Oeneophyte

Sorry friends, this one is for the Wine Trade Only. Hey wine...

Fri, 24 May 2013 10:33:24 -0400

Sorry friends, this one is for the Wine Trade Only. Hey wine trade! we’re doing this one just for you. Look at this sweet head piece Terry is wearing. Also, I’m going to drink all of the 2012 German wines. You’ve been warned. (no bulls were harmed in the drawing of this visual gag) #oleterry #rsvpandccme

Just don’t!

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:50:10 -0400

Just don’t!

How about I be Mr. Purple?

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 15:26:37 -0400

How about I be Mr. Purple?

2012 Vintage in Germany, by Terry Theise, 04-19-13

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 10:12:09 -0400

The boss just released his report on the newly released 2012 vintage from Germany, and he doesn’t have “a blog” so I’ve decided to reproduce it here. Choice quotes from Mr. Theise:

“Most growers will have had among their best vintages of the last decade in 2012.”

“It’s hard to compare to earlier years. One could say it’s like `09 but less yellow-fruit, more mineral, and richer. It’s nothing like `10, not as spiky. It’s like a much riper sibling of `08. It’s not flowery the way `07 was, and it’s much cleaner than `06. It’s a little like `05 without the botrytis but with similar concentration; indeed it was Selbach’s best vintage since `05, to which it nearly compares.”

If you’re not thirsty after reading this, I’m not sure there’s any help for you. Terry’s full report below.

2012 Vintage in Germany, by Terry Theise (04-19-13. Reprinted from Terry’s Squawk Box)

Perhaps you remember last year I said I was getting weary of minute meteorological explanations for a vintage, finding them otiose. Perhaps you don’t know what “otiose” means. It means futile or ineffectual, but isn’t quite exactly either of those things, having also a quality of irrelevance or uselessness. It’s one of those cool words that threads the linguistic needle. Anyway, I don’t think you want to know each detail of the growing season, so I’ll spare you.

What matters is this: early in the cycle right around or just before flowering, the weather wasn’t ideal and they had either fungus infections (peronospora, or downy mildew) or coulure, a failure of the blossoms to “set.” This was more pronounced as one went north, and most growers in and north of the Rheingau reported a 30% reduction in crop size, whereas the Rheinhessen and Pfalz were closer to normal.

The summer was cool and damp everywhere. Growers began to think the small crop might be a blessing in disguise. No one expected great results. The weather changed in late August, and remained almost constantly dry and sunny for a remarkably long time, giving producers a chance to pick what they wanted when they wanted (“We actually took weekends off,” was a common refrain) as opposed to needing to bring the crop in before the next storm or cold front.

Leitz wrote me, in his quite special style,

“The late summer was fantastic. Middle of August 40 degrees. Harvest really BEST!!! and stress less- like never before. Dry and sunny and decent degree daytime and nearly freezing at night. Means no shitty fruit flies or wasp assholes who spread the vinegar rot the last 3 vintages. So we picked the most healthy grapes since a long time. And!!!! Funny thing, the sunshine for 5 weeks was not turned into oechsle (they stayed very low) it turned into fruit. I never tasted as fruity juice before.”

This echoes an often-repeated trope for 2012 – the welcome lack of botrytis. In fact there was almost none. This gave growers all the leeway they could desire to wait to pick, and fruit was concentrated by dehydration. An American living and working in the Pfalz named Bill Hooper wrote this to me, speaking only for the Pfalz but in fact generally applicable: “What sets 2012 apart from other recent vintages is that due to a long, cooler season, [the] physiological ripeness has been achieved before a significant drop in acidity.” And 2012 is indeed a high-acid vintage at least for Riesling. (It was permitted to add acidity to other varieties.) Yet we’ve come to see this through the prism of vintages that have generally been lower in acidity than was the case up to and including 2002. We’re spoiled. 2010 was a freak, of course, yet there were few instances where I felt acidity on the palate, high though it may have been on paper.

This is because the wines are amazingly dense and full, materially rich in substance, yet not even slightly fat. German has two perfect words for these things: dicht (meaning a many-layered palpable density) and fülle (meaning not just fullness but a concentrated juiciness that’s almost semi-solid), and so the wines are markedly generous and concentrated for a so-called “high-acid” year. Extracts were such as to prompt an image of liquid geology in many wines.

