Dave McIntyre's WineLine

Wine vs. Beer Smackdown!

Wine lovers can spend hours debating wine-food pairings (just one reason we are so boring to our children), and there are certain meals we dismiss as "beer food." These are usually spicy or cheap, and casual - in other words, unsophisticated foods.

But beer is becoming increasingly refined, and matching beer with food can be as subtle and complex as wine. This point was driven home last weekend at a Wine vs. Beer Smackdown staged by the Neighborhood Restaurant Group at the Columbia Firehouse in Old Town Alexandria.

Wine director Juliana Santos and beer sommelier Greg Santos each selected pairings for six dishes, and about 80 guests sweltering in an upstairs loft at the restaurant were asked to compare how each beverage fared. As a wine lover, I was naturally biased towards Santos's interesting selections, which included some small-production wines offered by top-notch importers such as Terry Theise and Jonas Gustafsson. But beer had the advantage of the unexpected.

"Beer makers are really starting to act like winemakers, and that is resulting in beers that are fascinating to pair with food," Engert said. "They are regressing to pre-industrial techniques, before stainless steel cleaned everything up for nice simple beers ideal for drinking with wings." those borrowed techniques include barrel aging reserve beers, he said.

Here are my quick notes from the smack down as I pushed my way through the eager crowds at each table.

1. Tomato, watermelon, and sheep's milk feta, paired with Bodegas O'Ventosela "Vina Leirina" 2008 from Rueda, Spain, and 1809 Professor Fritz Briem & Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, Bavaria, Germany. The beer here had an unfair advantage, in that Engert mixed it with a splash or raspberry syrup that matched beautifully with the watermelon. The wine tasted thin and acidic in comparison. Advantage, BEER.

2. Tuna Tartare tacos, paired with Gobelsburg Riesling, 2009, Kamptal, Austria, and Hennepin Brewery Ommegang, New York. The beer picked up nicely on the fennel and apple in the tartare, while the Riesling jazzed with the citrusy dressing.  DRAW.

3. Maryland Shoat Porchetta, with Belle Pente 2008 Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley, Oregon, and Schlafly Bière de Garde, Saint Louis Brewery and Schlafly Tap Room, Missouri. Pork and Pinot - a divine combo, and this biodynamic wine shined with the shoat and its stuffing. The beer actually reminded me of my home brew experiments from 15 years ago. Advantage, WINE.

4. Dry aged roast beef and buttermilk blue cheese, with Conceito Tinto, 2007,  Douro, Portugal, and Oerbier, Brouwerij de Dolle, Belgium. The beer's richness, at 9% alcohol, matched well with the cheese, and won my wife's vote. I preferred the wine for how it reflected the flavors of the beef. DRAW.

5. Charcuterie, with Cavoletto Dolcetto d'Alba "Vigna Scot" 2007, Piemonte, Italy, and Aecht Schlenkerla Märzen, Brauesrei Heller-Trum, Upper Franconia, Germany. The beer was smoked, which made it taste to me like a burnt-down house. The Dolcetto, on the other hand, may be God's own pairing with salami. Advantage, WINE.

6. Pecan Joy Candy Bars, with Domaine du Mas Blanc, 2007 Banyuls, France, and Coton, The Bruery, California. This dessert was so good that the matching became incredibly fun. The beer matched the richness of the gussied up candy bar, making me want more, while the wine melded seemlessly with the fruitier aspects of the coconut and the chocolate, signalling that the meal was over. Since I finished mine with the beer, I had to have another dessert. That one, I finished with the wine. DRAW.

So I guess I give a slight advantage to the wine in this contest, which given my bias may be expected. But I would gladly place my beverage selection in the hands of either Santos or Engert after enjoying the thoughtful and challenging selections for this wine-beer smack down.

Now, where was Bobby Flay?

Bien Nacido - An Iconic American Vineyard

California does not have storied vineyards such as Clos de Vougeot or Romanee-Conti in Burgundy, Clos Ste. Hune in Alsace and Clos du Mesnil in Champagne. Certain vineyards, however, have performed superbly enough - if over decades rather than centuries - to earn them special status as America's premier vineyards. One of those is Bien Nacido, at the northern end of the San Rafael Mountains in the Santa Maria Valley of Santa Barbara County.

The Miller family has owned this historic property - once part of a Spanish land grant - since the late 1960s, and they have carefully farmed it and helped build its reputation for premium wine grapes. But they have never made their own wine - until now. This year they will release their first bottlings under their own label.

