California Wine Country Tour

Dear Diary,

This past week, I didn

Dear Diary,

This past week, I didn

There have been major rants and counter-rants (their words not mine) lately about high alcohol wines by Alder Yarrow at Vinography and Thor Iverson at oenoLogic, there’s lots of good thinking, interesting reading and great debate in these two posts. However, I think they miss the major point on this issue.

Nobody who has tasted a lot of wine can deny that they′ve tasted many wines with high alcohol that worked. Wines that despite their potent alcohol were balanced, interesting to drink, complex and great with food. There is also the reality that not all varieties are created equal when it comes to gracefully carrying high alcohol levels. For example the elegant pinot noir is often overwhelmed by alcohol levels that zinfandel and syrah lightly carry.

The issue should not be the alcohol level of the wine, but if the wine tastes balanced and still reflects the 3 V’s of great wine: variety, vineyard and vintage. It is here that higher alcohol wines often fail, but the reason is not the alcohol level itself.

The faults often blamed on high alcohol come not from alcohol itself, but the fact that the grapes were harvested super-ripe, which is just another word for overripe. These overripe grapes, which are the fashion as one of the routes to pointy wines, obliterate the three V’s as varietal character disappears as does the personalities of vineyard and vintage. A byproduct of these overripe grapes is high alcohol, which is created by combining exaggerated sugar levels with super-efficient cultured yeasts that can keep eating sugar and excreting more alcohol no matter the alcohol level in the fermenter. In the old days all the yeasts would have died, but today’s macho yeasts can handle 16%+ with no problem. The result of all this is a wine with huge fruit flavors of indeterminate origin, 4.0 pH, 15% alcohol and 90+ points. Of course, it has only a generic personality as it could come from anywhere as can easily be seen in wines from Spain, Australia and California that are totally interchangeable and indistinguishable. After all, what is an appropriate alcohol level for a stateless wine with no varietal character?

The first issue should be if the wine has any personality at all before we get to the alcohol level. Once that issue has been resolved we can think about wether the alcohol level is appropriate.  Appropriate alcohol levels also should vary by vintage and a winemaker that makes natural wines will have alcohol levels that change year-to-year. My experience is that even in hotter vintages that produce higher alcohol levels well made wines will achieve a balance that works, although it may take some time to attain equilibrium. No, wines from a hot vintage may not be the best a producer makes, but they can be excellent wines. The key issue for the winemaker is to harvest ripe, but not overripe grapes each year if they wish to produce distinctive wines. Ripe grapes produce wines with alcohol levels that will find a natural balance in the wine of that year, but wines from overripe grapes produce not only out of balance alcohol levels, but cannot achieve any kind of natural balance as every aspect of the wine becomes distorted and exaggerated.

It’s overripe grapes, not demon alcohol, that are the villains in this debate.

Original post by Craig Camp

While Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV may seem a bit frenetic on stage/screen, his personal responses to recent criticisms have not been and are to be commended. His responses to criticism here and on PinotBlogger have been polite, thoughtful and even humble. His reaction to criticism has been just the opposite of Robert Parker’s tirades. This type of real communication can only make wine criticism and the information available to consumers more diverse and inclusive.

I have criticized Gary for giving wine points (no big deal as I criticize  all critics for that) and a generalization, but I repeat a point that I have made many times that Gary is to be complimented for his passion and ability to bring wine to new consumers in a way that entertains rather than intimidates.  Let’s all hope that this conversation not only continues, but grows.

Technorati Tags: Wine,Wine Library TV,Vaynerchuk

Original post by Craig Camp

As wine lovers, we all belong to a club whose entrance criteria include passion and romanticism. We return to wine again and again for its magical ability to transcend what is in the glass, and to transport us in memory and experience to both favorite and new places.

By far the most pleasurable and rewarding relationship with wine involves an affair of just these sorts of passions, blissfully ignorant of the facts which demand that wine also be understood in terms of economics, politics, and science.

Many of us are content to live in a world where there is no dichotomy between wine our treasured sustenance, and wine the commercial product. But just like a relationship that consists of only physical passion, such an understanding of wine ignores the complexity of the world, and ultimately produces an ignorance that is self defeating.

Unfortunately, I know far too many wine lovers who simply refuse to acknowledge that wine is a business first, and an art (or more accurately, a craft) only when those who practice it can actually feed their families.

