5 Months of Motivation

I checked the blog today and realized it's been almost 6 months since I've been compelled by incredible flavors to write something. I knew the day would come when I first researched my purchase of 2006 Grange de la Peres, I just wasn't sure when. The winemaker, Laurent Vaille, seems intriguing. He trained in Burgundy with Jobard, the Northern Rhone with Chave, and maverick Eloi Durrbach of Domaine Trevallon. You'd pick up cool things just by osmosis hanging around winos like those. When it came to terroir, he bought property next to Dumas Gassac, only he wanted poorer soils. Since it's Halloween, it reminds me of the guy being crushed at the Salem Witch Trials asking for more weight. So why did I wait 6 months? It was actually only 2 months since I purchased the wine, but the bottom line is life gets in the way of blogging.

So, on with the show, I cooked some lamb on the grill for lunch and the rosemary and olive oil transported me back to a lovely day I spent at Gros Nore in Bandol eating lamb with my traveling band of wine nerds. I have to say the weather is better here today. Anyway, lamb is a relatively exotic lunch when you are American and have an 8 and a 9 year old to feed, which led me to my most-anticipated uncorking in months - Granges de la Peres. (If you are wondering, the 9 year thought the "chicken" was great, even if it had a little kick to it.) The adults, too, thought the lamb was tasty, but I'm here to write about the wine.

My first impression, as I poured a tad into a glass was Welch's grape jelly. As the nose developed in the glass, I noticed black licorice drifting up on tendrils of alcohol. There was also a hint of cigar tobacco, which seems elusive, but I'd expect to develop as the wine ages. Finally, I'm getting a touch of pie spices, like cinammon and nutmeg. (This might be the most esoteric choice ever for a Thanksgiving wine.) This wine is hedonistically fruity and youthful. In the mouth, the wine is pleasantly one dimensional (at this time), with a nice vein of acidity that pokes through on the finish, keeping the wine from tasting flat. There are some tannins here, but they are silky enough to succumb to the purity of grapiness. Pomegranate, cranberry, and persimmon are lurking on the mid-palate and finish, but mainly I'm overwhelmed with ripe grapes. This stuff is rare and expensive, but I'm thrilled. It will be interesting to see the evolution of this wine.

Oh for the love of Italy

Just a day after casting dispersions at some Italian wines, I found 3 today that renewed my faith in the most interesting culture and country in Europe, Italy. Great Italian wine doesn't come cheap these days, but good ones sure can be dazzling. 3 wines from Marziano Abbona brought smiles to the faces of 12 hardened professionals as we ground through samples at a meeting today.

The '07 Barbera  "Rinaldi" was charming without the pretention of elegance. The fruit was just dazzling with layers of spice adding just the right amount of complexity. This was a jaw dropper that we opened on Monday afternoon.

'04 Barolo "Pressenda" had depth and body. This is truly great Nebbiolo with a voluptuous mouthfeel enhanced by a kiss of oak. Elegance, style, and grace with all those bottle flavors and aromas just starting to blossom. Drinking this wine makes you understand the comparisons between Burgundy and Piedmont.

'08/'07 Papa Celso - Barriqued-Aged Dolcetto. this precocious stunner deserves every glass Gambero Rosso gave it. So it's got some oak, still fun and delicious to drink.

Congrats to Frederick Wildman for a nice pickup on this estate!

Fish and Fine Wine All In One Week

I'm probably more excited about catching my first bass of the year, but it was a good wine week as well. Catching some fish makes it a great wine week.

Even being in the "business", doesn't mean that I don't still have to buy wine occasionally. Although, I'd be lying, if I didn't admit to professional discounts, but my point is this, even people in the biz occasionally buy bad bottles of wine. The bummer was that this week, I was one of those people. I bought 7 bottles, served 6, and despite its pedigree this bottling bombed. Oh hell, oh well. More upsetting is how my peers reacted, the tasting stopped being about 5 good/great wines and became about one bad one. That's a shame, because we were tasting Pinot Noir and we should all understand that with this varietal, 5 out 6 is awesome.

