Wine Club Insider back with you.

Sitting here watching the snow come down (again!) and just about getting ready for spring… Don’t get me wrong; I love winter probably more than the next guy, as I love XC skiing, snowshoeing, running and even biking in the snow, but I’m getting itchy to do some riding up in the high hills.

Speaking of high hills, we did some snowshoeing in the mountains a week or so ago, and took a bottle of J. Lohr Paso Robles Cab up in a Nalgene bottle to celebrate the summit. I’ve got to say there’s something about having a good glass of wine out of a camp cup while eating dehydrated Shepherd’s Pie made on a Jet Boil! It was great! (Seriously!) and the new dehydrated meals are really pretty good, especially at 6000 feet in the snow!

The Wine Club – www.thewineclub.com – has one of the better online wine selections anywhere, with hundreds of offerings, including a very nice dessert wine selection. They have been one of the leading online dealers, and also have three retail shops in Santa Ana, Santa Clara and San Francisco.

They are going to be starting a Wine of the Month program in March of 2009, and I’m interested in seeing what they offer, as they have a great inventory to choose from. Keep your eye out for what could be a great opportunity!

Another one that has caught my eye recently is the Pacific Northwest Wine Club – www.pnwc.com- which specializes in wines from the – you guessed it – Pacific Northwest and British Columbia. They offer two bottles a month, and also have several tasting events throughout the region. Their newsletter, Vin Affairres, is informative, and well written. They also have gift memberships available starting at $24.99/month.

Finally, there is the “Sideways” Wine Club at www.sidewayswineclub.com. They are a direct descendant of the movie, and seem to have a great selection. Their website is entertaining and informative, but I’m going to check out their selection of Merlots before passing judgement…

Have a great weekend, and we’ll see you Monday!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

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Wine Club Insider back.

We just hosted our biggest event of the year this past weekend, and one of my dearest friends, Scott, came to town to help out. Now Scott is a big time wine guy, and we have had many a conversation of bottles of good wine, ranging from some of Napa’s best to Italy’s finest… Scott and his lovely wife Marci (some folks think we all pretend to like Scott just so we can be around Marci!) take a yearly trip to Italy, and have developed quite a respectable cellar, except for the fact that Scott drinks it faster than he can collect it!

Anyway, we were lucky enough to be able to stay in the penthouse suites of the world famous Coeur d’ Alene Resort, and let me tell you, ladies and gentlemen, THIS is a hotel room! Their main restaurant, Beverley’s, also has one of the top wine lists anywhere.

Of course, to be a good host, i had to take a few bottles for the evenings, and I must say that choosing through your cellar for special treats to share with friends is amazingly enjoyable!

Since Scott and Marci live in Dallas, my choices were a bit biased toward highlighting the northwest, with a nod toward Napa and Italy, in honor of my friends:

I decided on 6 bottles,as well as port style wine, and a dessert wine. Here were my choices:

1) 2003 Stag’s Leap Artemis. Stag’s Leap’s “second” label, this is still a very respectable wine, though not as deep as the Cask 23 or Fay offerings.

2) Buty Winery’s 2003 Rediviva of the Stones, an award winning Syrah/Cab release from Caleb and Nina Foster. Their wine club is called “Friends of the Beast.”  www.butywinery.com.

3) Pend O’reille Winery’s famous L’Ouevre, of which I’ve spoken highly of.

4) Caterina’s 1999 WIllard Family Vineyard Cab

5) Renaissaince Vineyard’s 1983 Founder’s Reserve Cab – one of the finest wines I’ve ever tasted, bar none. 26 years old, and still has to be decanted for a few hours!

6) Altesino Brunello de Montalcino – One of Italy’s best wines, and one of Scott’s favorites.

For my port, I actually chose a port style wine, the 1995 vintage port from St. Amant vineyards near Lodi – awesome!

For the dessert wine, I went back to Renaissance for their 1989 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc. Deep amber, rich, sweet – an amazing end to a great weekend of work, comradeship and wine drinking with dear friends… it doesn’t get much better!

Cheers!

Wine Club Insider out.

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Wine Club Insider back with you!

I missed my Monday post due to some surprise ‘puter problems… don’t try to upgrade/install software when you have any kind of a deadline, as it can really take some time to sort out, especially when your computer has as much stuff on it as mine does! Anyway, better late than never, so here I am!