Evidence of wines fundamentally commercial nature is hard to come by, especially for those who would rather pretend that winemaking exists independently of the pressures and demands of economic trends and market forces.

Which is why I was thrilled last month when Champagne (or more accurately, the INAO governing body that regulates France’s appellation system) announced that they were planning to significantly increase the size of the Champagne appellation in order to be able to produce more wine and keep up with consumer demand.

Yes, that’s right. The sacred, inviolable designation of what IS Champagne, and what IS NOT; the demarcations and boundaries of one of the world’s greatest terroirs; the place that is synonymous with the wine that it produces — is going to be adjusted because there are just not enough “approved″ vineyards to make the amount of wine that producers think they can sell.

I can’t tell you how many arguments I’ve gotten into with people who act like the definition of French appellations, their boundaries, and their associated rules of production, are all based upon some ancient historical truth whose wisdom should not be questioned. Such folks, if given the opportunity, would presumably laud the INAO as the just protectors of these ancient traditions and the saviors of the authenticity of French wine in the face of global pressures to compete.

Alas, the world is a bit more complicated than that, as the folks who are determining the future of Champagne demonstrate. Wine is a business, and that is as true for the small farmers growing wheat outside of Reims who will soon be able to plant the much more lucrative crop of Pinot Noir and improve their standard of living, as well as the large Champagne houses who will be able to make a few million more bottles to slake the thirst of us wine lovers.

Like my wine, I prefer reality with complexity.

Original post by Calwineries.com Blog

Seven years ago, I didn’t really know anything about Riesling. Seriously. Most of the Rieslings I had tasted at the point were purchased in supermarkets. Which meant that they were all from California or Washington, and that almost without exception, they sucked.

I had yet to begin exploring the wines of Germany and Austria (I would shudder at the thought of decoding those inscrutable five-syllable names) and when it came to the wines of Alsace, I tended to pass over Riesling in favor of Gewurztraminer and Pinot Blanc. I had probably tasted one or two Rieslings from the Clare Valley in Australia, but as far as I was concerned, the entire grape variety was uncharted territory.

At a certain point, however, I got serious about filling in the major gaps in my wine knowledge and experience, and dove headfirst into Riesling, tasting hundreds of German and Austrian wines per year. I’ve kept that up ever since, and have come to love Rieslings, especially old ones, for their gorgeous, stony zest and brightness that is unique in the world of wine. I tend to prefer drier Rieslings — up to about the level of Spatlese — which makes some of my Riesling fanatic friends snigger over their Auslese, but despite my aversion for the super sweet, I pretty much think that German and Austrian Riesling kicks ass.

This month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday event, the 45th in our series, is hosted by my friend Tim Elliot who runs Winecast.Net. He’s selected Old World Riesling as the the theme for the tasting. This means Riesling from Germany, Austria, and France, primarily, although if you can find some from Northern Italy or elsewhere in Eastern Europe, more power to ya.

If you’re not familiar with Wine Blogging Wednesday, it’s the Blogosphere’s virtual wine tasting event, where bloggers all over the world taste wine based on a theme, and then post their reviews on a designated Wednesday. For WBW#45, bloggers all over the world will be drinking and reviewing Old World Riesling on May 7th. Even if you don’t have a blog, you can participate by posting your review at www.winebloggingwednesday.org.

See you on May 7th, and may the Trockenberenauslese be with you.

Original post by Calwineries.com Blog

Best of the wine blogosphere for April 7th through April 11th:

• looks like i’m back drinking the stormhoek kool-aid again
• Wine Pricing Could Stand a Correction
• WBW #45: Old World Riesling
• The Problem With Gary Vaynerchuk
• Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon, Interview
• Neal Family Vineyards, Napa: Current Releases
• Do wine blogs and expensive wine make a good blend?
• Substance and Wine-ing 2.0
• Wine Book Club

Wire and Posts
“This is a recent image from a trip to Sonoma. I’m always attracted to the trees in the vineyards, and their relationships to the vines. At this time of year they both take on a sculptural aspect with bare branches against the sky, at times criscrossed by the threads of exposed trellis wire.” — Michael Regnier

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PRINTS:
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Original post by Calwineries.com Blog

In the long and storied history of Wine Blogging Wednesday, several bloggers have hosted the monthly virtual tasting twice. But only one, founder Lenn Thompson of LENNDEVOURS, has hosted three times. As of today, you can add my name to the WBW three-peat list as I again take up the reins and choose the theme.

