Wine-savvy

[clubber_lang]

Pinot rules!

[agxo3]

Agxo,

 

Is the Krug Winery still open? This is where I got to start liking wines.

 

Yup, Krug's still going strong, and still owned by Peter Mondavi, brother of the much more famous Robert Mondavi. I think the family feud's finally been patched up - sorta. Great cabs from Krug, better (I think) than from Robert Mondavi, at least the Napa Valley cabs. Opus One, of course, is a different beast altogether!

Edited February 27, 2007 by agxo3

[agxo3]

Just had a day visit to the Coppola and Sterling wineries, pare. It was too overwhelming.

 

My sincere apologies for not letting you know. It was really a very short trip (for some family issues/and a just enough to see a few childhood friends who already had a schedule cut out for me for the weekend. I had to fly back to Manila immediately since I am in the thick of the office construction fit out and a relocation.

 

I plan to go back again, hopefully with the wife to try the bed and breakfast in Napa/Calistoga area. I will surely get in touch with you on my next visit.

 

OK, I guess I'll forgiv you this time. But don't let it happen again, y'hear?

 

So you went to Coppola? The Rutherford one, now called Rubicon Estates? Or did you go to the one in Sonoma - the "as yet unnamed" FFC winery? That used to be Chateau Souverain. You can still find the last of the Souverain wines at Costco and some other retailers, but at some point that label's going to go away. If you were up that way, then you were really close to places like Sausal, J, Jordan, Silver Oak, Armida, Davis Bynum, Seghesio.......

 

Sterling's charging a lot now, I hear, including for that ride on the tram up to the peak. Never did like Sterling - to me they were a lot like Concannon. Big name, but not (to my taste, anyway) good wines. I go visit Concannon every 5 years, just to remind myself why I don't like their wines. Very wierd that they're next door neighbors to one of my faves, which is Retzlaff! Sterling is real close to some good wineries, too! Krug's nearby, as is Folie a Deux, and they're both good producers. the winemaker really does hav ea LOT to do with the wines!

 

You came a few weeks too early! This coming weekend is the russian River Valley's annual Barrel Tasting Weekend. It's expanded now to include Alexander Valley and Dry Creek. $10 gets you a glass and entry to participating wineries to taste from the barrels, no just in the tasting room. Most of the wineries also have entertainment and food, all part of the event at no additional cost. I plan to go. My wife will be with me and will be my designated driver, so I can just go to town and taste everything in sight!

 

Hey VG! You should go to this event as well. It's a great way to get to know the area, the wineries and the wines. Russian River Valley is know for great pinots. Alexander Valley for cabs and zins. Dry Creek for cabs. Also some very, very good restaurants in the area. I plan to have dinner at one of them after the wine tasting, but not sure yet which one.

[floppydrive]

Yup, Krug's still going strong, and still owned by Peter Mondavi, brother of the much more famous Robert Mondavi. I think the family feud's finally been patched up - sorta. Great cabs from Krug, better (I think) than from Robert Mondavi, at least the Napa Valley cabs. Opus One, of course, is a different beast altogether!

Maybe it's more of a marketing issue - Robert might be better than Peter in this aspect. Just look at Rossi - it even comes in a jug - with a screw on cap! But it's available around the world. Haven't heard of Krug outside of California. The only other time I saw one was in Top Gun (the movie). Tom Cruise was at the girl's place and they were drinking a Krug chardonnay.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there another Krug winery that makes great champaign (or sparkling wine if it's not in France)?

Edited February 27, 2007 by floppydrive

[bods1000]

Sterling's charging a lot now, I hear, including for that ride on the tram up to the peak. Never did like Sterling - to me they were a lot like Concannon. Big name, but not (to my taste, anyway) good wines. I go visit Concannon every 5 years, just to remind myself why I don't like their wines. Very wierd that they're next door neighbors to one of my faves, which is Retzlaff! Sterling is real close to some good wineries, too! Krug's nearby, as is Folie a Deux, and they're both good producers. the winemaker really does hav ea LOT to do with the wines!

 

now there goes that terroir theory

same location, same soil, same climate, but very different quality wines!

more power to the winemakers!

[male_spud]

i've been drinking wine for a couple of years now (mostley chilean merlots and Napa valley cabernets) and would like to really get into the intricacies of wine tasting... any recommended reading material to give me a start? thanks!

[agxo3]

Maybe it's more of a marketing issue - Robert might be better than Peter in this aspect. Just look at Rossi - it even comes in a jug - with a screw on cap! But it's available around the world. Haven't heard of Krug outside of California. The only other time I saw one was in Top Gun (the movie). Tom Cruise was at the girl's place and they were drinking a Krug chardonnay.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there another Krug winery that makes great champaign (or sparkling wine if it's not in France)?

