Archive for the 'Regions' Category

This Monday, June 6th, marks the launch of the Sud de France Festival in New York. The month-long festival, now in its third year, encourages attendees to experience the spirit of the Mediterranean lifestyle, complete with fine wine, foods and entertainment from the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It allows people the opportunity to learn more about the culture and specialties of the region through a convivial approach of tastings and experimentation, all at exciting venues with welcoming ambiance and alongside local winemakers and artists.

For a region with so much to offer, the concept behind the annual festival couldn’t be more appropriate.

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Every year, the CIVL (The Conseil Interprofessionel des Vins du Languedoc) organizes the Languedoc Ambassador Wine Tour, a trade and media tasting designed to promote the great diversity and superb quality of AOC wines found in the Languedoc wine region. This year is no exception, with fantastic wines announced today as the official CIVL Ambassador Wines of 2011.

It’s fantastic exposure for an oft-overlooked region.

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Demonstrators protest at the site of a new bridge over Germany's Mosel River.

The wine business has almost always had a complicated relationship with the natural environment. There is little natural about vineyards–nonnative species, terraforming, soil amendments, artificial drainage and/or irrigation systems, metal, plastic or treated-wood stakes and metal wires–all lead to a profoundly altered environment. Not to mention the various chemical treatments used in viticulture, even in certified organic and biodynamic vineyards.

Yet in the past couple of decades, wineries and vineyards have become more aware of environmental issues and made great strides in reducing chemical inputs, providing nesting boxes for native predators (as at Shafer Vineyards) and restoring native and riparian habitats (see the tremendous efforts by the Rutherford Dust Society to protect fish spawning grounds in the Napa River).

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The wild Douro landscape

Last week, I had the pleasure of tasting through a vertical of Chryseia, an expensive Douro wine with an international pedigree. It’s a Portuguese wine produced by a partnership between the English Symington family–owners of Dow’s, W.&J. Graham’s and Warre’s, among other Douro properties–and the French Prats family (Bruno Prats sold Château Cos d’Estournel in 1998).

I liked the wines well enough–especially the 2004 and 2007 vintages–but I have to confess to some reservations about the style, which Rupert Symington described as “trying to make a more elegant style of Douro wines.” He and Prats want the wine to come in under 14% alcohol, which has a definite impact on the wine’s character.

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One of my favorite things to come out of the rise and proliferation of social media is the online or synchronized tasting. Whether it’s for wine, beer or spirits, online tastings have become one of the best ways to share the same bottle and informative experience with hundreds or even thousands of people simultaneously all over the world. Through the use of networking sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as personal blogs and organizational sites, people can share comments and opinions about a beverage and learn from participating representatives or producers all from the comfort of their home. Aside from being there one on one with the respective producer, what could be better than that?

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When writing their bios for WineMag.com, many of the editors here answered the question: What was you first “Aha” moment in wine?

The question—probably designed to elicit a more interesting response than “how did you get into wine”—refers to those climactic, cathartic drinking experiences after which you realize you really love wine and, for some, decide you want to make it an integral part of your life. The first time you sipped something truly spectacular, were exposed to a dynamite food and wine pairing or witnessed the rustic beauty of wine country. (See our Meet the Editors page for our editors’ responses to the question.)

I opted not to answer. I could think of no singular, magical moment that officially turned me onto the world of wine. Sure, I had plenty of fond early drinking memories, but nothing stood out as a watershed.

After mulling through my early wine experiences, though, I began to see that the most memorable were converging on a particular place—the North Fork of Long Island. And, during a particular time period—the summer in the immediate wake of my college graduation. It was a time for serious self-reflection and, perhaps more relevant to this discussion, for finding some diversions from all that serious reflection. Here’s a brief rundown of some of that summer’s standout wine experiences:

Pondering potential careers and Picpoul with a good friend at Vine, a wine bar-restaurant in the maritime town of Greenport whose selection, handpicked by owner and Manhattan transplant Joe Watson, spans the world (somewhat of a rarity out there);

Sipping Cabernet Franc with that same friend one early evening at Osprey’s Dominion, while listening to local bands perform beside the vines—a popular North Fork summertime pastime that makes you realize how beautiful a vineyard can be;

Discovering unoaked Chardonnay. My mother like so many other enophile locals works part-time in the tasting room of a local winery (Borghese), and she brought a bottle home to have with dinner. This was also one of the last home-cooked meals I would have (and not appreciate enough) before moving to Manhattan. 

These moments were not immediately life-transforming—that winter I took a job in travel publishing and would only enter the wine industry years later. And, since arriving in Manhattan, some of them might fall from the list of “most spectacular life wine moments.” But they are the experiences to which I always return when someone asks how I got into wine. Family, friends, food and wine. Perhaps it’s a pretty classic combination?

This summer, like almost every other native North Forker currently living in NYC, I plan on spending several weekends out east. I intend to do a considerable amount of wine tasting—this time with a more strategic approach—and will hopefully be able to add a few more Aha moments to my ever-growing list.

What about you? Do you have any singular moments that turned you onto the world of wine? Or any memorable experiences you’d simply like to share?

I’ve always had a soft spot for Cabernet Franc. To me, it’s one of the more seductively refined yet pronounced grapes used to make great wine. It speaks of its terroir like few others, painting a landscape of its origins through varying characteristics and intensity. It is a significant component to some of the world’s greatest and most sought-after wines, particulary Bordeaux blends, like Château Cheval Blanc and Château Ausone. It can also be used to produce a single-varietal wine, of which there are stunning examples made throughout the world including California, Washington, New York, Italy and Canada, among others. Given its prominence and permeation, why does the grape get such little respect?

It’s time for us all to Franc-ify ourselves. But where to begin?

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Man o' War's vineyards on Waiheke Island

Something like 90% of the New Zealand wine imported to the U.S. is Sauvignon Blanc, which makes it easy for American wine drinkers to completely disregard the other 10%. Sure, some folks go on about Pinot Noir–the latest flavor du jour in the U.S. and New Zealand’s most prominent red wine grape–but what’s remarkable is the diversity of grape varieties now being grown in this remote corner of the world.

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As a wine lover, there are certain region/varietal combinations that I hang my hat on. Dry Creek Valley is good for Zinfandel, Russian River Valley is good for Pinot, Malbec in Argentina, Chardonnay in Burgundy, the list goes on. It serves as a blueprint for making wine selections. But sometimes I can get so bogged down by these preconceptions that I fail to see the larger picture. It has led me to be unfairly judgmental at times, something that I’m not proud of. These are the moments when wine lovers can get that bed reputation. It’s the moment when wine “lover” turns to wine “snob” because these concepts turn from points of guidance to points of judgment. So I love when some of my deep-rooted dogmas are challenged.

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Of all the experiences I had on my recent trip to Seattle and Oregon, one theme rang true: the importance of slowing down. Being a New Yorker, I tend to rush from here to there, focusing more on the schedule and less on the moment. I think this transcends a lot of Metropolitan area East Coasters. The truth is, great things can happen when you pause, think, and let the juices flow.

One of the most eye-opening (and hilarious) experiences was on a morning when my friend and I were leaving Portland for an appointment at Scott Paul Wines. We were already running late, but had to taste some real Portland coffee before departing. Locals highly recommended the Portland chain, Stumptown,  so we decided to check it out.

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