In Australia, Syrah is called Shiraz. And in Australia, the quintessential Shiraz is the wine from the Barossa Valley in the state of South Australia. The wines from this valley are big and strong and are now considered an entire style all their own. The Barossa didn’t always enjoy international fame, however. The story of wine in Barossa is one of ubiquity, neglect and finally redemption.

Unlike the rest of Australia, the area of South Australia and the Barossa Valley was settled not by the British but by Germans. The immigrants found the land and climate best suited to grape growing, so, being German, they planted Riesling. The wine turned out very strong and the wines eventually became a source for brandy. This in turn created an opportunity to make fortified wine (of which brandy is a necessary component to stop the fermentation while the wine is still sweet), which Australians did with zeal until about the mid 20^th century.

At this point market demand shifted to dry table wines and the vineyards of the Barossa were largely ignored because they were planted with the common Shiraz. At the time, consumers were more interested in the stylish Cabernet Sauvignon. Eventually, the Barossa shifted its focus to fine wine production and the wine industry again embraced the region, and Shiraz, as a source of quality table wines.

Weather in the Barossa can be quite hot and dry, not always the best for quality wine grape production. Fortunately the Barossa has river valleys that provide cool microclimates and water for irrigation. Some producers now choose to dry farm their grapes, but most rely heavily on irrigation.

The best wines of the Barossa are from the valley’s signature grape: Shiraz. The style of Shiraz form the Barossa is big and full-bodied with aggressive notes of chocolate and spice. The wines are often given a shorter than normal maceration (time the grape juice spends soaking in the grape skins) in an effort to smooth out the big tannins and provide a rich, supple mouthfeel.

Many of Australia’s big producers have a stake in the Barossa, including: Penfolds, Peter Lehmann, Orlando Wines, Seppeltsfield, Wolf Blass and Yalumba. In addition to the Shiraz, the Valley is also home to Riesling planted in the cooler area of Eden Valley. These wines are gaining their own reputation for quality. Finally a style of Semillion is emerging from Barossa which is distinct from wines produced elsewhere in Australia as well as the world, the wines are generally low-acid, full bodied and golden in color.

Australian Wine, Shiraz Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley, Shiraz

They say the Southern Rhone is separated from the Northern Rhone by a no-man’s land for grapes. Despite this gap in wine production, the Rhone is still one of the world’s legendary wine regions. The south is known for its red and roses from Grenache and the north is known for its whites from the Viognier grape and its reds made from Syrah.

There are several legends as to how the Syrah grape made it to the northern Rhone river valley; most involve the Romans bringing it at some point in time in antiquity. Modern DNA analysis however, has shown that grape most likely is a native of the Rhone area. In its homeland of the Rhone, the Syrah grapes can reach its full potential. The area of the northern Rhone is home to several appellations including Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage.

The northernmost Rhone wine region is the legendary Côte-Rôtie—the roasted slope. The name refers to the steep hillsides where the vines are planted and to the long hours of sun they receive each growing season. The wines of Côte-Rôtie are made from Syrah and up to 20% Viognier—a white grape. Blending white grapes to make red wine is a very unique practice, and produces a very unique wine. Côte-Rôtie wines exhibit a very floral nose as well as savory notes of meat and bacon, the wines are concentrated—from low grape yields—intense and deep.

Condrieu is just south of the Côte-Rôtie and produces wine from only one grape—Viognier. The wines of Condrieu are luscious, viscous, floral and ethereal with aromas of anise, melon, peach and white flowers. The entire area produces only about 350,000 bottles of wine annually—compare that to the 400 million produced in all of the Rhone! This rarity, and the difficulty in growing Viognier, account for the price tag on Condrieu. If you can find it, look for Chateau Grillet—a single vineyard with its own AOC and perhaps the pinnacle of Condrieu wine.

Perhaps no other name evokes power of the northern Rhone as Hermitage. This tiny appellation is named for the single hill on which the grapes are grown; on the hill of Hermitage, most of those grapes are Syrah. The wines of Hermitage are powerful, with strong aromas of earth, leather and berries. The wines are rich with tannins and structure that allow the wines to age for up to 40 years. The area of Crozes-Hermitage lies all around the hill of Hermitage, for several miles to the north, east and south. The wines are also made from Syrah, and can be similar to Hermitage at their best. Though they rarely live up to their namesake appellation, the wines of Crozes-Hermitage can still be great examples of old world Syrah.

