I was remiss in forgetting to mention I tasted my first 1996 Chave Hermitage at the Grand Aioli.....

Oh yes, sorry, I got carried away with the beautiful food pictures, so carried away I forgot that I and everyone else in attendance also enjoyed Samantha's contribution to the evening, a wine that is not a Rose, but a red, none other than the 1996 Chave Hermitage. This is a wine I have never experienced before, but it gave me one of those "Ah, yes, this is why it is good to cellar wine" moments, which I have too few of, because I don't really cellar wine (don't have a wine fridge yet).

The wine is one of those wines you stick your nose in to greet, and it greets you back with seduction. It says "Come here nose, and stay awhile. What's your rush?" It has that great bouquet that grabs you and stops you from taking a sip, because the bouquet is where it is at, and it demands attention and time. I can't really relate it to smokiness per se, it's just a wine aroma that is not really aged, but just perfect, not too old, not too young, though of course this wine can still go another 10 years in the bottle with no problem. But that's the aroma I like, a wine on its way up, not on its way down, nor even necessarily at its peak.

I liked it. I cherished the opportunity to taste such a great wine.

Thank you Sam for sharing!

The Grand Aioli 2008 at Randy and Dale's house

I had never been to a Grand Aioli before, until this past Sunday, when The Wine Country owners Randy and Dale hosted the best barbecue I've ever been to.

A Grand Aioli is a Provencal outdoor feast featuring Rose and a garlicy sauce called Aioli. Along with the Rose wines and Aioli is a feast of seasonal vegetables and meats.

Here is but a small sampling of the Roses and other wines opened during the night. I think there were over 20 different Roses, along with some red Rhone wines, some Cali-Rhones, and some whites.

Above is Amy's pretty tomato salad, made with Dales own home-grown heirloom tomatoes, then topped with capers, olives, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and other goodies.

Above is the boneless leg of lamb that was cooked on a spit. Delicious!

And here is the tender roast chicken, alongside some perfectly roasted potatoes.

To the left is a plate of roasted vegetables, which includes carrots and cauliflower. To the right, a flavorful and zippy chick pea salad made by Samantha.

And some more legumes, these made by Bennett. These were some tasty and unique beans that melted in one's mouth. I'm going to have to get these bean recipes from Samantha and Bennett! What great summer dishes. And healthy too! I think!

Look at these beets. I don't recall having had golden beets before. They were my favorite. None of that pink bleed one gets with the regular red beets. And so full of beet richness.

I love cauliflower so when I saw these roasted heads, I was beside myself!

And finally, here is the very yellow Aioli sauce. I thought Aioli would be the color of mayonnaise (white), but little did I know, it is the color of curry. I thought it was from mustard, but it is actually from egg yolks, and the slight green tinge is from the olive oil. That's some potent sauce! But the perfect pair with that glass of rose.

What a summer party. Now that's doing it in style!

An Evening of Nahe Wines Featuring Donnhoff and Schafer-Frohlich

On Friday evening, a small group convened at The Wine Country to indulge in some great wines from two superstar producers, Donnhoff and Schafer-Frohlich. We also learned a little bit about the Nahe, a small winegrowing region that has less renown than the Mosel and the Rheingau, but is being recognized for producing some real gems.

The Nahe region encompasses an area through which the Nahe river flows. It runs somewhat parallel to the Mosel river, but to the south, and the flows into the Rhein. The valley is not as deep and cut as the Mosel, though the hillside vineyards are still steep. The other major difference between the Mosel and the Nahe is that the Mosel primarily has slate as its growing medium, while the Nahe is made up of a blend of soil types, including slate, volcanic rock, and finer clay and loess. As a result of the more southerly location compared to the Mosel and the soil type here, Nahe wines are typically more fuller and weightier in the mouth compared to Mosel wines, and have some spice. However, they still tend to have elegance and structure and very good acidity (though not as high acid as say the Ruwer and Saar wines).

