Dave McIntyre's WineLine

USA Today on Regional Wine

USA Today, the nation's newspaper, dropped at hotel room doors across the land every morning, last week endorsed the regional wine movement with a travel feature on 10 "local" wine regions to visit. This is a great idea - if your business or pleasure takes you to St. Louis, consider a detour to Hermann. Heading to New York? Linger awhile in the Finger Lakes. Taking your family to Washington, DC, for some American history, or Charlottesville, to see Jefferson's Monticello? Guess what? Wine country is just around the corner.

The article is also a tribute to Regional Wine Week and DrinkLocalWine.com, as Jeff Siegel and I were interviewed about emerging wine regions across the country.

Oz Clarke Gives Two Thumbs Way Up for Virginia Wine!

Here's a great way to start Regional Wine Week: I received my copy of Oz Clarke's Pocket Wine Guide 2011 yesterday - it's a fun, handy reference volume with short entries on wine grapes, regions and producers around the world, with vintage charts, liberally peppered with bons mots from the effervescently witty Oz. I always enjoy reading his introduction, which this year warns against complacency by wine drinkers in the face of anti-alcohol activists who don't distinguish among drinks.

Then he describes what wines excite him lately. There are some unpronounceable Turkish varieties, and he's hot for Slovenian Furmint and even Cabernet Sauvignon from Jordan. (The country, not the Sonoma County winery.) He's rediscovered Chardonnay from California, New Zealand and Australia, and while he doesn't seem to share my love for Argentina, he gives a begrudging nod to Torrontes.

And then there's this:

"My most thrilling discovery in the USA this year has been the wine from vineyards spread around Washington, DC, in particular those of Virginia, whose sumptuous, scented Viogniers are world-class. A perfect partner for the leaner, racier delights of New York State."

Some disclosure is in order here. I contribute entries on the Eastern United States to this book, and I hosted (and wrote about) Clarke when he visited the Washington area earlier this year and shared his opinions on some local wines. When I met him, though, it was clear he was already quite familiar with many wines from the Mid-Atlantic region and particularly jazzed about Virginia Viognier.

Don't forget to check out DrinkLocalWine.com this week for more postings on regional wines!

On Aging New York Rieslings

Can Riesling age? Of course! you say. Anyone who has tasted an old spatlese from the Mosel or trockenbeerenauslese from the Rheingau knows that Riesling can age spectacularly. But what if I directed your attention away from Germany to a younger wine region that is building a modest name for itself with the grape -- say, perhaps, the Finger Lakes in upstate New York? Would you be so quick to answer?

We tend to think of white wines as designed for early consumption, when they are fresh and vibrant. And New York's finest Rieslings are delightful upon release, so most probably don't linger in collectors' cellars. But winemakers tend to be nerdy about such things, so when I visited the Finger Lakes earlier this year, I had the pleasure of experiencing two vertical tastings of several vintages with the winemakers.

The first was Peter Bell, the talented winemaker at Fox Run Vineyards in Penn Yan, on the northwestern side of Seneca Lake. Bell poured nine wines. Five were dry -- starting with the 2008 Reserve and going back through dry Rieslings from 2007, 2006, 2003 and 2001. The 2008 Reserve was rich and focused, showing the lime flavor and bracing acidity that is increasingly defining the Finger Lakes signature for Riesling. The 2007, from a hot year, seemed more advanced and petrolly, a characteristic Deutchophiles would appreciate. The 2001 had turned tropical, exhibiting mango, orange and pineapple flavors.

Bell's second flight featured four sweeter wines, including the delicious Fox Run Riesling 2008, which I recommended in yesterday's column. This was followed by the 2006 Reserve and the 2004 and 2001 Rieslings. (Like most Finger Lakes wineries, Fox Run makes several Rieslings with varying levels of sweetness. Fortunately, Fox Run and many others have begun indicating the sweetness levels on the label.) The sugar helped these wines age; my favorite was the exotic 2004, while the '01 had taken on an appealing nutty character.