The previous two times I’ve hosted, red wines were featured: first lite in alcohol, then full-tilt in the other direction. So this time out, I’ll pick my favorite white variety, Riesling. But not Riesling grown just anywhere, but where the grape first achieved noble status in the Old World: Germany, Austria and France’s Alsace region. In this terroir, the variety produces some of the most interesting and long-lived white wines from bone-dry to lusciously sweet.

Pick any style you like, at any price point, and join me as we explore Old World Riesling on Wednesday, May 7.

To participate, just pick up a wine made from Riesling grown in Germany, Austria or Alsace (OK, Northern Italy, the Czech Republic and Slovenia are also fine) and blog about it. If you don’t have a blog, sign-up and post at the WBW Community Blog. Once you have posted, send me an email at winecast (at) gmail (dot) com with “WBW 45″ in your subject line. Sometime after May 7th, I’ll post an event round-up here.

I hope you enjoy this theme as much as me and pick up a bottle from somewhere you have not tried yet. I think you will be very pleased with the resulting value.

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Original post by Tim

In some ways, if Mark Neal and his small winery, Neal Family Vineyards, didn’t make fantastic wines, it would be cause for extreme concern. Neal has been working in the vineyards since the age of eight, and his family business, which was responsible for his early employment among the vines, has been managing many of Napa’s finest vineyards for more than four decades. At this point, Jack Neal and Sons, which still carries the name of Mark’s father, who passed away in 1994, is the single largest vineyard management company in Napa according to Neal. They manage well over 2000 acres of vineyards for more than 60 growers and more than 70 wineries.

With so much prime Napa land under his direct control, and relationships with so many of the top producers and winemakers in Napa, if Neal Family Vineyards didn′t make great wine, they would have some serious explaining to do. Instead, Neal simply has purchased or contracted several vineyards around the valley over the past 30 years, and quietly makes small quantities of fantastic wine.

Mark Neal grew up in Rutherford, in the heart of the Napa Valley. When he wasn’t at school, he was on a tractor with his dad out in what were, at the time, a combination of prune and walnut orchards. Farming was the family business, to the point that when things needed to get done around the farm, every pair of able hands had to pitch in, including Mark. He fondly recalls his frequent breaks from school to work in the orchards.

“My mother was full Greek, and she was the one who would write the notes to get me out of school to work with the family,” he says with a wry smile. “My teachers used to be amazed at just how many Greek holidays there were each year.”

Calling the Neal family entrepreneurial might almost understate the case. Jack Neal realized early on that there was more future in growing wine grapes in the valley than in fruits and nuts. Neal moved into vineyard management before there were many people offering such services in the valley. With his wife managing the books, and his son at his side, Neal built an extremely successful vineyard management company that has grown and diversified over the years to include a vineyard development and construction company, a vineyard information systems and GIS systems company, and a bulk wine trucking company, all of which Mark Neal continues to manage on a daily basis, employing nearly 300 people.

The vineyard management company continues to be the pride of the Neal Family, and rightly so. Jack Neal and Sons currently manages the largest amount of Certified Organic vineyards of any vineyard management company in the state, some of which are widely acknowledged to be among Napa’s best vineyards.

“We started growing organic in 1984 for some clients, and at the time, I had no idea how we were going to do it. There weren’t very many [organic] materials available to us to use. Those few that were available were expensive, ineffective, or both.” Now, a full 90% of the vineyards that Neal farms are Certified Organic, with an increasing number moving towards biodynamic cultivation.

“We were also one of the first vineyard management companies to begin picking at night, starting in about ‘86″ says Neal, explaining his and his father’s self-education through trial and error in their attempts to help their clients make some of the best wine possible in Napa.

The one thing that Jack Neal never did, though, for all his knowledge and connections, was to make a wine under the family name before he passed away in 1994. He talked about it often with his son, and planted the seeds of a dream that Mark realized in 1998, adding yet one more business under the family banner, both in tribute to his father and as something that he could leave as a legacy to his own children.

At the moment, the Howell Mountain winery seems more like a playground for his kids, who, like their father in his youth, seem to have an endless amount of fun driving tractors around to cut the cover crops or disc the vine rows. The front of the (gorgeous) winery is beautifully landscaped with several species of dogwood trees and a pond filled with ornamental Coi (all designed and laid out fastidiously by Neal), but is also likely to be populated with several small bikes, the family’s two gregarious white German Shepherds, and most certainly one of Neal’s five children.

