Mouthing Off

Sometimes you need a wine that can take a steak and just plain whomp it into submission. And if that's the sort of wine you're looking for, Aglianico isn't a bad grape to consider. Professore Piero Mastroberardino of Mastroberardino, one of Campania's most lauded wineries, stopped by the F&W tasting room the other day with some of his latest red wines, all of which are made from the Aglianico grape ("red wines" used loosely—these were really more black-red in hue). 

Aglianico's notoriously fierce, musclebound with tannins and broodingly aggressive; but it's a heavyweight boxer with a good heart. "It's a tough variety," Prof. Mastroberardino admitted, "but I'm fond of it for its personality. For sure, it's a variety you have to pair with the right food, too. Baby goat, which we put on the table at Easter, and of course game, which is what we put on the table in the Taurasi DOC." I'd add to that any kind of massive, well marbled steak. Or short ribs. Or...

Anyway, look for the 2006 Mastroberardino Aglianico Campania (about $20, click here to find it) for a relatively—that's relatively—gentle intro to this variety, with smooth dark cherry and smoke notes ending on grippy tannins.

The 2004 Mastroberardino Taurasi Radici (about $50, click here to find it) has a touch more wood, with spicy dark cherry fruit held in place by taut, intense tannins and an almost searing end (it would be much better with food). "In my opinion, 2004 has great potential," Prof. M. said. "It will better the 1999; it has superb concentration."

Finally, the 1999 Mastroberardino Taurasi Radici Riserva (about $65, click here to find it) is just lovely—the added age and mellowness it brings underscores the more generous side of the grape. Smoky tea leaf aromas, luscious, slightly wild—animale as the French would say—savory notes, pure cherry fruit, a finish that descends into resinous tannins. Terrific wine, and just as good the second day when I tasted it again. 

The other day my colleague Kristin Donnelly blogged about an upcoming auction at Christie's as a likely source for good values. At it—thanks to the rough economic times—I know she scored some very intriguing sounding wines for the comical price of $50 a case. Anyway, it somehow struck a chord in my mind with the result that last night for dinner I opened up a half-bottle of 1989 Château Citran that I'd recently found in an old shoebox in the back of my closet (really). It was tobacco-y and very distinguished, still holding onto a reasonable amount of cool blueberry fruit, and aromatic in a filigreed kind of way—musically, it would be a Chopin etude rather than the Beethoven symphony that first growth Bordeaux tends to suggest. (Or The National rather than My Morning Jacket, if you'd rather get more contemporary.) Anyway, it was pretty darn impressive, especially given that I've been carting the thing around the country with me for about fourteen years now (I bought it in 1994). So if you can find any of the ’89 at an auction—whether for $50 a case or not—snap it up!

And, what that brings to mind is the 2005 Château Citran (about $25, click here to find). It's from an equally good vintage—’89 was pretty off-the-charts, but so is ’05—is polished and firm, and should have an equally long life ahead of it. Whether it will age perfectly in a shoebox, I don't know. But I wouldn't be surprised if it did. 

I had the opportunity to sit down recently with Sandro Boscaini of the Veneto producer Masi to taste the winery's new Tuscan wine, the 2005 Poderi del Bello Ovile ($20, click to find it). This is produced in partnership with Count Pieralvise, owner of the Serego Alighieri estate in Gargagnago (from which Masi produces some of its best Amarones) and a direct descendent of Dante Alighieri—who was, of course, exiled from Florence in the 1300s. "You shall leave everything you love most dearly: this is the arrow that the bow of exile shoots first," Dante wrote in his Divine Comedy. In other words, take away a man's Sangiovese, and he gets testy about it.

Well, hm, time heals all wounds? I guess after nearly 700 years, sure. Bello Ovile is in the south of Tuscany, across the river Orcia from Banfi's Brunello di Montalcino vineyards (and thus not located in Brunello di Montalcino, which is why it's $20 instead of $70). Medium-bodied, with sweet cherry and crisp tannins—that sort of dried-leaf texture that Sangiovese often suggests—it's an appealing red for a fair price. Sandro Boscaini, in his typically graceful way, observed, "It's a very cordial wine," adding that he feels the wine's cherry intensity comes from five percent Ciliegiolo in the blend—a grape aptly named, as the variety's name comes from the Italian word for cherry.

With the manic-depressive economy, it might seem inappropriate to write about buying wine at auction. But if you’re a serious wine lover, auctions often offer some of the best deals—at least on rare and older wines. For bargain hunters with a big budget, Christie's will auction off the ultimate mixed lot this Saturday—168 bottles of 1997 Brunello di Montalcino (a vintage that’s been considered a benchmark for the Tuscan wine). The estimated cost of the lot is $5,000 to $7,000—way out of my price range. But that’s just $30 to $40 per bottle for wines that cost well over $100 each at retail.