I got an early taste when I visited the vineyard earlier this year. You can read about it in my feature in today's Washington Post Food section.

Happy 30th Anniversary to Becky Wasserman!

Becky Wasserman is the grande dame of Burgundy. An American ex-pat, for the past 30 years she has represented many of Burgundy's greatest estates, helping sell their wines to the United States, Britain and elsewhere. Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to visit with Becky in her offices in Beaune, on a cute little side street off a large square. It would have been idyllic except for the street construction that seemed, she said, to go on interminably. As I look out on my own suburban street, torn up for the second summer in a row for some mysterious water main repair, I want to say to Becky, "It's not just the French!"

My profile of Becky appeared in Wednesday's Washington Post. The photo shows Becky with David Croix (left) of Maison Camille Giroud and Jean-Yves Devevey of Domaine Devevey.

Ooh La La! French Wine Scandal Expands to U.S.

The French wine fraud scandal crossed the Atlantic last week, as federal regulators said they are investigating U.S. importers who sold French “pinot noir” that was actually made from different grapes.

As reported here last week, a French court on Feb. 17 convicted 12 people in the Languedoc region of southern France of passing off merlot and syrah wine as the more expensive pinot noir to the U.S. firm E&J Gallo. Gallo sold the wine as pinot noir under its popular Red Bicyclette label.

 

Gallo bought the wine from the French wine brokerage Sieur d'Arques. Although Gallo was not implicated of any wrongdoing in the French court case, U.S. officials are investigating whether the California wine giant violated any U.S. laws in selling the wine as pinot noir.

 

The Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) “has begun investigations to determine the appropriate actions to take regarding the American importers of these mislabeled wines,” the agency said on its Web site.

 

When the convictions were announced, Gallo said it would “continue to work with the appropriate U.S. authorities to determine any next steps required for potentially mislabeled Pinot Noir in the marketplace.”

 

Importers must apply to the TTB for approval of wine labels, including the images and information conveyed on them. TTB spokesman Arthur Resnick would not comment directly on the investigation or confirm its targets, citing bureau policy. But he said that even if the U.S. importers were duped by their French suppliers, they may have violated some U.S. laws. “Under our laws, importers are responsible for label approvals [from TTB], so they are responsible for what goes in the bottles,” Resnick said. He then used a classic Washington phrase: “We will be going to these companies and asking what they knew, and when they knew it.”

 

These companies? The French court case centered on wine sold to Gallo, but the other U.S. wine giant, Constellation Brands, acknowledged last week that it had also purchased pinot noir from Sieur d'Arques and another supplier implicated in the French case. Constellation said it had independent experts test the wine before it was shipped from France and they confirmed the wine was indeed pinot noir.

 

However, that does not convince the TTB, as it waits for official translations of documents in the French fraud investigation. Constellation is clearly part of its initial inquiries, and more companies could be involved. “I think there are others, but we won't know for certain until we see the French documentation,” Resnick said.

This report appeared in slightly different form Feb. 26 on The Washington Post's All We Can Eat blog.

Two Voices of Pinot Noir

I suffered cognitive dissonance a few weeks ago over pinot noir. I lunched on Monday with Richard Sanford at his Alma Rosa Winery in Santa Barbara County over beef stew and his 2006 and 2007 La Encantada Vineyard pinot. He had just driven me around the Santa Rita Hills in the Santa Ynez Valley, an appellation he pioneered by planting Sanford & Benedict vineyard in the 1970s and creating Sanford winery in 1980. He explained how the hills running east-to-west – unique in California, where most run parallel to the Pacific – channel the ocean breezes and fog into the valley and moderate the temperatures. Despite being just a two hour drive from Los Angeles, the Santa Rita Hills region counts as a “cool-climate” for winegrowing. Ideal for pinot noir, in other words. Such geography is easy to read about, but seeing is believing.

The Alma Rosa La Encantada 2007 Pinot Noir ($45) is rich and spicy, and tightly focused in a way that draws you closer with every sip. I gave it three stars (“exceptional”) when I profiled Sanford in the Post last August. It has what I love about California pinot noir – delightful floral aromas, good acidity and balance, and a lingering, silky finish. And it does not have what I hate about California pinot noir – excessive alcohol that leaves a burn across the palate, or a cloying, brown sugar taste. The 2006 was even better; Sanford described its aroma as “a day-old rose, just at the height of its power and on the edge of decline.” I couldn't disagree.

 

Richard Sanford of Alma Rosa Winery from Dave McIntyre on Vimeo.

