Mouthing Off

 

 

Americans are drinking more California wine than ever before—nearly 212 million cases in 2011.

Here's how to choose a bottle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The wine world can't stop talking about last week's arrest of Rudy Kurniawan, a Los Angeles–based collector who had allegedly been selling counterfeit wines for years. The U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI announced five counts of fraud charges that could each result in 20 years behind bars, and bloggers swarmed over the government's photos—most notably, a shot of a file cabinet in Kurniawan's home that was stocked full of brand-new-looking labels for highly desirable old wines, like 1950 Pétrus. Guess how much these bottles would have gone for...

 

 

There’s a useful wine-pairing bit of advice which runs, “It’s not the meat, it’s the sauce.” What that means is when you've got a chunk of protein in front of you—unless you prefer your meat à la Cro Magnon, i.e. rare and dripping with blood—you're most likely pairing wine to the sauce or condiments on it as much as the meat itself. In other words, smother a chicken with mushroom-cream sauce, and you’ve got a whole different wine situation than if you take the bird, dip it in Sriracha, and roast it on a bed of limes (admittedly, I’ve never done that and it would probably taste godawful, but you get the idea). Same goes for burgers.
 
Basic Ol’ Hamburger (ketchup, mustard,lettuce, onion, pickle). Tanginess from the mustard, a little sweetness from the ketchup, a little sourness from the pickle, a whole lotta nothing from the lettuce. Plus meat. Star of picnics around the nation. I’d go with a not-too-tannic red. The plush, berry-rich 2008 Columbia Crest H3 Merlot ($12) would do the trick.
 
Bacon Cheeseburger. When I think of Heaven, I think of St. Peter at the pearly gates saying hello, and then some guy with wings next to him handing me a really good bacon cheeseburger (admittedly, I’m taking a different bus to the afterlife than the vegetarians of the world). What I’d drink with that, wine-wise, would be something with some pretty substantial tannins, which will help cut through all that bacon-cheese-beef fat. Côtes du Rhône from France: not a bad choice at all. Go for the 2007 E. Guigal Côtes du Rhône rouge ($13).
 
Avocado, Jalapeno, Pepper Jack Burger with Salsa. Spicy. The thing to know about spicy when it comes to wine is that tannic wines accentuate heat. Alcohol doesn’t help either. Barring a cold beer, I’d actually go with a juicy Pinot Noir with this burger, say from California’s Central Coast. The 2009 Redtree Pinot Noir ($10) is surprisingly good despite the modest price.
 
Barbecue Sauce Burger. Sweet, sticky, smoky barbecue sauce needs a red built like Santa Claus—massive, but in an embracing way, not in a now-Hulk-smash! kind of way. That, to me, is Zinfandel: big dark fruit, soft tannins, a kind of voluminous feel to it. The 2009 Gnarly Head Old Vine Zinfandel ($12) has robust blackberry flavors and a dark, spicy finish.
 
Dry Turkey Burger with Nothing on It. Somewhere out there someone is trying to stay healthy by eating one of these. Madness knows no bounds. Drink water with it, then watch Papillon, the great Steve McQueen movie about being in prison on Devil’s Island in French Guiana—because that is what you are doing to your soul, my friend.
 
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Spain's grape prices are up 15 to 20 percent from last year, Bloomberg reports, suggesting that wines produced in 2011 will be pricier than average. As an easy precaution, you can stock up on value bottles from previous vintages now. Here are five excellent, $15-and-under Spanish wines featured in the new F&W Wine Guide 2012.
 
2010 Luzón Verde ($9)
Aging without oak keeps the bold red-berry flavors in this organic Monastrell center stage—and the price low.
 
2010 Marqués de Cáceres Rioja Rosé ($10)
A hint of sweetness underscores this earthy, crisp rosé.
 
2009 Bodegas Nekeas Vega Sindoa Chardonnay ($14)
Silky baked pear and stone fruit mark this great-value white.
 
2010 Condes de Albarei Albariño ($15)
Its clean, minerally lemon-lime flavors aretangy and brisk.
 
2009 Emilio Moro Finca Resalso Ribera del Duero ($15)
An earthy red with firm tannins, spice and acidity that make it ideal for burgers, lamb or steak.

Related:  Spanish Recipes
More Value Wines

Some time ago, I had the odd honor of being a judge at the Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational Barbecue, one of the bigger meat-fests in the barbecue circuit. I can’t recall who won what, but I vividly recall walking up the stairs to my second-floor motel room, listening to two portly fellows loudly discuss themerits (and drawbacks) of possum and raccoon barbecue. In that context, pairing wine instead of beer with barbecue seems a bit twee, sort of like playing Chopin nocturnes at a Nascar race, but what the heck. What are cliffs for but to fling oneself off of?