Fine Wine, French Wine, Shiraz northern rhone, rhone, Syrah, viognier

Wine Club Insider back with you!

Well, I’m back from an out-of-town working sojourn in lovely central Oregon.

My last evening there, I competed in a little “Iron Chef meets Chopped” cooking contest against a local chef, and it was a blast!

The key ingredients were chicken, strawberries, Graham crackers, and the secret ingredient was Bok Choy (?). We could prepare as many dishes as we could, highlighting the ingredients, and using a few other things as well, so with the opening gong, the battle was on!

For my dishes, I prepared a double appetizer that was well received… I made a sauteed chicken taco, stuffed with diced bok choy, cilantro and a sour cream, yogurt and wasabi sauce with a lime wedge on top, and I made a mille feuilles of very thinly sliced chicken breast slices and super thinly sliced red potatoes, topped with a jumbo prawn and a strawberry emulsion.

For my main course, I took a piece of the chicken breast, sliced it and stuffed it with strawberry, graham cracker and a piece of Havarti cheese, and the baked it, wrapped in puff pastry.

I served it over sauteed bok choy with a mustard and white wine sauce, accompanied by diced red potatoes cooked up in the rest of the sour cream – wasabi sauce.

For dessert, I made a puff pastry crust, and coated it with Graham crackers and a butter/lemon cream. While that was cooking, I took rhubarb, lots of strawberries, raspberry liqueur and some sugar, and cooked them down to a nice coulis. I filled the pastry shell, let it chill a bit, and served it with a touch of whipped cream.

My opponent Lisa made a spinach and bok choy salad with strawberries and carmelized almonds (which were really good!)).

For her entree, she went with simple, pan seared chicken breast with a balsamic reduction, and baked bok choy in the same sauce. She served it with rice with raisins and almonds. For dessert, she made a graham cracker pie crust, and made a key lime pie topped with a couple of strawberries.

In the judging, I won the appetizer and entree unanimously, and narrowly lost the dessert, but won the overall. More importantly, we had a great time, and ate 5 terrific courses.

We also had some wine, and I’m not talking just any wine!

We started with the terrific Clos du Bois Zin, which, while not as good as the Ravenswood, was pretty special. Next, we had the Concannon Petite Syrah, which is one of our host’s favorites, and it didn’t disappoint. Then I brought out the Borra “Fusion,” a Syrah, Cab, Merlot, Zin blend from Lodi, and it was AMAZING! Everyone loved this wine… it was one of the best I’ve drank in some time, and even better under the circumstances.

For dessert, I cracked one of my treasures: a 750 of 1982 Renaissance Late Harvest Sauv Blanc. I’m not sure if I’ve had a better glass of dessert wine in a long time, Ice wine included.

I bought the last case a couple of years ago, and have been drinking them for special occasions. The wine is now the color of rich caramel, and the flavor just keeps getting better. What an awesome way to end a great evening!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

California Wine, Dessert Wine, Fine Wine, Merlot, Red Wine, Shiraz, Sweet Wine, Uncategorized, USA Wine, Vineyards, Wine Club, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting Borra Fusion, Clos du Bois Zinfandel, COncannon Petite Syrah, Iron Chef

Wine Club Insider coming at you from on the road this week!

Yup… actually had to go out of town to do some work for a living… I pride myself on being one of the busiest unemployed people I know, but every once in a while, I have to do something at least mildly productive, even if just to keep my wife happy.

With that in mind, I had to make the trip to Bend, Or. to teach a small clinic. I drove down Sunday, and it was an awesome day… mid 80s (warmest day this year around here!), sunny… perfect! By the looks of it, the wine industry isn’t suffering quite as mush as the rest of us in these troubled times… people will always keep sipping their vino, I guess. It was great to see all of the new wineries dotting the Columbia River and Oregon hillsides as I made the trip. I’m planning in hitting a few of them on the way home – strictly for educational purposes, of course!

On a side note, the unsettled weather seems to be following me; the drive down was perfect, it was 86 yesterday, and today, after giving it a chance to catch up, it’s 66 and raining – in the high desert. Oh well… just seems to be my luck this spring. I did get a great run in this morning before the clouds rolled in, though, so no worries!

