Chaddsford: Don't bother. Interesting that you ask about this, as I just tried their 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon at a tasting last Thursday. We sampled both the Chaddsford 1999 and 2000 Cabs in a blind tasting. I gave the 1999 a 9 and the 2000 an 8. I thought the 2000 was "bitter, slightly musty" and felt there was "nothing spectacular about either of these wines." We did have a 2000 Chaddsford Chardonnay that I rated a 10.5 - felt it was "overly buttery, good in a pinch if nothing else was around."

That being said, I will keep going to the Chaddsford tasting room, because their wine classes are really fun (and it's about 3 blocks from my apartment). Last week's class was South American wines, focusing on Chile and Argentina. I really liked a 1999 Catena Malbec, LunLunta Vineyards in the Mendoza region of Argentina - gave it a 14.5. It "smelled fantastic, with tobacco and vanilla tones, nice finish." I also recommend a 2000 Luis Felipe Edwards Chardonnay from the Colchagua region of Chile. Rating, 14. Very light color for a chard, smelled strongly of pineapple, crisp and bright, little finish. Definitely a summer wine.
 :: posted by Chris Gray at 9:13 PM
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Chaddsford: Boon or Boondoggle? I'm curious what Chris thinks of this review. (Registration may be required to view it.) Michael Dresser, the Baltimore Sun wine guy whose weekly recommendations also appear in the TP, seems to like at least one of their wines. Chris and I can be drinking buddies a lot of the time, and she hasn't had a kind word to say about anything Chaddsford does.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 1:38 PM
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Thursday's results. Thanks to Stephanie for the food and Wayne and Kate for the wine.
     1) "Zink." 1999 Cairnbrae Vineyards "The Stones" Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand. $13. Average 15.11; range 12-18. This white was the first wine of the evening, which makes its place on the top of this list all the more remarkable. Hints of grass, honeydew melons, apple juice in the nose; flavor contains hints of grapefruit and lemon peel. Tastes a little sweet at first, but dries out into a crisp, consistent finish. Like 7Up, but in a good way: "Crisp and clean, with no caffeine."
     2) "T-Wine." 2000 Wolf Blass Shiraz Green Label, South Australia. $11.59 at Martin Wine Cellar. Average 13.33; range 9-15. Not the most complex of reds, but solid and pleasant nonetheless. Very leathery, with hints of tar and sour cherry. The consensus was that some aging would help this wine a lot. On the eve of Jazzfest 2002, different people suggested that the wine resembled a young Bonnie Raitt, the Old 97s (poppy, catchy and up-front, if not terribly original), the New Birth Brass Band, Dinosaur Jnr ("decent beat, but you can't dance to it"), Men at Work, the Jazz Vipers and, according to one detractor, Alanis Morissette ("naive but bitter already").
     3) "Flustration." 2000 Santa Rita Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva, Maipo Valley, Chile. $10 at Martin Wine Cellar. Average 13.22; range 11-16. Some of us had trouble getting traction on this one. It had the texture and concentration of dessert wine, but in some ways the fruit was subdued. We detected plums, butter, petroleum, black currant, "ripe, dark blueberry," a little pepper. Dominant taste at the end, one person suggested, is Hershey's Special Dark.
     4-tie) "Banquette." 2001 Mud House Sauvignon Blanc, Marlborough, New Zealand. $16 at Wine Seller. Average 12.89; range 9-17. This one had a very particular nose, and corresponding flavor, that struck most of us as familiar -- but we had trouble putting a name to it. Among the suggestions: licorice, green apple, pear, "halfway between parsley and cilantro," tea, gentle anise. "Great for an 80-degree New Orleans day." It got more grapefruity as it warmed up. Some people thought it tasted like carbonated lychee syrup. Nobody gave it much credit for complexity; "It stops right there," one person said. Some found it "flat, vacant."
     4-tie) "Silver Dime." 1998 Fleur du Cap Pinotage, Bergkeller, Stellenbosch (Cape Coastal Region), South Africa. $11 at Martin Wine Cellar. Average 12.89; range 9-18. Nose: spiced plums, caramel, mushrooms. Skeptics found it overly acidic and tannic, like "sour cherries gone bad."
     6) "Parran." 2001 Hill of Content "Benjamin's Blend", Western Australia; 39% Chardonnay, 35% Semillon, 26% Sauvignon Blanc. $11 at Martin Wine Cellar. Average 12; range 10-18. "I wouldn't rush the stage." "The Counting Crows of wines; you wouldn't leave when it showed up, but you wouldn't go out of your way to find it." "Like Pat [from "Saturday Night Live"] -- is it good? Is it bad?" People who liked it said it was buttery, somewhat refreshing, pleasantly restrained, if generic. Hints of bell peppers, "cat urine, but not in a bad way."