Brisket. Being a Texan, my heart believes that real barbecue is made from cow, not pig, despite a lot of Southern evidence to the contrary. Anyway, that’s a battle to be fought by diehards. Ignore them. Drive to Louie Mueller’s in Taylor, TX, order yourself some of their sublimely excellent brisket, and then figure out some way to drink a good Cabernet blend with it. The 2008 Cameron Hughes Lot 249 Alexander Valley Meritage ($12) is a fine choice.

Sausage. On the day that New York’s Hill Country BBQ decided it was a good thing to import sausages up from Kreuz Market in Lockhart, TX, the clouds parted, the sun shone, and all was good upon the land. Seriously. And if one were going to pour a glass ofwine to go with these juicy, sublimely spiced links, I think a Zinfandel—itself a spicy number—would be the answer. The 2009 Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel ($12) is an in-your-face example, in a good way.

Pulled Pork. An excellent counter-argument from the South to this whole Texan beef-business. Good pulled pork (Sweatman’s, in Holly Hill, SC, about 50 minutes outside Charleston, is hard to beat) has a sublime balance of porkiness, juiciness, and smoke thatought to make Pierre Gagnaire wonder if perhaps he picked the wrong cuisine to specialize in. In South Carolina the sauce is mustardy and a bit sweet; in North Carolina, it’s more vinegary. I’d eat both with a dry rosé, though honestly if I did that I’d probably get my butt kicked. Try (if you’re willing to risk it) the fruity 2010 Frog’s Leap La Grenouille Rougante ($14).

Ribs. Frank Zappa, in his little-known but much-loved (ok: by a few freaks) anthem “Muffin Man,” intones this immortal line: “There is not, nor ought there be, anything so exalted on the face of God’s gray earth as that prince of foods…the muffin.” Hm. Let’s change that to ribs, ok? I can think of almost no instance when I wouldn’t trade whatever is on my plate for some truly great bbq ribs, like the ones from Mike Mills’ 17th Street Bar & Grill in Murphysboro, IL. Lots of flavor, lots of juice, and, admit it, lots of fat—if wine is on the table, make it a big, brawny Syrah, like the robust 2008 Cambria Tepusquet Syrah ($19).

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Popular Loire Valley winemaker Olivier Cousin faces prison time after boxes of his wines turned up labeled with the initials AOC, which happens to be the acronym for France's superstrict wine classification system Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée. Cousin opted out of AOC Anjou status several years ago, giving him the freedom to make wine however he wants, but under the less prestigious vin de table designation. For years, one of Cousin's labels has included the name of the region Anjou, the use of which is also restricted, but authorities seem to have turned a blind eye to the infraction until this more flagrant offense.

Cousin's American importer, Jenny & François Selections, says that a European distributor is to blame for taking a jab at France's governing wine authorities by labeling boxes with initials that stand for Appellation Olivier Cousin. The official AOC was not amused. Cousin's charges could result in a fine of more than $50,000 and a two-year imprisonment.

The AOC system is, to say the least, controversial. (When we interviewed writer Alice Feiring last week she told us it should be abolished.) Cousin, who works his vineyards with horses, is part of the natural winemaking coterie that has a history of run-ins with the organization. For example, the Beaujolais producer Jean-Paul Brun failed an AOC tasting panel in 2008 after being told his wine wasn't representative of the region. The wine is critically acclaimed, something that is not characteristic of Beaujolais.

Jenny & Francois is circulating an online petition in support of Olivier Cousin here.

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Natural Wine: Weird or Wonderful?

"When it comes to wine, I can be polarizing. I don't mean to be; I just have unnaturally strong opinions," Alice Feiring writes in her new book, Naked Wine: Letting Grapes Do What Comes Naturally. Feiring is a fierce advocate for wines that strive to be "natural"—organically farmed and made without the help of industrial yeasts, enzymes and other additives that are commonplace in conventional wine production. Here, the influential wine writer reveals why she's an anarchist, what to look for in a supermarket, and the new producers she loves in California—a region she's disparaged in the past.

Do you see Naked Wine as a manifesto for the natural wine movement?
Not at all. There's been so much interest and debate about what natural wine is. I just figured there had to be a book that put the movement in context. It's not at all a manifesto—it really is an exploration of how certain styles evolved. What became a movement used to be just a type of wine. It became a movement because people need to define things.

What do you mean when you call wine "naked"?
It's a philosophical approach: nothing added, nothing taken away. That's the starting point.

The variety of opinions you found from known natural winemakers was surprising. Like Eric Texier and Thierry Puzelat, who said that under some circumstances, they might use enzymes (an intervention that most natural-wine aficionados would frown on). How do you explain that?
It's not a religion, and people want to make it a religion. It's not a regime. It's sort of like there are all sorts of vegetarians—lacto-ovo, vegan—but they're all vegetarians. A point of difference between some hard-core people is that some believe wine without sulfur is the only way to express terroir. Other people, who may just have a philosophical difference, say that a tiny bit of sulfur helps to bring out terroir.

