It has become an annual tradition: Somewhere around halfway through my spring and summer tastings of Spanish wine I realize that a fair number of the inexpensive bottles I’m seeing more closely resemble serious, structured wines than the fruity, easygoing versions that I suspect most buyers are seeking in the $12-and-under range. People in the business call it “over-delivering,” but I wonder who exactly the target audience might be for these wines. When I want to relax with a movie and not think too hard (or not think at all) do I want Michael Bay or Luis Buñuel? READ MORE »
A few years ago, I published tasting notes in the International Wine Cellar on a superb set of sakés imported by Vine Connections, an importer based in Sausalito, CA that also specializes in wines from Argentina. As a preface to those notes, I offered a fairly detailed introduction to saké, covering such subjects as how it’s made, types of saké and how to serve it. I thought I’d update this essay for Winophilia readers.
Saké, sometimes referred to as Japanese rice wine, is actually a brewed product made more like beer. The best artisanal sakés are very pure products made from just four basic ingredients: premium saké rice, pure water, hand-made koji and special yeasts. But note that there are an almost infinite number of combinations of rice varieties, water sources and yeasts, and many styles of sake can be created from the same brewed tank. There are saké brewers in virtually every prefecture of Japan; historically, they were established near sources of pure water: mountain streams (sometimes running underground), melted snow (as on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido), natural springs (often featuring water high in mineral content), deep wells, and the like. READ MORE »
With too many syrahs chasing too few buyers, this category has become a tricky one for producers on our West Coast. Many winemakers who buy fruit from high-quality vineyards have had to cut their prices to move their wines. It’s hardly surprisingly, then, that vineyard owners who have planted significant syrah acreage in recent years have been particularly hard-hit. But my recent discussions in Washington State with numerous winemakers during the course of my annual tastings of new releases suggest that the better syrah producers here are enjoying a bit more success in the marketplace with this variety than are their peers in California. And they also benefit from an avid local following. Is it because the wines are better? READ MORE »
Two thousand nine, the first “vintage of the century” in France since 2005, is yet another year in which the early hype has motivated producers to raise prices and has quickly overshadowed some very good wines from the previous vintage—in this case, 2008. Of course, weak economies and sluggish sales of over-$25 wine will put a damper on sales in major wine-drinking markets like the U.S. and U.K. But it’s still a good bet that credulous consumers will overpay for 2009s, while leaving much cheaper—and often more classic, more interesting and more refreshing—2008s (and 2007s) moldering on the shelves. READ MORE »
