Tag Archives: French wine

Wine of the week: Little James’ Basket Press NV

This bottle could well be the future of the much-troubled French wine business. If so, the future may not be as dire as so many fear.

The Little James ($12, purchased) is a red blend made by Chateau de Saint-Cosme, a 450-year-old Rhone producer whose offerings include several $100, high-score wines. It ?s not exactly like Silver Oak or Screaming Eagle doing a $12 wine, but it ?s close enough.

How do they do it? By mixing current vintage wine with older wine, which is less expensive than using all current vintage juice. This version of the Little James is about half from 2011, and the rest comes from wine as old as the 1999 vintage.

Why do they do it? Because the French wine market, save for the most expensive wines, has been slowly vanishing for the past two decades. There are dozens of reasons, but the main one is that the rest of the world makes cheap wine just as well, if not better, than the French, and their unsold wine sits on store shelves or in warehouse vats until it ?s thrown out.

The Little James is part of the attempt to recapture that market. It ?s 100 percent grenache, a sturdy Rhone grape, and it smells and tastes of the Rhone. There is barnyard and bacon fat on the nose, and earthy, black fruit that gives way to a darkish finish. All in all, it ?s an impressive effort that would pair with pizza, roast chicken, and almost anything with roasted mushrooms. It ?s certainly not what I expected given the cutesy label and name (and a tip o ? the Curmudgeon ?s fedora to Eddie Eakin at Dallas ? Veritas, who told me about this).

One caveat: Prices for the Little James are all over the place; I ?ve seen it for as little as $10, and as much as $17. At $17, it ?s not that great a value, and I suspect those retailers are trying to capitalize on St. Cosme ?s reputation.

Expensive wine 41: Francois Raquillet Mercurey La Brigadiere 2005

Francois RaquilletThe Big Guy was on the phone. ?I ?ve got a wine you need to try. ? Given The Big Guy ?s fondness for white Burgundy, the Wine Curmudgeon ?s guilty pleasure, who was I to argue with him?

Though, when he brought the bottle over, it didn ?t look promising, The wine was a closeout, stuffed on a back shelf in one of Dallas ? local chain stores which would soon go out of business. It looked like it had seen better days ? worn label, lots of dust ? but The Big Guy and I are nothing if not brave.

I broke out the glasses, and poured. We sipped. We sipped some more. And then, at more or less the same time, we smiled that goofy wine drinker ?s smile that means we had found something very nice.

The wine was a Fran ois Raquillet Mercurey La Brigadi re 2005 ($30, purchased ? thanks, Big Guy) and don ?t worry if you ?ve never heard of it. Neither did the three wine people I asked ? the woman who knows more about wine than anyone I know, the master sommelier, and the guy studying to be a master sommelier.

Which made the Raquillet that much more fun. It ?s a white wine from Mercurey, a part of Burgundy better known for its reds, and how it ended up on a store shelf in Dallas is a mystery. Our best guess, as we drank the bottle, is that someone ordered a case and never picked it up, so the wine sat on the shelf for five years until The Big Guy came along.

The Raquillet had classy green apple fruit, as well as a spicy, white pepper sort of thing going on. It was a bit richer than I expected (probably from oak aging), and had a long, subtle finish with some limestone. It was more sophisticated than Chablis, which it sort of resembled. But it was unique and a wonderful wine.

And a wonderful value, assuming you can find it. I know you can ?t in Dallas, because The Big Guy went back and bought the four or five bottles that were left. In this, I ?m breaking one of the blog ?s rules, which is not to review wines people can ?t buy. But I ?m doing it because the wine ?s story is as good as the wine.

Mini-reviews 37: Fourth of July edition

Reviews of wines that don ?t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month. This edition, in honor of July 4, focuses on wines worth drinking for the holiday:

  ? Pepperwood Grove Groovy Green Pinot Noir NV ($7, sample): As long as you don't mind that it doesn't taste like pinot noir, it's an adequate red table wine with pinot and 25 percent syrah (the maximum amount allowed for it to be called pinot). And the Groovy Green bit? For its environmentally friendly packaging.

? Jean-Marc Brocard Chablis 2009 ($20, purchased): What's the Fourth of July without a French wine to honor the country that made our independence possible? The Brocard is chardonnay, but is rounder and softer, with more red apple fruit than the usual wines from the Chablis region, which have green apple and bracing acidity. Having said that, it's not worse, just different, and a nice way to end a holiday weekend.

? Pio Cesare Langhe Arneis 2011 ($20, purchased): Arneis is a rare Piedmontese white grape usually used for blending in expensive red wine, or to make flabby, simple stuff. This wine, though, has been taken somewhere it has never been before — crisp and fresh, with an almost gewurtzraminer-like spice and subtle pear fruit. Yes, expensive, but highly recommended nonetheless.

? Kendall-Jackson Zinfandel Vintner's Reserve 2010 ($17, sample): Nicely done mid-weight zinfandel, with some heft, blackberry brambliness, and black pepper. But it is neither overwhelming, like the 15 1/2 percent alcohol zinfandels, or all fruit, like the poorly made cheap ones.