Earlier this week, I was lucky enough to taste through 12 of the Brunellos for sale and eat a fabulous six-course pizza menu prepared by pizza fanatic Mark Bello. The tasting included 6 riserva bottlings, which are aged longer and cost more. There’s been some controversy lately over the vintage, with collectors and critics saying the wines aren’t as great as they were once predicted to be. The verdict: If you have a ton of cash, the lot is a pretty incredible deal. Even though the tasting had a dud or two, there were plenty of wines to keep a Brunello lover happy for years...and me, a pizza lover, ecstatic (if only those pizzas would keep in a cellar). 

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I recently chatted with Master Sommelier Alpana Singh, director of wine and spirits for the Chicago-based restaurant group Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises. She's just revamped the wine list for one of L.E.Y.E.'s concepts, Big Bowl, with biodynamic and organic wines to pair with its Asian-inspired food. (Full disclosure: I used to work at a Big Bowl restaurant in my teens.) Here, she recommends a rule of thumb for pairing wine with Chinese and Thai flavors and offers three great biodynamic and organic selections. The best part? They all retail for under $20.

What do you look for in wines to go with Asian food?
"I look for wines that offer a good amount of fruitiness since [with Thai and Chinese cooking] you're using ingredients like hoisin, chiles, garlic and ginger that have strong flavors. You need wines that could trump those assertive flavors."

What are three great recommendations?
2006 Santa Julia Vida Organica Malbec "This wine has gobs of berry, plummy flavor with a sweet, round finish. It's great with dishes that are hoisin- or black-bean- sauce-based."

2006 Bonny Doon Ca' Del Solo Sangiovese "This new biodynamic Bonny Doon has a ripe cherry fruit profile. Sangioveses are typically paired with tomato sauce but I think this would be great with pad thai which is limey and has a little bit of sweetness."

2007 Alois Lageder Pinot Grigio "This is a nice crisp, clean white that would go with simple stir-fries with a ginger-based sauce or deep-fried calamari. The winery is completely sustainable—it and even generates electricity for the village it's in."

The other night for dinner I opened up a bottle of the 2004 Scherrer Winery Russian River Pinot Noir ($36, click here to find it) and was struck all over again by what a terrific winemaker Fred Scherrer is. I have no idea why his wines continue to fly under the media-buzz radar, since to my palate they're as distinctive and expressive as any of the more hyped Pinots floating around these days, if not moreso. 

The '04 is drinking wonderfully right now, with a deep well of dark cherry fruit at its core, svelte tannins, and a lightly citrusy/orangey edge to its acidity that I vaguely recall Scherrer saying was, for him, characteristic of RRV Pinot grown on Goldridge soil (I can't pin down when I heard him say that; a phone interview I think, but quite a while ago).

The wine's impeccably balanced, and it went really well with the very simple Italian chickpea soup I'd cooked up (rosemary, garlic, chickpeas, tomatoes, chicken stock, a drizzle of Capezzana olive oil, plus some stellar olive bread from Caputo, a local Brooklyn bakery—yum. Great Autumn evening sustenance). I'm sure it would also go well with a long list of less unlikely dinner choices (on a similar soup note,for instance, it would also make a great partner for Peter Pastan's fresh shell bean soup, from our October issue). I think for the price it would be nearly impossible to find a comparable RRV Pinot. Seriously.

In one of those extended flights of relational fantasy in which weary journalists indulge themselves, here's my offering of the perfect Columbus Day wine: the 2006 Colle dei Bardellini Vigna U Munte Vermentino ($20 or so, click here to find it), a crisp, mineral-driven white with a nice, long lemony finish and surprising body given that it's a coastal white aged in stainless steel. I had it with dinner on Saturday night at Manhattan's Centro Vinoteca where it went mighty well with several plates of Chef Anne Burrell's prosciutto and sugar snap pea fritters (Shared plates—I didn't eat them all myself. Geez.) not to mention some tasty fried zucchini blossoms filled with goat cheese.

What makes Vigna U Munte so gosh-darn Columbus-dayish? Well, Colle dei Bardellini is located along Italy's Ligurian coast, the main city of which is Genoa...and Genoa, by most accounts, is where ol' Columbus was born. Ergo, Columbus Day wine. Works for me, at least.

The NFL has Mike Ditka and his Kick Ass Red (a blend of Zin, Syrah and Petite Sirah) and Joe Montana’s Montagia Cabernet Sauvignon. NASCAR fans can buy a bottle under race car driver Jeff Gordon’s eponymous label. And Greg Norman is nearly as well known for wine as he is his legendary golf game. But why aren't there any female sports stars making wine? This is the question golf great Annika Sorenstam posed when she sat down with me yesterday to talk about her latest passion project, ANNIKA wine.