We tasted 8 wines, and there was not a bad one in the bunch. There were 3 Schafer-Frohlich wines and 5 Donnhoff wines, so that Donnhoff did end up dominating the tasting. The first flight was between 2 dry wines, 2006 Schafer-Frohlich Bockenauer Felseneck Spatlese Trocken and 2005 Donnhoff Niederhauser Hermannshohle Riesling Trocken Grosses Gewachs. Both wines showed exceedingly well, with the Schafer-Frohlich Spatlese Trocken showing that laser-beam focus and fantastic acidity for which his wines are well known. There is nothing vague or sloppy with Schafer-Frohlich wines - they always seem to me to be well delineated and purposeful, forward and direct, while showing a lean profile, never too fat. In contrast, the Donnhoff Hermannshohle Grosses Gewachs filled the glass with a rich aroma that almost seemed to indicate a touch of botrytis - rich pie spices and heady perfume-destined flower. On the palate, the Donnhoff went on and on, giving richness in mouthfeel and flavor from here to eternity. I was bowled over by the wine when I tasted it before the class, how the wine opened up in the glass with time, filling it with its very huge presence. When the class tasted it, they felt the same way. It was a superb, awe-inspiring wine.

The next flight was of two Kabinetts: 2006 Schafer-Frohlich Estate Kabinett and 2006 Donnhoff Oberhauser Leistenberg Riesling Kabinett. The Schafer-Frohlich had the telltale slatey-beery-matchsticky aroma that results from natural yeast fermentation, while showing apricot aroma underneath all that. On the palate, the wine is a true Kabinett without overly fat fruit - there was balance and good acidity. The Donnhoff Kabinett was delicate and spicy at the same time, also a true Kabinett without overblown fruitiness.

The 3rd flight consisted of two Donnhoff 2005 Spatleses: 2005 Donnhoff Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spatlese and 2005 Donnhoff Schlossbockelheimer Felsenberg Riesling Spatlese. The Norheimer Kirschheck showed brighter acidity and less weight, while the Felsenberg was more fleshy and fuller and bigger on fruit, body, and length. Both wines did not seem to express a great deal of acidity, reflecting possibly the ripeness of the vintage. They came off a bit soft, though the fruit was pure and clean. It is possible also that at this point in 2008, they are not in their best phase for drinking - perhaps there was more brightness a year ago, and more complexity in a few years.

For the last 2 wines, we decided to serve them on their own. The 7th wine was the 2004 Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke Riesling Spatlese. I had just brought this wine in (along with wine #2, the Donnhoff Hermannshohle Grosses Gewachs) for this tasting, so I was curious to try it. It turned out to be one of my favorites of the tasting. The wine simply had more balance and complexity than the 2 Spatleses from 2005. This may have been for several reasons. 2004 was a more classic vintage, not as warm, and the wine had more acidity, which was great for a Spatlese (or any wine, really). Second, it had more development, and just flavor beside simple fruit. It had also done that thing that people describe as "losing its baby fat" - so it was not just a wash of sweet fruit on the palate, but a balance of something almost saline - the minerality - being as prominent as the fruit, along with great acid - it was something I easily gulped down (while some of the 2005s had to be sacrificed to the dump bucket - not because I didn't like them, but because there is so much I can drink at a tasting, and I chose to drink the 2004!). Third, of course, is that the Brucke is an excellent vineyard. I'm not sure how the Brucke ranks compared to Donnhoff's other vineyards, but I'm sure it is up there - in the past I tasted an eiswein from this vineyard that was beyond amazing. And here was another example of the perfection that was this vineyard.

The very last wine was a 2005 Schafer-Frohlich Bockenauer Felseneck Riesling Beerenauslese. This wine delivered. It was a fabulous noble sweet wine from an excellent noble sweet wine vintage, and it was made by skilled hands. A botrytis-honey sweetness fills the glass with its intoxicating perfume, and leads you to a palate of rich wine that has enough acidity to back it up. This is a very special wine that would conclude the fanciest of wine dinners, or it could just serve as the meal itself with a great blue cheese like Stilton. Forget Port, this is where it is at!

