On Thursday evening June 19^th 2008 I attended the Boston stop of Gary Vaynerchuk’s book tour. He is promoting his new book 101 Wines Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World. I’ve been a Vayniac (fan) since early November ’07 when I discovered Wine Library TV after reading this article in Slate. I blogged earlier about meeting Gary at the Boston Wine Expo. I also saw him at a Vayniac party at Wine Library (his brick and mortar store) in New Jersey at the end of March, but my memory of that event is fuzzy (just kidding).

This event attracted nearly 200 people and was well organized by Dmitri Gunn. Bravo to him and the other people/groups/organizations who supported the event. It’s possible that the people attending numbered more in the Web 2.0 social networking circles than Vayniacs like me, but I don’t think that stopped their enjoyment.

The event started with a taping of a Wine Library TV (”Thunder”) show in a ballroom of the beautiful Hotel Commonwealth in Kenmore Square in front of the audience. Gary has a lot of charisma and a good sense of humor so was very entertaining, as always. Also he has true wine reviewing chops, of course, which the more flamboyant aspects of his performance are layered upon. He reviewed 4 wines. After the show, there was a ½ hour question and answer session with the audience. After that, he signed everyone’s book and was his usual tirelessly personable self, giving each person attention and appreciation. Then we tasted the 4 wines, 2 of which Gary positively reviewed.

After that, the event moved downstairs to the Foundation Lounge, which is a chic bar. There was complimentary lychee-flavored bubbly which was interesting. There were a few hors d’oeuvres, but you had to tackle the waitress coming out the kitchen to get a sample or 2. We did, but also ordered the California rolls. Also, we just had to try a Mojito which was good.

I managed to ask Gary a few questions at the signing and down there in the lounge which he graciously answered. I had written them down ahead of time:

Q: If your family had never moved from Belarus, what do you think you would be doing right now?

A: I would be dead, probably.

Q: No, I think you would be a Master of the Underground Economy!

A: Yes, but that’s why I would be dead.  I’m also kind of a softie.

Q: Are you excited about headlining the Open Wine Consortium Wine Bloggers Conference in October with Alice Feiring?

A: I don’t know who she is… but I get along with just about every one.

Q: Did you link up the Thunder Show (WLTV) recently with Internet Television site Revision3 (based in San Francisco) as practice perhaps for a future TV show gig?

A: No… REV3 will just be another distribution avenue for WLTV. We’re not changing the show at all.

Q: What is your favorite sport… to play? (Everyone who has watched at least 1 WLTV knows Gary is a huge Jets fan, and purportedly is saving up to BUY the franchise).

A: Tennis

Q: What is your degree in?

A: Business Administration

Q: Are you a closet Red Sox fan?

A: No, except once when they were behind the Yankees 3-0 in the playoffs, I rooted for them as the underdogs.

Q: Would you consider adding a Drink Responsibly section to Wine Library dot com?

A: I’ve been thinking about it – I may.

Q: You shouldn’t sell Foie Gras at Wine Library - it’s evil. (OK, I know that’s not a question). Site - http://www.nofoiegras.org/

A: Errrrr

Q: Reading your book, I get the feeling you have really eclectic tastes in food, and wine. Is that true?

A: Lately I’ve been so busy I hardly eat or drink anything at all!

Here is a photo of Gary and myself at the lounge. Also I posted some other pics on flickr here. It was a fun time!  Although my head didn’t feel so great the next morning after a mojito, rose, and bubbly.  Hangovers - subject for a different blog post.

This month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday is hosted by Dr. Debs over at Good Wine Under $20. The theme this month is summery white wine varietals generally associated with the Rhone Valley in France, to quote:

“The varieties that I think best exemplify summer are white varieties associated with the Rhone: Bourboulenc, Clairette Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains, Picardin, Picpoul, Roussanne, Ugni Blanc, and Viognier.”

The varietals can be combined in a blend or not, and don’t need to actually be grown/vinified in the Rhone Valley. So this month on one of my recent trip to Gordon’s in Waltham (my wine class Mecca), I selected the 2006 Domaine Roger Perrin Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc for this month’s assignment. This is a blend of Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc, Clairette, and Roussanne.

This wine is very pale yellow in color, and also is light-bodied and crisp. It is citrusy and simple. This would be excellent sitting on a deck outside with a nice lobster dinner. If I were a wine critic using a 100-point scale I’d probably give it an 86 for general competence, but for $23.96 it’s not the greatest QPR in the world.

