To Enjoy Champagne, Treat it like Beer

We all talk about how wine tastes; ripe cherry and red fruit, hints of chocolate and mint, tobacco and leather for reds.  And for whites, citrus, honeysuckle, tropical fruit, and even cat pee!

But mocha or java?

At the historic wine estate Val de Vie which has produced wines since 1825 on the Berg River in the Western Cape in South Africa, no one is hinting or alluding; they call things by their name and labeled their 2009 Pinotage Barista because of the wine’s intense, rich coffee and chocolate aromas.  The term ‘barista’ comes from Italian and refers to a person trained in the art of making fine espresso drinks with fancy designs from the froth of milk,  a professional with a comprehensive understanding of coffee and coffee blending.    

The man behind it, Managing Director at Val de Vie Wines Bertus Fourie, a.k.a. ‘Starbucks’, says that the Barista Pinotage 2009 is the top ‘coffee pinotage’ he has yet produced: “Ever since I first stumbled across this ferment in 2001, with its distinct coffee and chocolate aromas and flavors, I have been improving this unique style of wine. The Barista Pinotage 2009 is undoubtedly my best ‘coffee pinotage’ to date and I can see this wine improving even more.”

Barista Pinotage 2009 is made in the Robertson Winery from 100% Pinotage grapes from the Robertson district where the vines grown in dark, deep-red soils - usually Glenrosa and Oakleaf - yield the best grapes for this style of wine.

But where do the coffee aromas come from? According to Bertus, “This is the magic and the mystery. What we do know for certain is they are a combination of a specific yeast strain, specific toasting, specific oak type and of course, pinotage grapes… only pinotage grapes produce these coffee flavors.”

Val de Vie Pinotage 2009, South Africa, $14.99 The dark red, full-bodied  wine has intense, rich coffee and chocolate aromas with ripe nuances of red berries, the pleasant tartness of plum skin with a touch of cranberry and pomegranate (some say also Maraschino cherries); it has ripe luscious tannins and it is  food friendly. It pairs well with meats: lamb, pork and game, is deliciouis with cheeses, fruit and desserts such as Bertus’s favorite dessert; a blue cheese filled brandy snap with Belgian chocolate and roasted  coffee beans.   Like many South African wines, the bottle comes with a screwcap.  

Since 1385, twenty-six generations of Antinori have devoted their lives to winemaking, taking innovative and pioneering steps, but always maintaining a profound link to tradition and to the land.  While ancient roots have played (and still do) an important role in the Antinori winemaking philosophy, every vintage is a new beginning.

The three new wines from the producer of iconic Tignanello, are now available in the U.S. market. They classic Antinori wines made for the table and will complement a broad range of foods.

2009 Villa Antinori Bianco Toscana IGT $14.  Villa Antinori Bianco was first released with the 1931 vintage by Niccolò Antinori, Piero Antinori’s father.  This is a pale straw-yellow color wine, fresh, well-balanced and crispy.  The 2009 offering is a blend of 70% Trebbiano and Malvasia with 30% Pinot Bianco and Pinot Grigio with 12% alcohol content.  

2006 Villa Antinori Rosso Toscana IGT $23. Villa Antinori Rosso was first introduced in 1928 as the first Chianti specifically produced to improve with age.  Each varietal in this wine is grown in the best terroir for it and is then vinified separately: 12 months in wood and eight months in bottle.  The Sangiovese (55%) comes from the family’s estates in Chianti Classico and Montalcino, while the Cabernet Sauvignon (25%), Merlot (15%) and Syrah (5%) are from the estate vineyards in Bolgheri.  Elegant and refined in style, this wine is great with any kind of food, from pastas -  namely pasta with wild boar sauce the Tuscans are so well-known for -  to meats and venison.

 2007 Pèppoli Chianti Classico DOCG $27   2007 was a great year for wine in Italy.  Pèppoli represents modern Chianti Classico. The wine combines the complexity and structure of a well-aged Riserva with the rich fruit and fragrance of a young wine.   A blend of 90% Sangiovese and 10% Merlot and Syrah, the wine is produced on the Antinori’s Pèppoli Estate, is aged 9 months in oak and  spends time in boittle before being released.  With intense aromas of red berries and hints of chocolate, this full-bodied wine has soft tannings and a long and lingering finish.  It is best to drink young.

Translated by Simone Zarmati Diament, www.southfloridagourmet.com

Alberto Arizu, owner of Luigi Bosca Winery in Argentina, has been appointed chairman of Wines of Argentina , an association of Argentine wineries and exporters.Listen to an interview with Alberto Arizu on FOOD & WINE TALK

 In an interview with La Nación,Argentina, he explains the position of Argentine wine in the world and what are the challenges for the next two years.