You’re going to have to call this an outstanding vintage, especially in points north. Yet the Pfalz offered its own share of surprises. The season was 2-3 weeks earlier there, and one heard tales of a rush to pick for fear of rot, anticipated due to a warm front. But then the Pfälzers took it on the chin in the last decade, and can be indulged if they seem skittish and pick hurriedly. But not all of them did. And for each estate whose wines seemed perhaps unfulfilled, there were others who made their best vintages in memory, and at least one who emerged transcendent.

A cold night on 25/26 October gave hope of Eiswein but it wasn’t cold enough. The grapes “looked like sorbet,” several people told me, and what they did pick that morning had a subtle Eiswein tang, and went into the few Auslesen the vintage gave. Afterwards there was a drop in acidity, and the picking continued well into early November. This meant several things. One, because the picking was so late, fermentations were colder and therefore slower, and for growers seeking to make wines with sweetness, they had plenty of leisure to consider the perfect moment to stop those fermentations. Two, and more important for me personally, the wines were about 3-4 weeks later than last year, and my visit was one week earlier, which means I was tasting substantially less developed wine than I’d tasted a year before. (This will also be true for any colleague who tasted much before April 1st.) Some of what I tasted seemed atypically raw, and I’m sure this was the reason.

Some growers’ wines go through a sharp angular stage before fruit emerges and the flavors thread together. I saw it here and there, and allowed for it. But in some instances there was a sourness present, for which I could find no explanation. Please understand, sourness is something you taste as a flavor on the tongue, whereas acidity is a felt sense of something caustic. High-acid wines can be smooth, and low-acid wines can be sour; think of the bitter finish of most Gewurztraminers, for example; a very low-acid variety.

Most growers will have had among their best vintages of the last decade in 2012. But what is it like?

It’s loaded. It’s seldom tensile, but neither is it spherical. The wines are crammed with saltiness. “Mint” was a common descriptor. 2011 tasted facile next to it, and 2011 is not a facile vintage. But `12 is of another order.

It’s hard to compare to earlier years. One could say it’s like `09 but less yellow-fruit, more mineral, and richer. It’s nothing like `10, not as spiky. It’s like a much riper sibling of `08. It’s not flowery the way `07 was, and it’s much cleaner than `06. It’s a little like `05 without the botrytis but with similar concentration; indeed it was Selbach’s best vintage since `05, to which it nearly compares.

It’s a fabulous vintage for Muscat, and a perplexing vintage for Scheurebe, but Scheu is often tardy and I was a lot earlier than usual. Some were clean but varietally mute, while others (Minges!) were full-throttle kama-sutra kink.

HIGHLIGHTS AND SUPERLATIVES

THE WINERY OF THE VINTAGE IS:

Bearing in mind that Mr. Dönnhoff’s number has been retired, as it were – well what is it? I struggle between an estate who have clearly and dramatically ascended, and one who has again shown a markedly powerful performance such as they have often done over the last 10-15 years. But attention must be paid, we have a new Belle-of-the-ball, and ladies and gents, leave your shoes at the door for you enter a holy place – the winery of the vintage is VON WINNING, who have attained a stunning crescendo that fully realizes the lofty ambitions they began with.

OTHER MARKED SUCCESSES:

It won’t surprise you to learn that Leitz continues to perform at a stellar level. My number-1 runner-up to Von Winning has got to be Selbach-Oster, who have their best vintage since 2005 and who again conveyed a virtuosity over a very large range of wines, making it look easier than I know it to be. Von Othegraven is strongly expressive and aristocratic, wines of both dignity and deliciousness. Carl Loewen shows again that he’s the sleeper in this portfolio. Both Adam and Willi Schaeferwere superb. It’s a lot of names, but it’s a shit-ton of good wine!

THE WINE OF THE VINTAGE IS:

Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Kabinett.

This disqualifies it from being Kabinett of the vintage, but wow, I don’t remember a more amazing Kabinett from this estate.