Sorenstam said she’s been working on the idea for nearly two years and is partnering with Wente Vineyards to produce 635 cases of Syrah for the first release, which will be available next May. Sorenstam, who loves to cook and entertain, has been hands-on throughout the project and is currently putting the finishing touches on the label. If all goes well, she hopes to follow up with a Chardonnay and  a red blend.

I've had a flurry of flying around the US in the past couple of weeks, which is going to have to serve as my excuse for not posting much on this blog. But this past weekend, instead, I took the train up to Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut for the Foxwoods Food & Wine Festival (which we sponsor). A casino might not seem like the most congenial place for a food and wine extravaganza, but when you look at the restaurant and wine boom in Vegas, sort of extrapolate it out into the rest of the country, and sit back, then it seems like a natural. 

It's a little odd, admittedly, to get to a casino and find it overrun with 10-year-old girls, but that's what happens when you're sharing the bill with a Miley Cyrus concert. Nevertheless, amidst dodging Hannah Montana-crazed tots, I tasted some very good wines at the grand tasting and at a few dinners I attended. Here were my highlights:

2006 Kaesler Viognier ($32, click to find it) Barossa Viognier has always struck me as an odd idea, but I like this wine despite my philosophical bemusement at its existence. Nectarine and honeysuckle on the nose, full-bodied, honeyed, peach-nectar flavors and enough acidity to keep it elevated rather than sunk in a pool of Viognier-fat (unappealing image, sorry about that).

2005 Jacob's Creek Steingarten Riesling ($41) A benchmark Aussie Riesling, Steingarten shows beautifully in the '06 vintage, with elegant lime peel and stone notes, brisk acidity, and a long, seductive finish. It should age very well, too.

2005 Lynmar Quail Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir ($50, click to find it) Sort of a ringer, as I used this in my Pinot Noir seminar, but I was impressed with it all over again. It's a textbook Russian River pinot, with that silky, mouthfilling, seductive texture the appellation has at its peak, luscious dark cherry fruit, and a stealthy backbone of tannin. 

2004 Château La Lagune ($50, click to find it) La Lagune is the southernmost classified-growth Château in Bordeaux, and it put out a terrific wine in '04 (a vintage which is practically invisible next to the spotlight of attention on the '05s, and consequently a source for some good values). Lots of tobacco here, deep black currant fruit, refined structure. It drinks well right from the bottle, would drink even better after a couple of hours in a decanter, and in ten years should be just stunning.

2005 O'Shaughnessy Howell Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon ($75, click to find it) Every time I taste this wine, I like it even more. O’Shaughnessy is up on the plateau that caps the Howell Mountain AVA, and the quality of its site is fully expressed in this Cab, thanks to Sean Capiaux's deft winemaking hand. Lots of deep black cherry, some coffee and black pepper grace notes, and a hint of spicy oak.

I'm not sure why these two wines, which have almost nothing whatsoever in common, seemed particularly appropriate for this rainy Friday (not that we can complain here in NYC; my hometown of Houston is about to be submerged). Maybe it's the creeping sense that Autumn is arriving, and a warm, luscious wine is starting to feel appropriate. Anyway:

1999 Château Musar Blanc ($35, buy it here) The great Lebanese producer (yes, great, that's right) Château Musar is primarily known for its red, which is indeed terrific, but I've always loved Musar's top white as well. A blend of the Lebanese grapes Obaideh and Merwah (Semillon), in 1999 it shows fig, pear and nectarine flavors and has a dense, unctuous, beeswaxy texture. It's deep gold in hue but by no means losing its life; rather, it feels as though it's just come to its peak. (There is, by the way, a terrific article by Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) on Château Musar on Musar's site here, which ran in GQ in '04.)

2004 Macauley Vineyard Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ($72, buy it here) I somehow lost track of this bottle in the vast ocean of wine that lives in our tasting room, which annoyed me for quite a while; then, of course, as soon as I stopped thinking about it, it reappeared. Go figure. Regardless, I'm glad it did: This is truly sexy Napa Cabernet, with a touch of roasted red currant and lot of black cherry on the nose, then more of that sweet black cherry and some cassis in the mouth, along with a grace note of oak and lush, velvety tannins. It comes from the To Kalon and Star vineyards, was made by Kirk Venge, and given the prices of Napa Cab these days, it's actually quite a good deal for the money. The other good thing is that even though I've been slow out of the gate tasting this wine, there still seems to be some left in the market (also at the winery's website, though today for some reason their shopping cart function is fritzed out).