Two days later, back in snowy Washington, D.C., I had lunch with Becky Wasserman, her husband, Russell Hone, and two of the many Burgundy producers she represents. Wasserman, an American who lives in Burgundy, is an influential broker and exporter of fine French wines, primarily from Burgundy. She was here as part of a U.S. tour celebrating her 30 years in business. She is as petite as Sanford is tall, but they seem to share a similar aesthetic – a preference for wines grown organically and manipulated as little as possible in the winery in order to achieve the purest expression of the fruit. Only Wasserman's pinots speak French, while Sanford's speak 'Murrican.

And that's where the dissonance came in. After five days in Santa Barbara County, sampling dozens wines in various styles, my initial taste of Burgundy was a shock. It was a Domaine Alain Burguet 2006 Gevrey-Chambertin “Clos la Justice” ($70), and at first sip it seemed unpleasantly astringent. Where's the fruit? I wondered. But my palate was attuned to California pinot noir; after a few sips, the fruit emerged, then the Burgundian earth and finesse that characterizes the French expression of pinot noir.

As we tasted the Domaine Michel Lafarge Volnay 2006 ($55), with its subtle, silky texture – for lack of a better word (pinot noir at its best is all about texture) – I thought of my lunch two days earlier with Sanford. Back in the 1960s, when he was looking to use his geology degree after a stint in Vietnam, it was a bottle of Volnay given by a friend that inspired him to plant grapes. He told me he does not remember the producer, but he recalls the flavors, the texture, and the inspiration it gave.

Is the Alma Rosa La Encantada the equal of the Domaine Lafarge Volnay? Yes – and here's why I say that. The Alma Rosa is not and can never be a Volnay. But it is a beautiful expression of the Santa Rita Hills and of California pinot noir, just as the Lafarge is a beautiful expression of Volnay. Burgundy will always have an advantage in that no one dislikes a good Burgundy, while Burgundy fans will discount California for not having the right soils or climate to make a Burgundy. Sanford has every reason to be proud of his pinot. And if, as he savors his wine and thinks of that day-old rose on the cusp between glory and decay, his memory wanders back to that long-ago bottle of Volnay, who can blame him?

Wine Camp, and Other Ideas

Over Christmas weekend, my family held our annual "Wine Camp." This is an extremely vinonerdy exercise in which we pour several wines blind and say, "Tell me what this is." Over the years, it has taken on an air of one-upsmanship and competition, and it is always a helluva lot of fun.

My main protagonists are Dave Johnson and Ed Oldfield. Dave is my brother-in-law's brother-in-law, a relation twice-removed by marriage; Ed is Dave's close friend. Both are prominent doctors in the Hampton Roads-Norfolk region as well as avid wine collectors. They both are extremely skilled at finding exclusive wines of small production and (usually) high point scores that are not widely available - their network of retailers and winemakers across the country is impressive. One year, Dave wowed us with a $20 Aussie Shiraz that had everyone opening their wallets, while Ed, a devoted Dooniac, stunned with a bottle of 1984 Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare - the inaugural vintage of the original Rhone Ranger wine.

Naturally, I can't compete in this crowd, so I bring outlandish wines that no one will expect. Last Spring, I surprised Dave and Ed with a delicious Dragon's Hollow Chardonnay from China, of all places. (Being a wine writer gives me the advantage of some unusual samples.)

This year's lineup included Isabel Sauvignon Blanc 2002 from New Zealand, still showing well without the stewed asparagus flavors old NZ SB can get. A 2000 Hunter Valley Semillon from Rothbury Wine Scoiety (my offering) was not as fully developed as I would have liked; it had appealing lime flavors and still tasted young, but was not harmonious. (I went back to it 3 hours later and thought it delicious, but by then I had been enjoying about ..... THIS many wines, so who knows?)

Dave then opened a 2006 Poets Leap Carmina Burana Cask Aged Riesling from the Long Shadows project in Washington state's Columbia Valley. I guessed the wine and the winery, but only because its Riesling character was obvious and I knew Dave's fondness for Long Shadows. (It pays to know your adversary!) Ed then opened a Retour Pinot Noir 2007 from Oregon, which matched nicely the Carabella 2005 I had brought.

You get the picture - the evening continued through the 2005 and 1996 Quilceda Creek Cabernets, and a Cab Franc comparison of Horton Vineyards "Tower Series"2007 and a 1985 Channing Road from Napa. Ed showed his Doon colors with a 1986 Old Telegram.

