Just got back from a Piedmont tasting. On the pour today were some Piedmont riservas, current releases and futures from Renato Ratti and Produttori del Barbaresco. The Piedmont region is in northwestern Italy near the French border. It is responsible for some of the best wines that Italy, and the world, have to offer. Here are some notable finds from the tasting. You can probably find these at various wine retailers and possibly some more upscale supermarkets. Here are my three:
- Renato Ratti Nebbiolo d'Alba Ochetti 2006:
Showing nice cherries and red fruits with some nice complexity for such a young wine. A nice Italian value at $22
- Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco 2003:
From a year when no single vineyards were declared. Apparently the conditions didn't quite allow for those riserva wines that you'll here my raving about shortly. So what happened to those vineyards that usually grow the grapes specifically for the riserva bottlings? They went into the general 2003 bottling. This wine gives you a good idea of some of the complexity barbarescos can achieve while not costing $50/bottle. A good show of Italian barbaresco at $26
- Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Rio Sordo Riserva 1999:
Ok, now we are getting into the big boys. This wine and the following show what I love about a nice aged Italian barbaresco. The nose is nice and complex and begs you to come in for another sniff. I found sweet tobacco and dark chocolate notes along with nice darker red fruits, notably plum. This is a bit of a splurge at $44 but if you're looking for that classic Italian this gives you a lot of mileage. Just plain ol' good juice.
- Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco Moccagatta Riserva 1999:
This wine echoes the Rio Sordo in aromatic qualities. It has those delicious and deep dark chocolate and dark fruit notes. One difference between the two is that I find the Moccagatta to have a bit more elegance and a touch of port-like qualities on the nose, which I loved, being a port lover myself. Another great '99 from Produttori and worth your money at $44.
I'm always thinking of and looking for wines that to me, for the dollar, represent good bang for your buck. Seeing as I may one day move over into restaurant wine work when I taste a wine I think to myself "Would someone pay for this at my restaurant, particularly if they have never had that certain wine?". This is a very important, and subjective, question. I think the above wines (listed above at retail prices...double it for restaurants) would sell. Maybe one day I'll get to find out if my wine instincts are right.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
a brief note on rieslings
Last Monday I went to a tasting of Kesselstatt rieslings. I had read about how in some rieslings you can pick up a distinct petrol or diesel aroma but had never actually smelled it in a wine. Probably because I don't drink a lot of riesling and those that I tend to drink are usually domestic (I believe the diesel thing comes mostly from German rieslings...). So at this tasting, not more than 3 wines into the show I smelled that diesel. It was coming through real good. I didn't feel this transfered into your mouth as far as taste goes, although one of the more inexpensive ones did have a little something quirky going on. It was fun and kind of exciting to actually smell the diesel component. And this brings up another quick question...
Is this such a good thing? I mean, I heard it was a mark of a well made riesling. But smelling diesel in your wine could easily be offputting. While I was doing the tasting I was moving at about the same pace as another gentlemen. He practically read my mind when he said "Well, it's just like being down at the farm!" He was right. I could picture the diesel tractor fired up (especially on one wine that had the diesel thing going on and then some hay/almost barnyard notes). Who'd a thought? Diesel in your wine. Now I just gotta find a nice example of cat piss.
Seriously, it's considered a good thing in some French reds...
Is this such a good thing? I mean, I heard it was a mark of a well made riesling. But smelling diesel in your wine could easily be offputting. While I was doing the tasting I was moving at about the same pace as another gentlemen. He practically read my mind when he said "Well, it's just like being down at the farm!" He was right. I could picture the diesel tractor fired up (especially on one wine that had the diesel thing going on and then some hay/almost barnyard notes). Who'd a thought? Diesel in your wine. Now I just gotta find a nice example of cat piss.
Seriously, it's considered a good thing in some French reds...
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Wine and Going Out
Going out is nice. Going out and having drinks is nice. But going out and having wine is not always nice. Here are some reasons:
- stemware:
All too often restaurants serve their (often overpriced) wine in clunky stemware. If I'm paying good money for decent wine, I want the stemware to match it. This leads me to a) ask about what type of stemware they are using (which I won't do because I feel like an ass), b) scope out what glasses are on the surrounding tables or c) don't drink wine except when at a winebar/restaurant, which will have the good stuff.
- uncertainty:
I once had wine at a northeast restaurant and it was served lukewarm. Not room temperature, but actually warm (I believe they store their wine either above the espresso machine or in the hot kitchen). It didn't do much for the wine or the experience.
Also, when you order by the glass, how long has that bottle been opened? Bottles get opened and go undrunk often (part of the reason why restuarants/bars will have the price of a glass be near the wholesale cost of the bottle). I want to know how long it's been open or if it's a fresh bottle.
- pricing:
Venues are charging upwards of 300% above the wholesale cost of your bottle of wine. Some places are even moving that markup to 300% above retail. There are all sorts of reasons for this: good stemware (when they're using it) is costly and breakage works into that, sommeliers (when employed) need to have a salary from somewhere, proper storage, the fact that when people have a bottle of wine they hang around at the table longer (therefore reducing quick table turnover/more business) and pay a premium for it and of course because this practice represents a bloody cash cow in a business that is notorious for having financial problems. It takes a lot of money to open/run a restaurant and having customers that are willing to pay these premiums help add to those slim margins.
So what do I do? Well, I usually only drink wine when I go out to a place that also functions as a winebar. This usually minimizes some of my risk. I also will usually just have a beer or cocktail with my meal. The next good option is to bring a bottle of wine from home. Do some research before hand and check out what the corkage fee is. They will usually run around 10 - 15 dollars. This can save you some hard earned cash while insuring the wine you brought is in optimal condition.
So I suppose all of this grief just reflects my growing standards for what wine is, should and can be.
- stemware:
All too often restaurants serve their (often overpriced) wine in clunky stemware. If I'm paying good money for decent wine, I want the stemware to match it. This leads me to a) ask about what type of stemware they are using (which I won't do because I feel like an ass), b) scope out what glasses are on the surrounding tables or c) don't drink wine except when at a winebar/restaurant, which will have the good stuff.
- uncertainty:
I once had wine at a northeast restaurant and it was served lukewarm. Not room temperature, but actually warm (I believe they store their wine either above the espresso machine or in the hot kitchen). It didn't do much for the wine or the experience.
Also, when you order by the glass, how long has that bottle been opened? Bottles get opened and go undrunk often (part of the reason why restuarants/bars will have the price of a glass be near the wholesale cost of the bottle). I want to know how long it's been open or if it's a fresh bottle.
- pricing:
Venues are charging upwards of 300% above the wholesale cost of your bottle of wine. Some places are even moving that markup to 300% above retail. There are all sorts of reasons for this: good stemware (when they're using it) is costly and breakage works into that, sommeliers (when employed) need to have a salary from somewhere, proper storage, the fact that when people have a bottle of wine they hang around at the table longer (therefore reducing quick table turnover/more business) and pay a premium for it and of course because this practice represents a bloody cash cow in a business that is notorious for having financial problems. It takes a lot of money to open/run a restaurant and having customers that are willing to pay these premiums help add to those slim margins.
So what do I do? Well, I usually only drink wine when I go out to a place that also functions as a winebar. This usually minimizes some of my risk. I also will usually just have a beer or cocktail with my meal. The next good option is to bring a bottle of wine from home. Do some research before hand and check out what the corkage fee is. They will usually run around 10 - 15 dollars. This can save you some hard earned cash while insuring the wine you brought is in optimal condition.
So I suppose all of this grief just reflects my growing standards for what wine is, should and can be.
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