 

Definitely marketing making the difference here. From what I seem to recall, that was one of the reasons for the split - Robert wanted to grow the business and Peter wanted to be the "true winemaker".

 

There's a Krug in Reims, France - and it does champagne. www.krug.com Reims is one the cities know =n for its champagne producers. The other is Epernay, at the other end of the champagne region. Moet & Chandon and Perrier-Jouet are among the top Epernay producers. Krug is one of Reims' best known houses.

[agxo3]

now there goes that terroir theory

same location, same soil, same climate, but very different quality wines!

more power to the winemakers!

 

I think terroir does make a difference, but so does the winemaker. Noah's Livermore cabs (under the REtzlaff label) are markedky different from his Los Chamizol (Sonoma County) cabs under the Noah label. The Livermore cabs are riper and rounder, the Los Chamizon cabs are more refined and austere. Both good but in very different ways. But I do think the winemaker has more influence than the terroir, at least in California.

[bods1000]

I think terroir does make a difference, but so does the winemaker. Noah's Livermore cabs (under the REtzlaff label) are markedky different from his Los Chamizol (Sonoma County) cabs under the Noah label. The Livermore cabs are riper and rounder, the Los Chamizon cabs are more refined and austere. Both good but in very different ways. But I do think the winemaker has more influence than the terroir, at least in California.

 

A great winemaker can coax out a great wine from a less-than-ideal terroir, that's for sure...

Been drinking a lot of Stonehavens recently. Just rediscovered this Aussie wine. Both their shiraz and shiraz-cab are great value for the money. Nothing complicated, very fruit-driven. I'd say a steal for about P350.

Been turned off by Angove's Butterfly Ridge. They now come in screw caps

[floppydrive]

A great winemaker can coax out a great wine from a less-than-ideal terroir, that's for sure...

Been drinking a lot of Stonehavens recently. Just rediscovered this Aussie wine. Both their shiraz and shiraz-cab are great value for the money. Nothing complicated, very fruit-driven. I'd say a steal for about P350.

Been turned off by Angove's Butterfly Ridge. They now come in screw caps

Hehehe, screw caps! Reminds me of a muppets movie - Kermit & Miss Piggy go to a restaurant and Kermit orders wine. The waiter opens it and asks "Would you like to sniff the cap?"

 

Any comments on wineries that come out with semi-sweet wines? I think Angoves has a semi-sweet red, and it also has a screw cap. So does Novelino.

[bods1000]

Hehehe, screw caps! Reminds me of a muppets movie - Kermit & Miss Piggy go to a restaurant and Kermit orders wine. The waiter opens it and asks "Would you like to sniff the cap?"

 

Any comments on wineries that come out with semi-sweet wines? I think Angoves has a semi-sweet red, and it also has a screw cap. So does Novelino.

 

wineries come out with semi-sweet wines usually as a marketing ploy - just to fill out their portfolio. So if a winery has not been known for semi-sweet wines in the first place, like Rutherglen, its line of such wines is immediately suspect.

pare I sniffed Angove's screw cap and all it accomplished was nick my nose - ang talas ng dulo

[idunno]

Guys, have you tried Corte Riva Napa Valley Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon? Two Filipinos make this wine and own this label. They are rated 91+ by Wine Spectator.

 

http://www.he.net/~winezone/CorteRiva.html

 

Sayang we don't have it here in Manila...

Edited March 6, 2007 by idunno

[bods1000]

Guys, have you tried Corte Riva Napa Valley Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon? Two Filipinos make this wine and own this label. They are rated 91+ by Wine Spectator.

 

http://www.he.net/~winezone/CorteRiva.html

 

Sayang we don't have it here in Manila...

 

interesting....that proves Pinoys are capable of anything, including the archaic art of winemaking..

It could be there are still some Filipinos out there involved in the wine world....

 

thanks for the info, pare

[idunno]

Here is another Filipino family making their mark in winemaking.

 

Eden Canyon Vineyards

http://www.edencanyon.com/ourstory/

 

Danilo (Danny) Villamin Winemaker, Vineyard Manager, and Mad-Man at the Helm

Nieves Catahan Villamin The Real Farmer

(Edna) Vivian Villamin “Wine Researcher”

Elaine Villamin Wine Gypsy (Winemaker, Thirsty Traveler, and Vineyard Pixie)

 

Wine Enthusiast talked about them.