“Maybe they′ll want to be involved, maybe not,” says Neal, “but it will be an option if they′re not interested in construction or trucking.”

For now, it remains an intensely personal project for Neal, but one which he approaches with the seriousness that has made the rest of his businesses so successful.

Neal never actually ever uttered the phrase “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right” in my presence, but he didn’t need to. It’s written all over everything at the winery, from the the building, with its inventive and beautiful wrought copper detailing, to the way the wine is made by winemaker Gove Cielo and assistant winemaker and enologist Kelly Wheat.

As one might imagine, the grapes are hand picked with extreme care, almost always at night. They are sorted rigorously and destemmed, and then given a long cold soak before a long slow fermentation with wild yeasts begins. Since the winery operates well below capacity, the wines are left to finish fermenting as long as they take in the vats, in separate lots for each vineyard block. Only the free-run juice (the juice which can be drained off the fermenting grapes without pressing) is used for the estate’s wines, and the press juice is sold off in bulk. The wine is aged in 80% new French oak (100% new for single vineyard wines) along with some Hungarian oak.

As the wines age, Neal and his two winemakers taste and grade every barrel independently, giving each A, B, and C ratings. Any barrel that gets three A’s becomes a single vineyard designate, and any barrel that gets even one C gets sold off as bulk wine. The reds are never fined, and are only coarsely filtered before bottling. Most spend at least 18 months in oak and then another year in the bottle, though Neal has been known to hold wines back if he doesn′t feel that they are ready for release (just as he has been known to refuse release of wines at all if they are not up to his standards, as the 2000s weren′t).

Neal Family Vineyards produces about 6000 cases of wine each year, the majority of which is their Napa Valley Cabernet, which is blended from fruit grown in four vineyards in Atlas Peak, Howell Mountain, Mt. Veeder, and Rutherford. In addition to this wine, the estate currently produces six single vineyard wines, made in quantities of between 140 and 240 cases, as well as even smaller amounts of Petite Sirah and Zinfandel. Recently the winery also produced a Sauvignon Blanc.

Neal Family Wines are marked by a brightness and a balance that immediately made me take notice when I first tasted them at a Family Winemakers tasting several years ago. I also couldn’t help noticing the prices of the wines, which Neal hasn’t changed since the first vintage.

If you are able to get your hands on a bottle, these wines are deeply satisfying and deftly represent everything that is good about Napa Cabernet.

TASTING NOTES:
Click on wines to purchase.

2005 Neal Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley
Medium to dark garnet in color, this wine has a beautifully lean nose of espresso, tobacco, and dark chocolate aromas. In the mouth the wine is beautifully balanced between juicy, bright cherry and plum fruit and the lightly bitter cocoa powder and pungent espresso notes that emerge as the fine tannins cling to the tongue. The wine finishes beautifully — long drawn out notes of chocolate covered cherries that sing a plaintive song: “just one more sip….” Score: around 9.5. Cost: $45.

2004 Neal Family Vineyards Petite Sirah, Napa Valley
Medium purple in color, this wine smells smoky, leathery, and just a tiny bit funky (in a good way). In the mouth it is incredibly clear and bright with cassis and blueberry notes stretched between a hint of green stems and well oiled leather. Remarkably, the wine is only medium bodied and has fine, almost soft tannins that are far from the typical bruising grip that this varietal exhibits. Moderate finish. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $35.

2006 Neal Family Vineyards Zinfandel, Napa Valley
Medium garnet in color, this wine has a surprisingly chocolate nose, coupled with aromas of rich berries. In the mouth, chocolate continues to be the predominant theme, with some plump blueberries emerging at times amidst the silky palate. Frankly, this Zinfandel has a lot of Cabernet qualities, which are not so much unpleasant as they are unexpected. Score: between 8.5 and 9. Cost: $24.

2004 Neal Family Vineyards “Wykoff Vineyard″ Cabernet Sauvignon, Rutherford, Napa Valley
Medium to dark garnet in the glass, this wine has a gorgeously perfumed, sweet nose of cherry fruit and floral scents that have the purity of a cloudless day. In the mouth, the wine is beautifully dry and the sweetness of the nose resolves into nicely balanced and smooth textured flavors of bla