I was really impressed with Miner's Rosella '06. I've had 2 Miner Pinots in the last couple months and have really been impressed with the nuanced style of the Miner bottlings. We tasted several bottlings from both Gary's and Rosella's and at least today, I prefered the Rosella's. I think the Gary's may have a tad more long term potential as it seemed a little closed and showed more structure, but judging my glasses today Rosella really worked for me.

Pinot Noir is my favorite varietal and I love its schizophrenic personality and spectrum of flavors and aromas. I hate to be anthropomorphic, but Pinot is "complicated" just like a human. After tasting 12 wines over about an hour and a half, the evolution, in the glass, of each wine kept the smile on my face as my fellow tasters grimaced over the flawed wine and the fact that they weren't tasting "Cabs". There simply isn't another varietal that changes so much in the glass. Mesmerizing; and convincing me once again that Pinot is the sublime grape.

Mighty Wine Sonoma Wine!

I had the good fortune to break bread and taste through the new releases from Patz and Hall with James Hall. These wines went beyond my minimum standard for writing about a wine or winery, "solid", soaring all the way to "compelling", "cerebral", and "delicious". It would be hard for me to imagine someone that would be unhappy purchasing and drinking any of the wines I found in my glass. Patz and Hall is never heavy handed and the wines really show finesse and balance while remaining distinct in each bottling and reflecting the different terriors. I tasted most of these wines in the early Fall and feel like the extra 6 months is allowing some exciting subtleties to come forward. Since everyone is probably thinking it, my favorite wine of the afternoon was the "Chenoweth" bottling. Subtle and superb, perhaps I got Burgundy on my mind when James was talking about his love of Burgundy, whatever the reason, there seemed to be a hint of Chambolle-Musigny in my glass.

Cheers.

Shades of Deliciousness

It has been a couple of weeks since the last post. This blog is a hobby rather than a job, and after 2 weeks in France, I needed to reconnect with the family and my job. So after a couple hours in the yard raking leaves and picking up sticks, I've got my next topic organized in my mind.

Yesterday, I was part of a judging panel for wines being shown at a charity event in a couple of months. I know, only a true nerd would give up a perfectly good Saturday to taste wine. Believe it or not, there were close to a hundred other nerds that showed up for the action as well. My quandrary began as I thought how do I approach scoring wines that I was tasting double blind. The only info provided was a very vague price range, under $15, under $30, over $50. I started thinking about whether I was equipped with enough info to even judge fairly. The paradigm I used was as follows, assuming I thought I could clearly identify the varietal, did it taste correct and then beyond that, was it delicious enough for me to be happy if I had to pay the upper limit of the stated range. I quickly shifted gears slightly after the first flight and the paradigm was modified around whether the average consumer would be happy with the level of deliciousness for said price. I don't  know if that is fair, but that was my method.

After the tasting was over, I talked to my compadres and we realized each one of used a different paradigm to judge by. I guess everyone should take comfort in the power of numbers, any silliness we exhibited should be tossed aside by the average of 95 other tasters. I became thoroughly confused however, when I tried to figure out what the consumer really wants and what will be good for them in the long run. I think the average person would just want to know what was most delicious, but that's why they are average.

I think I owe it to them (the "everyman consumer") as a professional to know and remember that scores based solely on taste will render a very homogenous wine world where some grapes and terroirs will never compete and we will run the risk of waking up to a glass of flavor of the year. I can't get away from varietal correctness, because in the end, it is the only way to keep diversity in a world where wine is still a business. Given the chance, and that chance is a good score, most wineries would like nothing better than to chase the public palate.

I think the last flight of the day proved my point, I tasted winemakers that I can only assume attempted to make wines in a style that would appeal to a person with the amount of money they wished to charge. I hated doing it, knowing the price, but I couldn't give exceptional scores, because I knew if I opened my wallet and then popped the cork on those wines I'd be left with the taste of regret in my mouth.