A ‘New World’ wine with white Rhone varietals I had a few months ago that rocked my world a bit more was the 2006 The Black Chook VMR McLaren Vale & Langhorne Creek (Viognier, Marsanne, and Rousanne blend). This wine had quite a bit more going for it in terms of aromatics, fruitiness, finish, and overall deliciousness, and I agree with Stephen Tanzer’s 90 points on the 100-point scale.  In fact, I recall in January when I opened this bottle I didn’t manage the sort of reasonable restraint a petite lady should strive to maintain when enjoying a potent potable :-).

Last night I attended a pleasurable tasting/class at Gordon’s Fine Wine & Culinary Center featuring winemaker/producer Olivier Humbrecht (pronounced oom-bresht) of very well regarded winery Domaine Zind-Humbrecht of Turckheim, Alsace, France. Gordon’s really is one of the neatest places in my area to attend a formal tasting, wine class, or culinary class (no, I don’t work there). It is so beautifully outfitted for the purpose. Here’s a photo showing the 2 overhead screens. I like this pic as it shows the old nag dragging the plow through one of the vineyards in the domaine:

Olivier Humbrecht is one very smart (and tall) French wine producer who can claim to be have passed the very difficult Master of Wine examination, the first French man to do so. His winery produces a really impressive range of classic Alsation white wines including generic varietal wines, village-level (5), vineyard-level, and 4 Grand Cru level. Varietal wines are made from Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat a Petit Grains, and Pinot Gris. There is also a wine called Pinot D’Alsace which is made from Auxerrois and Pinot Blanc.

The Domaine practices organic and biodynamic grape growing practices. It produces about 180,000 to 200,000 bottles per vintage and employs 25 people (not including more at harvest times). Alsation white wines are generally more spicy, aromatic, and rich than the German counterparts. He explained that his idea of terroir not only includes the land and growing conditions, but the people and culture who inhabit the land. As far as biodynamic practices, he does indeed pay attention to moon cycles, homeopathic practices, and maintaining biodiversity. I’m pretty sure he stated that they do the buried cow manure in the horn thing, and believes that plants communicate with each other in a natural system that is not totally understood. He believes in a lot of up-front effort in the vineyards, and the simplest most non-interventionist vinification possible after harvest. He stated that machine-harvesting of grapes is a completely heinous process (although 6x less expensive than hand-harvesting) which produces ‘pulpy wine mush’ which includes a lot of stems and extraneous stuff that then has to be dealt with by the winemaker (all Domaine Z-H wines are produced from hand-picked fruit).

I managed to, well, ingratiate myself to Olivier by asking if he implemented malolactic fermentation in his winemaking. This is a secondary fermentation process by which tart malic acid is converted to softer lactic acid and CO2 post alcohol fermentation. I thought the 2006 Pinot Gris varietal wine tasted kind of round and buttery. He wanted to know why I asked, and then explained that all the wines we tasted had undergone malo *except* for the Pinot Gris. Well, I knew it was SOMETHING about the Pinot Gris that was different! (I’m telling myself to feel better). There’s a cool presentation of the malolactic fermentation process from Ellen Butz of Purdue University Dept. of Food Science.

In a Q&A session, someone asked Mr. Humbrecht his opinion of Finger Lakes NY wines, and he thought the grapes were grown in the wrong plots of land - the grapes are planted where the potatoes should be and vice-versa. Someone else asked about global warming, and he stated a general trend towards earlier and earlier harvests at his Domaine. When asked about optimum grape ripeness, he stated that the grapes are fully ripe when the pips can grow more vines!

We tasted 10 wines that were all delicious and aromatically extremely exciting. My favorites were the generic 2006 Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot D’Alsace. I didn’t love the Pinot Gris, but was sitting near someone who thought that was the most outstanding, so of course everyone’s palate, opinions, and life experiences are different. The 2005 Riesling Gueberschwihr and Turckheim (2 village-level wines) were extremely delicious. The 2005 Riesling Herrenweg was extremely spicy and perfumed and had a super long finish. The 2005 Gewurztraminer Wintzenheim was so pungent and extracted it reminded us of a liquor, almost.