Like Father, Like Daughter

 

SF Chronicle has an article

Vineyard has Filipino touch - Father-and-daughter team own and operate Eden Canyon Winery

[agxo3]

Here is another Filipino family making their mark in winemaking.

 

Eden Canyon Vineyards

http://www.edencanyon.com/ourstory/

 

Danilo (Danny) Villamin Winemaker, Vineyard Manager, and Mad-Man at the Helm

Nieves Catahan Villamin The Real Farmer

(Edna) Vivian Villamin “Wine Researcher”

Elaine Villamin Wine Gypsy (Winemaker, Thirsty Traveler, and Vineyard Pixie)

 

Wine Enthusiast talked about them.

Like Father, Like Daughter

 

SF Chronicle has an article

Vineyard has Filipino touch - Father-and-daughter team own and operate Eden Canyon Winery

 

I knew about Eden Canyon, and have even tasted their wine. OK. Not stellar but not bad, either. Didn't know about CorteRiva. Will go check them out.

 

In the news this morning - Ernest (or was it Julio? I get them mixed up.....) Gallo (of E & J Gallo fame/notoriety) died last night at at age 96. Proves that drinking wine makes you live longer - alcohol is a preservative!

[masi]

Ernest Gallo Dies at 97

Joshua Lipton, 03.07.07, 7:15 PM ET

 

(Story lifted from Forbes.com)

 

 

"Following the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, Ernest and Julio Gallo saw a business opportunity.

 

The two brothers, sons of an Italian immigrant, started a winery in California's Central Valley called the E.&J. Gallo Winery. They rented a warehouse and bought crushing and fermentation on credit. The entrepreneurial gamble paid off.

 

That small, two-man operation blossomed into what is now the second largest wine company in the world by volume, behind Constellation Brands (nyse: STZ - news - people ). The company now sells an estimated 75 million cases under more than 40 labels.

 

"Fortune has a way of favoring those at the right place at the right time," Ernest said, "which is exactly where Julio and I were in 1933."

 

On March 7, Ernest Gallo died at his home in Modesto, California. He was 97.

 

As booze became legal again in the U.S., the Gallo brothers capitalized on the opportunity, even though they had little cash or experience to help them. Undeterred, they borrowed $5,900 and a recipe from the local library.

 

Ernest headed up the sales and marketing strategies for the young company while brother Julio made wines like Thunderbird and Night Train. (Julio died in 1993).

 

A tough businessman, Ernest Gallo took a no-nonsense approach to his employees, demanding complete and total loyalty to the family business. One time, he heard that two of his veteran executives were thinking about starting up their own winery. He fired them there and then.

 

Wine made Ernest Gallo into a very rich man. He was listed on the Forbes list of the 400 Richest Americans, with a family net worth of $1.3 billion.

 

As he became older, Gallo gradually handed power and authority over the company to his heirs. By the late 1990s, he had already passed down a majority of his 50% ownership of the company in trusts to the second and third generations.

 

The family-run company, disdained by some for its history of making mass-market jug wines, launched into the higher-end vino with some success. In 1998, the winery earned an award in London for best chardonnay in the world.

 

The Associated Press contributed to this article."

 

 

 

 

Well, I tip my cap to a man who helped get me to appreciate wine drinking at a time where I drank anything that had alcohol in it!

 

Salute!!!!

[floppydrive]

I knew about Eden Canyon, and have even tasted their wine. OK. Not stellar but not bad, either. Didn't know about CorteRiva. Will go check them out.

 

In the news this morning - Ernest (or was it Julio? I get them mixed up.....) Gallo (of E & J Gallo fame/notoriety) died last night at at age 96. Proves that drinking wine makes you live longer - alcohol is a preservative!

 

I agree! Also, if you noticed the picture of Ernest they used in Yahoo! it was taken at THE 90th BIRTHDAY party of Robert Mondavi. And the article mentioned that Julio died in 1993 so he must have been in his late 70's /early 80's. Was he the wino in their family?

 

Though we don't particularly like the Gallo wines in this thread, we all have to agree that the brothers made wine available everywhere thru low pricing and good marketing skills.

[agxo3]

I agree! Also, if you noticed the picture of Ernest they used in Yahoo! it was taken at THE 90th BIRTHDAY party of Robert Mondavi. And the article mentioned that Julio died in 1993 so he must have been in his late 70's /early 80's. Was he the wino in their family?

 

Though we don't particularly like the Gallo wines in this thread, we all have to agree that the brothers made wine available everywhere thru low pricing and good marketing skills.

 

Julio was the wino. Ernest was the marketing genius.

