California über alles. OK, so the song lyrics don't refer to wine country, but the yummy wines that several of us tasted during a field trip to California make a strong case for the title. (So do recent news events, Jello Biafra himself would tell you.)
     DAY ONE in Carneros was a Pinot Noir-lover's dream. The first stop for Steph and John and me was Acacia. They've got a lot of good wines, and I even bought a Chardonnay. But the Beckstoffer Pinot Noir set a standard of fabulousness by which we judged everything else on the trip. We met up with Delia, Vinni and Hiroo at Schug, which produces Cabs and Merlots, but to me the real action was still in the Pinot Noirs -- particularly the Heritage Reserve.
     Then we did a drive-by tasting at Artesa. Nothing besides the ultra-mod tasting room made much of an impression on me; maybe I would have thought more of the place had we not been to Acacia and Schug first, and had we given it more of a chance. Last stop of the day was Domaine Carneros. I was getting pretty hazy by that point, but I think we had the La Rêve sparkler, and I think it might have been my favorite.
     DAY TWO began at Cakebread Cellars, whose tasting procedures are a little strange; five bucks gets you three tastes, but ten bucks only gets you five. Never mind that, though, because we all liked their wines. Or at least I did. Not to sound like a broken record, but their Pinot Noir was great -- all rich and smooth and clean. I loved their Syrah, also, though it's not yet available for purchase. The latest version of Rubaiyat wasn't quite as sublime as most of us had remembered, but that didn't keep us from ordering a bunch of it.
     Then off to St. Supéry, where the white wines stood out more than the reds. The $70 Cab didn't much impress me, but I dug the Semillon and even the Moscato. (Interesting aside: Toni, who poured our wine in the tasting room, is a New Orleanian; she integrated Lusher as a first-grader.) Next was PlumpJack, whose tasting room there had a real frat-boy/Jimmy-Buffett feel to it and whose reds are very dense and aggressive. The Merlot wasn't especially Merlot-like -- it lacked that bell-peppery undertone that I find in most of 'em -- but it was a really good wine. The Cabernet Sauvignon was spicy and amazingly smooth, but also as forward as a punch in the face -- um, an enjoyable punch in the face.
     The final stop that day was Miner. They were touting their Pinot Noir, which was pleasant, fruity, soft and fairly generic. But they make a decent Zin. More interesting is that they pour their '98, '99 and '00 Cabs in the same tasting. This was fascinating; the '98 and the '00 were deep, rich and ready to drink. The '99 -- grown in the same vineyards with a similar varietal mix -- was much lighter and more callow. It didn't seem like it would ever be as tasty as the '98.
     After two days of tasting, I wasn't sure I had the stamina for a third. Now I'm home in New Orleans. I'm already desperate to go back and taste more.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 8:37 PM
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Site worth exploring. When we started this site last year, I figured I'd use the blog to keep notes on pretty much every wine I tasted outside of wine club. It hasn't really worked out that way, but there's a guy in North Carolina or maybe Virginia who uses his site as a wine journal. (I came across it because he left a comment on a previous post here some weeks back.) Anyway, the site, Stoner Cellars Tastings, is well worth checking out.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 7:10 PM
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The Big Chill. So the dorky wine fridge in the back bedroom keeps everything inside at roughly 57 degrees, and ever since we got it G. and I have been drinking our reds at well below room temperature -- or at least below the room temperatures that prevail in South Louisiana for most of the year. The wine tastes subtler and more refreshing at faux-cellar temps than at 75 degrees, and it goes better with what comes out of the kitchen here. Though I generally prefer reds to whites, I cook a lot more chicken and pork and vegetables at home than red meat, and there's often a lot of spice and heat involved. The slight chill seems to make the Cali, Aussie and Spanish reds that we usually drink go better with whatever it is we're eating.
     This article from the L.A. Times explains why chilling reds, even ones you don't intend to keep for the long haul, is actually a good idea. Here's the key passage:

Balance and structure are what give any wine the ability to stand up to food. Serve a red too warm and it loses its balance. The acidity is hard to detect, and it can be cloying with a daube of beef. But firm it up, and it will be the perfect thing to chase the rich, sweet flavors of mashed potatoes, garlicky leg of lamb and caramelized vegetables from the roasting pan.

If I ever bought wines at the Uptown Whole Foods, this would be an excuse to use the fab-looking three-minute-chill machine.
     All that said, there are times when some warmth helps. When I'm drinking French wine, my unsubtle American palate needs a little help in coaxing the underlying flavors out, and 10 or 15 degrees above cellar temperature usually provides it. And chilling an inferior wine can be a way of camouflaging its crappitude. But the larger point, that cool is often cool, still stands, at least for me.
 :: posted by Dante Ramos at 7:37 PM
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Coffee & Wine. Houston has a number of nice cafes that offer quality coffee & wine for night owls like me. I haven't come across this in too many other cities. It's nice because it broadens the options for those post-dinner, meal-less times. Any sense of whether more places will offer both?
 :: posted by John Biers at 10:06 PM
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No foreigners need apply.
According to this Sept. 24 New York Times story (I'm a lilttle behind in my reading), all Smith & Wollensky restaurants, including the one in New Orleans, will soon offer only American wines. Jingoistic? Of course not, the restaurant's owner says, just a way to focus on showcasing the best American wines with quintessential American food. Hmmm. Seems to me you can highlight certain wines without purging everything else.
 :: posted by Stephanie Grace at 1:39 PM
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