All in all it’s probably obvious I found this a very interesting and informative tasting. Also Gordon’s had some special pricing which was also quite nice and appreciated.

There are some reviews of some of these wines at the example issue of Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar for those interested.

So with the warmer weather here lately I’ve been thinking about what happens to wine when it overheats.  My wine unit storage capacity is outstripped by my current inventory, so I’ve been trying to figure out where to put the excess bottles to avoid them cooking in my non-A/C cooled apartment.  “Cooked” wine is considered flawed and is identifyable by a smell of cheap sherry or burnt caramel and a thinned-out flavor profile.  Of course us wine enthusiasts know that wine should be stored in a dark, cool (55 degrees Faranheit give-or-take a few degrees), vibration-free environment. 

I recently returned a cooked bottle to the nice peeps at Groton Market who replaced it for me.  The tip-off was the capsule (the foil) - it was stuck to the bottle as seepage had occured. The overheated wine had pushed the cork partway out of the bottle.  I tried to cut off the top of the capsule and a musty odor of the seeped vino was identifiable and my hands got wet without even getting the capsule off.  Here’s a pic of the offending bottle:

There’s a good article about wine flaws in general here at Wine Enthusiast Magazine Unreserved blog by Jim Gordon.

I’ve also smelled Corked wine, where the cork has been infected with TCA, at a tasting in a store.  Once you’ve smelled that wet musty cardboard/newspaper smell, you can’t mistake it for anything else.

In Elin Mccoy’s biography of Robert Parker, The Emperor of Wine, which I just finished reading, is described an unfortunate episode that resulted in monumentally hurt feelings and lawsuits that was at bottom an incident of wine cookery.  L’Affaire Faiveley ocurred when Parker in 1993 noted that barrel samples from respected Burgundian wine producer Francois Faiveley tasted better than what ended up in bottle.  Faiveley was enraged at the implied fraud and sued.  The root of the problem was that the American importer of Faiveley’s wines was storing them in a non-temperature controlled warehouse, stacked to the top, where temps reached 95 degrees.

Also recently one of my local wine stores, Salem Wine Imports, which I blogged about recently in regards to a tasting of Isole e Olena wines, experienced a meltdown of sorts when a heating unit was left on all weekend to temps of 90-95 degrees.  The store owner blogs about it here.  It makes me sad to think of all that gorgeous Cepparello going down the drain!

So, have you ever experienced Cooked wine, and what are your thoughts if you have?

On May 15th I had the pleasure of tasting through some wines of different vintages presented by maker Ferdinando Zanusso of i Clivi of Friuli, Italy. The tasting was held at Lower Falls Wine Co. of Newton, MA (located on Rt. 16 on the Newton-Wellesley line). This is an elegant light-infused wine shop with beautiful blond wood fixtures and a well-heeled clientèle.

I had previously enjoyed the i Clivi 2000 Galea Rosso (100% Merlot), but know that i Clivi is more generally known for elegant white wines made from local grape varietals Tocai Friulano, Verduzzo Friulano, Malvasia Istriana, and others. Friuli is at the upper right tip of Italy, and the 2 i Clivi vineyards (Brazan, Galea) are very nearly in Slovenia near the Adriatic Sea in Collio and Colli Orientali del Fruili D.O.C.s, respectively.  i Clivi will be certified with the next vintage as 100% Organic.

I tasted the 1999 Galea Bianco and found it to be aromatically very exciting and quite complex with a beautiful lingering finish.  The 2002 Galea and Brazan Bianco cuvees are subtly different but both quite pleasing. The 2003 Galea (the latest vintage) is from a very hot growing year and not quite as refined as either 2002, to my palate.

Mr. Zanusso answered many questions about his Organic winemaking techniques.  I avoided asking him about Friuli cult winemaker Josko Gravner, about whom I know he has strong opinions, even though I was somewhat curious.

Yesterday I stopped in at Ourglass Wine Co. in Saugus, MA on Route 1 to taste 3 wines of Clos Triguedina of Cahors, France and also 2 other wines from French wine importer Cynthia Hurley.  Clos Triguedina specializes in wines made from Malbec, which most people associate with wines from Argentina.  As she explains on her website in this article, the grape was originally vinified in France and exported to Argentina, where it has been very successful.  I super enjoyed the tasting, especially the exquisite Clos Triguedina Prince Probus Cahors 2005, a 100% Malbec cuvee which reminded me of liquid red silk.  Too pricey for me at this point though - I walked away with the Clos Triguedina Le Petit Clos Cahors 2005, which is an easy-drinking 80% Malbec/20% Merlot blend which still showcases its terroir.