What is the possition of Argentine wines abroad today?

Argentina is in great shape and has a strong position in key markets like the United States. Argentine wines were able to gain ground in the US because of the economic crisis, as a result of  which U.S. consumers were reluctant to buy high-priced European wines. We were offering a high quality product at reasonable prices.

We  are launching a major study of international markets, to assess how the brand Argentina  is positioned in markets where it is not as well established and recognized as in the  U.S., Japan, England or China.

Will Argentina continue to promote the Malbec or will it be opening the game to other varieties?

Argentina has not only found in  Malbec a wonderful and a great wine, but it represents Argentina.  Thanks to Malbec,  the world associates quality with that variety; and this has been essential  to position our country.   Probably Malbec will go on carrying  the message for  many more years,  but I think Argentina should begin now (and in fact we are doing so) to explore other categories and varieties of wines. We have to show that our country has a great capacity for diversity and a great range of standards.

However, our  Malbec will continue to be the standard bearer of Argentina. We must keep up the prestige it has acquired and we have to keep working. Other countries are jumping on the bandwagon:  incredibly, one of them is France. Therefore while we mustn’t  lose focus on something that has given us so much prestige, we mustn’t waste an opportunity to communicate the other assets that Argentina can offer to international consumers.

From the existing brand Argentina how do you plan to promote the fact that the country has different  terroirs?

This is one of the main issues we are beginning to research, based on the study of recognition in each country. Already, there are markets where the brand Argentina is well recognized enough to begin to move to the next level, which is to promote  the attributes of other terroirs. Ours is a country with a great diversity of soils and climates, it is a long corridor on the mountain range of Los Andes, which has many thousands of kilometers, which means a difference of latitudes and significant temperature variations that match the main wine production centers in the world.  This is a  great treasure, Argentina has to communicate the attributes that occur within these regions.

The consumer knows Mendoza, Salta, La Rioja, San Juan, Neuquén, Catamarca ... What's next then? Today, talking about Mendoza to wine connaisseurs is not enough. Mendoza is region that has five well-defined oases.  And in each of these oases are small subregions which are also well defined. So when one speaks of Malbec, one must ask from what area? This warrants a thorough study, which we have already begun. The Denomination of Origin Lujan de Cuyo anticipated this in 1989.

So you aim at a more sophisticated communication in every market ... ?

Deeper rather than more sophisticated.  To explain that each region is a world in itself and that both the latitudes and altitudes give the wines certain characteristics. This is what we want to communicate.  We have to let people know that a variety in a certain region has different characteristics than the same variety in another region.

Your mandate is for two years.  What would you like to achieve from here to 2012?

I hope that in the next two years we will be the fifth main wine exporting country. Today we are ninth, if we get to be the seventh or perhaps the sixth, that too would be a major step towards the goal.

Wines of Argentina is a tool, but we are all accountable because all of us are winemakers and entrepreneurs. Argentina will go on to improve its international position to the extent that our offer will get  better and better. The goal is to reach 2 billion dollars in bottled wine, against 600 million we have today. We have to create a good brand and export value.

 Malbec Vineyard in winter,   Dominio del Plata, Susan Balbo's winery, Valle de Uco, Mendoza, Argentina (photo SFG)

FOR the last few years the wine business has been riddled with dire warnings and disastrous portents. In the United States and around the world, producers have struggled with the bad economy and the sluggish market. One slender segment, seemingly alone, has not only weathered the storm but also prospered: malbec from Argentina.

How can this be? Easy. It’s the right sort of wine at the right kind of price.

Argentina is pumping out a river of malbec, and it has been flying off the shelves at an astounding rate. Since 2005, shipments of Argentine malbec to the United States have quintupled, to nearly 3.15 million cases in 2009 from about 628,000 cases in 2005, according to figures from Wines of Argentina, a trade group.

While Argentine malbecs can run to much more than $100 a bottle, those aren’t the ones flowing out of the stores. Sales have been pushed upward by demand for inexpensive bottles.

Unlike European wines, whose prices have been driven up by the weakness of the dollar in relation to the euro, Argentine malbecs have benefited from the strength of the dollar against the Argentine peso. With prices remaining stable, many Americans see Argentine malbecs as great values.

But what about the wines themselves? The wine panel recently tasted 20 bottles of malbec from the Mendoza region, Argentina’s leading wine-producing area. Florence Fabricant and I were joined by Brett Feore, the beverage director at Apiary in the East Village, and Kristie Petrullo, the beverage director at Craft in the Flatiron district.