In all, a very successful tasting. In a biased way, the Donnhoffs blew away the Schafer-Frohlichs, but that could have just been because the two houses should not be tasted side-by-side. No one had any complaints about any of the Schafer-Frohlichs though - they are all superb wines. But hedonistically, it was hard not to acknowledge and bow down to the master, Donnhoff. His style, to me, is not as subtle as I think importer Terry Theise describes him to be. It's not that I'm saying he hits you over the head with his wines, but they are by no means subtle. One class participant put it this way - if you want something to go with your meal, the Schafer-Frohlichs seem to do just that in a great way, but if you want the wine to be the star attraction, then serve the Donnhoff. The wines just seem to demand you to put other things and hold and behold it. The wines are super-rich, minerally, fleshy, and full of spice and goodies. They seem to show well in their youth and have the bones to age for decades. Pretty great stuff.

For my money, I crave the 2005 Donnhoff Hermannshohle Grosses Gewachs and the 2004 Donnhoff Oberhauser Brucke. They are both pricy wines, but I figure for the right occasion, bringing a bottle of these to a dinner party would be really, really fun.

Austria Part V: From the Kremstal to the Wachau

So to continue on with my trip in the Austrian wine country, our third day in the countryside was spent starting out at Nigl in the Kremstal, where owner and winemaker Martin Nigl reigns supreme.

The winery Nigl is nestled in the very lush green mountains, the specific region called the Krems valley. This is located somewhat north of the Danube. The winery was in the past a farmhouse at the base of a hill where a stone castle is located. The stone castle is now a ruin, but is owned by the same family who owned it when it was a functional castle. The vineyards run all the way up the hill toward the ruin. It is a beautiful sight indeed.

The winery has been remodeled beautifully, and includes a restaurant, in which we did our tasting. The wines from Nigl are fantastic, and a notch up from others in the region. They have an elegance and grace that makes other Gruner Veltliner and Riesling seem clunky and rustic. There's something in the palate that makes them wonderful.

We have currently the Nigl Kremser Freiheit 2007, which is a blend of 3 vineyards. Technically, on this label, it does not say Kremser Freiheit, but just Freiheit (which means "freedom"), because in 2007, there was some hail damage and Martin did harvest a block that was not technically in the Kremstal region. But typically, this entry level bottling is called Kremser Freiheit, so you will see it called that.

As far as I could tell, the 2 regions Kamptal and Kremstal are adjacent to one another and share the same soil type and climate, so it is difficult to tell the difference between the wines from these two regions. Maybe Kamptal has a slight bit more acidity from being slightly cooler than the Kremstal region, but only slightly. Both of these regions seem to have Gruners and Rieslings with crisp and appealing acidity. One can differentiate these wines from the wines of the Wachau, however, which has a completely different terroir.

And after leaving Nigl, the bus took the 28 of us over to the Danube river, where we drove along and saw some of the most beautiful views. We were heading to Jamek, where we would taste the wines of Alzinger and Jamek. This picturesque winery is located right on the Danube, and of course, has its own restaurant, of which it is very proud.

That's where we would have lunch, first! Apparently, the restaurant even predates the winery - the original owner first had a hotel and restaurant, and the wine came later - so the wines are always meant for the food. In fact, our lunch turned out to be almost like a wine dinner, with wine pairings for each course. The food was beautiful and tasted delicious. For example, this simple salad was one of the best things I had ever tasted. The vegetables and tiny strawberries were so fresh and flavorful, and the cheese was mouthwatering, as though a homemade local cheese. And the presentation was outstanding.

The wines of Alzinger and Jamek were bold and powerful, with great minerality, and more of a tropical fruit character than we had experienced in the Kamptal and Kremstal. This is typical for Wachau since the region is warmer. The region is warmer due to being right on the Danube river, a large body of water which retains heat and gives warmth to the surrounding vineyards.

