wines; but if you have not tasted your way around Zinfandels, you are missing out -- among the best you can get are B.R. Cohn's Olive Hill Estate ($55 per bottle), Arrowood's 2006 Monte Rosso ($70 per bottle), Arrowood's 2006 Reserve Speciale ($90 per bottle), and B.R. Cohn's 2008 Olive Hill Special Selection ($100 per bottle).

Arrowood also makes a good wine for drinking with dinner, especially if one likes wines a bit more powerful on the tongue than St. Francis's "Old Vine" Zinfandel: the 2006 "Le Beau Melange" Syrah ($30 per bottle).

(Arrowood and B.R. Cohn are very close to each other on California Highway 12 just north of Madrone road. Heading north, B.R Cohn comes first, on the left, and very shortly thereafter comes Arrowood, on the right. The driveway for Arrowood has a big sign for Imagery and only a small sign for Arrowood.)

Happy, Tasty Holidays!

[MajGenl.Meade]

Ah, well . . . maybe a Robertson box of Chardonnay - limpid but brilliant and you can't beat 3 litres for $10 or less.

Failing that, a splurge on some Railroad Red or "Life from Stone" sauvignon blanc. $12 for the second.

(sigh)

[Gob]

We tend to buy local wines for Xmas.

[rubato]

The "Fighting Wines of Australia" are world famous. And their "What's the use of getting sober if you're just going to wake up in Oz" ad campaign has won awards.


yrs,
rubato

[Sean]

Blue Nun or a nice goon bag for me thanks!

[Gob]

BOTTLES of Australian wine that initially retailed for as little as $15 have secured one of the world's most coveted winemaking awards in London.

Neil McGuigan was named white winemaker of the year at the International Wine Challenge yesterday, edging out two rivals from France's prestigious Burgundy region.

Among the drops that helped secure the title were McGuigan's gold-medal 2004 Hunter Valley Semillon, which retailed in Australia for $15, and the 2010 Eden Valley Riesling, marketed for $25.

McGuigan's chief winemaker said the award demonstrated that Australian wine remained world-class and a force to be reckoned with "despite ongoing pressures".

Fellow McGuigan winemaker Peter Hall said the accessible pricing probably reflected the McGuigan family's particular quirks, rather than tough economic times. "To be truthful, (marketer) Brian (McGuigan) still does think meat pies are 50c," he told The Australian yesterday.

"A lot of these wines are serious wines at affordable prices (and) show that Australians can drink bloody good wines for incredibly good prices."

South Australia's Wolf Blass, named a finalist for red winemaker of the year, was beaten by another Burgundian, Domaine De La Vougeraie.

Four other Australian winemakers -- Stanton & Killeen, Hardys, Angoves and Kellermeister -- won trophies in the internationally competitive categories.

Mr McGuigan's French opponents were Domaine Christian Moreau Pere Et Fils -- whose showcase wine, Vaudesir 2010, sells for $67 a bottle -- and La Chablisienne, both from the Burgundian district of Chablis.

Giant Squid Ink Shiraz wins international award

Publish Date: 26 Nov 2012
From the Vale to Vienna – Giant Squid Ink Shiraz is the Best Red Wine in the World

An Aussie Shiraz called Giant Squid Ink has just been named the Best Red Wine in The World, deep in the heart of old Europe.

Boutique producer McLaren Vale Premium Wines raised the eyebrows of international wine critics last week when their 2010 Giant Squid Ink Shiraz was announced Best Red Wine at the International Wine Challenge held in Vienna.

With 11,514 entries from 1760 producers and 37 countries, the Viennese wine challenge is regarded as the Academy Awards of the international wine industry according to the winery’s Managing Director Mary Greer.

“This is a giant step for McLaren Vale and for the Australian Wine Industry,” she said. “Finally taking two trophies at a show which has traditionally been dominated by French and Italian varieties means the world to us.”

“Finally Europeans are recognizing the amazing quality that we can produce here in South Australia’s Mediterranean climate.”

Mary said McLaren Vale’s coastal location (which provides cooling breezes for slow ripening during summer) and the vineyard’s distinct soil type contributed to the rare wine, which they named “Squid Ink” because of its dark, deep purple, rich colour.

[Rick]

I don't drink but I thought the "Yellow Tail" brand was supposed to be pretty good...

[rubato]

Pretty good for laying down and avoiding. You mean.

Winning awards in London is not like winning awards where people have functioning taste buds. It's like winning an award for freedom of speech in Iran.



yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

Pretty good for laying down and avoiding. You mean.