About two years ago, we did a tasting of malbecs costing $25 or less. We found those wines pleasing and amiable, and I have had no cause to think our opinion of malbecs in that price range would have changed. For this tasting, we set a price cap of $50 a bottle. That’s clearly more than what most people are spending on malbecs, but we wanted to see what a higher price bought.

We did not forsake the lower end; 10 of the 20 bottles were $25 or less. So what do you get when you spend more? Well-made wines with a little more polish and sleekness than the cheaper bottles, for one thing, and a little more richness and intensity.

Over all, these wines were juicy and straightforward, emphasizing fruit flavors with occasional nuances. They were consistent, generally unchallenging and crowd-pleasing. In short, what’s not to like?

That really depends on your point of view. Malbecs’ emphasis on soft, ripe fruitiness over more polarizing flavors and their velvety textures make them safe and reliable for people who may be unsure of their tastes. Some of the wines we opened were a little more ripe and jammy, while others were spicier and more linear. But these were small divergences in what was largely a uniform set of characteristics.

This leads us to the same paradoxical, underwhelming conclusion we reached after the last malbec tasting: part of the reason malbecs are so popular is that they are not displeasing. In other words, their consistent profile is a virtue, especially for people who do not appreciate being surprised or challenged by a wine. The genre itself has become a brand.

“Malbecs are bringing attention to wine,” Kristie said. “They make people who are not really interested in wine drink wine. They order malbec — they don’t really care which one.”

From a marketing perspective, Argentina has achieved an enviable position. These days, malbec sings out Argentina as clearly as do grass-fed beef and Eva Perón. Forget that malbec was brought over in the 19th century from France, where it’s still grown, primarily in Cahors and in the Loire Valley. Argentina owns it now.

“Argentina has done a really good job of positioning itself,” Brett said.

Of the 10 bottles costing $25 or less, only 4 made our list of 10 favorites. Our top five wines were all $36 or over.

Our No. 1 wine was the 2006 Alfa Crux from O. Fournier, an inviting, balanced wine that may seem a bit simple now but will, I think, gain in complexity over the next few years. The Alfa Crux comes from grapes grown in the Uco Valley, at an elevation of almost 4,000 feet. The Uco Valley is quite a bit south of Luján de Cuyo in central Mendoza, the home of our No. 2 wine, the 2007 Viña 1924 de Angeles. The Viña 1924 was smooth and polished with pleasing floral and mineral accents enhancing its potent fruit flavors.

The consistency we found in these wines applies, of course, to those we liked. We rejected bottles dominated by oak flavors and those that seemed manipulated, resulting in cloying, sweet wines with power but no more structure than grape juice.

Like our top two, the other wines we liked showed admirable balance, and just enough accents to the core of fruit flavors to keep our interest. Malbecs from two of the bigger names in Argentina showed well. The 2005 Viña Francisco Olivé from Trapiche had bright, spicy flavors to offset its jamminess, while the 2006 Catena Alta from Catena Zapata was fresh, mellow and pure.

As with all our top five, these wines are by no means inexpensive. Yet compared with, say, Napa cabernet sauvignons in a similar price range they are very good values. Our best value, at $23, was our No. 6 wine, the 2007 Signature from Susana Balbo, fresh with touches of spice and licorice.

As the outdoor cooking season gets under way in earnest, with its plethora of grilled and roasted meats, malbecs would make fine choices. I tend to think of them the way I did of zinfandels, before so many zinfandels became top-heavy with alcohol. They are likable and powerful enough in their own right. And if you served them slightly cool, as Florence suggested, well, then you have a fine summer party wine.

Tasting Report: Making a French Wine Their Own

O. Fournier Mendoza Malbec 2006, $45, ★★ ★ (Three Stars) Alfa Crux Valle de Uco Juicy, balanced and well knit; should gain complexity with age. (Tempranillo, New Rochelle, N.Y.)

 Viña 1924 De Angeles 2007, $36, ★★★ (Three Stars) Mendoza Luján de Cuyo Gran Malbec Smooth and balanced, with pleasing violet and mineral flavors. (V.O.S. Selections, New York)

 Belasco de Baquedano 2006, $39 ★★ ½ (Two and a Half Stars) Mendoza Swinto, Balanced and complex with spicy, herbal touches. (Cabernet Corporation, Novato, Calif.)