I had a surprise wine in reserve and was despairing that the evening was getting late and I wouldn't be able to present it against so many stellar, older wines. Then Dave brought out a young California Syrah, a Tensley 2008 Colson Canyon - lush and opulent with abundant fruit and high alcohol (over 15%) noticeable but not enough to dominate the wine. I saw my chance and brought out my ringer. It was similar, and yet clearly different in style - more earthy and dense, less obviously fruity than the Tensley. Dave and Ed immediately pegged it as Syrah, young, aged in French oak, and from California. My brother-in-law thought Washington state, figuring the concentration in the wine indicated Columbia Valley.

"You are all right except for one detail," I said, pulling the bag off the bottle. "It's from Maryland." I showed them the Black Ankle Vineyards 2007 Leaf Stone Syrah.

Such games are not what wine is all about, but they are devilishly fun and a great way to experience wine. I suggest some other ways of exploring the grape in my column today in The Washington Post, along with my monthly Recession Buster recommendations.

Ansonia Wines - A Tiny Boutique Store in D.C.

If you had asked me a few months ago to name wine stores owned and operated by importers and devoted to that importer's wines, I would have mentioned two: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant in Berkeley, Calif., and Rosenthal Wine Merchant in New York City, which features importer Neal Rosenthal's selections. There may be others, but for various reasons such stores are rare.

Now there are two right here in the District of Columbia: Weygandt Wines, which opened in late October in Cleveland Park (and is profiled in my Washington Post wine column today), and the tiny Ansonia Wines, on 18^th Street NW. Ansonia, which opened its door earlier this month, is a shoebox of a store in the basement level of a row house. It features the wines of Mark Wilcox, who like Weygandt is a Philadelphia-based importer. Wilcox has gained a modest reputation over the past six years by supplying high-quality small-production wines, primarily to restaurants. The store is owned and operated by Mark's son, Tom.

The emphasis here is on Burgundy, with some wines from southern France, a couple from Alsace and a few stray Italian selections. The Burgundy focus means the wines are not cheap, but Wilcox' effort to represent artisanal winemakers helps keep the value quotient high. Tom said his father does not emphasize organic or biodynamic viticulture, but since he’s focusing on small producers, many of his growers favor those techniques. Another plus – the store stocks some older vintages (back at least to 2001), not just current releases.

Tom Wilcox said he will always have two wines open for tasting (and he Tweets the daily selections @ansoniawines). When I stopped in just before the Blizzard of Aught-Nine, he was pouring the Domaine Michel Gros 2005 Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits ($29), a delightful chardonnay that had just enough toasty oak to give structure to the abundant fruit, and the Mas Foulaquier “Gran'T,” Coteaux du Languedoc Pic St. Loup ($32), a rich red from France's Mediterranean coast, made from carginan and grenache.

For last-minute holiday shoppers, Ansonia is offering four gift boxes, each with two wines representative of the store's portfolio. They cost $49 or $99, depending on your taste and budget.

Ansonia Wines, 1828 18^th St. NW. www.ansoniawines.com

Local Wine Bandwagon Gains Steam With Obama's Help

Virginia wine was featured last night at President Obama's first State Dinner. The president, his guest of honor, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and invited members of D.C.'s elite washed down pumpkin pie tart and pear tatin with Thibaut-Janisson blanc de chardonnay, from the Monticello district near Charlottesville.

Thibaut-Janisson is an up-and-coming specialist in fine sparkling wine. Winemaker Claude Thibaut is convinced that Virginia has the climate and terroir to produce excellent bubbly – and evidently the president agrees.

“Here's more evidence Virginia can produce top-notch fizz,” I wrote about this wine last year in my Thanksgiving recommendations in the Post. “Elegant and stylish, with palate-refreshing acidity and subtle fruit that emerges about an hour after opening.”

Other wines served at the dinner included the 2008 Modus Operandi Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley; the 2006 Brooks Winery Riesling “Ara” Vineyard from Oregon's Willamette Valley; and the 2007 Beckman Vineyards Grenache from California's Santa Ynez Valley. The dinner's menu is available on the White House Web site here.

I've always been a big fan of Brooks. The winery farms biodynamically and produces excellent Riesling - the Ara is its best - and Pinot Noir. I had the opportunity to visit the winery last summer during the International Pinot Noir Celebration, and enjoyed the 2006 Ara then. But if you want to taste what the White House guests enjoyed tonight, you'd better hurry - the winery has only a few cases left.

