|
|
| June, 2009 Membership E-Newsletter |
|
|
|
 2007 Penner Ash Futures Have Arrived
If you bought 'em, we now have 'em. But, it is too hot to ship by ground virtually everywhere. We'll ship these wines in the fall, when things are cooler. You can also call for a quote for air shipping if you want the wine now. Finally, if you agree to accept responsibility for any damage caused by weather, we will ship your wine anytime.
Rafting on the Rogue: Sold Out!
Thanks to everyone who signed up for the trip. I spent the morning on the phone with the chef, planning the menu for our trip! I'll see you all on July 6.
Sincerely, Pinotguy Bob | |
 The Drinking of Old Wine
I really like to drink old wine. Ritualistic cork pulling, sniffing, tasting, evaluating - that's a fun time. But most importantly, the flavor of old wine can be experienced by no other method than making young wine, and then waiting. Alas, most wine doesn't age well - it's not made to age well. Even the stuff we think will age often disappoints.
There are other pitfalls to having a passion for old wine. Time can be cruel to vino, and storage more so. Sometimes wine goes bad in a manner that is completely out of your control. Consider two identical bottles side by side in the cellar - after ten years, one may be glorious and the other crap because of a defect in a cork, for example. And if your storage is not at least good, don't invest in ageable wine. I could weep a river for all the potentially-great wine I've seen that was bad from lousy storage.
The irrational reverence automatically accorded wine simply because it is old is another rant. Here are my criteria: It's gotta have fruit, length, and balance. Fellow tasters frequently gush nonsense like, "this still has some life to it," and "it's amazing it has lasted this long" when, clearly, the wine in question was dead-on-arrival and tasted like old bilge water. Old wine is not special simply due to age. It is special when it gets old gracefully, and takes on those crazy flavors that can only come from old wine.
The longer you wait with wine, the greater the risk something will happen to ruin the wine. I have had clients tell me, "I only drink pinots with at least six years of age on them." To which I inevitably reply, "I drink pinots when they taste good, regardless of age." I'd rather drink a wine young, than to wait too long.
That said, some wines seem timeless. While Bordeaux has its fans, I love the old Barolos. I drank a '67 Conterno Barolo just two weeks ago, and it was delicious. Curiously, I don't think there was much alcohol left - I got no buzz from an entire bottle. The '78 Bruno Giacosa consumed the next week was even better, and still had plenty of alcohol.
Burgundy is the legendary crap shoot of old wine drinking. Sometimes it is so good, it will change your life. I built my first wine room to store Burgundy, hoping to capture that ethereal, remarkable flavor. But no other wine can disappoint as much - or as often - with a bad bottle, either. I drank a '79 Faiveley Chambertin Clos de Beze a few days ago that was glorious! But a '76 La Tache last weekend was bad, bad, bad.
There are necessary rituals and paraphernalia attendant to old wine drinking. The best cork screw for soft, crumbly old corks is the ah-so, which has two flat prongs mounted on a handle. One prong goes in on either side of the cork, placed there by a gentle back-and-forth movement, and the device is then twisted slowly as it is withdrawn. I've saved more decrepit corks with that tool . . .
When prepping the bottle, set it upright for as long as you can. A couple of weeks are not too long to let super-fine sediment settle. Remove all neck labels and the capsule, so that the neck of the bottle is visible. If there is a cake of sediment in the neck, I generally pour with the sediment down - that way, it won't break off in chunks into the wine. I pour against a piece of white paper with a strong light so I can see the wine in the neck of the bottle - stop when you can see the sediment enter the neck.
There are filters and such for decanting old wine. I use a Melitta cone-shaped coffee filter - it strains out all the super-fine stuff that can otherwise make the wine bitter. There are advocates for straining the sediment with your teeth, but I prefer the sweeter fruit flavor produced by my method. I've had twenty-five year old bottles with two inches of gunk at the bottom of the bottle - and I've strained that gunk to get the last few drops of precious liquid.
Once decanted, taste the wine right away. Old vino can be volatile, and taste good for a short time only before degenerating into sour, muddy plonk. Really good old wine will blossom in the air and be drinkable for hours.
Despite the disappointments and bad bottles, the glorious, heady flavor of great old wine is very much worth pursuing, and should be at least an occasional goal for any serious wino. Well-aged wine and the attendant efforts and rituals are part of what makes our passion for wine a significant contribution to culture, and not just a habit of drinking. If you as yet feel not the passion for the old wine, just wait - one day you will taste a magnificent old wine, and you will know it then and there. And then you will be one of us. |
2007 Phelps Creek Pinot Noir Estate Reserve $47
2007 Phelps Creek Pinot Noir Cuvee Alexandrine $47
 A Tale of Two VinosIt was the best of wine, it was the worst of wine.
Actually, this tale is about two wines, both good, and both from Phelps Creek Vineyards. One was made by Rich Cushman, a long-time Oregon wine figure, and the other by Alexandrine Roy, scion of and winemaker for Domaine Marc Roy of Burgundy. Our World Class Club this month includes one bottle of each wine.