This made me ponder this morning the concept of fact-based scoring. Our atmosphere yesterday was relatively sterile and honestly, it sucked the life right out most of the wines. For me, I need to know the back story to begin to enjoy the wines. I taste double blind with a group frequently and have come to believe that at best it becomes sport, but I can't tell you how many wines are rendered lifeless without knowing the personality of the winemaker, the history of the property, or the circumstances surrounding varietal, vintage, and terroir. All these variables frame the context from which the wine can be enjoyed. I'm sure had I known even half the variables involved, my scores would have gone up, because I would know how to enjoy each wine. At the end of the day isn't that what we want, to taste a delicious wine and enjoy it?

Maybe next year, I'll make the assumption that most wines have some compelling story to accompany them, and boost my scores by 10% across the board. Just some things to think/worry about next time you read a review or see a score and get ready to shell out those hard earned dollars. It's probably terrifying knowing a curmudgeon/nerd like myself may be tugging at your wallet with the skill of puppet-master. Sorry, for the record, I still felt like I just called it like I tasted it yesterday.

Golden Nectar in Barsac

It seemed appropriate that I peered out the window and looked at rain soaked vines in Barsac. That same moisture and humidity that I'm feeling in January makes a glorious fungus possible, Botrytis Cinerea, "Noble Rot" , in August and September. Ah, the mysteries of nature...

It always amazes me how sweet wines with great acidity jump out and wake your palate up. Earlier in the trip I had an exciting Vouvray Moulleux made from Chenin, then a few sips of Banyul, and now Semillon in all its glory. For me the Roumieu-Lacoste's "Cuvee Classique" was gorgeous, possessing a refreshing sweetness of fruit without ever being cloying. Two other cuvee's, "Leon" and "Andre" take character and intensity to the next level, but for me lose the versatility of the original wine. I was fortunate enough to taste a bottle of the "Classique" from 1959 and trust me, you don't need to be over the top to stand the test of time. Overall, I think there is reason to be excited by the current vintages. '07 is ripe, '08 is balanced, and '09 appears to be both.

For the dry whites of Bordeaux, I found all the vintages tasty with '08 showing the most acidity and great balance at the moment.

I found the most difference in vintages in red Burgundy and red Bourdeaux. In Bordeaux, those differences bordered on downright unappealling. Given the option on red Bordeaux I'll be purchasing '05, '07, and '09. My palate likes the greater amount of fruit showing in those vintages. We'll see where it all shakes out in time. My bets are on '05 and '09.

I'm back in the states now and reviewing my notes, so we'll see how things get remembered without the aid of ambience.

Sante!

36 Hours of Sunshine

7:00 AM - No hot water in the shower
7:15 AM - No hot water in the sink
8:00 AM - Minimal breakfast, surly waitress
8:15 AM  - Walked outside raining, cold, not light yet
Now - Just checked Paris weather and rain/snow mix through Friday

And the day doesn't start for 30 minutes, so let me harken back to a kinder, gentler day when the sun warmed my sweater, I could look out onto Med, and breathe in the garrigue in the air...

OK, I'm back in reality...I finished in the wilds of the Languedoc yesterday and drove across the Masif Central to the rain in Bordeaux. I tasted two outstanding producers outside the village of Faugeres, Maxime Magnon and Leon Barral. Each is a disciple of biodynamic farming, but rather than burying cow horns under the full moon, they take a simpler and tastier approach that is a full circle of life. Pigs, piglets, and goats wander the vineyards fertilizing and weeding. The grapes love it and grow strong and healthy, and then the animals arrive monthly on the table. Full circle, as only Didier Barral can describe it.

As for the wines, Magnon's Corbiere's is cheap, but it is by far the most fresh and exciting expression of the appellation I've had the good fortune to taste. You can tell Maxime apprenticed under Marcel Lapierre, because the Beaujolais "joie de vivre" jumps from each glass. Didier's wines  are a touch wilder and more exotic, but cut from a similar cloth, with just enough difference to make things interesting. These wines put sunshine in my glass on an overcast day.

