Archives for June, 2007
OK, Again
The next night. It’s getting late. It’s hot and humid. I’m in the mood for a nightcap, which my dictionary defines as, “an alcoholic or hot drink taken at the end of the day or before going to bed.” I’ve got the aforementioned Brandy, which I bought for exactly an occasion such as this. Brandy is often drank in a snifter usually at room temperature but many people like to warm it up a bit by holding the bowl in their hands. That’s fine and dandy but tonight I did something I’ve never done before. I’m hot enough that I want a cool drink. I considered a glass of white wine but it just didn’t feel right. I considered a bourbon but it’s after 11:00 and bourbon usually gives me a lift and what I want is a mellowing agent. Thus I turn to the Brandy. But it’s hot so I poured poured a shot over ice. I almost cringed as I did it wondering if I was making a mistake.
What… a… wonderful… surprise. The flavor was all smoky sweetness and the ice took away the heat. It was quenching and soothing and I think I’ve got a new Summer late night ritual.
An Indulgence
I hate visiting a wine blog and seeing articles about beer or vodka. When I visit a wine blog I wanna read about wine, damnit*. And it’s not just beer and vodka but those are the two most frequent intruders in the winesphere. I can tolerate an occasional post about gin but that’s because it’s the anti-vodka, the finest of which still tastes like formaldehyde, if you ask me, and don’t even get me started on how and why a vodka martini is no such thing. Don’t believe me? Look it up. A martini is a “cocktail made from gin and dry vermouth.”
Brandy, however, while not usually as compelling as wine, is at least made from grapes and sometimes even made in the same facility. I am therefore going to go slightly “off topic” and mention the one I’m drinking tonight.
Cardenal Mendoza Brandy de Jerez has an amazing mahogany, cocoa, coffee and deep amber color. I could almost just hold it up in the glass and look it at it to get a buzz but I can’t do that with something so fine and amazing. It smells like it looks and it tastes like it smells: woodfire roasted chocolate covered coffee beans with a pleasant burning aftertase of alcohol. I don’t like high alcohol wines (except when I do) but I love a brandy that seduces my tongue with a calmative warmth. I hesitated a few seconds at the $53 price tag but quickly calculated that I often consume $10-20 worth of wine in a single dinner and this will probably last more than a month even if I were to indulge in a nightly night-cap twixt now and then so I came home feeling like a bargain shopper.
*I know the common spelling is “dammit” but I can’t bring myself to use it. The words are “damn it” and I’ll be damned if I use dammit. I usually opt for the colloquial but in this case formality feels more forceful.
Packaging Followup: Meeker Get’s It!
I should have read the letter included with the Meeker shipment before spouting off about their use of styrofoam. Ironically, as soon as I published the previous post I sat down to read it and was delighted to read that they are going to start using cardboard packaging. Better than that, they also announced that it will be less expensive. I’m glad to hear it.
Tablas Creek, Cotes de Tablas Blanc, 2005
I have a new crush.
I visited Tablas Creek a couple weeks ago and loved every wine I tasted. They make wines from organic grapes in the Rhone style, both white and red. With most of their wines priced at $27 and up they’re a little out of my budget range except for occasional drinking but I bought a mixed case and signed up for their wine club. In a nutshell, these are the wines I was looking for on my trip to the Central Cost wine region: finely crafted, organic wines made in an old world style with lots of minerality and earthiness.
The Cotes de Tablas Blanc is a Viognier, Roussanne, Marsane, Grenache Blanc blend. Meant to drink young, it’s got mild acidity, a smooth and creamy mouth-feel and a hoppy (mildly bitter herbs) taste with a very ripe apricot finish.
Double Plus Good.
Red Packaging*
I have received four packages of wine in the last two weeks and something about this pisses me off. Fortunately, something else also pleases me. The weird thing is that the ones I expect more from didn’t deliver. To wit:
Preston Vineyards shipped me a case of their 2006 Vin Gris, which I bought “taste-unsipped” based solely on how much I loved the 2005. I anxiously look forward to trying it but in the meantime I’m gagging immediately after opening the box. This is how Preston describes themselves,
Preston of Dry Creek is an ORGANIC family farm rooted in the agrarian traditions of Dry Creek Valley. We make broad and best use of our land by tending vines well suited to our distinctive terroir and creating limited production wines from the best and most interesting grapes. We produce fresh, delicious products from our olive groves, garden and commercial bakery. At Preston we subscribe to organic farming and minimalist winemaking, preferring purity of flavor and product while sustaining our environment. We welcome visitors to our peaceful oasis.
To which they ought to add, “but we still haven’t kicked the habit of packing our wines in the most environmentally irresponsible material: styrofoam which not only smells bad but is petroleum based and a heavy pollutant. Styrofoam, most of which ends up in landfills, doesn’t biodegrade and breaks down into small particles which often end up choking animals digestive systems.”
Tablas Creek, another organic winery whose web site cites their “Tablas Creek Philosophy”:
[We] imported the traditional varietals grown on the Perrins’ celebrated estate, including Mourvèdre, Grenache Noir, Syrah, and Counoise for reds, and Roussanne, Viognier, Marsanne, and Grenache Blanc for whites. These imported vines passed a rigorous 3-year USDA testing program, and are propagated and grafted in an on-site nursery. All Tablas Creek wines are estate grown and organically farmed on our vineyard… …Tablas Creek follows the centuries-old Châteauneuf du Pape tradition of blending chosen varietals, which produces wines that are more complex, better balanced, and richer than single varietal wines. Each varietal is hand-harvested when completely ripe and fermented separately. Winemaking, including native yeast fermentation and neutral French oak barrels, preserves the wines’ ties to their soil, climate, and varietal character.
One wishes they paid such particular attention to their packaging.
Caparone Vineyards worsts them both, though, by not only using styrofoam but using a type that is made up of millions of miniscule styrofoam pellets which break loose and stick to the bottles and everything else they come into contact with. They are static electricity charged and in fact stick to everything they come in contact with . I had to use a wet rage to individually wash each bottle only to end up with thousands of tiny white pellets all over the rag, the counter, the floor and myself.
Thankfully, Clautier Vineyards and Meeker Winery are using a friendlier, biodegradable cardboard packing material that works just as well at keeping the bottles safe and intact. I suppose it could be argued that styrofoam insulates the bottles more efficiently but any self-respecting winery shouldn’t be shipping wines past June when it’s too likely that they’ll end up sitting for hours in a boiling hot truck before delivery. (That’s one of the reasons for this rash of ordering — I was trying to stock up before the high heat of summer arrives.)
In a nutshell, styrofoam has to go! I know it was the only viable option for a long time but there are many alternatives and the more widespread their use the more their costs will continue to come down as they have been doing for the last several years. I already pay up to $36 per case for shipping and as much as it hurts I would be willing to absorb another couple bucks if I had to. An interim solution might be to offer the buyer a choice: say, $40 per case for “green” packaging or $36 for styrofoam.
It should go without saying that I enjoy the wines from the above wineries who use styrofoam and will continue to buy from them but I hope they fix this soon.
* as in not “green”