Dave McIntyre's WineLine

Yay, Spain!

Okay, I'll admit it - I was rooting for Spain in Sunday's World Cup final. Not that I had a dog in this fight, but when it comes down to a wine country versus a beer country, well, I know where my allegiance lies. So yes, I was happy with the result.

I was even happier with the wines I chose to enjoy while watching the match and celebrating the result.

Tierra de Fernandez Gomez, 2009 Rioja Rosado, (Elite Wines of Lorton, Va., sample, $NA but probably not expensive) - crisp and refreshing strawberry and watermelon flavors. This wine is produced by Agricola la Bastida, which makes some tremendous wines that are setting the stage for Rioja's next wave.

Las Colinas del Ebro, Garnacha Blanca 2009, (Grapes of Spain, also Lorton, Va., sample, $12). A terrific little white, crisp and citrusy, ideal for an aperitif or with light, herby seafood appetizers - think Mediterranean ...

Almira, Los Dos, Grenache + Syrah, "Old Vines" 2008, (Winebow, sample, $NA but probably not expensive). This wine from Campo de Borja, Spain's trendy new cheap wine factory, is juicy and spicy and oh so nice for an inexpensive red. Though I rather wish the marketers had let the winery call the wine Garnacha + Syrah, because consumers are smart enough to realize Spain might have a different name for the grape than France does. Not to mention a different expression of the grape, something rather ..... Spanish?

Luna Beberide, "Finca la Cuesta," 2008, Bierzo, (Grapes of Spain, sample, $22). I LOVE this Bierzo producer, which offers a range of wines that shine for quality to price ratio in a region of northwestern Spain that is only now getting some cachet. This wine is a little awkward at first, but it opens nicely - and quite quickly - to sumptuous black fruit (cherries and plums), under a pronounced though not overwhelming oak treatment.

Yay, Spain!

NostraWINEus predicts 2010 ...

What's up for wine lovers in 2010? Here are a few prognostications ...

An increasing emphasis on value over stature as the recession maintains its downward pressure on wine prices. Consumers will continue to "drink down" and look for wines that cost less than they used to spend, but still taste expensive. This will reverberate across the price spectrum - those who could comfortably spend $120 in a restaurant two years ago will continue to look for quality in the $60- $80 range, while those who may be cutting their restaurant budgets altogether will look for the $30 - $40 wines that taste like the $80 they used to praise a sommelier for recommending.

The sweet spot in value in the retail market will continue to be in the $15-$20 range, especially for imported wines. Although the average price paid for 750 ml of wine in the US continues to hover in the $5-7 range, the "bang for the buck" is still in the teens.

More wineries will downblend their reserve wines into their basic blends - so we will see fewer $50 cuvées and more in the $30 range from places like California, Oregon and Washington. While these will appear expensive, they will often provide great value.

Bargains in imported wines? Portugal and Spain - more emphasis on the Iberian peninsula for sheer value. Why? Quality price ratio, of course, but also because these wine regions manage to bridge Old World sensibilities with New World preferences for riper, sweeter wines. Argentina will continue to shine, too.

More emphasis on "natural" wines - whatever that means. It means organic, and biodynamic, and - depending on who you read or talk to - even using ambient yeast instead of cultivated yeast. All well and good, and I applaud winemakers who want to preserve the environment and protect their vineyard workers from pesticides, fungicides, and the like. However, I worry that "natural wine" is becoming a buzzword that is more a reflection of marketing than viticulture. Wine has enough polemics - the pendulum may be swinging too far to the left.

The anti-alcohol movement will continue to grow - not an anti-wine (or beer or booze) movement, but a swing against the high-alcohol, high-extraction wines that have dominated the high end of the market the past several years. Consumers will favor moderate-alcohol wines well balanced with acidty, even from areas and wine types we now associate with syrup.

Regional wines will continue to gain in prominence. The Millenial Generation will continue to explore and expand its wine palate, and this rising consumer group appears to be unfettered by its elders' preference for cabernet, chardonnay and merlot. As local wines improve in quality, more consumers will ask for them in restaurants, stores, etc.

For better or worse, wine writing will trend towards new media. The recent demise of the popular Wall Street Journal wine column by Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher emphasizes the shift toward blogs, Facebook and Tweeter as mainstream media - newspapers - cut costs. This will mean a decline in substantive, thoughtful wine articles, but an increasing visibility for individual wine reviews in "tweets" or blog posts. Some familiar names from newspaper columns (Gaiter and Brecher, perhaps?) will gravitate toward blogs and "word of mouth" media like Twitter. But will they have the same market pull? Psst, buddy, wanna try a nice Zinfandel? ...

Happy New Year, everyone!

Sweet Endings for 2009

Earlier this month I wrote two columns for The Washington Post recommending sparkling wines for the holidays - one on wines above $30, the other for more budget-conscious revelers. All the wines were dry. That led one frustrated reader to fire off an e-mail complaining about "brut this and brut that," reminding me that some people prefer sweet sparkling wine.