Winning awards in London is not like winning awards where people have functioning taste buds. It's like winning an award for freedom of speech in Iran.



yrs,
rubato

Oh god, is there a subject he isn't prepared to display his ignorance about?

http://www.internationalwinechallenge.com/

The International Wine Challenge (IWC) is an annual wine competition. The International Wine Challenge assesses every wine blind and judges each for its faithfulness to variety, region and vintage. Every wine is assessed independently of its price; "great value for money" awards are made after the wine has been judged for quality.

The IWC now has over 12,000 entries. The results of the competition are published on the International Wine Challenge website in May, in trade bi-weekly magazine Harpers Wine & Spirit Trade Review and the World's Best Wines Guide iPhone App.

The top three medal winning countries at the IWC 2012 are France (1,136 medals), Australia (673 medals), and Portugal (444 medals

[rubato]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9KVuLRRnUI

The "International Wine Challenge" appears to be a very narrow little club of UK and Aus. "experts".

Not an interesting group. Hence the meaningless results.



yrs,
rubato

[Gob]

Oh god...

[oldr_n_wsr]

I don't always drink wine, but when I do I drink "Fat Bastard".

[dales]

[MajGenl.Meade]

Those parochial idiots at the International Wine Challenge obviously never heard of the true global participation of the International Wine and Spirit competition who, unprejudiced by English and Australian losers, chose this winner of the 2012 competition for Semillon:

The IWSC Trophy for Semillon:
oh. . . er . . .Awarded To McGuigan Wines
For McGuigan BIN 9000 Semillon 2004

Shurely shome mistake? But never mind. At least the IWSC got the red wine right and didn't choose an Australian shiraz (Giant Squid Ink indeed!) for best red wine. No, they showed up the IWC all right - made them look foolish - by choosing:

The London International Wine Fair Trophy for Single Vineyard Red Wine:
oh. . . er . . .Awarded To Ozlaide International Pty Ltd
For Ozlaide Shiraz 2008

The world turned upside down!

[Gob]

This sounds good!!

From the moment you remove the cap you realise you're in for a treat. Fresh, bright, smoky, with a mineral edge and rounded, fruity nose. Midweight and bold, possessing some edge and no little bite, yet remaining smooth, balanced and satisfying. This is a drink to enjoy with friends in a park. Highly recommended.

[Jarlaxle]

I don't drink but I thought the "Yellow Tail" brand was supposed to be pretty good...

Don't know if it's any good, but it's damned popular!

[Andrew D]

I have enjoyed many fine Australian wines, most memorably a Seppelt Trawford Tawny Port which I was getting cheap until it was highly rated and its price skyrocketed. But I rarely buy wines at stores these days. Many local wines are available only at (or directly from) the wineries, and I have not yet tasted my way across Australia.

Someday ….

Still, it is impossible to consider the International Wine Challenge (London) a serious competition among the world’s best wines. It simply does not include the world’s best wines. Three points:

First, the IWC(L) is absurdly provincial. By my manual count from the ICW(L) website, it awarded 112 Trophies (the rank above Gold Medals) in national (35) and sub-national (77) categories – categories in which only the wines of one country were eligible.

But of those categories, more than half were open only to the wines of France or Australia.
(France: 39 categories = 34.8% of categories; Australia: 19 categories = 17% of categories; France + Australia: 58 categories = 51.8% of categories.)

And more than seven tenths of those categories were open only to the wines of France, Australia, Spain, or New Zealand.
(Spain: 12 categories = 10.7% of categories; New Zealand: 10 or 8.9% of categories; France + Australia + Spain + New Zealand: 80 categories = 71.4% of categories.)

Second, the IWC(L)’s treatment of French wines is bizarre. For example, contrast its treatment of wines of the sub-national Burgundy region against its treatment of wines of the sub-national Bordeaux region.

The IWC(L) awarded Trophies in 15 Burgundy categories. It awarded a Trophy for wines of the sub-sub-national Chablis region. It did not award a Trophy for wines of the sub-sub-national Cote de Beaune region, but it did award seven Trophies for wines of seven sub-sub-sub-national regions within Cote de Beaune. Likewise, it did not award a Trophy for wines of the sub-sub-national Cote de Nuits region, but it did award five Trophies for wines of five sub-sub-sub-national regions within Cote de Nuits. And it awarded sub-sub-national Trophies for Red Burgundy and White Burgundy.

But the IWC(L) awarded Trophies in only 2 Bordeaux categories: Red Bordeaux Blend and White Bordeaux Blend. That is ludicrous.

The Chateaux of Bordeaux consistently produce among the most prized wines in the world. Anyone at all familiar with wine has heard of most of those Chateaux; to those who take wine seriously, their names are objects of reverence.