Cheers for Now

2010 Loire Tasting Notes

Tasting Notes
Kermit Lynch – Loire – 2010

Joguet – Chinon
• Winemaker – FX Joguet
• Specialty – Cab Franc, single vineyard
• Organic
• Soils – Combo of Sand, Limestone, and Clay
• Harvests about 50% allowable maximum
• Factoid – Aubert D’ Villaine from DRC helped Kermit discover this property
• Favorite Bottlings –
o Cuvee Terroir – Sandy soil, aged in Inox and old oak
o Chene Vert – Clay and limestone, aged in barrique, 30% new wood, ages great. 2001 showed really exotic notes on the nose, sweet red fruit in the mouth. Fine tannins show continued potential. Bottling he seems most proud of, tasted back to ’96 w/ consistent notes – picks up leathery, shroomy, truffly note on older wines
o Clos de la Dioterie – Limestone, 80 year old vines, 2HA, clean and precise with exotic notes. Didn’t taste older bottling. Seemed to start w/ more precision than Chene Vert.

Champalou – Vouvray
• Specialty – Chenin Blanc
• Soils – Clayand limestone
• ’08 Vintage seems solid – long cool growing season with a lot of acidity. Slow maturation allowed good fruit
• Favorite Bottlings –
o NV Sec –method champagnois, vibrant w/ essence of pear and hint of evergreen and pineapple
o ’08 Vouvray Sec – Clean not cloying with pretty lime and citrus notes on the finish
o ’08 Moulleuxs – bright acidity balances ripe melon and quince notes
• Tasted Vouvray from hot year ’03. This wine must have acidity to be attractive

Hippolyte Reverdy – Sancerre
• Estate named after grandfather “Hyppolyte”
• 14HA
• Specialty – Sauvignon and Pinot Noir
• ‘08 and ’09 Sauvignon – Consistent zesty grapefruit and lemon curd.
• ’09 was difficult Spring with lower yield. Not hot like elsewhere
• Sancerre Rouge – Pinot Noir really good if you have the confidence to sell Sancerre Rouge

Domaine Salvard – Cheverny
• ’09 VDP Sauvignon Blanc “Unique” – Round, ripe grapefruit and healthy herbal note without urea. Fun!
• ’09 Cheverny – AOC regs mandate blend – 85% SB and 15% Chard – More round as you go East and add Chard. Less grapefruit, clean, good length
• ’09 Rose -60% Pinot/40% Gamay – Good acidity w floral notes on the nose. Elegant and dry w/ delicate cherry flavors

Domaine de Reuilly – Reuilly
• Warmest micro-climate in Loire, rare cirmidgeon limestone soil
• 100% Sauvignon Blanc
• ’09 considered the best harvest in 10 years
• ’09 Reuilly – Intense and zesty white grapefruit on the nose and in the mouth. Light and refreshing

Domaine Regis Minet – Pouilly Fume
• Sustainable, no herbicides used, all wild yeast fermented
• Clay/limestone soil
• Inox fermented
• ’09 Pouilly –Fume – Lime and buttermilk on nose with spirited lime cascading across the tongue. I find more lime notes than red grapefruit like in the Sancerre

Lamb on the Med

I keep ticking off experiences on my "wine" life list. Saturday night I had dinner with Frederic Brunier after collecting my customary rocks from the vineyards of Vieux Telegraphe. 6 vintages of Telegraphe going back to '81 is a great way to wash down roasted lamb over sauteed leeks and mushrooms. My circuit today included Vacqueyras, Gigondas ( with it's gorgeous views of Dentelles de Montmirail) then past the fabulous Beaucastel (where my love of the Southern Rhone really blossomed) and then back to Vieux Telegraphe. Passion for vines and wines is everywhere at this estate and it's sister property in Gigondas Domaine Pallieres. I finished my evening with a shot of Vieux Telegraphe Marc and then watched the Saints kick the Cardinals, about as good a day as a guy can have in France.