     7) "Laxadaisical." 2000 Altos de Medrano Altos Las Hormigas Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina. $12 at Martin Wine Cellar. Average 11.33; range 8-15. A strange wine. One person detected pickled ginger in the nose; another, rotten fish. Oddly (and not unpleasantly) fizzy-tasting on the tongue, with a mineral undertone and hints of cinnamon, clove, peppermint, orange flower water, tobacco, menthol, macadamia, cough syrup. The finish kind of burned. Sympathy date: "It might work with some food."
     8) "My'nais." 1997 Simonsig "Tiara", Stellenbosch, South Africa; 67% Cabernet Sauvignon, 27% Merlot, 6% Cabernet Franc. $19 at Martin Wine Cellar. Average 10.39 (after two abstentions); range 8-14. Eliot and Laura thought this wine was corked and declined to rate it. Others thought it was on its way out but probably wasn't much good in the first place. Others complimented the fruitiness.

 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 11:02 PM
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Haven't been there in a while, but I think Odyssey Grill (on Metairie Road near Vega, formerly just off Harrison Ave.) has some decent Greek wines on the menu. (Couldn't get the wine list to come up on my computer, but maybe somebody else can).
 :: posted by Stephanie Grace at 4:44 PM
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Greek Whine? No, this is not a memoir of my sorority days – I attended a Greek wine tasting last week. Most Americans are familiar with the nasty pine-tasting retzina wines (the white zin of Greece), which come from the arid central part of the country. The premier wine regions are to the north (Naoussa in Macedonia) and to the south (Nemea on the Peloponnese Island; Santorini, also an island in the Aegean Sea).
At this tasting, we sampled some of the higher-end Greek wines. Most are rather difficult to find unless you are in a city with a large Greek contingent. These wines smelled great – very flowery and perfumey, but most degenerated into very sour finishes. Here are the rankings:
1. Skouras “Megas Oenos” 1998. Rating 12/20. $20s. This was the best of the lot, and I would definitely buy a bottle for my collection. This wine-maker, Skouras, has received flak in Greece for making the most “American” tasting wines, and not surprisingly, it was my favorite. Made with a combination of Cabernet Sauvignon and St. George grapes, it tasted very smooth and had a great finish.
2. Ktima Kir Yianni “Ramnista” 1997, Naoussa. Rating, 10/20. My sister liked this one. It still had the sour smell of many Greek wines , but the taste was better. It was made with zinomauro (sp?) grapes, which are supposed to be similar to pinot noir).
3. Boutari Grande Reserve Naossa, 1996. Rating, 8/20. This was also made with the zinomauro grape. Boutari is considered one of the best winemakers in Greece. Cute wine guy instructor had high hopes for this one, but it tasted rather flat.
4. Gaia “Notios” St. George 2000. Rating, 8/20. This smelled and tasted like an earthy French wine, somewhat like sod. This was from the Nemea region.
5. Boutari Santorini 2000. Rating, 10 for smell, 6 for taste. A white wine blended from three grapes on the island of Santorini. This wine smelled fabulous, like honeysuckle, but then tasted nasty – like “bile,” according to my sister.
6. Domaine Hatzimichalis White 2000. 5/20. Very flat and bitter.
7. Chaddsford Merlot 2000. 4/20. Surprisingly, this Pennsylvanian wine was the worst of the evening (and that was saying something!) Extremely sour, like no merlot you’ve ever had. Of course, I didn’t have the heart to say anything, as Chaddsford was sponsoring the tasting.

 :: posted by Chris Gray at 1:07 PM
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From my friend Juliet, in D.C.: Charming 120-year old family farmhouse in the Calvados region of Normandy, two hours west of Paris, available for rent year round.
     The country getaway of a former New York Times foreign correspondent, this two-bedroom, book-filled house with traditional oak beams overlooks a rural valley and nestles in three acres of secluded Norman farmland. Yet it lies close to the area's loveliest and most exciting sites. The historical small port of Honfleur, from which 16th century explorer Champlain set out to found Quebec, is a seven-minute drive from the house. The resort town of Deauville, with its sweeping beaches, elegant restaurants, casino, and film festival, is twenty minutes away. Both historical Rouen and the D-Day beaches lie within an hours' drive. With two and a half baths, a modern kitchen, a rustic living room, and a large fireplace, the house sleeps four to six comfortably.