RUNNERS-UP INCLUDE:

(a couple of Auslesen that were amazing plus a fiercely spectacular and equally fiercely expensive dry wine…)

von Winning Kirchenstück Riesling Grosses Gewächs

Loewen Ritsch Auslese

Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Spätlese #10

Strub Niersteiner Oelberg Riesling Feinherb

THE AUSLESE OF THE VINTAGE IS:

(other than those already cited above)

Selbach-Oster “Schmitt”

THE SCHEUREBE OF THE VINTAGE IS:

Minges Gleisweiler Scheurebe Trocken

THE KABINETTS OF THE VINTAGE ARE:

(excluding those already cited elsewhere)

von Othegraven Kanzemer Altenberg Riesling Kabinett

von Othegraven Wawerner Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett

Merkelbach Uerziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett #18

Schmitt-Wagner Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett

Weingart Bopparder Hamm Engelstein Riesling Kabinett Feinherb

THE BIGGEST SURPRISES OF THE VINTAGE ARE:

In fact, and amazing as it seems, I was most (pleasantly) surprised by tasting theRegionals at Selbach. They are wonderful and full of integrity; in fact they show as much if not more commitment to quality then the estate wines do, because one assumes regional wines will be mundane and “commercial,” and you’d be happy if they were merely clean and drinkable. But in fact they’re good. They’ll never be lionized, or get high scores, or attract the enthusings of wine aesthetes, and no one will give as much as a pat on the back to Johannes Selbach for troubling to make his “humble” wines this good.

I call this honor.

THE GREATEST DRY WINES ARE:

The entire range at von Winning, with the Kirchenstück GG reaching the absolute apex, and the Paradiesgarten Riesling Spätlese Trocken offering the most ri-freaking-diculous value.

Leitz Hinterhaus is again a masterpiece.

Selbach-Oster Zeltinger Schlossberg Riesling Spätlese Trocken.

von Othegraven 2011 Altenberg Riesling Alte Reben GG.

Adam Goldtröpfchen Riesling GG

Spreitzer Wisselbrunnen Riesling GG

Strub Niersteiner Rosenberg Riesling Trocken

THE ABSOLUTE TOP VALUE:

Schneider Niederhäuser Hermannshöhle Riesling Spätlese, offering the elite stature of this supernal Grand Cru at a still-attractive price. Fella’s on the way up, so don’t expect this to last….

THE MOST DROOLINGLY STUPID_TOTAL_FUN WINE:

Gysler Scheurebe Halbtrocken LITER

This is a big deal. Come drink an insane amount of wine for a...

Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:31:00 -0400

This is a big deal. Come drink an insane amount of wine for a few great causes. #sandyrelief #finewinealliance #fwa

Buy a ticket. 500 wines for $50. The top wines in all our portfolios. Open to consumers, not just the trade.

http://nyfwatastingforsandy-efbevent.eventbrite.com/

The trade only portion of the event is from 1-4pm, same place.

Just a low key, summer long wine event. NBD.

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 10:33:43 -0400

Just a low key, summer long wine event. NBD.

This version of Keely’s poster has the address! For my...

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 22:55:45 -0400

This version of Keely’s poster has the address! For my tasting next week. All are welcome.

Meet Paris Sigalas on his Visit to NYC

Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:35:00 -0400

Meet Paris Sigalas on his Visit to NYC:

Coming up, there is a big week of tastings, events and dinners both for interested wine consumers and members of the trade. The events will be focussed on the wines of Santorini, Greece, and by extension the volcanic soil loving, white Assyrtiko grape will be front and center in the minds of many NYC wine folks. There are only a few days worth of events, April 16-19th, so if you don’t plan ahead, you may miss out on some fun.

Paris Sigalas, who we have the good fortune of representing here at Michael Skurnik, is considered by some to be the greatest living winemaker in Greece. Paris is an extremely thoughtful and patient man. He is extremely natural in his vineyard techniques, and winemaking practices and his Assyrtiko displays a real transparency that I love. When drinking it, one might call to mind a fine 1er cru Chablis, or perhaps a Kremstal Riesling, but the wines are very particular, and there is a quality in the fruit and the mineral makeup that is distinctly Assyrtiko. Like other lesser known regions, the wines of Santorini represent a very good value for their cost, if you value wines with the power to transport you to a new geography, if only for a moment.

If you like talking with winegrowers, if you like white wine, click the subject line of this post, it’s a link to visit both the Consumer and Trade tabs at the top of the Taste of Santorini homepage to see what’s going on and where to find Paris Sigalas.

@JarroBrooklyn wants to do tastings every Monday! Follow them....