The Phelps Creek "Estate Reserve" was crafted by Rich Cushman, a fellow who has worked for several Oregon producers over the years including Cooper Mountain, and who has his own label, "Viento." Over the span of 23 harvests, Cushman has learned the way of Oregon pinot as well as anyone.
The Phelps Creek "Cuvee Alexandrine" was made by Alexandrine Roy, scion of and winemaker for the respected Burgundy house Domaine Marc Roy.
The wines were both made from Estate fruit, but after that the winemaking styles veered apart:
The Estate Reserve (ER) was picked later, and the finished wine has nearly a point higher alcohol. The Cuvee Alexandrine (CA) was picked earlier, with less-ripe flavors and lower potential alcohol.
 The ER was destemmed and crushed and underwent a 5-day cold soak. This tends to extract color and aromatics without extracting too much tannin. The CA was destemmed and crushed and then subject to saignee, where some juice is drained from the must. This concentrates the must, adding (one hopes) additional desirable color, flavor and aroma elements. The ER was inoculated with commercial yeast. The CA was allowed to ferment spontaneously with native yeasts.
The ER was punched down regularly, a process that mixes the "cap" of skins back into the fermenting must to extract more color and flavor. The CA was "pumped over," a different method of accomplishing the same task. The winemakers disagree about which technique is gentler.
The effects of those steps - and others - on the final wine are well known, and outline some basic differences both in style, and in palate preference.
The Estate Reserve pinot is darker, bigger-bodied with higher alcohol, and has riper flavors and a more-noticeable oak flavor profile. It is in the popular style that dominates Oregon pinot noir.
The Cuvee Alexandrine by contrast is medium-bodied, somewhat less deeply colored, and  shows more fine structure and possesses an elegance of balance that fans of traditionally-made pinot noir find desirable. This was a tasty and very interesting experiment that also allows for a great tasting lesson in pinot noir style for members of our World Class Wine Club. I suggest trying these wines side-by-side, first with out food and then with various food matches. Each wine will have its fans, but the fun will be in the comparison.
A special note is due the location of Phelps Creek, in the Columbia Gorge AVA. This region lies due east of Portland, along the Columbia River that forms the border between Oregon and Washington. The AVA crosses the river and includes land in both states (just like the Columbia Valley and Walla Walla AVAs). This region is vigorous and growing in importance as a source for great pinot noir grapes, and is home to an increasing number of producers as well. The Willamette Valley still rules, obviously, but it's not the only player in the pinot game in Oregon. |
|
PREMIUM CLUB WINES
 2003 Medici Pinot Noir East Block
Price: $29 Drinkability: Peaking now! Availability: Good for now
WOW! This new release is in amazing drinking shape right now, at a price that is hard to believe. This wine is ripe and rambunctious, yet with superb acidic structure. It is beautifully balanced and has had exactly the right amount of cellar time to integrate the flavors perfectly without showing any signs of excessive age. It defies the fatty goo-bomb character of '03 in delicious fashion. Here's the story.
Hal Medici has some old-vine vineyards on the slopes of Chehalem Mountain. They've been the source of some memorable pinots from Oregon's past.
Sineann's Peter Rosback started making wine for Hal, using that old-vine fruit, back in about 2000. But, Hal does not do a lot of wine marketing. He sells his wine at his own pace. In fact, he still has several past vintages to sell. So, these '03s have patiently waited in his cellar until just now. In fact, the OPNC is getting the first world-wide exclusive access to these wines.
Now, '03 was a ripe, fat vintage lacking in structure. Many of those wines have aged poorly, and are an alcoholic, sweet mess right now. Not so this Medici wine made by Rosback. It is fresh, with plenty of acidity, tons of fruit, and has achieved that state of complexity where the wine is integrated but not showing any signs of old age at all. It sports the ripe, rambunctious fruit of '03, but also has impeccable balance. In short, it is excellent.
This is a real treat, and a wine that all of our clients should consider - it's a particular benefit that the price point allows me to send it out to Premium Club member. Note that there were two of these '03s made by Medici. Next month our Premium Club members will be fortunate enough to get a bottle of the other wine, the '03 Medici Pinot Noir Bock I,II.
 2007 J. Christopher Pinot Noir Willamette Valley
Price: $21 Drinkability: Good, getting better Availability: Good for the short term Another one of our favorite small producers has a wine that is flying off the shelves here. The hype is helped along by an extremely favorable review by Wine Spectator and Oregonian columnist Matt Kramer. Note that I put the "meat" of the review up front; you can read the entire thing by clicking here (I encourage you to read the article). From Kramer: "This is impeccable pinot noir delivering ripe-tasting, beautifully detailed fruit devoid of the excessive "sweet" fruit that can characterize some Oregon pinots, as well as any noticeable oakiness. Here you find classic, fully ripe berryish pinot noir flavors --especially wild cherry delivered in an admirably austere fashion with not a hint of greenness or excessive acidity. This is an Oregon pinot noir you could easily mistake for a very fine red Burgundy in a blind tasting." As with most of Jay's wines, this one is in demand and a huge hit in the local market. This wine is available now, but it won't last for long.
| |
|
|
Robert Wolfe
Oregon Pinot Noir Club · 1-800-847-4474 |
|
|