The second tasting occurred a few days later over dinner at Red Newt Cellars, a winery and bistro combination located in Hector, on Seneca Lake's east side. Red Newt is the creation of the talented husband-and-wife team of David and Debra Whiting -- he makes the wine, while she helms the bistro with fresh, locally sourced food. (Debra made her reputation with cheesecake, so save room for dessert.)

Over dinner for about two dozen paying guests, David Whiting served three vintages of his Reserve Riesling, 2008, 2006 and 2003. "These were the best three vintages of the last 10 years, and also the coolest," he said. Of those vintages, 2008 was slightly warmer and produced a softer, more supple wine, while 2003, the coolest, yielded a more austere wine. In true Goldilocks fashion, I preferred the '06, which was spicy, citrusy, fat and luscious.

So if you find some older New York Rieslings in your cellar, don't despair. They might be settling in for the long haul.

(Originally posted on The Washington Post's All We Can Eat blog on Sept. 30.)

New York on My Mind

I'm a big fan of New York wines. Riesling from the Finger Lakes seems to get better every year, especially as winemakers continue to carve out a distinctive style that speaks of the region's terroir. Are they particularly German? Well, maybe not, though some definitely have that mineral oil quality (many wine lovers call it petrol or diesel, but I think mineral oil seems more positive a reference). The ones that send me over the top when I taste them have bracing acidity and an almost unbearable lightness of being, an ephemeral characteristic that leaves flavors flitting across your palate with surprising complexity, even if the initial impression may not carry depth. If I had to point to a German region and insist on making the comparison, I'd say Finger Lakes Rieslings (at least the ones that excite me the most) remind me of the delicate wines from the Mittelrhein, which admittedly is not Germany's most revered wine region. (Though I love that delicacy!) So perhaps it's best just to say that New York is carving out its own identity with the grape.

Of course, I have a soft spot for Seneca Lake, which is the middle finger. (Ba-da-boom!)

Some of my favorites? Hermann J. Wiemer and Dr. Konstantin Frank are the most classic. The ones that I find especially enticing come from Fox Run, Anthony Road and Red Newt. Chateau Lafayette Reneau had a wonderful Riesling that won Best in Show at the Atlantic Seaboard Wine Competition once, and at this year's judging I flipped for what turned out to be the 2009 Dry Riesling from Glenora.

New York is not limited to the Finger Lakes, of course. Long Island is making some delicious reds, and this region is also establishing its own style and character - the better wineries are no longer trying to make Pomerol, they're just happy making the best damn Long Island merlot they can.

And more and more New York wines are now reaching the D.C. area market, which means they are making enough to distribute wines outside the state. This was the topic of my Washington Post column last week. This column was particularly gratifying because it engendered considerably more response than I usually get, through e-mails and phone calls. Most of them said something like, "Nice column, but you didn't mention my favorite ... " That means readers are aware of New York wines and looking out for them, whether on their travels up north or now on their local retail shelves.

For more information about New York's wineries, go to uncorknewyork.com, the website of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation, or to Lenn Thompson's New York Cork Report. Don't forget Regional Wine Week coming up Oct. 10-16 on DrinkLocalWine.com!

Regional Wine Week Oct. 10-16

Calling all wine bloggers: Don't forget the third annual Regional Wine Week, next week, Oct. 10-16. Not that you haven't been writing about your local wines all year, but this is the time to draw extra attention to the exciting wines "from around here, wherever 'here' happens to be."

Here's info on the week at DrinkLocalWine.com, which will post links to as many articles as we can find about local wine. The website is also a one-stop portal for readers interested in learning about wines from anywhere in the U.S. - or at least those areas that you don't normally read about (as in, the West Coast). 