The folks I’m staying with in Bend are also foodie/winos, so we manage to always find something to drink, eat and chat about, even if it’s just a simple salad, watermelon and cheese like we had Sunday night, accompanied by a very pleasant surprise that I dragged out of my cellar and brought along for the ride…

We opened a 2002 A Mano Puglia, which is made from 100% Primitivo (Basically Zinfandel, or at least modern Zin’s grandfather). It was huge! Rich, full, but not over done. Yup… Zin is my current favorite red grape… it’s been working toward it for a year, and over the past 3 or 4 months, I don’t think I’ve had a bad Zin!

Last night, friends came over for lasagna, salad and bread, and brought, of all things, a Ravenswood Zin. A great coincidence! The Ravenswood was excellent, as usual, but lacked some of the fruit of the A Mano, to my mind. Still a terrific wine, though.

Tonight, I’m facing off against one of the chefs here in town in an Iron Chef-meets-Chopped contest, with pride and a good bottle on the line… I’ll let you know how it goes on Thursday!

(I think I have an edge, because I also brought the fabulous 2003 Borra “Fusion,” the Syrah-Cab Sauv-Merlot-Zin blend from from Lodi for the entree, and with my dessert, I’m serving one of the last 6 remaining bottles of Renaissance 1982 Late Harvest Sauv Blanc in a 750… it’s the color of dark caramel, and will carry the evening for me, I’m sure, no matter what I make!) Almost a shame to have to throw in work in the middle of all of it, but it keeps me in vino, laptops and mountain bikes, so it’s all good!

Have a great week!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

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Wine Club Insider back with you…

I seem to be about 12 hours later than usual today, and I apologize… we have a large event coming up and I was in (unscheduled) meetings all morning, but here we are, so let’s call it Australia time, and we’ll be all square!

Earlier this week, I was thinking of the various wine clubs I either belong to or have belonged to, and began pondering what kinds of people join wine clubs, so I did some asking around, and the results may surprise you.

My first thought was that your regular wine schnobs like me would be the main culprits, and, to be sure, we make up a fair share of the members, but there’s an entire other segment of “wineclubers…”

Wine has kind of evolved into the drink of the hoi poloi, but if you do some research into the history of wine, you find that it was the drink of the people… the real people. It was the beverage that was drank at every meal, that was the water of life at weddings, at communions, at lunch with your falafel… this new “ooohh, wine is fancy” thing is, to a degree, understandable, but also has taken one of God’s greatest gifts out of the reach out of many, whether in price, or just in aura.

Some of our best friends are what you might call “redneck,” having come to the light from our a beer drinking background. “Pete” didn’t now squat about wine, but could speak eloquently about any of fifty kinds of beer. Now, they belong to three wine clubs (including one we gifted to them) and “Pete” enjoys a great red, and a nice glass (or bottle!) of port as much as anyone I know.

Another set of friends, “Keith” and “Sarah,” came from even further from Napa, so to speak, and after a couple of dinner parties, they enjoy a nice Gewurtz, and a spicy Pinot with diner now.

There are truck drivers I know that are on Pepperbridge’s list, a gas station owner who gets his allotment of Harlan, a meat salesman who is a ten year member of Leonetti, and a flower shop owner who is a long time customer of Araujo…

Yup. Turns out your job doesn’t have anything to do with whether you love wine. Turns out that drinking it out back by a fire pit is sometimes just as good as sitting in a chateau, and, if your real friends are with you, it can be even better.

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

California Wine, Fine Wine, Pinot Noir, Shiraz, USA Wine, Vineyards, White Wine, Wine Club, Wine Club Gift, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting Araujo, Friends, Harlan, Leonette, Pepperbridge, who joins wine clubs, wine club gifts, wine clubs

Wine Club Insider back with you, with a strange one, really!

I think that everyone has likely heard of Marilyn Wines… the ones with the pictures of Marilyn Monroe on them? Marilyn Merlot? Yup. I have a couple. You?

I’ve got to tell you that they are actually really good wines from some of Napa’s best vineyards, but I always thought they were a bit quirky, I guess… let me tell you, i was quite surprised when today, I came across a wine club devoted exclusively to Marilyn Wines!

www.marilynwines.com, ran by Uvada Winery, sells five different Marilyn Wines:

And, of course, the velvet collection is their best offering.

All in all, I must say I am more impressed with their wines than I thought I was going to be.

The wines are a bit pricey, in part, I think, because of their commercial cult appeal, but for fairly top quality Napa wines, they are still pretty reasonable.

Now I’m kind of interested in seeing if there are any other quirky wine clubs out there… anyone have any others to share?

Back with you Monday!