Ever tried any fruit wine? Yes? How about any fruit wine that was any good? ah ha… not so much?

Well, let me share a secret with you; Pasek Cellars – www.pasekcellars.com – from Washington has mastered the art of the “non-traditional” wines.

I first found-and fell in love with-Pasek on a Thanksgiving trip to Leavenworth, Wa, a really cute Bavarian village high in the Sierras just east of Seattle. The entire town is done up for the holidays in traditional German fashion, including a central park with shops, fire drums, a giant tree, Sinter Klaus, kid’s parades, the whole shebang. They also have numerous wine tasting rooms, which brightened my shopping experience significantly!

Pasek has a beautiful wine bar right on Main Street, and they make a number of quite good “traditional” wines, such as a Chard, a Cab-Merlot and a Muscat Canelli, but their true magic lies in the great list of “strange” wines!

They make 12 different fruit wines of varying sweetness, including Guava, Pineapple, Passion Fruit, Raspberry, Cranberry, Blackberry and Loganberry. And of each of these, they have more than one style, usually including a sweeter, dessert style, and a drier (if you can call them dry) style.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, but these are great wines! Yes, I’m a dessert wine guy (well, dessert of any kind) but seriously, these are terrific spirits! Character, taste, depth, essence of the fruit… you name it, they’ve got it.

My favorites (and I’ve seriously tried (and bought!) them all!) are the Blackberry wine, and the Loganberry Dessert wine. The Logan is a huge, port-style wine that will knock your socks off.

The Cranberry is one of the best I’ve tasted of that varietal, as is the raspberry. Trust me… you won’t be disappointed!

Even though they don’t have a wine club per se, they have an active mailing list, and they do ship, so give them a try… you’ll be pleasantly surprised, or I’ll come and drink the rest for you!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out!

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WIne Club Insider back on this foggy Thursday in the Northwest.

I’m currently training for Adventure Racing and a marathon or two, and got out for an hour’s mountain bike ride and an 18 mile run yesterday, catching a nice break between snowfalls… I’m thinking of adding the Napa Valley marathon back into my schedule this year, as it’s the only real marathon I know where you can do the run and try a bunch of excellent wines along the way! What more can you ask for? Imagine reaching mile 16 or so, and then popping oer to the side of the road for a taste of a crisp Viognier or Riesling to help you through that last few miles… ah… now that’s a marathon!

The date for this year is March 1st , and you can find more info at www.napavalleymarathon.org

Speaking of Rieslings… even though it’s the heart of winter here, my thoughts occasionally drift to summer, and today is one of those days. One of my best friends is currently living in Australia, and just got engaged to a beautiful Australian girl. He asked me to be his Best Man next November in the middle of Australian summer. Ah, the things you do for your friends… terrible job, really. What has this got to do with Rieslings, you ask? Well, he is a big, tough, guy (actually a former Navy SEAL) but was a wimp when it came to wine or indulging of any sort… when we met, he thought an Amaretto Sour was high octane. Being a good friend, I was forced to broaden his horizons, especially when it came to wine, and while he developed a much broader palate, his favorites were still the light and crisp whites, especially Riesling, so, here we are.

German Rhine Rieslings are often considered the most famous variety, but the varietal is making huge gains in Alsace, Austria, Canada and the US, and is a very good “cold weather” varietal.

Now, many folks think that, like other “light” whites, it should be consumed while young, but Riesling, due to the high sugar and acidity, ages marvelously, and there are several examples of Rieslings aged decades that drink marvelously, with no signs of fading! I personally have a few bottles of 1975 and 76 German Rieslings that are absolutely awesome – among my top twenty wines, I would say. They are honey golden, crisp and rich, and seem to be getting better.

Riesling is one of the best wines for showing of the “terroir” – the character of the vineyard/region/soil from which they originate, and due to their propensity for attracting “Noble Rot,” they also make some of the best sweet wines in the world, including the best trockenbeerenausleses and German Eisweins.

Riesling is now considered one of the top three white wines, in terms of importance, along with Sauv Blanc and Chard.