Next Saturday, Ourglass Wine Co. will have its huge grand Spring tasting of 70 wines from 3-7PM which I’m attending with the North Shore Winers.  Should be a fun time!

Once again it is that time of the month. The time for all good wine bloggers to devote their analytical skills and palates to the Wine Blogging Wednesday vinous theme. This month’s theme as presented by Tim Elliott of Winecast is Old World Riesling… the noble white grape as grown and vinified in the old world countries of Germany, France, and Austria. For this task I chose from my wine unit a wine I picked up in December from Colonial Spirits in Acton, MA., namely the:

2005 Langwerth Von Simmern Hattenheimer Nußbrunnen Riesling Kabinett

Weingut Langwerth Von Simmern has been making wine in the Rheingau region in Germany since 1474, according to their web site. That’s a LOOOONG time - can’t get much more Old World than that! The Rheingau region is situated just north of the Rhein (Rhine) river right before it bends southward towards Baden. The Hattenheimer Nussbrunnen vineyard is described on the web site:

2005 was a great year for Riesling in Germany, according to all reports. This wine is also a very pleasing example. It has 11.5% alcohol and is rated as a Kabinett, which means the grapes were picked at ‘normal’ ripeness. On the label is the “Grosses Gewachs” hawk-like symbol which is used as a quality indicator for wines from the Pfalz and Rheingau regions in Germany, meaning the vineyards are relatively low-yield. The wine is also marked Gutsabfullung, which indicated the wine was bottled by the producer.

Light lemon in color, the wine exhibits a racy acidity with actual bubbles emanating to the surface of the glass initially. The flavor is off-dry with a sweetish citrus impression and mouth-watering fruity floweryness. The nose is flowers and petrol, but not obnoxiously petrolly as some Rieslings I’ve tasted. It went well with my Trader Joe’s Chicken Gyoza potstickers and veggies (WITH the tangy TJ’s General Tsao sauce). It’s really quite delicious.

I found later that this great wine was chosen as a Daily Wine Pick at Wine Spectator, where it received a 90 point score, which sounds entirely fair.

I thought I would include a pic of my fave wine bottle opener. Happy. Happy has sideburns and think’s he’s Clint Eastwood:

On April 26th I attended another big mass tasting of wines at The Vineyard in North Andover, MA. This is located on Rt. 114 very nearly across the street from my Alma Mater Merrimack College (where if I recall correctly the preferred potent potable was beer, LOTS of beer). I love these big mass tastings as it gives me, as a newly hatched wine enthusiast, a chance to expand my palate, as it were, and figure out what I like. Also I’ve decided to try to join the Wine Century Club. The WCC sends you a neat certificate if you have tasted at least 100 different grape varietals (compliance is by honor system, and they do email you a nice spreadsheet for keeping track). I’m up to 56 at last count, since last November - I must be some kind of wino.

There were 48 wines there at The Vineyard to be tasted from 6 different distributors. I scoped out the wines beforehand so as not to get my palate fatigued on the less worthy stuff. For instance, I noted that the Bogle Pinot Noir received a VaynerPAZZZZZZ from Gary Vaynerchuk so pazzzed on tasting that one. I also went to the table first with the potentially most interesting selections.

I found several nice wines that pleased my tasting apparatus and went home with a few. Firstly, the Morgon Chardonnay Metallico 2006, a really delicious & crisp Monterey CA chard that I can only describe as mouth watering. Also splurged on the Clayhouse Vineyard Estate Cuvée 2004 which is a really fine “Rhone blend” of Grenache, Petite Syrah, and Syrah. This received the following review from Stephen Tanzer/IWC Sept/Oct 06 review (from Clayhouse Vineyard website):

2004 Clayhouse Estate & Vineyard Estate Cuvee Paso Robles 85
($30; 43% syrah, 43% petite sirah, 14% grenache) Bright ruby-red. Raspberry liqueur, dark chocolate and pepper on the rather roasted, exotic nose. Sweet, dense and unrefined, with a somewhat gritty element of torrefaction and a saline quality. This is stuffed with dark berry and spice flavors but comes across as rather ungiving.