Lafite-Rothschild and Mouton-Rothschild. Cheval Blanc and Cos d’Estournel. Haut-Brion. Lafleur and Latour. The Leovilles (Leovilles Barton, Leoville Las Cases, and Leoville Poyferre). Margaux and Montrose. Palmer, Petrus, and le Pin. The Pichons (au Baron de Pichon-Longueville (“Pichon-Baron”) and Pichon-Longueville-Comtesse-de-Lalande (“Pichon-Comtesse” or “Pichon-Lalande”)). Etc., etc., etc.

Considering that the IWC(L) awarded Trophies in 15 categories of Burgundy wines, it should have awarded Trophies in – at the very least -- 14 categories of Bordeaux wines:

5 Trophies for the wines of sub-sub-sub-national regions within the sub-sub-national Haut-Medoc region (Margaux, Moulis, Pauillac, St.-Estephe, and St.-Julien),
1 sub-sub-national Trophy for the wines of Haut-Medoc,
2 Trophies for the wines of sub-sub-sub-national regions within the sub-sub-national Graves region (Pessac-Leognan and Sauternes),
1 sub-sub-national Trophy for the wines of Graves,
2 Trophies for the wines of sub-sub-sub-national regions within the sub-sub-national Libournais region (Pomerol and St.-Emilion),
1 sub-sub-national Trophy for the wines of Libournais,
1 sub-sub-national Trophy for the red wines of Bordeaux, and
1 sub-sub-national Trophy for the white wines of Bordeaux.

I have not yet been able to get my hands on the winner of either the Red Bordeaux Blend Trophy or the White Bordeaux Blend Trophy. But reportedly, although they are good, even very good, wines, they are far from the best.

For example, the Red winner, Chateau La Fleur Peyrabon 2009, is rated 91/100 by Wine Enthusiast, 90/100 by Neal Martin, 89/100 by Jean-Marc Quarin, 87/100 by Wine Spectator, 15.5/20 by La Revue du Vin de France, 15/20 by Jancis Robinson, and 2/5 stars by Decanter. Those are respectable ratings, but hardly the cream of the crop.

That is especially true given that 2009 was a blockbuster year for red Bordeaux. Robert Parker, arguably the most influential wine critic on the planet, gave perfect 100-point scores to 19 red Bordeaux of that year. (I have not seen Parker’s rating of the 2009 La Fleur Peyrabon.)

Similarly, the White winner, Chateau Brown 2010 Blanc, is rated 91-92/100 by Wine Spectator, 91/100 by Wine enthusiast, 16/20 by Jancis Robinson, 15.5/20 by Vinum Wine Magazine, and 3/5 stars by Decanter. Again, respectable but not top-notch.

All in all, the IWC(L)’s awarding Trophies in 15 categories of Burgundy wines but in only 2 categories of Bordeaux wines is inexplicable. (Unless it means that the best wine producers of Bordeaux did not bother to show up.)

Third, the IWC(L)’s total exclusion of wines of the USA from its 112 national and sub-national categories is incomprehensible. (Unless, again, it means that none of the USA’s best wine producers did not bother to show up.)

Consider just the wines of Napa and Sonoma. I looked at the top 20 wines in the world as rated by the Wine Spectator for the past five years – 100 wines rated in the top 20 in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, or 2012. More than a quarter of those wines (26 or 26%) are from Napa or Sonoma. Of all the wines rating perfect 100-point scores from Robert Parker, one fifth (58/293 or 20%) have been wines of Napa or Sonoma.

But the IWC(L) did not include even one single national or sub-national category in which any wine of Napa or Sonoma – or any wine of anywhere else in the USA – was eligible. Either the IWC(L) has some provincial reason for excluding wines of the USA, or the USA’s premier wine producers do not consider the IWC(L) worth participating in.

All in all, the 2012 IWC(L) pitted many wines against each other. Winning one of its Trophies is a noteworthy achievement. But the notion that winning one of its Trophies marks a wine as among the best in the world is simply counterfactual.

[TPFKA@W]

Andrew I did not think you were supposed to be partaking of wine.

As much as I frequently want to pop you upside the head I really do not want you going through a bout of pancreatitis again.

[Andrew D]

Sip-and-spit, TPFKA@W, sip-and-spit. (With a tiny swallow once or twice per bottle for the finish.)

Among the advantages of sipping and spitting, besides the preservation of my internal organs, is that I can do it all day long. I don't have to worry about being dysfuntional by lunch or unconscious before dinner.

And thanks for the good wish; I don't want to have another pancreatitis attack either.

[Gob]

Andrew, thanks for that analysis, which interantional wine awards do you respect?