So this week I oblige, with some delightful recommendations from southern France, Italy and Spain.

Cheers, and thank you for reading Dave McIntyre's WineLine in 2009! What started 10 years ago as an e-mail newsletter (no one called them "blogs" back then) will continue in 2010. You can find me on Facebook at /wineline and Twitter @dmwine as well!

Happy New Year!

Bierzo and Ribeira Sacra

Spain is hot. Every few weeks it seems there's a new region that's the coolest thing in wine. One region that's been on the radar for about a decade now but never really challenged for fad status is Bierzo, in northwestern Spain. Along with Ribeira Sacra, a small region inside Galicia, Bierzo's reds are made with a grape called mencía. I'm actually glad Bierzo hasn't caught on, because that means the wines, when we can find them, are affordable. You can read my take on the wines of Bierzo and Ribeira Sacra in today's Washington Post.

After I wrote this column, I had opportunity to taste another sample of Ribeira Sacra: the Viña do Burato 2008 ($18) is another good example of the mencía grape. Fermented in stainless steel and bottled without a whiff of oak, it is lively and fresh and light on its feet at a mere 12% alcohol.

PS - A special salute on this Veterans Day to all members of the U.S. armed forces, past and present. Thank you for your service.

A Smokin' Albarino

One of the most exciting wines produced in Virginia is not a Viognier, and it's not a Cabernet Franc or Petit Verdot, either. (Though there is definitely some excitement with those three grapes in the Old Dominion!) No, the wine that really gets Todd Thrasher, award-winning sommelier of Restaurant Eve in Old Town Alexandria, Va., excited is an Albarino from Chrysalis Vineyards in Middleburg, Va. Watch this short film clip to see why Thrasher should be writing wine reviews .... I mean, "a smokin' representation of what Virginia wine can be." ... I can't top that.

(There's more discussion of the Chrysalis Albarino in our lengthy dialogue about Loudoun County wines, to be posted later this week right here on Dave McIntyre's WineLine.)

This is Regional Wine Week. Click your way regularly to DrinkLocalWine.com to see updates on local wines from around the United States and Canada.

Spain's Underappreciated White Wines

Spain's white wines - albariño, godello and verdejo are the main ones - have somehow slipped under the radar for American consumers. Restaurants have caught the fever, but most of us have yet to realize that these refreshing wines can be great values for casual summer dining, when we slap a fish on the grill or sit back and relax on the patio. Check out my column in today's Washington Post for some top-notch Spanish whites worthy of your attention this summer.

Celebrate the Year of the Ox – with Sherry, Baby!

The smartest thing I ever did was marry Chinese, but it does make wine pairing problematic sometimes. Chinese cuisine, with its variety and wide range of dishes, salty and fermented flavors, is traditionally considered a difficult match for Western grape wines. Ask a wine lover what to drink with Chinese and he’ll probably say “beer.” Then he’ll default to Riesling or Gewürztraminer, explaining that the sweetness matches the spicy complexity of the food.

So as we say good riddance to the Year of the Rat and welcome in the Ox this Monday, I suggest a new departure – a new beginning, if you will: Toast the new year with a glass of sherry!

Sherry is as versatile as Chinese cuisine is varied. Its oxidative character even resembles the nuttiness of Shaoxing jiu, the aged rice wine of central China. It seemed an ideal match for a Chinese feast.

I put this theory to the test for my January 21 wine column in The Washington Post. You can also read about the meal and my recommended sherries here on my Web site.

Cheers, and Gong Xi Fa Cai, Hong Bao Na Lai in the Year of the Ox!

Flavium Bierzo Crianza 2005, $10

A few years ago, Bierzo was touted as Spain's next emerging wine region. The region's main grape, Mencia, was thought to be related to Cabernet Franc. But then DNA research apparently put the kybosh on that theory, and it turned out that Mencia is merely identical to some obscure Portuguese varietal. No prestige there, so less cachet. This spicy little red, however, shows the region's potential. Beefy and slightly reductive, with cherry, cocoa, and cola notes, it makes a great casual wine for hearty meat dishes.

But what do I like most about this wine? I couldn't find a Web site or bottle image on the Internet. That tells me this winery is interested more in the quality of the wine rather than the marketing.

Yum. Yum. Yum!

Imported by M. Touton Selections.

Some Bargain Fizz for the Not-So-Jolly Holidays

Holidays can be less than jolly in tough times. But before we all endulge our inner Scrooge, we should remember that Tiny Tim's impoverished family, the Cratchits, celebrated even in the leanest of times. So even though we may not want to splurge on expensive Champagne this holiday season, there is still plenty of good, relatively cheap fizz available for our holiday toasts. God bless them, everyone!

You can read my recommendations in this week's Washington Post Food section, or on my Web site, dmwineline.com.

Cheers!