I thought this cuvee was the most giving thing I tasted at the Vineyard :-). Well, maybe a year in a half in bottle since this review has made it more generous. Tanzer liked the Clayhouse Hillside Cuvee 2004 much more (91) so I feel just obliged to try that out sometime as well. Next I found the overperforming Santa Ema Reserve Merlot 2004 from Maipo Valley in Chile. At about 10 bucks, this is a must buy. In fact, if I had a ‘house red’, this would probably be it. Lastly, I fell for the very fruity Pure Love Layer Cake Primitivo 2006. The Italian varietal Primitivo has been proven via DNA tests to equivalent to the CA varietal Zinfandel. This wine was jammy and aromatically reminded me of cake batter, which doesn’t bother me. We also picked up 2 really excellent Sauvignon Blancs - the Marlborough New Zealand Dryland Sauvignon Blanc 2007 which was just about the most varietally correct, crisp SB I’ve ever had, and the interestingly fizzy & zesty Ferrari Carano Fume Blanc 2006 from Sonoma.

On April 23rd I attended a tasting of the wines of famous Tuscan producer Isole e Olena at Salem Wine Imports (in Salem, MA) with the North Shore Winers, which is a wine interest group organized by Richard of A Passionate Foodie.  The wines were being poured by the famous Isole e Olena winemaker himself Paolo di Marchi.  The laws governing how to label Tuscan wines are rather byzantine, having to do with the percentage of Sangiovese grapes and the percentage and types of other grapes, if any, included.  There’s an interesting article about this here.

The most famous offering being poured was the highly regarded 2004 Cepparello, his 100% Sangiovese ‘Super-Tuscan’.  He cannot label it as a Chianti Classico Reserva as it doesn’t have enough ‘other’ indigenous Tuscan grapes in it.  This wine is refined with silky tannins, very enjoyable.  Mr. di Marchi is an expert in Sangiovese grape clone selection.  Also being poured were his Chardonnay, Chianti Classico, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah.  There were also a few other wines from the Piedmont in northern Italy that were outstanding.  I picked up a bottle of the Chianti Classico (90 points Stephen Tanzer/IWC) and will enjoy with some Italian food some time soon, undoubtedly.

Salem Wine Imports is small, but has a carefully selected inventory of wines with emphasis on outstanding imports from Italy.

For detailed tasting notes, be sure to check Richard’s blog soon (he took notes - I didn’t). The tasting room was small, hot, and many people showed up to taste the famous producer’s offerings.  Overall, a beautiful day in historic Salem.

Before I attended the tasting, I had some time to kill, so did a tour of the Salem Witch Museum.  It’s more of a pre-recorded presentation in-the-round with scary dioramas of girls having hysteria, people being tried, pressed to death, and hung.  19 people were killed in Salem 1692 - but apparently hundreds of thousands of presumed witches in Europe were killed around the same time - where is their museum, I wonder?  Next tasting in Salem I will allocate more time beforehand and visit the awesome Peabody Essex Museum.

L’Atalante is a beautiful little French film from 1934 directed by Jean Vigo, who was dying of tuberculosis at age 29 while creating this film, and indeed directed some scenes from a stretcher. Such a pity this talented director had to be alive and at his creative peak during a time before the invention of antibiotics! So sad.

This is a simple and poignant tale of a young couple, Jean and Juliette, who marry and move onto the barge ‘L’Atalante’ where the groom is Captain. Also on board are the colorful first mate Pere Jules and a cabin-boy. I have to say I was underwhelmed with the first few minutes of the film which were sort of a bit slap sticky, but soon enough I was engrossed in the tale of what happens when 2 not entirely similar people try to make a marriage work. The arguments - the painful separations - the returns to closeness.  There is some really beautiful camera work by cinematographer Boris Kaufman who went on to DP On The Waterfront, 12 Angry Men, Splendor In The Grass, and other celebrated Hollywood films.  (I am a total sucker for beautiful photography).  Also some great songs by Maurice Jaubert reinforce and tie together emotional elements.

Actually Roger Ebert has this film in his “Great Films” list and has written just a wonderfully insightful review here.  But don’t read the review until after you’ve seen the film - Ebert always gives away just about every plot detail.

Grade: A+ all the way, poignant and beautiful