Do you think it's a common misconception that there are set rules for natural winemaking?
Yes I do, and I think it's just human nature to need those rules. And then there are those of us who are just basically anarchists and who don't need the rules. What it comes down to is, do you like the way the wine tastes or not, and I do find that the more you get used to wine with very low sulfur or no sulfur, the more difficult it is to drink other wines.

Terms like organic and biodynamic have entered consumer—and marketing—lexicons. Do you think that's a positive thing?
Yeah, I do. Without that rising level of awareness, big business—the big wine industry—would be left unbridled. I think ultimately, the result of this will be less manipulation even among the more industrial wines. Just because somebody makes a half million cases of wine doesn't mean it can't be a relatively authentic product. Hopefully there'll be more of that even on the supermarket level.

If you need a bottle and your only option is a supermarket or liquor store, what do you look for?
I delight in doing that. I like challenging myself, going into a really crappy wine store and saying "Ok, what could I do if I didn't travel with my own," which I always do. If I'm in California, I can luck out by going to the supermarket. If I'm in upstate New York, I'll look for something from the Finger Lakes, or I look to the Rhône or Alsace. And if that fails, I'll look to see if there's any sherry, or I drink Scotch or a gin and tonic.

After going through the wine process for the book, do you have more or less sympathy for winemakers who use modern techniques?
Way less, because making wine is so easy.

Is there a new-world region that you think is headed in a great direction right now?
California. They're on the verge of a huge breakthrough, and it's quite encouraging. Coturri is definitely worth taking another look at. La Clarine Farms is emblematic of a new generation. Arnot-Roberts is doing some really fascinating stuff. I recently had some wines from Ryme cellars and I thought they were beautiful. Sonoma's kind of a hotbed right now.

Alice Feiring's three-bottle introduction to natural wines:

2007 Domaine de la Tournelle Fleur de Savagnin
"It's a wine that would really surprise people. It has some oxidation, it's nutty, and it would send somebody more to the savory side than the fruit side. It really has such life in it."

2009 Clos Roche Blanche Cot
"It's something I adore and it's a benchmark. Thierry Puzelat's In Cot We Trust, from a nearby vineyard, would be a good runner-up. To me, Cot in the Loire Valley is terroir on a silver platter."

2009 La Clarine Farm Home Vineyard Red Blend
"This shows what California natural can look like. It's wild and brambly and extremely enjoyable. It does have California fruit in there but it's restrained—and more animal. It's just purely delicious."

 

More Natural Wines to Try:
Wild Yeast Wines
Organic Wine Pairings

Decanter reports that mainland China now imports more Bordeaux than any other country—more than 40 million bottles' worth in the last year. Though China was already famous for its love of the French wine region, the figures are amazing: Including Hong Kong (which is Bordeaux's #1 customer by value, not volume), China now accounts for more than a third of all exports.

While big spenders there certainly have access to amazing food that pairs with Bordeaux, the blend of tannic Cabernet and Merlot can clash with the sweetness and heat of traditional Chinese food. For those meals, we suggest 10 alternative pairings like German Riesling and Oregon Pinot Noir.

Here's an item that Eater might want for its series on food-world theft: Thieves in Germany have taken an entire vineyard's crop, nearly three tons of grapes. Winemaker Stephen Attmann awoke to find the vines bare, Spiegel reports. Concerned tasters should be on the lookout, in a couple of years, for a 2011 that tastes suspiciously like Weingut von Winning's well-regarded Pinot Noir.
 
This caps a long summer of wine crime, during which rare bottles disappeared from a London warehouse, scrap-metal thieves stole vineyard irrigation systems and an ex–New York sommelier went on a stealing spree that netted three bottles of Pétrus and a Picasso.

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Pinot Noir Alternatives

Harvest season started in August for much of the wine world, but Reuters reports that vintners in Burgundy and other French regions are currently divided over when to haul in the grapes. While waiting increases ripeness (which could result in better wine), it also raises the risk that storms could damage the bounty. Something easier to agree on: Harvest time, which can run into October in some climates, is a great chance to tour wine country. In addition to temperate weather, regions bustle with celebratory events like Bordeaux's annual festival in Saint-Emilion, taking place this weekend. Napa offers a string of wine-release parties (like those at Duckhorn and Beaulieu Vineyards this Friday and Saturday), grape-stomping competitions (like Castello di Amorosa's on September 24) and harvest dinners (Pine Ridge Vineyards will hold one on October 8). To help you plan, F&W presents guides on where to eat, sleep and, of course, drink in top wine regions.

WINE REGION GUIDES

FRANCE
Champagne
With picks from Master Sommelier and Champagne fanatic Laura Maniec

SPAIN
Rioja
With picks from El Bulli alumnus Lucas Paya

UNITED STATES
Santa Barbara
With picks from Addison sommelier Lucas Paya

Napa
With picks from chef Michael Chiarello and winemaker Jamey Whetstone
 
Sonoma
 
Oregon
 
Washington State