Here in the Wachau, there is a different classification scheme that includes three levels of wine strengths, based on alcohol level, which is used as a measure of richness and body. The lightest of the three wines is called Steinfeder, which means "stone feather," and this type of wine, having a low alcohol level, is pretty much never seen in the United States because the wine doesn't travel well. Or, maybe it doesn't have much of a market. The next level up is called Federspiel, which means "feather play," and that is pretty much equivalent to a Kabinett Trocken, if you are more familiar with the German classification terms. The final level, which is like a reserve level, is called Smaragd, which is a type of emerald-colored lizard that suns itself on rocks in the Wachau region, and this level has the highest alcohol level and is usually a rich, full-bodied wine that is equivalent to a Spatlese Trocken in the German classification system.

But enough about terms, here are some vineyard pictures I took after we left Jamek and went for a walk up a terraced vineyard in the Wachau:

Note the terraced vineyards. Didn't see too many of these in Germany except in the Lower Mosel (Untermosel), which is also called Terrassenmosel, but it doesn't seem to exist in the Middle Mosel where all the premium Mosel sites are, nor in the Rheingau.

Terracing needs to occur more here in Austria due to the type of soil found here, which is called loess (pronounced "less"). This is a fine and sandy soil type on which Gruner Veltliner thrives. This loose soil retains more water than the slate and stony soils on which Riesling thrives. Gruner actually needs more water and does better without so much water stress (ie lack of water or drought).

At any rate, something I personally noticed was that with these terraces, the Gruner Veltliner vines are planted ACROSS the terrace and the hill (horizontally), in contrast to Riesling vines in the Mosel, which seemed to be planted DOWN a hill (vertically). I'm sure that has to do with the terracing found here in Austria, and not found in the slatey soil found in the Mosel.

Above is an old vine building itself right into the rocky terrace.

So here's the beautiful Danube river. This was the first time I was in Austria that I was reminded of Germany. It was like being in the Mosel, though the vineyards in the Mosel are way steeper. But the effect is similar, a river valley that has its vineyards facing the river and getting all its warmth.

Note the grey sky. We had to leave in haste when it began to pour. We ran back to the bus and we sped off to our final destination for the evening, Nikolaihof.

It was still pouring when we arrived at Nikolaihof, and we were not dropped off at the front door here and had to run through the rain some, so when we got inside, we were pretty soaked. Fortunately, we were treated like royalty and greeted with glasses of Gelber Muskateller wine. This is a fairly ubiquitous yellow muscat wine we seemed to taste at almost every winery as a fun aperatif sort of wine.

Note how dark it was outside. It was only just after 5pm or so. This is in June, so it should have stayed light out till 9pm if it were a sunny day. But it wasn't!

Here's a bit of the facade of the estate from one angle. There are better pics of this estate elsewhere, but that day, it was dark, so hard for me to capture.

Here's the dining table they set for us to taste at, followed by serving us a huge feast. Let me reiterate that I felt like we were being treated like royalty. It wasn't bad. It was one of those moments when all of us, wine distributors, restaurant sommeliers, retail grunts - we probably were all thinking - yeah, this is pretty nice. Maybe this is why I'm in the business!

We also did a cellar tour and learned that the estate is something like 2000 years old. I really didn't know such old estates existed in Austria! For some reason, my impression was that Austrian wine was somewhat of a new phenomenon. Maybe its the modern way they market themselves. Or maybe it is because the quality has gone up so much in the past 20 years that it is almost as if the industry had reinvented itself in the last 20 years and is portraying itself in this light alone. But on this trip, at places like Schloss Gobelsburg, which remains a monastery holding, and at Nikolaihof, I began to understand that Austrian wine is not just a new thing - it has been there for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years.