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 12:15:22 -0400

@JarroBrooklyn wants to do tastings every Monday! Follow them. Still seats left for my tasting there, this Monday (details). Email me steveatskurnik@gmail.com or call them 7184883906

"I don’t like carbonic maceration. So my Frappato doesn’t come from carbonic maceration,..."

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 11:48:07 -0400

“I don’t like carbonic maceration. So my Frappato doesn’t come from carbonic maceration, because I think Carbonic maceration in this moment is like wood 15 years ago. It’s making a lot of wine very similar… I only like to drink wine with carbonic maceration from Beaujolais.”

- Arianna Occhipinti on I’ll Drink To That podcast talking to @Levi_opens_wine about her wines and cellar work.

Fire at Chez Panisse

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 18:00:46 -0400

Fire at Chez Panisse:

I was late and sad to learn abou the fire at Chez Panisse. You can follow their progress in rebuilding on facebook. Wishing them a speedy recovery.

Check out the great food and BIG wine list at Xixa!

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 10:32:22 -0400

Check out the great food and BIG wine list at Xixa! :

Heather and Jason are doing exciting and singular work at Xixa, and I hope you will pay them a visit, try some of Jason’s great dishes and Heather’s careful and eclectic wine selections. Click through the link to read the write up from the village voice.

Click here for menu and details 8pm, Monday, March 25th,...

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:51:00 -0400

Click here for menu and details

8pm, Monday, March 25th, 2013

Jarro Brooklyn

68 Bergen St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Please RSVP if you would like to attend. Please send an email with RSVP in the subject line to steveatskurnik@gmail.com, or email if you have any questions at all.

Pinots and Pintxos at Jarro

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 23:17:00 -0400

Pinot Noir has the potential to capture the terroir of a place more precisely than almost any other grape. You’re invited to come and join me in proving it at Jarro in Brooklyn on Monday, March 25th. To pair with the wines, Chef Rodrigo Nogueira will prepare a selection of his own brand of Brooklyn Pintxos, a mix of traditional Basque snacks incorporating locally sourced foods. We’ll taste the following wines from around the world:

2010 Sancerre Rouge, Bailly-Reverdy (Loire Valley)

2010 Hautes Cotes de Nuits Rouge, “Louis Auguste”, D. Duband (Burgundy)

2010 Pinot Noir, Messmer (Germany)

2011 Pinot Noir Vallee d’Aoste, Lo Triolet (Italy)

2009 Pinot Noir, ‘Tobiano’, Kingston Family Vineyards (Chile)

2010 Pinot Noir, ‘Mt. Jefferson Cuvee’, Cristom (Oregon)

I’m really excited to taste all of these wines together. Each is so unique. We’ll talk about a few of the reasons behind why each Pinot is so different, and about where they find a common ground.

The cost is $35 per person (this does not include tax or tip for the servers). While Jarro is spacious and comfortable, there is only limited availability for this tasting.

8pm, Monday, March 25th, 2013

Jarro Brooklyn

68 Bergen St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Please RSVP if you would like to attend. Please send an email with RSVP in the subject line to steveatskurnik@gmail.com

nevver: World War Something

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:45:54 -0400

nevver:

World War Something

Who’s watering down anything?

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 08:33:52 -0400

Who’s watering down anything?

Extinct Species Makes a Comeback!

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 08:32:25 -0400

Extinct Species Makes a Comeback!:

Start writing your extinct grape species wish lists, wine lovers.

Conca, Cava, Costs and Commitments

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:45:16 -0400

The standard price in Spain for Cava grapes is €0.20/Kg. This is well below the Fairtrade Minimum Price for wine grapes, in regions covered by Fairtrade agreements, like North Africa or South America. Raventós proposed their own practice, buying grapes at €1/kg as the new Cava DO standard, and were denied. Henceforth, beginning with the 2010 vtg and 2008 Reserva vtg, all wines bearing the Raventós name are composed solely of biodynamically estate grown grapes, and will be designated under their newly proposed DO, Conca (pronounced kōn-kə) del Riu Anoia (Valley of the Anoia River). The estate asks that other winemakers who wish to enjoy the benefits of the newly defined geographic designation, the place where Raventós gave birth to the sparkling Spanish wine trade and Cava, at minimum begin to take greater care of their hard working growers, in what is undeniably a catastrophic Spanish economy.