Today, yes the tastings keep going on Sunday, was my trip to the Med. I began in Cassis at Clos de Magdelene which may be the most beautiful property I've seen in the Northern hemisphere, with a classic villa perched on a cliff above the sea. Next, stop was Domaine Tempier, further from the sea but pulling power and grace from the soil and into their wines. Pretty special stuff! My favorite was "La Tourtine" Rouge, but each showed personality and uniqueness. Finally, we stopped at Gros Nore, another Bandol property, that is, in my opinion, a sleeper to watch. The color is of the Rose is the palest hue I've ever seen, giving more then impression of color than the color itself. Nervy and delicious.

At Gros Nore, we did the usual tasting, which was tasty, but we also had a Provencal feast. Mary tells me JB is roasting some lamb tonight, guess we're all on the same wavelength. There is nothing like walking into a room and seeing 3 legs of lamb hanging in the fireplace roasting over bouquet garni of rosemary and herbes de Provence. Now that's eatin'. The langostinos with the tomato coulis weren't shabby either. Not bragging here, just sharing. The food was awesome, but even better was the concept of the feast with friends. Alain Pascal from Gros Nore was a great host along with Daniel, the winemaker from Tempier, and just when I thought I couldn't check off anymore wine moments... Lulu Peyraud, the wife of Lucien Peyraud, the founder of Tempier, walks in and grabs a glass of '98 "Cabassoua." We should all be so vibrant at 90. Maybe it's all the antioxidants in those Mourvedre driven wines!

Another day has ended for me, but y'all still have time to throw some lamb on the grill. Enjoy. I'll finish watching "freakin'" Favre trample Dallas.

Sante

Do Not Homogenize

Anyone that has been to a wine tasting I've hosted has heard me say that I'm opinionated and I revere different opinions because they keep things interesting. There needs to be lots of different wines with lots of different flavors, aromas, and styles. At least that's what keeps me interested, and what I find lacking in so many portfolios that seem to have the indelible thumbprint of an owner, winemaker, or importer. Each wine seems to be a snapshot in a sequence up and down a small range of flavors that really only varies between price, intensity, and color. That's right, you didn't miss anything there, I don't even find a lot of difference between the varietals, sad, sad , sad. Luckily for me, there are some importers with the courage to let the vineyards and vintners they been fortunate to work with be their own unique wines. Two that I have some intimate knowledge of are Kermit Lynch and Robert Haas. Bravo, Monsieurs!

This diversity is what we all need to keep our winelists and shelves interesting and most importantly, customers shopping. The curiosity of the palate demands that flavors be new and interesting. When are the producers, losing business in droves, going to learn this? This isn't usually an angry consumer, it's a bored consumer. Shame on anyone for resting on their laurels.

I visited 2 veterans of Cornas in the Northern Rhone, one of the world's treasured, but most demanding appellations for Syrah. August Clape and his sons do nothing more than pour themselves into each bottle of Cornas. No tricks here, just great fruit and a few lined cement tanks and huge old barrels. And year after year, with vintage variation that justifiably expresses that year's weather, you can pour a glass of their passion and taste their tiny parcels soil and Syrah. Thierry Allemand's reputation as superstar would lead many to believe they'd walk in his winery and see rows of new barriques. Nope, his barrels are 600 liter giants and the youngest one is 12 years old! These wines are rare and the vintages I tried back to '89 showed me they deserve a place in every serious cellar, lack of new oak and all.

It has been a while since I met a young agent of change, but Friday afternoon I think I met a future rock star, David Alexander Gallety of Domaine Gallety. Located in the Cotes du Vivirais, which many consider the dividing line between north and south in the Rhone, father and son toil this wild patch of vines to make a precocious and vibrant Grenache/Syrah blend. This winery screams "Look at me!" like a fun-loving child. I haven't felt as strongly about a Rhone find since I tasted D'Andezon in 1996. Just rereading my notes and thinking about that wine puts a smile on my face. I'll sign off on that note.