 Trapiche Mendoza 2005, $44 ★★ ½ (Two and a Half Stars) Viña Francisco Olivé , Supple fruit though a trifle jammy, with bright, spicy accents. (Frederick Wildman & Sons, New York)

 Catena Zapata Mendoza Catena Alta 2006, $50 ★★ ½ (Two and a Half Stars) Fresh, pure and harmonious with mellow aromas of raspberries and spices. (Winebow, New York)

Susana Balbo at her winery, Dominio del Plata, Mendoza, Argentina (photo SFG)

BEST VALUE

Susana Balbo Mendoza Signature 2007, $23 ★★ ½ (Two and a Half Stars) Clean and fresh with flavors of dark fruit, spices and licorice. (Vine Connections, Sausalito, Calif.)

Renacer Mendoza Punto 2006, $18 ★★ (Two Stars) Final Reserva Simple but pleasant with aromas of fruit, licorice and oak. (Winebow)

 Goulart Mendoza 2007, $25  ★★ (Two Stars) The Marshall Tannic, with aromas of soft, jammy fruit and coffee. (Southern Starz, Huntington Beach, Calif.)

 Rutini Mendoza 2007, $16 ★★ (Two Stars) Balanced and spicy with flavors of red fruit and licorice. (Pasternak Wine Imports, Harrison, N.Y.)

 Viña Cobos Mendoza Bramare 2007,$48 ★★ (Two Stars) Rich and soft with aromas of blueberries, oak and flowers. (Paul Hobbs Imports, Sebastopol, Calif.)

IT’S TIME FOR WINE by Monty and Sara Preiser
 
Petit Verdot – the James Dean of Wine

By Simone Zarmati Diament

Masi revolutionized the art of wine-making in the Venetian region with modern technology, techniques of double fermentation combined with traditional craftsmanship,to create powerful, well-balanced and delicious wines 

While the Boscaini family, headed by company president Sandro Boscaini, have been the owners of the Masi vineyards for six generations, some of their vineyards, like the Mazzano vineyard in the Veneto, have been famous for their wines since the 12th century. 

Masi specializes in the production of Amarones from vineyards in the Tre Venezie – the Dolomite mountains, the hillside from Friuli to Adige, and the flatlad Padana – for which it has gained worldwide reputation and countless awards and prizes. 

Amarone della Valpolicella is a powerful dry red wine -- in Italian, amarone means "big bitter" -- made from the partially dried grapes of the Corvina (40.0% – 70.0%), Rondinella (20.0% – 40.0%) and Molinara (5.0% – 25.0%) varieties. The wine was awarded DOC - Denominazione di Origine Controllata status - in December 1990. 

Amarone is the product of the wine-making method well known since the Romans called "appassimento"(grape drying). At the end of September or the beginning of October, the best clusters of grapes from the hillside are picked and placed on bamboo racks in special lofts equipped with the “natural appassimento” control system. At the end of January the grapes weigh 35% less and have concentrated their sugars. Then they go through soft pressing; partial destalking; and the vinification process. The final result is a very ripe, raisiny, big-bodied wine with very little acid. Alcohol content easily surpasses 15% (the legal minimum is 14%) and the resulting wine is rarely released until five years after the vintage, even though this is not a legal requirement. They age well and keep for decades in a good cellar. 

The same process can also be used to make a dessert wine called Recioto della Valpolicella. 

Over the years, Masi has spread out to other prestigious viticulutral areas in the Venetian region, Tuscany where Masi joined forces with the Serego Alighieri Estate -- for over six centuries a reference point for Verona's winemaking and agricultural traditions--, and more recently in Argentina. 

Costasera Amarone Classico - Masi DOC 2001 ( $55) 
A fullbodied, deep ruby red with mahogany reflections on the edges, this Amarone della Valpolicella Classico is made with 70% Corvina, 25% Rondinella, 5% Molinara. The red calcareous (limestone) soil of the slopes in the historic Valpolicella Classico communes where Masi’s hillside vineyards are planted facing Lake Garda is the best in Valpolicella Classica for producing high-quality Amarone. The Costasera Amarone expresses a particular majesty and complexity. Ideal with red meats, game and mature cheeses. An excellent wine for the end of the meal and for aging 30-35 years. Alcohol 14.80 % 


Mazzano Amarone della Valpolicella Classico – Masi 2000 ($120)
Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOC from Mazzano, a historic vineyard renowned since the XII century., in the commune of Negrar.. Mazzano (75% Corvina, 20% Rondinella, 5% Molinara) is an austere and majestic wine - the very essence of Amarone - which derives particular benefit from being aged in small oak barrels. It is it is dense and rich, elegant with hints of cherry, plums and incense which evolve into liquorice, dark chocolate and toasted coffee with nutty touch of “gianduia” in the dry and long finish. . It is delicious with meats, game, and with mature Pecorino and Parmesan cheeses, without talking about desserts!!! Its production is very limited. Alcohol 16% Ageing potential 35-40 years 