     Available for $650 a week, with prices for longer and shorter stays negotiable. Linen service included. For more information e-mail eilperinj@washpost.com or call (202) 334-7774 during the day. Access information:
     Car: Two hours highway drive from Paris (add a half hour from Charles De Gaulle airport).
     Air: The closest large airport is Charles De Gaulle/Roissy (Paris), but there are seasonal flights from Paris and London to Saint-Gatien airport (10 mn drive to the house).
     Train: One hour and 45 minutes from Paris to Deauville, then 20 minute taxi ride to the house.
     Ferry from UK: connections from Newhaven to Dieppe (one hour drive to the house) and from Portsmouth to Le Havre (20 mn drive to the house).

 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 2:50 PM
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More on April in Paris. I agree with Steph. I went home with the 1999 Marc Bredif Vouvray, mainly because I never have any white in the house, and the Domaine Sang des Cailloux Vacqueyras. (Not sure about the year, but here is some info.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 2:46 PM
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April in Paris. No big revelations at this annual Martin's tasting, but we discovered a few tasty low-priced wines. Check out the 2000 Chateau de la Chaize Brouilly, a $9.99 Beaujolais, or the 1999 Louis Latour Macon Lugny "Les Genievres," a white Burgundy, for $8.99.
 :: posted by Stephanie Grace at 11:21 AM
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Old world vs. new world. It's like East Coast vs. West Coast rap.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 6:16 PM
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Wine controversies. Most of them seem to involve corks in one way or another.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 6:14 PM
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Caution. Watch out for reconditioned French wines.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 6:12 PM
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I take it a Cal-Ital is a traditional Italian varietal grown in California?
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 9:52 PM
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Cal-Ital yumminess. I went to The Tasting Room this weekend, a small East Village restaurant known for its wine list, and was surprised to see that most of the wines by the glass were Cal-Ital varietals. I chose a 1996 Dolcetto from L'Ecosse, a winery in Oakville, and it was quite good, nice and smooth, with plummy legs. The Tasting Room is (not surprisingly) all about "tastes," or small plates, and this wine was particularly nice with the duck and squab dishes we had.
 :: posted by Chris Gray at 10:09 AM
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Syrah is the new Merlot? In a good way, apparently. The article gives some interesting history: The grape came into widespread planting in the United States as a reaction to what one winemaker calls the "cab- and chardo-centric orientation" of American buyers. What I didn't know -- and maybe I should have -- is that the mix of different grapes in changes substantially over time in response to trends and other factors. Grange used to be all Shiraz but now contains some Cabernet Sauvignon; in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, meanwhile, the percentage of Syrah is rising.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 3:03 PM
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Music. John Biers reports that the music he played at the last meeting included Queen of Soul: The Atlantic Recordings, Volume 2 by Aretha Franklin, Ronnie Earl and Friends and Let's Get Lost by Terence Blanchard.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 10:57 PM
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Slump? The New York Times declares that New Orleans' restaurant slump is over. And I didn't even know we were having one.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 1:10 PM
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Your picture here. Or at least on the "about us" page, which looks pretty empty and forlorn right now. I'd like to put up a list that has a picture, a name, a favorite wine and maybe favorite restaurant for everyone -- this includes Soon and Chris. If you want to take part, please give me a picture, either in electronic or regular form.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 7:13 PM
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Wine and Food Experience. The New Orleans Wine and Food Experience will be held on Memorial Day weekend, not in July, as in years past, and several of us have already made plans to attend the Saturday Grand Tasting. It's $79 a head, and features great wine and food from the city's top restaurants. Tickets on sale now -- the more the merrier (although it promises to be pretty merry regardless). And look Ma, I hyperlinked -- not that my mother has any idea what that means.
 :: posted by Stephanie Grace at 8:01 PM
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Destin destination. Gary and I went to Destin this past weekend but didn't even bother going to the beach; the weather was cloudy, hazy and/or rainy for most of the weekend and cleared up only as we were about to leave. We did find a cool new wine store and restaurant, though: (vin' tij) Wine Boutique.
     Yes, the name is pretty dumb, and it's located in a strip mall. But they sell a pretty wide (and very well chosen) variety of wines. We bought a 1999 La Crema Pinot Noir to drink with dinner. I gather that it had been sitting around for a while, since the 2000 was also out on the shelves. That time served it well. Right out of the bottle, the wine tasted soft and creamy, plus the usual pepper, jam, blackberry blah blah blah.
     The food was great, too. Lagniappe: (vin' tij) is almost directly across the street from the outlet mall.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 6:33 PM
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