502 E. Market St. Charlottesville VA 22902
434-293-3663
434-971-9463
Fax 434-293-9332
tastings@earthlink.net

 
 (This is an old newsletter. Click here for the latest.)

News of the Restaurant
By Chef William
Fall is the most exciting cooking season for me. Besides the appearance of Oysters, both fried and in stew, there's Cassoulet, Choucrute Garni, Boeuf Bourguignon, Ma's Yankee Pot Roast, Osso Buco (from local, organically raised veal), AND, since your body is sending you those winter hoarding signals, the desire to enjoy all of them! They will all in their turn grace our specials board this autumn, along with some truly wild, truly local & fresh picked Wild Mushrooms. And for your post dinner enjoyment, Apple desserts will abound, such as warm Apple Strudel w/ Pumpkin Gelato and an array of sorbets & gelatos that I will dub our Fleur d' Automne ~ Apple Cider Sorbet, Caramel Apple Crisp, Fig w/ Rum, and Pumpkin Gelato, naturally

Some Notes & Words from GEM
WOW ~ this Fall edition of our Tastings newsletter is treat replete, both vinous and to eat! And do not forget to pull out your calendars while perusing the full run down on the next three (3!) wine club meetings before the Christmas holidays! But first, reflections on new and divine Argentine wine!
Chakana Malbec 2003 Mendoza (call for price)
We have been waiting a long time for a riveting Argentinean Malbec to cross our palates, and here it is! Fragrant, lush dark berries greet the nose, and get delivered to the palate with notes of cassis, chocolate and spice wrapped in ripe tannins and completed with a rolling finish.
Felipe Rutini Merlot 2002 Tupungato (call for price)
An old favorite returns, full of gorgeous black cherry fruit bolstered by classic European structure. To give you an idea how well made the wine is, I re-tasted a half full bottle that sat two days w/out preservative gas on the bar and the wine had aired out beautifully - nary a trace of oxidation.

 

October 25, 2004

In this newsletter:

Restaurant News

Some Notes & Words from GEM

South Africa Wines

Holiday Chardonnays

Return of the Ravenswoods


Wine Club News

 

 

Salentein Cabernet sauvignon 2002 Mendoza (call for price)
This incredible Cab is chocked with ripe blackberry and velvety currant fruit, with notions of coffee, licorice and woodsy spice, and structured by mature, supple tannins. Ready to drink now, a Cab of similar quality from California would cost you at least $10 more.


Sauvignon Blancs ~ Your Holiday White Wines by Bill Curtis
A bevy (Sauvignon based groups are a bevy, Chardonnays are a covey - bet you didn't know that!) of new Sauvignon Blancs have come our way, all too pretty and reasonably priced not to write about. Include in your thoughts while reading this column the Jam Jar, Gunga Din-like Sauvignon from the South African column next door (hey ~ I had to put it one place or the other!).
Yelcho Reserva Sauvignon Blanc
2003 Casablanca Valley (call for price)
Oucho ~ what a name! It makes the S. African Jardin sound positively French! But the wine is much more mellifluous and genuine on the palate. And apologies to Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Raines,, it hails from the Casablanca Valley of Chile. A fullish spicy pear nose precedes a softly textured, satiny palate, with just a hint of grassy overtones. Skewed much more to melon & yellow fruit ripeness, this wine would stand head and shoulders above a round up of the usual Sauvignon Blanc suspects (I know, "oucho" again!).
Alpha Domus Sauvignon Blanc
Hawkes Bay (call for price)
Too many Sauvignon Blancs from New Zealand are too pungent to suit me. Skirting the cat's-litter-box, they plop their plump little selves straight into the gooseberry bush!

Somewhere in the background of this wine, there is a faint echo of these fruit notions that is intriguing rather than off putting - made more intriguing by its high tension wiry structure. I can imagine a worldly wise Sancerre producer going gaga over a Sauvignon Blanc that is both hedonistic and intellectual ~ especially at this price!

Honig Sauvignon Blanc
2003 Rutherford Reserve (call for price)
Now back to terra cognito. Our slightly crazy friends from Honig (what would you call people who send you hand-held chicken chuckers and fish water pistols as promotional material?) have fashioned another beautiful honey and melon tinged Sauvignon for your holiday entertaining. Don't worry, the grassy feel of the wine is definitely embedded in the perfect fruit / acid balance, so your turkey won't get smothered by the fruit ~ use Aunt Emma's candied yams for that!

South Africa Wines
Another round of applause is emanating from this shop for the quality, complexity and (since the Rand is possibly the only currency as weak as the dollar) affordability of this newest round of acquisitions!

Helderburg Chardonnay
2003 Western Cape (call for price)
Clean and fruity, even slightly flinty, with crisp pear fruit tones shot throughout, this medium weight balanced wine will be perfect for holiday entertaining. I can only say to the world: "More Chardonnay like this, please!"

Jardin Sauvignon Blanc
2004 Stellenbosch (call for price)
No, the name is actually not derived from the French! The first syllable is pronounced like what you put jam in, the second rhymes with Gunga Din. Now that we have got that straight, I have to say the wine is very assertive: citrusy with notions of crisp green apples, fresh cut hay, a bit of floral complexity and bolstered by tingling acidity.