Wine Club Insider out!

California Wine, Fine Wine, Merlot, Red Wine, Shiraz, Sparkling Wine, USA Wine, Vineyards, Wine Club, Wine Lovers, Wine Making, Wine Reviews Marilyn Merlot, Napa wines, Wine Club

Wine Club Insider back with you!

Have you ever had one of those days when everything seems to go awry? Today was one of those for me; car trouble, work stuff not on sched, wife went out of town… the list goes on, but, as with most days, if you keep a positive attitude, something will happen to straighten it out and make it all worthwhile!

We were supposed to chat about Chardonnay today, but I’m going to take a small departure to share a great find!

While waiting five (5!) hours for my car to get fixed (started as “45 minutes… no probs”) I was invited by my dear friend Debbie of Idaho Wine Merchants to the grand re-opening of Pilgrims Market – www.pilgrimsmarket.com – which has expanded from their original 4000 sq ft to a beautiful 15,000 or so! They offer the best in organic, natural and healthy food, and are doing a wonderful job! They also have a top-notch wine department… and I mean top-notch!

Master Sommelier Sam Lange and his beautiful partner Sara have built up a terrific supply, and have regular tastings on Friday. With the big opening today, they invited one of the inland Northwest’s best “new” wineries to come and pour. New is only relative, since Mike and his partner Greg Lipsker – both attorneys (thus the name!) have been making wine since 2001.

Mike White of Barrister Winery – www.barristerwinery.com- brought a wonderful compliment of wines to share, and we were not disappointed! Now, to digress slightly, I was one of their first tasters after they opened, and even then, their wines – especially the Cab Franc – showed great promise. Well, promise delivered!

I tasted a Klipsum Vineyards Sauv Blanc that was crisp and refreshing, and the moved on to the reds, starting with the ’06 Dwelley vineyard Merlot (smooth, even for being so young) and then getting a chance to re-visit the Cab Franc – this time the ’06. What a wine! Elegant, powerful… everything you would hope for in a Cab Franc! The Syrah is blended with a hint of viognier, giving it a nice acidity. Their Cab is a Big Boy, let me tell you, coming from the famous Bacchus vineyard; rich, tannic, but not overbearing.

Finally, I got to sample the brand new “Rough Justice,” a Merlot, Cab Sauv, Syrah, Cab Franc blend that knocked my socks off! Smooth, jammy, but somehow rich… eminently drinkable, and promising to get better! (I bought 3… 2 survived the evening…:) )

I’ve mentioned Barrister once or twice before, but after this tasting, I must say that they have arrived as one of the best wineries in the northwest; lots of wines, most single vineyard, fairly priced, well-crafted, great fruit, caring vintners… turned my day right around, and I’m looking forward to doing a wine maker’s dinner with Mike and Greg so I can try some more Barrister wines!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out!

Fine Wine, Merlot, Red Wine, Shiraz, USA Wine, Vineyards, White Wine, Wine Bar, Wine Club, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Making, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting Barrister Winery, blends, Cab Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Idaho Wine Merchants, Merlot, Pilgrims Market, Syrah, Wine Club

Wine Club Insider back!

Got a chance to get out and do a great five hour long snowshoe trip up Boulder Basin today with a couple of friends. There was over 10 feet of snow at the top of the peak as we stopped for a quick Jet Boil meal. On one of our real mountain climbs last summer, we took wine up in Nalgene bottles for dinner, but I forgot today, so I had to wait until I got home… there’s not much better than a nice glass of wine after a great day outside in the snow!

Well, to business…

We’ve talked about dozens of wine clubs, several different wines and wineries, but we haven’t really taken much time to talk about the specific wine varietals and grapes that make up our favorite beverage!

For the next few days, I’d love to chat a bit about some specific grapes, and the wines made from them, but today, just some basic grape info…

All red wine is made from red grapes (which can be black or purple as well). White wines can also be made from red wine grapes, though there are plenty of good white grapes to choose from.

In all, there are more than 400(!) varieties of wine grapes grown around the world. Who knew? Yup… I bet if I polled 100 people, the majority couldn’t name twenty… A couple of years ago, I probably couldn’t have, though I’m getting better.