One of our favorites comes from – yes, I’m serious – Idaho! Yes, Idaho! Ste. Chapelle winery from the Snake River region makes outstanding wines, but maybe none better than their Riesling. Check them out at www.stechapelle.com, and check out Riesling with a new, fresh eye!

Cheers,

Wine Insider out!

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Wine Club Insider back!

Here’s to hoping that everyone had a great day today! I managed to get “pleasantly lost” while snow shoeing tonight (on a peninsula, when you can see the NorthStar you’re not really lost) but finished it off with an entire baked fresh crab, some sauteed prawns and potatoes, with the rest of the V. Sattui Zin I started the other night. Heaven!

Before we get back to our discovery of the wines of the world, I’d love to talk about what everybody drinks…

Worldwide, red wine is the most popular, and of the reds Merlot is numero uno around the globe, though Cab Sauv is right there. The two actually go back and forth. In California, Zin is number 2 behind Cab Sauv, and growing every year.

In the white wine category, Chardonnay is the biggest seller worldwide, though it loses to Sauv Blanc in several key battle ground states… France and New Zealand to name a couple.

What do you drink? Around our place, we have a completely eclectic wine schedule… overall, I’d have to say that in the still wine category, blends are number one, but it goes in phases… right now, I’m drinking more Zins than anything else, and also quite a number of Rieslings and Auslaces… I know, I know!

Now, taking all wines into consideration, port and dessert wines take the title hands down! Port is my favorite wine, though some folks have a hard time considering it in the same sentence as Cabs or Chards.

Of all countries, believe it or not, the Vatican (!) is number one, with Andorra a close second. France (surprise, surprise) is the highest of the major countries. The US is 59th, following such notables as Greenland, Falkland Islands, Bulgaria and Bermuda.

In terms of acreage, Spain is number one, and the US is number 5. So, where does all the wine we grow go? I’m not sure, but at least a few of us are doing our best to move us up in the per capita rankings!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out!

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Wine Club Insider back, yet again!

Well, it’s the middle of winter, but wine is the gift that keeps on giving! I just got my Pepperbridge Wine Club shipment – www.pepperbridge.com- three bottles of their famous Seven Hills Vineyard Cab, and had to try one, even as young as it is. Let me tell you, if you haven’t tried Pepperbridge, you’re missing out! This Walla Walla winery is among the best I’ve tasted, vintage in and vintage out… between Seven Hills (rated as one of the best USA vineyards) and their Pepperbridge Vineyard, they have the foundation and terroir to make some of the best reds in the USA, and they do. Awesome!

Well now, we’ve touched on some of the world famous red wine grapes… let’s look at the top two whites of Bordeaux:

By far the largest planted and popular white wine is… NOT Chardonnay! That’s right! Especially in France, Chard runs a distant fourth or even fifth, behind Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Ugni Blanc (also called Trebbiano – the most popular white wine world wide, though it is very close with the Spanish-based white wine Airen) abd Muscadelle.

Sauignon Blanc is one of the true indigenous grapes of France, and gets its name from the words “Sauvage” (wild) and “Blanc” (white), and is a green skinned white grape, often described as “crisp,” “elegant” and “fresh.” It can range in taste from somewhat grassy to almost tropical and fruity, and makes wines ranging from dry to the very sweet dessert wines of Barsac and Sauternes.

The Sauv Blancs of New Zealand have risen to prominence as some of the world’s best, and it is grown almost everywhere.

Semillon (pronounced SEM -ee-on) is another famous white wine grape, and the wine it produces range from the very dry Bordeaux Blanc, to the sticky sweet, world famous dessert wines of Sauterne, made famous by Chateau d Y’quem. For the sweet varieties, it is exposed to Botrytis Cinerea, or “Noble Rot,” which basically turns it in to a giant raisin. d’Yquem’s website is at http://www.yquem.fr/yquem.php?lang=uk, and it is truly one of the most spectacular wines in the world, and one of my all time favorites. I actually plan to do an entire posting on this magnificent winery sometime soon… I mean, there aren’t that many wineries that still have verticals back to 1860 in perfect condition!

Back to talk about Chard tomorrow!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

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Wine Club Insider back for another year!

Welcome to 2009, and what better way to start than with a great new find!

4 Seasons WIne Club (www.4seasonswine.com) has a quality wine club, featuring a few unique features.

Every three months (once every season!), you will receive an entire case of wine, either all-white, all-red or mixed for only $129.95, which works out to less than $11/bottle.