Hittin' the River Road

Today I completed a couple days of serious, intense tastings in Burgundy. Last night was a vinous and culinary tour de force that really sealed the deal. I left with an exhausted set of tastebuds, but many exceptional memories. It was good throwing my suitcase in the van and knowing it was headed South. As good as they were, I was ready for a break from Chardonnay and Pinot.

Before I get to what came next though, some final reflections:

'06 Vintage - Classic, but tight and powerful.
'07 Vintage - Cool and difficult, but exciting in the hands of a great producer
'08 Vintage - Cool, but solid with a lighter style prevalent with good acidity and precision
'09 Vintage - Get in line, the press will be all over the fruit and power rolled into these wines. Reminds me of '90 in the way  the way the vignerons speak of the wines.

I also had a great wine moment that reminded of some of my best friends in the business. There I was, in a wine shop in Beaune, staring longingly at a '96 Clos du Tart. '85 Clos du Tart, was and is, one of the defining moments of my career. And here it was, reminding me of the times that the wine biz has given me. Good times... (Just as a note, in 1991 those times cost $70 a throw, today they would be almost $400.) So later in the evening, surrounded by people with the same passion, I had some snails in puff pastry and chicken with a morel cream sauce while drinking '00 Raveneau Monte du Tonnerre, '02 Meo-Camuzet Vosne-Romanee "Les Chaumes" ( stunning and the best of the night!), '01 Mazi Chambertin from Maume, and '01 Bonnes Mares from Bertheau. Dollars in the glass for sure, but also liquid passion and two decades of smiles and fond memories.

My notes head South through Savigny Les Beaunes and next through Maconnais. Those of us who think we know it all have fallen into the wrong business. Maconnais, once again highlighted how little I know. New surveys show that Chardonnay isn't just growing in limestone but also clay and blue schist. Wine isn't an expression of barrel, it's an expression of soil and the humanity of the winemaker. What a joy to experience a culture where nothing is from the cookie cutter.

My pilgrimage through Beaujolais was an homage to a dear friend. I took every sip with a confident looking over my shoulder and wasn't disappointed. Beaujolais is "joie de vivre" and "bontemps roulez" in a glass. The wines and their makers exude fun and life. Work hard, party hard ,eat and drink well, do we need much more? The food was hardy and good, but most importantly life had relaxed, my palate wasn't as challenged and it finally stopped snowing. Pulling into the hotel, I got out of the van and tossed a rock into the Rhone. The river road and the South lay ahead. For the first time in a long time, I found myself craving Syrah.

Passion rather than dollars

It is beautiful to see passion and honesty motivating your approach to your job rather than just dollars. I see that kind of passion in the eyes of just about every vigneron I'm fortunate enough to meet when I'm in France. My first two days were spent in the Loire, and that is definitely the case there, but rolling around the Cotes de Beaune today, I was thrilled to see the same passion in this region of mind-boggling expensive wines (and can you believe it, not  a Cabernet Sauvignon vine to be found, I'm in heaven).

Last night I had the good fortune to break bread with the Villaine's from A&P Villaine. Aubert is one of the partners in that most expensive of red wines, DRC. But Aubert's personal estate in Bouzeron is all about honesty, stewardship of the land, hospitality, and goblets of fun goodness like Aligote and Mercurey. It was fantastic to end the day of a warm plate of boeuf borgogne after the seriousness of tasting with Raveneau in Chablis.

Today I was struck by the lack of barrels and batonnage used by the producers we tasted with. I'd say 75% of the producers are also moving to organic farming within the next year or so (the time it takes to finish certification of their vineyards). Maybe there is hope for Mother Earth yet. It was also refreshing to taste wines that were never over 13% alcohol. I tasted 83 wines today and although, I'm not as sharp as I was at 9AM, my tongue isn't numb either.

In Loire, the vintages were as follows in general:

'07 - Solid, but a little lower acidity.
'08 - Solid Classic vintage with good acidity. My favorite of the 3.
'09 - Warm Vintage, on the ripe side. Should be a critically acclaimed vintage.