This caps a banner week for Regional Wine. Last week, I wrote in the Post that “the growth of local wineries throughout the country is transforming the American wine industry.” Yesterday, my buddy Jeff Siegel, aka “The Wine Curmudgeon,” offered more proof of the changing face of American wine. Jeff noted that Eric Asimov in The New York Times included a New York wine – Shinn Estate Merlot – in his Thanksgiving recommendations, while Boston Globe wine columnist Stephen Meuse praised Massachusetts Cabernet Franc, even if he didn’t include a specific recommendation for one.

“What's with these big deal wine writers suddenly hopping on the DrinkLocalWine.com bandwagon?” Jeff asked. Not that we're complaining!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Please comment here on what wines you'll be enjoying for the feast.

Carbon-Neutral Wine

Wineries today tout their green credentials almost as much as their scores from influential wine magazines. Solar power, sustainable or organic or biodynamic (s/o/b) viticulture, and "carbon-neutral" winemaking are all marketing buzzwords for wineries. In today's column in The Washington Post, I focus on "carbon neutral" - what does it mean, and why should we consumers care? And in this video, I interview Dave Pearce, chief winemaker for New Zealand's Grove Mill winery, which was the world's first to attain "carbon-neutral" certification. The video was shot on my new Flip camera in a restaurant, and the light was focused on the center of the table, which means the wine glasses look great while Dave and I resemble shadowy creatures in a county fair house of mirrors, but oh well. I'll get the hang of it someday.

psst - Grove Mill's wines are good, too! Especially the Sauvignon Blanc and the Riesling. The Pinot Noir ain't shabby, either.

Cheers!

Whitcraft: Wickedly Good Pinot

Note to retailers and distributors in the DC area: If Alyssa Whitcraft phones, take the call. 

Whitcraft is a graduate researcher and lecturer at the University of Maryland in College Park, specializing in satellite imagery and geography. In what little spare time she has, she is trying to find representation in the area’s wine stores for her family’s wines.

If you’ve never heard of Whitcraft Winery, that may be because they only produce about 2,000 cases a year, mostly pinot noir, but also some chardonnay, grenache and syrah. They sell most of it to a mailing list. Right now, it’s not available in the D.C. area. But it can be, and it should be.

Alyssa’s father, Chris, started the winery in Santa Barbara County 1985, a year before she was born. He’s now in semi-retirement, leaving the winery operations to his son, Drake. Although Alyssa isn’t joining the family business, she wears it on her sleeve. Well, under her sleeve, actually – in the form of a tattoo of the winery crest and the words, “In Vino Veritas” on her arm.

She describes her father as an unrepentant hippie in the mold of Jim Clendenon of Au Bon Climat winery fame and says the Whitcraft wines are “romantically rustic.” That’s because the reds are trod by foot to avoid squeezing harsh tannins from the seeds and stems. Indeed, the pinots I tried are seductive in texture and alluring in fruit, with an appealing citrus note. They are not shy in alcohol, yet aside from an initial sensation of heat, the fruit quickly gains balance. Tasting these, it’s easy to see why people get so excited about pinot noir.

The Whitcrafts own no vineyards and source fruit from throughout California, often with long-time contracts with growers. (Though Alyssa mentioned they will be losing access to fruit from Bien Nacido Vineyard.) Here are my notes on five of their pinots. Prices are approximate.

2006 Melville Vineyard, Santa Rita Hills, $44. Beguiling aromas, tight and focused fruit. Still young, it needs more age or some fatty food to open it up. 2-1/2 stars (out of three).

2006 Bien Nacido Vineyard Q Block, Santa Maria Valley, $40. Intense black-fruit aromas, firm tannins, a flash of heat from the 14.9% alcohol. There’s also spice and intriguing citrus – something new with every sniff or sip. 3 stars.

2006 Bien Nacido Vineyard N Block, Santa Maria Valley, $40.  Chunky and slightly awkward, not yet integrated, though there is really good fruit here. 1-1/2 stars.

2006 Morning Dew Ranch, Anderson Valley, $40. Mendocino County fruit lends a spicy character this wine, which really explodes in the glass with some vigorous swirling. 2-1/2 stars.

2007 California, $21. A blend of juice from the various single vineyard wines. This is a stunning value, seductive and silky with amazing balance. If you see this on area stores, and I hope you will soon, don’t pass up a chance to buy it. 2-1/2 stars, GREAT VALUE.

What the stars mean:

1 = Very Good

2 = Excellent

3 = Extraordinary