One good site to look at for info on the various “cultivars” (the correct name, though “varietals” has taken on such everyday familiarity that it’s unlikely to change anytime soon) is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_grape_varieties#Red_grapes

Now, the Bordeaux grapes that everyone has heard about are Merlot (the number one red grape in France, and likely the number one red grape world wide by the end of the year, no matter what “Sideways” says), Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Petite Verdot, Malbec and Carmenere. Almost all Bordeaux wines are blends of these six grapes, usually with Merlot or Cab Sauv as the majority. There are none that I could find that use all six, though several used four.

There are also several popular “New World” grapes, such as Zinfandel, which is also named “Primitivo,” Syrah (or Shiraz, if you’re from Down Under), Petite Sirah, which isn’t related to Syrah, Sangiovese and Temperanillo, big Mediterranean grapes (ever hear of Chianti or Rioja?)

On top of that, we’ve got to look at the labels, and the (sometimes silly!) laws and rules that govern our passion!

Okay… we’re off and running! I’ll see you tomorrow!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

Bordeaux, Fine Wine, French Wine, International Wine, Italian Wine, Merlot, Red Wine, Shiraz, USA Wine, Vineyards, Wine Club, Wine Education, Wine Labels, Wine Making, Zinfandel Bordeaux, varietals, Wine Education, WIne grapes

Wine Club Insider back!

One of the cool web sites I frequent on at least a weekly basis is www.winezap.com.

Winezap is kind of like a little community where you can actually get to “know” your online “neighbors” as you rate/discuss/argue about wine.

So, every week or so, I get an email in my regular box about the latest wines that have been rated by their distinguished panel of experts…

I think that having a few folks with respected, or at least educated palates can give us a basic groundwork to at least discuss wine, so I appreciate their efforts.

Some of the wines I received reviews on tonight were (and the reviewer):

Bordeaux, Burgundy, California Wine, Chardonnay, Fine Wine, French Wine, International Wine, Italian Wine, Pinot Noir, Red Wine, Shiraz, Sparkling Wine, USA Wine, Vintage Wine, White Wine, Wine Cellar, Wine Club, Wine Club Gift, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting Wine Club, Wine Club Gift, Wine Reviews, winezap.com

Wine Club Insider back with one of my favorite wineries and favorite wine clubs, and with only a week to go before Christmas, it’s a perfect time to get that special someone a wine club gift…

Brett and Denise (“The Boss”) Isenhower were both successful chemists and pharmacists when they made the “natural” leap to wine making…

Actually, it’s not that much of a stretch really, and they are living proof!

They founded Isenhower Cellars in 1999, and opened their winery in Walla Walla in 2002. They make premium, highly allocated wines from a combination of their own estate vineyard, and seven of the most highly rated Columbia Valley vineyards, including Seven Hills, Horse Heaven Hills and Weinbau, to name a few.

They make several uniquely named wines based on Merlot, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc, Grenache, Rousanne and Syrah. Some of their famous names include “Red Paintbrush,” a Cab-Merlot blend that I tried last night. FYI, the 2002 was perfect, though it could have stayed in the bottle for another five years or more. Inky, tons of fruit… excellent!

Their Wild Alfalfa-a Syrah-received 93 points from Parker no less, and sold out within a week. Their River Beauty, another Syrah, is even better, according to Brett.

I’ve been friends with the family since they opened, and have done several wine maker’s dinners for them, and they are wonderful people! They really make an effort to get to know their growing list of customers, and especially the folks in their wine club, called “FOI;” short for “Friends of Isenhower.”

One of the neat things about FOI is that they make a number of “wine club only” bottlings, including Malbecs, blends and others that are only available from the winery.

For the quality of their wines, the price for being a member and receiving the twice yearly shipment of gems is well worth it!

The last shipment featured A “Batchelors Button” Reserve Cab, and a unique Barbera. One of the things I like about Isenhower’s wine club is that they name all of their wines after some of their favorite poems (Road Less Travelled, a sold out Cab Franc), Flowers (Red Paintbrush) and original sayings, such as “Rara Avis,” a rare, Grenache blend.

All of their labels are from paintings from local Walla Walla artist Jeffrey Hill, who also happens to be one of their growers, and several of their early bottles featured pictures of their labs, who are still constant hosts around the winery.

Check out Isenhower, and tell ‘em I sent ya!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider

Fine Wine, Merlot, Red Wine, Shiraz, USA Wine, Vineyards, Wine Cellar, Wine Club, Wine Club Gift, Wine Education, Wine Labels, Wine Lovers, Wine Making, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting Isenhower Cellars, Vineyards, Walla Walla, Wine Club, Wine Club Gift