In the Cotes de Beaune, the vintages seem to go like this:

'06 - Classic, good structure
'07 - Ripe, but not overly so. Cool summer, but late and warm harvest. Good acid which should make cellar worthy wines. I don't find the same balance I see in '06 however.
'08 - Very cool vintage, great acidity. Really precise and tasty whites. I think the reds show a little more variabilty, but I found some tasty offerings.

Wines of the day were as follows:

Dom. Vincent  - These are awesome folks. Young, but traditionally-minded and the wines are kickin'.
'08 Bourgogne Blanc
'08 Puligny Lieu Dits
'08 Auxey-Duresses Blanc
'08 Santenay 1 "Passetemps"

There are my wines of the day, but I've got to run ( and eat and drink more).

Aaah the joys of wine and travel

I'm 2 days into the big slog...actually a day and a half. Currently, the tasty sip count stands at 95. Yeah, it looks like we'll be averaging about 50-60 wines a day. For those of you who are wondering, all of France, including the Loire, which we just left and Beaune where we just arrived, is covered in snow. I narrowly missed a dip in the Loire after the van we were riding in slid through the backyard of Pouilly Fume producer Regis Minet, right on the banks of the river. (Good work with the brakes Regis, you can drive my van anytime.)

On the food front, for those that care, here are the high points so far...skate and artichoke terrine in Tours, more interesting than tasty, wonderful goat cheese (beware super aged goat, made all the Sauvignon's taste tinny), big hunks of cured pork (almost bacon) with tooth picks, and today, a catered lunch from a 1 star in Vezelay called L'esperance. The organ meat wrapped in puff pastry with a brown sauce was incredible (James and Elaine I know you are bummed Dad didn't make you take a bite of that). For the adventurous amongst my intrepid fellows we downed a few tasty giant Normandy oysters with a salty aspic holding some fresh watercress and creme fraiche in place. I hate to brag but I did eat those creatures with '93 Raveneau Les Clos Chablis and '97 Laventureaux Chablis to wash it all down. The '97 for me was perfection.

So far the wine highlights are as follows:
'05 Raveneau "Butteaux" Chablis Premier Cru
- toffee and fresh apples were what struck me
'01 Joguet "Chene Vert" Chinon
-exotic nose with citrus and jasmine hints over soft ripe fruit
'07 Joguet "Clos de la Dioterie" Chinon
 - spicy and exotic, but still a baby, my hope would be that it goes in the same direction as '01 above.
Champalou NV Sec - Gourgeous Chenin sparkling that really hit the spot after all the Cab Franc

I've got quite a few more, but need to hit the road to Bouzeron with Aubert de Villaine ( yes, the same one of DRC fame). Stay tuned. I wish all my buds and family were here. One of the days!

And so the journey begins

I'm beginning to understand why you drink so much when get to France. All the unnecessary waiting at the airport will drive you to drink. I'm sure you are all thinking, excuses, excuses. Well, in killing some time waiting for the plane to board, I might as well tell you about my final day of training.

We all know you have to practice what you will experience in real life in order to be fully prepared. Thursday was definitely a pro-level training session 4 hours, 25 wines, and a huge lunch. I'm ready. Tasting mainly California wines really did put the exclamation point on the trip to come. Some of the highlights of the tasting were:

Renaud Macon-Villages '08-  a clean, refreshing crowd-pleaser just as you would expect. The prices of the wines this little jewel beat out are too embarrassing to mention and they were all from California. Hope that earns me some hard to get stuff when I get to Burgundy.

It was hard to go wrong with the Pinot Noirs on the table, but Miner Rosella's '06 was stunning. All I need to remember that wine in my mind is "WOW!" Only 8 days into the new year, but this is best wine I've tasted in 2010. Now let's see how long they can hold the title.

On the Merlot front, the group seemed struck by Paradigm '04 and Gundlach-Bundschu ('06?) Different price-points, but both delicioso.