But DrinkLocalWIne.com is more than just an interesting collection of articles about wines you may never find on your local retail shelves. If you are planning a trip somewhere, say to Philadelphia or the Lehigh Valley in eastern Pennsylvania, check out DrinkLocalWine for articles by Paul Vigna or David Falchek for suggestions on what local wines to seek out while you're there. Headed for New York City? Even if you aren't able to get to wine country in the Finger Lakes or Long Island, on DrinkLocalWine.com you can find links to Lenn Thompson's fine New York Cork Report and other scribblings about the Empire State's vino.

It's not just a wine website, but also a travel resource.

Weather Plays Games with the 2010 Harvest

This year's strange weather is playing some real mind games on vintners as they begin the 2010 harvest. Here in the Eastern U.S., harvest is earlier than ever after an exceptionally hot and dry weather helped ripen grapes - or at least spike sugar levels - faster than anyone could have imagined. Out West, a cooler-than-usual summer has delayed harvest, raising fears that the autumn rains will begin before the grapes are off the vine.

Here is my early harvest update in Wednesday's Washington Post along with my monthly list of Recession Buster recommendations. This month features some boxed wines, perfect for your end-of-summer cookouts.

Now, we have Hurricane Earl, a Category 4 storm, bearing down on the East Coast. If forecasts hold, it should not have a great effect on Virginia or Maryland, but it could deliver a lot of wind and rain to Long Island at an inopportune time. Stay tuned ....

More from Oz Clarke

When I wrote about my tasting party with Oz Clarke, the gregarious and hilarious British wine writer, several readers chastised me for not revealing Oz's reactions to the individual wines. So he was kind enough to send me some tasting notes of his favorites. Keep in mind that we tasted probably 30 or so wines that evening ranging up and down the East Coast of the US, but centered on the Mid-Atlantic region. Here are the ones that stuck in Oz's mind:

NASSAU VALLEY VINEYARDS (DELAWARE) CHARDONNAY  2006 AND CABERNET SAUVIGNON 2007

These Delaware wines were new to me. I really liked the lean, stoney fruit, even a little leafy in the red, and the restrained alcohol. I’d countenance a very light hand with the oak, but this is a promising newcomer.

BLACK ANKLE VINEYARDS VIOGNIER 2009 AND LEAF-STONE SYRAH 2008 (MARYLAND)

With a name like that, you just know I’m going to love the wines, though my fantasy about the exact turn of the black ankle may not be entirely based on fact. These are restrained, reserved styles from Frederick County in Maryland and good examples of Maryland’s late but youthful charge on the Eastern wine scene. Or should I say, re-charge; I have fond memories of Byrd Chardonnays from the 1980s.

MICHAEL SHAPS PETIT VERDOT 2005 (VIRGINIA)

Virginia just loves to play hard ball. Most wine regions steer well clear of Petit Verdot – too tricky to ripen, too tannic, can’t pronounce the name, blah, blah. But good ’ole Virginia thinks – hey. Warmish climate, humid, rain in the fall – Petit Verdot, thick skin to avoid rot, needs the heat. We can do that – and they do.  Lovely dark fruit, pleasant tannic grip, a smudge of oak. Welcome to your New World home, P-V.

HORTON VINEYARDS RKATSITELI RESERVE 2008 (VIRGINIA)

Now. Is that R silent? Some people call it Rekatsiteli, the Finger Lakes boys call it Arkatsiteli – but that R, – that P in Russian – isn’t it silent before a consonant? I learnt a bit of Russian – admittedly from a book published in the 1930s when presumably most decent Russian linguists had been incarcerated – so that I could sing Mussorgsky better. I then realised that Mussorgsky isn’t one of those guys you can sing better unless you’re born in deepest Siberia with a throat as wide as a 100-year-old pine tree trunk, so I sort of lost interest. But I still think the R/P question is silent before a consonant. I’m going to pronounce it Katsiteli. And Horton, God bless the fact that they’ve probably planted a row or two of every vine variety known to man – produce a really classic, full, apple puree example only matched in the East by Frank’s Finger Lakes classic that I tasted a few days later. 