The dinner we had a Nikolaihof was a feast. I took some pics but they were too dark. Suffice it to say that even though we were chilled to the bone from being rained on and then stuffed into a dark, cold cellar, we had a great time. The wines are fantastic, amazing, and above and beyond the scope of other Austrian wineries. This is top notch stuff, all biodynamic, but more importantly, simply amazing stuff. I bought some amazing 1993 Nikolaihof Vinothek Gruner Veltliner on the Michael Skurnik/Terry Theise presale that will arrive to our store around November that is amazingly expensive, but I plan to sell and promote as my Wine of the Year choice. This wine is simply outstanding, complex, and a whole bunch of other words I can conjure right now and I don't want to steal Terry Theise's words at the moment. It is something to taste, and I hope I get it on as many lips as possible!!!

Can't we all just get along and drink each other's wines? Or, how wine and politics do not mix! A rant against prejudice against German wines

Pieces of the Berlin Wall, at Deutsche Echt in Koblenz

Inscription: "Dedicated to the Victims of the Separation"

My relationship with the German culture began when I immigrated to Canada at the age of 4. We moved to a neighborhood traditionally inhabited by immigrants - the wave previous to ours was of Germans and other central Europeans. So, we lived really close to a fantastic German delicatessen and several bakeries and pastry shops. Often, our family would treat ourselves to Black Forest ham sandwiches made on big tasty Kaiser buns, Black Forest cakes, and all sorts of other goodies.

When I entered Kindergarten (another German word), the coolest kid in school was a blond girl of 5 (we were all 5) who exuded a certain confidence and charm that made other kids, boys and girls, want to sit next to her. Her name was Jennifer Hildebrand, and I still remember it! No, I didn't have a girl-crush on her, but still, she was that popular and cool! She was the polar opposite to the ugly duckling that was me - black hair in an uncool style, boyish clothes, and not much of a command of the English language.

That's what it was like growing up in Canada, a country that I have finally figured out is way more Germanic than it is here. Even the town of Kitchener in the province of Ontario used to be called Berlin, until World War II when it became a shame to be associated with the German capital city, and it was changed to Kitchener. The fact was, many people in Canada were and are of German descent, so much so that it used to be taught frequently as a language course in university.

Fast forward to now, and I'm selling German wine with passion. It has been great and I've been very enthused. But what I have noticed from time to time is this underlying prejudice against German wine and maybe all things German, or maybe some select German things. It's odd. For example, a couple of weeks ago I was pouring a Gruner Veltliner (from Austria) for a gentleman, and he started telling me how he didn't like anything German, even though he himself was German (though grew up in the United States). He went on to explain that growing up during and after the second world war, it just wasn't good to be German, and that feeling stays with him even now. Plus, he added, he just didn't like German traits, which he perceived as strictness and rigidity. He did add that he had visited Germany and found everyone very, very nice. And yet he still had this prejudice against German wine, and of course, that spread to things that weren't German wine, such as Gruner Veltliner, which sounds German.

He is not the first person to express such sentiments. Sometimes, the comments are more subtle, less in words, more in non-verbals. Sometimes it comes veiled in a joke, or a warning, or a brush-off. Or a refusal to see anything beautiful in something already decided as the incarnation of evil.

It is like the winemakers in Germany should pay for the sins of the Nazis. That doesn't make sense to me! And it strikes me as so rude! It is like if someone suggested we go for sushi tonight that I break into a rant about how the Japanese raped the Chinese capital of Nanking, or that they ransacked as much of Asia as possible during the same second world war, doing inhumane human experimentations and taking on "comfort women" wherever they could.

See, that's just not cool!

Or, should we hold California winemakers accountable for the attrocities in Vietnam? Should we bring up napalm and other unpleasantness if someone is offering us a taste of Zinfandel? I think not!

The issue here is mistaking politics for ethnicity. Or mistaking a country's misguided and plainly bad political situation (and politician) with the people of that country. Because it is my view that the people of that country - whatever country one may think this and that about - have little control over what the politicians foreign policy is. Sure, there may be supporters, and that is hard to digest, but the fact is, humans, all humans, have the ability to do evil. And they have the ability to do good. And they have the ability to make beautiful things beyond your imagination: music, art, food, wine.