Wine of the week: Louis Tete Beaujolais-Villages 2010

Once, if you wanted an inexpensive quality bottle of wine, chances are you bought a Beaujolais. In fact, that was about the only decent cheap red wine ? imported or otherwise ? on most store shelves two decades ago.

Beaujolais, the French wine region just south of Burgundy, has fallen on hard times since then, something you ?ll read about it in the trade press every once in a while. Sales have declined significantly, mostly because Beaujolais drinkers are dying off. The 1990s were a long time ago in the wine business, and Beaujolais was a Baby Boomer wine. And quality, despite assertions from the region, is inconsistent. Some of it is so badly made that it ?s difficult to believe it ?s a 21st century product.

Fortunately, the producer Louis Tete has held up its end. I bought this wine, its basic Beaujolais ($10, purchased), mostly for nostalgia value, not expecting much. But it was Beaujolais the way it should be, with just enough grapey flavor (courtesy of the gamay grape) so that you could tell it was from Beaujolais, but also lots and lots of character. There was acid and freshness, rare for a Beaujolais these days, as well as an earthiness and even some dark fruit.

This is the quintessential porch red wine, perfect for hot summer days (just 12 1/2 percent alcohol), barbecues and Fourth of July picnics. Highly recommended, and a candidate for the 2013 Hall of Fame.

Winebits 234: Internet alcohol, Burgundy, Ray Bradbury

? British on-line booze ban? A report has called for the government to crack down on on-line liquor sales in the United Kingdom, reports the Harpers trade publication. The author told the magazine that traditional retailers were doing such a good job in preventing underage drinking that more teens and pre-teens were turning to on-line retailers to buy alcohol. This study follows in the wake of a U.S. report that found much the same thing here, and called for stronger state and federal laws to prevent underage purchases.

? More affordable Burgundy? Regular visitors here know that the Wine Curmudgeon has long lamented the high cost of wine from the French region of Burgundy, and especially red Burgundy, perhaps the world ?s best pinot noir.  That may be changing, thanks to new a appellation law that changes the way the old AOC, entry level wines were made. This may well help producers to make better and more affordable wine, reports Shanken News Daily. That ?s the goal, anyway. Whether it actually happens is something far too complicated to predict, given the French winemaking mindset.

? Ray Bradbury: Someone else found Ray Bradbury ?s death worth noting on a wine blog. Wrote Paul Mabry at Vintank, who once briefly met Bradbury: ?I watched mesmerized by the man whose books I ?d devoured through my childhood. He spoke as passionately and as effortlessly as it felt reading his writing. At the end, on his way out of the chateau, I was allowed to shake his hand. I offered him a clumsy letter that I had taken three weeks to write thanking him. When I handed him the letter he softly touched my face and said, ?Do great things, son, do great things. ? ?

Father’s Day wine 2012

Father's Day wine 2012
Yes, son, wine is a great Father’s Day present

What, you don ?t think wine and Father ?s Day are a good fit? Then you don ?t know all of the dads that I know, since they find wine a fine gift at any time. Whatever you do, though, keep our wine gift-giving guidelines in mind — “Don’t buy someone wine that you think they should like; buy them what they will like.”

These suggestions should get you started:

? Hey Mambo Sultry Red ($12, sample): Red California table wine that deserves better than its hokey back label. Simple, basic, and fulfilling, with enough black fruit to be noticeable, but not so much that it tastes like a juice box. Pair with grilled sausages, and don ?t be afraid to chill it a little.

? Bodega Amalaya Tinto ($17, sample): Much better than than I thought it would be, with sweet cherry fruit that was more bright than stewed (which can be a problem with Argentine malbecs). It was still soft, but pleasantly so. A terrific barbecue wine.

? Lucien Albrecht Cremant d ?Alsace Brut Rose NV ($17, sample): The decline in the euro means this sparkling wine may return to more affordable territory, which is worth waiting for. Crisp and bubbly and refreshing, with subtle cranberry and cherry fruit and just the thing for a hot summer Sunday.

More about Father ?s Day wine:
? Father’s Day wine 2011
? Father’s Day wine 2010
? Wine of the week: Cellar No. 8 Eight
? Wine of the week: Villa Maria Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon

Cartoon courtesy nanozero87 via OpenClipArt, using a Creative Commons license

Mini-reviews 36: Ribera, La Vieille Ferme, Rodney Strong, Sledgehammer

Reviews of wines that don ?t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month:

? Bodegas Pe alba L pez Monte Castrillo 2009 ($13, sample): Spanish tempranillo from Ribera del Duero with lots of thickish red fruit that needs beefy dishes. Decent value, but you have to like wine made this way.

? La Vieille Ferme Blanc 2011 ($8, purchased): Hugely disappointing vintage from the French white that is a long-time blog favorite. Big-time banana fruit, which not only isn't pleasant, but shows a change in winemaking to softer and more sweetish approach.

? Rodney Strong Sauvignon Blanc 2010 ($13.50, sample): Always dependable and value-driven California white. Look for melon and California grassiness, thought not quite as citrusy as other west coast sauvignon blancs.

? Sledgehammer Zinfandel 2009 ($15, sample): Yes, it is. A massive, oaky, and alcoholic zinfandel with extracted jammy fruit if that's what you're in the mood for.