Finishing with the Cab-based wine that caught my taste-buds, I was taken with the new Cain Concept ('06?). This was blending done right, with layers of fruit and spice that really left me feeling this was an onion I was willing to peel.

I'm anxious to dive into some Cab Franc in the next 24 hours. With Loire the first stop on the tour, I'm not going to be anxious much longer. Ah, and what to accompany a lovely Chinon?...I'll let you know, stay tuned...

Here's a shout-out as promised to my junior tasters - Elaine and James. Hope you are reading Dad's writing, it's good practice.

New Year's Eve Training Regimen

A close friend, Jim Broderick, told me about 18 years ago that the hardest thing about travelling in France is training your body to eat and drink for 16 hours a day for 2 weeks after a poor night of sleep. Truer words never spoken. So, I'm in training and given that it was New Year's Eve last night, I'm waking up from a hard workout.

Is anything really coincidence? All I know is I've watched Rocky and Rocky II this morning, so there is that training theme in the air. I can positively say, however, that I feel better than Rocky after the first bout with Apollo Creed. Thank God those noisemakers didn't work when my daughter grab one this morning, another lucky day. More coincidence, I was training with my own Burgess Meridith, Jim Broderick, last night. I'll run with Rocky theme, and tell you all, I've got the "eye of the tiger."

I'm not a "smiler", but I have been told I'm generally a "glass half full " thinker. As we were preparing toasts, my wife and I, we getting ready to blurt out "Here's to a better 2010!", when we were reminded by the moustachioed and quietly, ascerbic, yet impossibly optimistic (in the New York style), wine guru that 2009 was pretty "freakin'"  good year for the Perkins family. So let me remind myself, it was a "freakin'" good year and 2010 will be even better!

Ok, back to the training. Do you ever notice that in the movies, the training sequences are dramatic, but short. I'd guess that's because to everybody that isn't really in the room it's boring. Sorry prepared to be bored, Rocky was training when the cameras weren't rolling.

Being  a self-professed wine nerd and minutiae addict here's my version of one-armed push ups:

Hopler Blaufrankisch to set the mood. Fun, festive, and uncomplicated donated to the cause by a worthy sparring partner, Sara Guterbock.

Bellavista Franciacorta to honor those fun, crazy Italians and remind us what New Year's is supposed to be about Bubbles! Clean and vivacious with tantalizing berry aromatics. A solid sparkler that screams "crowded bar in fancy Italian restaurant." Spirited.

Then, 6 different cheeses, prosciutto, and liver mousse to exercise those abdominal muscles.

A single blind tasting was the next event  with RH Coutier Brut, a Brut Reserva Cava (Sorry, Greatmama always said, "If you can't say something nice don't say anything at all." So my policy here will be to leave the underachievers un-named. Plus Rocky didn't like being kicked when he was down.)  and Bruno Paillard Premiere Cuvee Brut. Damn, we were good or maybe the wines just stuck out like "stylistic" sore thumbs. Either way, these tasty morsels didn't fool anyone. It was a split decision, between the richer Coutier and the more crisp and clean Paillard. Admiring both, my vote went to the sublime and ethereal Paillard.

As a side, we put a little Prosecco from San Simone in the ring with the Cava and in my opinion the little Italian street fighter won another easy knockout. It wasn't classy, but it was honest and tasty with beautiful white peach aromatics and bargain pricing. My hat is off ,as always, to the fantastic Brisotto family who make this wine.

Every fighter needs nutrition and while the gumbo I'd been nurturing for 5 days will never be described as ethereal, it was good, earthy, and real. That's the kind of stuff we like in my training camp. The main event never arrives early and I thought we might need another red to cleanse the palate for the big boy to come. Ouch, what a mistake, I just can't wrap my head around tricked up, monolithic, Tempranillo. I guess, neither could my compadres.

Luckily,  Krug Grand Cuvee arrived on the scene.  Nutty, yeasty and infinitely rich and complex. This Champagne had us all thinking wine. A stunner and the winner by KO. I'd say when the bell rang on the last round we came into 2010 with style. Here's to hard training and the New Year!