A couple of the other cool features are that they allow you to skip a season or two, and pick back up when you’re ready. They also send you out a preview of next season’s shipment when you get your current one, which is not that common.

Another of the cool things is that if you join soon, either for yourself, or as a wine club gift, you’ll receive a very nice sommelier’s cork screw, complete with wooden display case. A $49 value, yours as a gift.

Perhaps the coolest part right now is that if you sign up now, you will get your entire first case for only $69.99, or $6/bottle!

Yup. An entire case for under $70! That’s hard to beat under any circumstances!

www.4seasonswine.comalso features a very good wine shop, where you can shop by varietal (kind of grape), type (red, white, sparkling, etc), country or price.

They have a terrific selection ranging in price from a few dollars to more than a hundred. In the Dessert section, for example, they have several different ages of port, great late harvests, Tokaji Aszu, one of the world’s greatest wines, and even some outstanding German Eiswein.

Under the “Reds” type, you’ll find choices ranging from an everyday drinking merlot, up to futres for the supposedly esquisite 2005 Mouton Rothschild at only $831/bottle… a steal! Now that’s a “Wine of the Month” selection you don’t see everyday!

Interested in a specific country? You can’t go wrong. In the USA section, for example, you can even buy a magnum of Araujo ‘Eisele’ vineyard Cab for a mere $484! Try to find one of those around town!

Again, check out 4 Seasons Wine club… I think you’ll be impressed!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out

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Wine Club Insider here on New Years Eve 2008!

What better time than New Years Eve to talk about champagne and the other fine bubblys from around the world!

Personally, I found champagne to be an acquired taste. I wasn’t an instant fan, and since my only previous experience with sparkling wine (and I hate to even admit this!) was with such fine vintages as Cold Duck and Baby Duck (as much as I love them, my parents were obviously connoisseurs… not!).

I tried a few of the less expensive (read: “cheap”) so called champagnes, and much the same as drinking your regular “plonk” still wine, it didn’t blow my skirt up, so to speak. But then… ahhh. At the Millenium New Year, I opened a bottle of 1992 Dom Perignon, and I tell you, my eyes were opened!

Though some folks might say that Dom is over-priced/over-rated, I think it is still a great bottle of bubbles, and the ’92 was really awesome.

Okay… I’d seen the light, and now the search was on. Over the next couple of years, though it still wasn’t my top priority, I certainly tried my fair share of sparkles, enjoying many. By the way, www.1-800-wineofthemonthclub.com has a pretty nice club for $49.99/month for two bottle.

Okay… here are some of the snazzy champagnes I loved besides the famous “Dom”:

~ Domaine Merriwether (Oregon): Beautiful, soft champagne. One of the best I’ve ever had, especially for the price.

~ Champagne Duval-Leroy: Nice, beautiful bottle, good depth.

~ Taittinger Domaine Carneros Brut: Velvety. About $20

~ Paul Chenau Brut: This Cava is a Very nice Spanish addition.

~ Mumm’s “Millenium Cuvee:” Excellent. Produced for wine club members for the New Years 1999.

~ Domaine Chandon “Etoille Rose:” This unique wine is a Chard-Pinot Noir blend that is one of my favorites from the marvelous Napa house owned in part by the legendary Moet Chandon.

And now, probably my two faves of the past year or so:

~ Schramsberg “Cremant Demi-sec:” Cremant means “creamy,” and this demi-sec is a sweeter, softer wine using the rare “Flora” grape (a combination of the Semillon and the Gewurtz).

And possibly my favorite champagne ever…

~ Scramsberg “J. Schram:” served at White House dinners, consistently wins taste tests against Europe’s best, this vintage wine from perhaps the USA’s best champagne house is also one of my favorite wines ever. A bit pricey at $100, I could easily drink this every day, but will have to settle for tonight at midnight!

Schramsberg is found at www.schramsberg.com, and you’d be well served to give them a try!

I wish you all the best of the season, and hope you have a safe and happy celebration tonight. Blessings to all of you for a healthy and prosperous 2009, and may all your gifts be wine club gifts!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out for 2008!

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Hey, everyone! Wine Club Insider back with you.