Serego Alighieri Vaio Amaron Amarone della Valpolicella Classico 2000 - $75
This Amarone della Valpolicella Classico DOC (65% Corvina, 20% Rondinella, 15% Molinara Serego Alighieri) comes from the rich red soil and dry stone wall terraces of tge Vaio Armaron vineyard, at Gargagnago, commune of Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, property of Serego Alighieri. Since 1353 the noble Serego Alighieri family, descendants of the poet Dante, has cultivated its estate in Valpolicella, and the term Amarone itself probably derives from the name of this ancient vineyard: Vaio Armaron. It is an extraordinarily rich and complex wine with aromas of cherries, mint, spicy and Mediterranean herbs, partially aged in cherry wood, which is capable of long ageing, 25-30 years. Excellent with red meats, game and mature cheeses. Alcohol 15.5% 


Campofiorin Supervenetian - Masi 2003 - $15
Rosso del Veronese IGT (70% Corvina, 25% Rondinella, 5% Molinara). A specialty of Masi, “Supervenetian” are wines from the Veneto with the characteristics of the terroir, the character of local grapes and the uniqueness of production methods: refermentation or double fermentation of wine from fresh Veronese red grapes with a percentage of "appassimento," or semi-dried grapes of the same varietals, followed by natural malolactic fermentation which enriches the wine in alcohol, in colour, in extracts and in soft and elegant tannins. The wine is rich, full-bodied, round and velvety, and has an aging potential of 15 to 20 years. Campofiorin is a registered trademark of the Masi company since 1964. 





White Masianco Pinot Grigio and Verduzzo- Masi ($13)
Those of you searching for PG might be surprised by what you find in Masi’s Masianco Pinot Grigio and Verduzzo (75% Pinot Grigio, 25% Verduzzo). A “Supervenetian” white of unmistakable Masi style (like the Campofiorin red), it is an intense straw-yellow color wine dry, fruity, in the style of a Friuli wine: no oak but a tropical fruit bouquet (pineapple, banana, honeysuckle), and a full floral and creamy palate balanced with citrus freshness and a crisp herbal finish with hints of almonds and hazelnuts. While Masi specializes in the semi-drying of red grapes, to produce Masianco, Verduzzo grapes are ripened further after picking; this unusual process for an elegant white wine makes for more roundness, body and richness which complement the fine aromas and the elegant fruity notes of Pinot Grigio delle Venezie. It pairs well as an aperitif, with hors d'oeuvres, fish and grilled white meats. Alcohol 13%

A success?

Absolutely, even if there is little to cheer about because the results were achieved at the cost of painful sacrifices on the part of the cellars: a lowering of prices to the break-even point and, for those accustomed to sell only bottled wine, forced sales of surplus wine in bulk to the sole advantage of commercial bottlers who paid fire-sale prices. Not to speak of the price of the grapes during the 2009 harvest, purchased at drastically lowered prices.

The system managed to hold its own, however, indicating that this is a healthy sector of the Italian economy, one which has developed with many different compartments and components which work together for mutual benefit. It was a sector which was not compelled to resort of layoffs, did not need the assistance of government support

programs, and did not waste time with the usual pointless diatribes of home-grown polemicists: native grapes versus well known French varieties, territory versus less identifiable sources, new oak barrels versus older casks, international taste versus typical character. 

2009 was certainly not a lark, the entrepreneurs of the sector were forced to double their efforts and tighten their belts but gained results which none of their European rivals, above all the French, could even come close to.

The prospects for the export of Italian wine in 2010 are rosy.The weakening of the euro against other currencies will be of great assistance in non-European markets.

The objective of exporting at least an additional 2.5 million hectolitres of wine in the coming year is an entirely feasible objective for Italy.

Stocks of wine will inevitably decrease, at least partially due to lower production in the 2008 and 2009 vintages.

The support programmed by the EEC and aimed at compensating producers for crop thinning (the elimination of surplus grape bunches during the growing season, normally before the phase of the colour change of the grapes), if intelligently directed by the cooperative cellars of Italy’s centre and south and correctly and carefully carried out by the associated growers, will contribute to maintaining lower levels of production and balancing supply and demand. And so there is a chance that Italy could arrive at the 2010 harvest this coming fall with some prospects of a remuneration - for those who either sell their grapes or confer them to cooperative cellars - which will at least balance the cost of their production. 

Exports, which are of great benefit for the country, must become of obsessive importance for those producers of wine who intend to maintain their firms in healthy and competitive shape.