Bradgate Syrah
2002 Stellenbosch (call for price)
Yes, Virginia, there is Syrah from the Southern Hemisphere that is not labeled Shiraz and does not taste like Shiraz. A glossy deep black fruit nose with hints of cedary oak, is followed by a well mannered palate of cassis, pepper, and slightly sauvage herbal tones. Its deep, clean fruit is more reflective of well made Rhone Syrah - no Australian Christmas candy, and no pine forest floor to try to match up with food.
Vinum Africa Cabernet Sauvignon
2002 Stellenbosch (call for price)
If primitive art is a favorite, then this bottle's for you! If well made, generous but balanced Cabernet Sauvignon is your favorite, then the bottle's contents are definitely for you! Our old friend Eduard Labaye, (French wine courier for such notables as Bobby Kacher), is largely to blame (and he would love that choice of word) for this beauty! A black fruited, tobacco nose is followed seamlessly by the warm deeply fruited palate that actually reminds me of Domaine des Cantarelles Cab-Syrah blend from Bobby's portfolio. Ripe tannins on the finish carry the fruit flavors effortlessly. Bravo, Eduard!
Chardonnays ~ The other holiday White wine
more from Bill
This covey (technical wine term defined in the Sauvignon Blanc column - read at your own risk!), of Chardonnay beauties is just begging to be matched with all your holiday fare! And begging your pardon, I know the inclusion of the South African Helderburg Chard under the S.A. column rather than here, makes the existence of that column seem a trifle artificial, but again, I had to put it somewhere! Hey, you try writing this newsletter sometime, OK?

Jacques Dury Rully La Chaume 2002
(call for price)
Now where were we? Oh yes, here is an intriguing new Burgundy from Tom. It starts out normally enough, with general apple / pear complexities on the nose; but then, what's that hint of something in the background? Tarragon? Parsley? Lemon Thyme? Well, needless to say, the whole structure of the wine is very different from the usual. Gordo and I kept sippin and sippin (technical wine term denoting research; it is sometimes confused with "jinkin") and never could figure out that elusive, tantalizing complexity. Why don't you all give it a try?

Domaine Germain Pernand-Vergelesses
Les Combottes 2000
(call for price)
Often called the poor man's Corton Charlemagne because it occupies the same hill as Corton, Pernand quite often exhibits a bit too much acidity in its youth, which is why I passed on it initially. When Didier brought it back around for a tasting a year later (patient man, that Didier!), I bought his last three cases of it! Honey and crème brulée tones are perfectly foiled by essential lemon / pear fruit. The whole package is now wonderfully balanced given the increased complexity and depth of the fruit component. A better wine for your holiday ham would be hard to imagine.

Robert Young Estate Chardonnay 2002
Alexander Valley
(call for price)
Bob Robuschatis, President of Robert Young Estates, explained it thus: " This is a wine that reflects its clone and site; an advanced Dijon clone that is very low yielding and grown on an elevated, dry site." It is rare that this genre of vinous blah-blah is reflected in the taste of the product, yet there it is, staring me in the palate! Despite 100% new French barrels and 100% malolactic fermentation, the wine had a steel rod of acidity that brightened and cleaned up the vanilla tinged fruit admirably.

No mistaking the fruit, it definitely is California lushness, but the structure is pure Burgundy, and it makes for a most intriguing mix! Try this with your holiday steamed Lobster or Lobster Bisque for a vanilla-tinged treat.

Cameron Chardonnay
Clos Electrique 2001
Oregon (call for price)
With a set of high tension electric wires running next to the winery, a cellar with mushroomy, woodsy smells that transport me back to Burgundy and a peripatetic owner / winemaker, it's no wonder Cameron reminds me of Old World, tension infused wines rather than New World blowsy Chardonnay. The British would call this a wine with "cut". They usually use that term when describing Corton Charlemagne; and darned if this wine doesn't remind me of a well-made one! Bright, rapier-like yellow fruit nose, dry, very evocative of tropical fruits in an ethereal sense, and a clipped finish that unfolds with food. And if the price seems a bit high for Oregon Chardonnay, try $100 and up for its French counterpart!

And this little number just crossing the finish line ~

Andretti Selections Chardonnay
2002 Sonoma (call for price)
A very pretty, ripe and balanced offering from California that will be kind to your pocketbook. It exhibits a pleasing melange of pineapple, peach and melon fruit flavors suffused by vanillan oak, pin point lemony acidity, and finishes with lip smacking satisfaction. A prime candidate for your bargain holiday pour ~ for sure!

 

The Return of the Ravenswoods
No, this not a forgotten Gothic novel by Thomas hardy, but the annual snooze-and-you-lose offering of single vineyard Zinfandels by Sonoma's most famous Zin maker ~ Ravenswood. In such situations, we have to alter our usual taste-before-we-buy mantra, lest the product becomes unavailable to us. So rather than bore you with winery notes or the journalistic trade hype that accompanies such ballyhooed wines, I thought we would try a simpler approach, as we have the tools and technology.

So that you, the customer, can gain first hand knowledge of how these single vineyard Zinfandels taste and compare, the Ravenswood Belloni and Teldeschi and Dickerson 2002 bottlings will all be available at the bar as a tasting flight of 3 half glasses for. Since they all retail at (call for price), that works out to the retail price by the glass. 

A steal of a deal if ever there was one. And no trying to cajole Gordo into pouring heavy! I've threatened to nix his Christmas Cornish game hen and lump of coal if he does!