Still not sure what the stigma of German wine is all about some times - people fall over themselves buying BMWs and Mercedes Benzes, and even Volkswagons - that's apparently okay. I'm not saying most people have this issue but I'm just bringing up the notion that I don't think political views hold any weight when saying "no" to a wine - it's just an excuse. Same goes for French wines. Please! Making negative comments about "I just won't drink French" does NOT sound cool or patriotic or particularly knowledgeable. I'm not trying to stomp our freedom of speech, but just calling out what I see as rudeness and hypocrisy.

Here's another anecdote: Allie Mitchell of Rudi Wiest Selections and I did a German wine dinner in April of this year up in Santa Monica, and it was a lot of fun. One couple was a German lady married to an American man, and they met when he was stationed in Germany. The lady told me out of the blue that when phylloxera hit German vineyards, grape growers were scrambling because all their vines were dying from the louse. They were trying to import American rootstocks to graft their vines onto them, but Hitler wouldn't allow it - he didn't want anything American. I don't what this story means, but for me I guess it says how powerless we are as citizens sometimes to the whims of the government.

I'm not sure how this story here will read, whether it's a snore, or just another rant on a blog, but hopefully I have communicated what I feel. Finally, I'll just say I'm not saying that all Canadians are necessarily that tolerant or have so gotten over the world wars and things - especially since there are many European immigrants that were affected by various war atrocities. Also (another finally!), I hope I don't sound insensitive to people who were affected, though probably I do. People have a right to be sensitive! I'm just not sure it is a justification for prejudice. And sometimes, I think prejudice is a result of group-think, not just hurt and sensitivity, so I'd just like to see less of it.

Finally, finally, I'm just saying, let's all just get along and drink wine from various places, without too many hang-ups! It's not the winemaker's fault!! Drink German wines! And French and Austrian too!

When it rains it pours: Another Great Wine at an Incredible Price!

H.u.M. Hofer Gruner Veltliner Liter Bottle - by Bio-Weingut H.u.M. Hofer. Another value wine priced at $11.99 a bottle, but a LITER bottle, which is fantastic! This wine is no light-weight at 13% alcohol, but it tastes light and refreshing and crisp and ripe at the same time. This is classic Gruner Veltliner at its best. This is what we are drinking tonight after a day at the office (the store, on Sunday), and it is perfect. We're having broiled red snapper with brussels sprouts, but this wine is so versatile it would go with just about anything. Oh yes, it is wonderful with these thin slices of Piave cheese that I am munching on before dinner!

Value wines - they can be so lovely!

Great Wine at a Great Price - Stefano Farina's Nebbiolo 2005

It's been a little while since I have really, really enjoyed a wine. Well, that might be an exaggeration, since I have been drinking good wines lately, but I really didn't feel inspired to write about any until I tasted this one from last evening: 2005 Stefano Farina Nebbiolo which happens to be The Wine Country's Wine of the Month right now. That's how I happened to buy a bottle to have with some leftover jerk chicken.

Right now, with the economy like it is, the mood out there just seems to be all about value wines. Being a consumer myself, I am not immune to this feeling. Value just feels right right now. Splurging - not so much. Weird. It's weird because when it is time to splurge, people, including myself, love to spend, spend, spend, the more something cost, the better the experience, and it's all about spending. When it is time to save, though, saving is the exciting thing and stuff with tons of quality for the price are so attractive. And so it is with this wine.

For $11, this Nebbiolo really delivers. Everything you would want in an Italian wine, and more. It was plenty great sipping out on the balcony, and I was want for nothing. At the time, I felt like buying a case would be a great idea. In fact, I still might. The wine has all the elements I am looking for in a wine - great nose, especially after it opens up some; firm structure yet silky; great fruit but not too fruity.

I might venture to say this is one of the best tasting Wines of the Month we have ever had! Up there with the 2005 La Cabotte Cotes du Rhone.