 

While Gallo mostly made budget mass-market wines, they did have some higher end wines that have been well-reviewed. These are the wines under the Gallo of Sonoma brand. Good pinot noirs, and decent zins.

 

I didn't get to go on the Russian River Wine Road barrel tasting weekend after all! My wife was not feeling 100% and I was a bit lazy. My brother flaked out on us as well. So - it was a stay home weekend.

 

However - I did go to pick up some smoked pork chops at Schaub's Meat market. A quick pan fry just to brown them (they're smoked so fully cooked and ready to eat), toss some Brussels sprouts (kinda like mini-cabbages but sweeter) in another pan after frying up some finely chopped bacon adding some onions after a few minutes, open a nice '99 J Nicole's Vineyard pinot noir and voila! A feast fit for a king!

[bods1000]

The Gallo saga reminds me a lot of those recent posts about Filipinos turning into winemaking there. The Gallos were immigrants too, albeit from a wine-producing country, but the similarity is there. Small capital, family-owned and family-run...

I also read somewhere that for the first wine that the Gallos made, they just got a wine recipe from the Modesto public library. They then sold the wine for 50c a gallon and it was an instant hit.

Yup, agxo is right about Gallo making high-end wines and this is under the tutelage of the winemaker Gina Gallo, who I believe is a granddaughter.

Also, Ernest and Julio has a third brother, Joseph, who did not join their winemaking jaunt but instead went to dairy farming (he used to handle the Gallo farm). For decades, the brothers engaged in a legal tangle about the use of the Gallo name because I think Joseph named his farm Gallo Farms. The winemaking duo finally won out in the end; Joseph ended up renaming his farm Joseph Farms, which today is still a top level dairy and cheese concern in California.

Joseph also died recently I think also in his 90's, which just goes to prove that milk, not just wine, is also good for longevity.

[redshirt]

If I may ask what would be a nice wine to pair with Petit Camembert cheese?

 

cheers!

 

I tried it with a 2005 bottle of french merlot but it didint compliment the cheese well.

[masi]

If I may ask what would be a nice wine to pair with Petit Camembert cheese?

 

cheers!

 

I tried it with a 2005 bottle of french merlot but it didint compliment the cheese well.

 

 

if i may ask, what do you usually drink?

 

pairing wines and cheese is a delicate activity. Camembert is a soft cheese and quite subtle on the palate. A merlot may overpower the cheese. However, being 2005 vintage may be too young for a merlot which usually takes about at least 4 years to evolve to its fullness. This could also be the reason that the 2 didn't pair off to your liking.

 

there may be some conventions that would apply to pairings but in the final analysis, it's what you like that makes the experience worthwhile.

 

on a personal note, i usually pair asiago with a pinot noir.

[masi]

parengs bods, storm, agxo, floppy... i'm in the final stages of moving into my new office and getting my engineers upto speed with the new software. once i have "ramped up" operations, i'll definitely "pop" some corks.

[redshirt]

if i may ask, what do you usually drink?

 

pairing wines and cheese is a delicate activity. Camembert is a soft cheese and quite subtle on the palate. A merlot may overpower the cheese. However, being 2005 vintage may be too young for a merlot which usually takes about at least 4 years to evolve to its fullness. This could also be the reason that the 2 didn't pair off to your liking.

 

there may be some conventions that would apply to pairings but in the final analysis, it's what you like that makes the experience worthwhile.

 

on a personal note, i usually pair asiago with a pinot noir.

 

Im not realy a wine drinker, but i love cheese. I often drink cocktails. Are there any suggestions on what kinds to try and buy?

[masi]

Im not realy a wine drinker, but i love cheese. I often drink cocktails. Are there any suggestions on what kinds to try and buy?

 

 

Strong flavored and "spicy" cheese would go well with fuller bodied, complex wines like your cabernet sauvignon, merlot and shiraz. Light/medium flavored cheese would pair well will lighter bodied wines like tempranillo, pinot noir, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay etc. Again this is the convention but not a hard and fast rule.

 

Manchego, strong cheddar, edam, parmessan would qualify as stong cheese;

Asiago, camembert, brie, mozzorela, for me would qualify as light to medium cheese.

 

 

 

On occasions when I will drink scotch whiskey (blended or single malt), I will not hesitate to pair it with asiago or a strong cheddar. Again this is my personal choice.

[bods1000]

parengs bods, storm, agxo, floppy... i'm in the final stages of moving into my new office and getting my engineers upto speed with the new software. once i have "ramped up" operations, i'll definitely "pop" some corks.

 

....and we are ready with the bottles and corkscrews - just say when, pare...

 

cheers! and congratulations, too, pare. You did well....