Raventós is fanatic about the quality of their wines, and ferociously informed by their history. Pepe Raventós is unwaveringly motivated in all that he does to honor his family’s tradition of growing and bottling the best sparkling wines in the world. Full stop. To honor his commitment to other farmers of Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, Pepe has helped arrange for these farmers to continue selling their wine grapes at €1/Kg, in another venue. Although Raventós wines have always been mostly from estate grown fruit, and now are 100% estate grown, their relationships with other fine growers in Penedès has been important to the estate’s success, and they refuse to hang these good friends out to dry even as they evolve into this new era.

I come from a working class family and understand how much relatively small changes in livelihood can mean to people. They can mean a lot. I hope that when you, and everyone who drinks sparkling wine, see a bottle of Raventós you will think both of the outstanding quality inside and of the inspiring ethos that surrounds each.

You can see the winery’s statement on Conca here.

So rare, so delicious and so affordable. Incredible world that...

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 12:49:40 -0400

So rare, so delicious and so affordable. Incredible world that it’s so undervalued.

Roberta’s is pouring this Sherry by the glass right now, and you can drink it there for a pittance. I’m happy that so many people will have a chance to drink this wine. Kudos Amanda for pouring this for her guests!

(Amanda was interviewed by Joe Campanale for his radio show. You can hear that here: http://www.heritageradionetwork.com/episodes/3140-In-the-Drink-Episode-10-Amanda-Smeltz)

The relative value of sherry is well discussed among professional promoters and sherry is lucky to have the love and affinity of so many excited and curious palates. Still, it shocks me, considering the true mastery and complexity this wine displays, how relatively few drinkers chase this wine and wines like it as though they were served in the Holy Grail. This Amontillado was saline, nutty as hell, deep and rich and so transparently bright and refreshing, like diving headlong into pool of caramel but ending up in just melting February freshwater lake.

Please don’t drink sherry. You won’t like it.

You are cordially invited to the Gruet Winery Tasting Dinner at...

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:10:44 -0500

You are cordially invited to the Gruet Winery Tasting Dinner at Brooklyn Star, featuring Murray’s Cheese and Mast Brothers Chocolate. Join us Monday, March 11th at 9pm for this unique event.

The event will feature Eight wines from Gruet paired with four courses of Brooklyn Star’s legendary cuisine, including exceptional cheese from Murray’s as well as artisan chocolates from Mast Brothers.

For each course, we will pair two different Gruet wines and invite YOU to decide which wine is the better matchup. At the end of the evening, we will all decide together which of these final four gets the nod as the best of the evening!

This interactive tasting event will be hosted by Madame Nathalie Gruet, and promises to be a great night of bubbles and brackets at Brooklyn Star.

The event is limited, and the price per ticket is $50. For more information, please email gruettasting@gmail.com.

Brooklyn Star. 593 Lorimer Street.

Cheers!

History of Gruet Winery

In 1983, the Gruet family was traveling through the Southwestern part of the United States, and while in New Mexico met a group of European winemakers who had successfully planted vineyards In Engle, near the town of Truth or Consequence, 170 miles south of Albuquerque. The land was inexpensive and the opportunity golden. In 1984, Gilbert Gruet, whose Champagne house, Gruet et Fils had produced fine Champagne in Bethon, France, since 1952, made the decision to plant an experimental vineyard, exclusively planted to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes. His children, winemaker Laurent and daughter Nathalie, and family friend Farid Himeur then relocated to the great state of New Mexico to begin their American wine making adventure. At 4300 ft. the vineyards are some of the highest in the United States, so regardless of how hot the days might be, the temperature at night can drop as much as thirty degrees, cooling the fruit and slowing down the maturation process on an otherwise short growing season. Sandy and loamy soil, and a lack of humidity that might contribute to rot, give us a consistency of fruit year in and year out, and allow us to produce our award winning wines without the use of pesticides. The excellent 1987 harvest allowed Laurent to produce his first two wines following the strict guidelines of a true Methode Champenoise. His Gruet Brut N.V., and his Gruet Brut Blanc de Noirs N.V. Production totaled 5000 bottles. All manual machinery had been shipped from France and the wine was produced in a small rented facility in the city of Albuquerque. In 1989, after the required minimum of two years aging on tirage, their first two sparkling wines were introduced to a very appreciative wine world.