SHINDIG 2009 (FINGER LAKES, NEW YORK)

For those toffee-noses who don’t believe the hybrids can do dick shit (sorry, ed - Note from Dave: That's OK, this is the Internet!) this mean, lean, chewy, apple skin and shimmering green flesh tongue scourer is 80% Vidal with a dash of Riesling to pull it towards the legit. side of the blanket.

BOXWOOD WINERY “BOXWOOD” 2007, (VIRGINIA) 

Well, some Virginian had to take on the twin Shibboleths of St-Emilion garagiste and Napa Titan. It’s pretty good if that’s your thing – and Virginia is sort of equidistant, so it should be good. (Note from Dave: Boxwood does two red blends: Topiary, which is modeled after St. Emilion - half merlot, half cabernet franc - and Boxwood, which follows a Left Bank recipe based on cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot. We tasted the Boxwood, because that’s the one I had on hand, but Oz can be forgiven for mixing them up slightly given the sheer number of wines we tasted that night. Besides, we probably talked about the Topiary and how that is the most popular of the two.)

BILTMORE RESERVE CHARDONNAY 2008, (NORTH CAROLINA)

I’ve been looking at photos of that damned railroad pile for so long, and at last I taste the wine. Intair-es-ting. Here come de Judge. (Note from Dave: I don’t understand this. But the wine was pretty good!)

  

Wines from Where?

Wines are now made in all 50 states - but would you know that by looking at a typical wine list or store shelf?

Andrew Stover, the hyper-energetic millenial generation sommelier at two hip Washington D.C. restuarants, is trying to change that perception. Working with a D.C.-area distributor, Stover is bringing high-quality and high-value wines from aorund the US to the DC-area market. These include Arizona Stronghold from Cochise County, Arizona, and Sawtooth Vineyards from the Snake River Valley in Idaho.

Let go your prejudices. I did - I'd never heard of Maynard James Keenan, the rock star behind Arizona Strongholds. I didn't let that stop me from appreciating these delightful wines.

You can read more about it in my wine column in The Washington Post.

End Maryland's Ban on Direct Shipping!

Could this be the year Maryland residents get the right to order wine online? Hopes are high that the Legislature might finally pass legislation legalizing direct shipping of wine to consumers. I explore this issue in today's column in The Washington Post.

After I wrote this, someone told me only 15% of wines on the market are actually distributed in Maryland through the normal three-tier distribution channels. That is market forces. But why should state law restrict us from reaching out of channels for the others? That's not fair.

What can we do about it? Write to your state delegate or senator in support of direct wine shipping legislation. Support Marylanders for Better Beer and Wine Laws. Post a comment here or on my column on washingtonpost.com. But don't stay silent.

Number of U.S. Wineries Continues to Grow

The number of wineries in the United States continues to grow, reports Wine Business Monthly. The total at the end of November was 6,223, up 122 over the past year. That equals the 6% growth pace of 2008 and shows some resilience in the wine industry despite the bad economy. To be sure, the “launch” decisions for many of these new wineries were probably made in better times, and the growth was much more modest than the explosive 10% in 2007 and 15% in 2006. But still, we need to drink even in hard times, right?

“We had explosive growth in past years; but if wineries grow 5 percent a year, that’s still pretty good growth,” Bill Nelson, president of the U.S. wine trade association WineAmerica, told WBM. “These are still big numbers. At 5 percent a year, the number of wineries doubles in 15 years.”

While I and other bloggers and writers have trumpeted the rise of “regional wines,” the magazine reported that California continues to have about half of the nation’s wineries, a figure that has remained steady over the past four years. California has 3,047 wineries, followed not so closely by Washington state with 564, Oregon with 453, New York with 229, Virginia with 163, Texas with 157, Pennsylvania with 141, Ohio with 120, Michigan at 104 and North Carolina at 101.

The WBM article did not give last year’s rankings, but Virginia’s growth has been phenomenal in 2009 and I’d wager the Old Dominion overtook the Lone Star state last year. These rankings overall show the vitality of the wine industry in the Eastern United States.