Yesterday, we started talking about one of my favorite wines; Port. Now, some folks haven’t had the pleasure, or perhaps have been a bit afraid to give it a try, thinking that it is going to be too sweet/cloying/wierd.

I would like to tell you that despite what preconceptions you might have, port is a real wine. As a matter of fact, when Wine Spectator released their Top Ten Wines of the Decade for the Nineties, no less than three were ports, including numero uno (Smith Woodhouse). www.smithwoodhouse.com

Port, to further our discussion, can be one of the most well constructed, deep, and character filled wines made, and at 18 – 20% alcohol, lasts for years with a little care, even if opened! (check out www.winepreserve.com for their private preserve product). True vintage wines may actually have to be aged a decade or three before they reach their peak.

I have a couple of favorite port sites amongst the hundreds of choices. The first is www.portwine.com, which is a unique kind of club, as it really is a club! You sign up, and it’s basically a fraternity of port enthusiasts, who arrange tastings, trips, tours and education, without actually selling any wine directly. It is very informative, and offers lots of chances to interact with other port lovers.

www.thevintageportsite.com is another great educational site with information about everything port since 1900 basically, including tasting notes, winemakers notes and auction prices for every year since the turn of the LAST century!

www.intowine.com/portvin.html is another cool tool that actually features a chart that tells you about the character of the wines, as well as what to do with them… hold, drink, pour down the sink… almost a must have to enjoy the great ports that you’re going to add to your wine cellar!

Having a great port decanter and port glasses also makes the whole port drinking experience more enjoyable. You should also try a glass with a nice piece of Stilton, and even try some chocolate with a good tawny… try THAT with a Cab!

Until next time,

Wine Club Insider out.

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Wine Club Insider back on a snowy December 27th, and I’m trying a different font here today… what do you think?

As I mentioned, port wine is one of my favorite vices… We actually have 93 different ports on our wine list, ranging from aged vintages, to tawny’s, Cloheitas, LBVs (Late Bottled Vintages), white ports and many more.

There’s little that finishes off a great meal than a glass of port, and I try to do my best to support the port industry, if you know what I mean…

Here’s a bit about how port is made:

For starters, all true port (often called Porto, to distinguish it from the many other port-style wines around the world) comes from a relatively small area in Portugal, centered around the Duoro river and the town of Oporto.

Using several different black grape varieties, the most important of which is Touriga Nacional, the wine is racked into barrels containing brandy about half way through fermentation, which kills the yeast. Besides leaving the wine sweet, this also fortifies the wine to 20% alcohol.

There are several grades of port, starting at the rare and expensive Vintage Port, which is aged in the barrel for only two years, and then placed in the traditional opaque black bottles for as many as 5 or 6 decades, or even longer. Vintage port is only produced in exceptional years, so is quite rare. The sugars, tannins and high alcohol will preserve it almost indefinitely… at least as long as you will have the patience for!

Vintage port is always ruby, and contains a rich sediment which should be strained or decanted away before serving. It is interesting to note that several of the top wines from the last century were ports. Great ports can run between $60 and $600 per bottle or more, depending on the vintage and the age. Smith Woodhouse, Grahmas, Taylor Fladgate, Churchills, Cockburns, Delaforce, Dows, Feist, Fonseca and Warres are just a few of the great port houses.

Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) are aged longer in wood, throwing much of their sediment. They are much more affordable, usually ranging in the $18 – 30 range, and are great bargains.

Tawny port is port aged in barrels for a long time (from 10 to 50 years!) and then bottled just prior to release. It turns a light tawny or caramel brown, and are delightful. They range from $24 – 150/bottle. Tawny port goes great with chocolate!

Ruby port is a blend of vintages aged for 2 – 3 years, and can be a real bargain.

Many other countries make port-style wines, using the traditional port grapes or even other varietals such as zinfandel, cabernet, petite syrah and more. Australia makes several award winning tawny ports. Ports can also be mixed with other flavors such as Vanilla and chocolate. Deco and Knipprath cellars (Spokane) make excellent chocolate ports. I would be hard pressed to name something better than a glass of good port and a small wedge of English Stilton cheese after dinner, or even FOR dinner!

Okay… tomorrow, I’m going to tell you about a very unique port wine club that I think you’ll enjoy!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider

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