My Half Full Glass - January 10th, 2013

Wagner Sparkling Riesling

I opened several different sparkling wines over the holidays. Knowing my guests would be in the mood for something celebratory, I used the bottles in that very stereotypical way. I'll raise a glass of bubbly anytime, but not everyone has evolved to that sensibility.

One of the bottles we opened was the Wagner 2010 Sparkling Riesling, part of an order I placed with Wagner Vineyards during my last visit in 2011. I had only tasted it once, but being a great value AND something a little different in the sparkling category I knew the right moment to share it would come along soon enough.

It pours the color of dry straw with abundant carbonation. It is very gently sweet and I believe the restrained sweetness is a huge asset. It is unmistakably Riesling from the first fruity whiffs coming off the glass. Citrus is the driver, and felt both lemon and orange were present.  Some ripe peach comes through in the mouth and overall it does have a subtle fruit salad characters to it. The whole package is crisp and clean and the gentle sweetness fades through a lengthy, tart finish.

Margot, my mother and I finished this bottle off with cheeses and snacks on Christmas Day. The balance of fruit and sweetness was fitting for a lazy day, actually the first day of that holiday weekend where we neither had to go anywhere nor host a house full of people!

Ancient Fire Malbec 2010

If there is one thing I've learned from my wine-making activities, it's patience.

I've had mixed feelings about this wine since it went into the bottle in 2011. It was my first 100% grape wine using the full process of cold soaking, crushing, pressing, malo-lactic fermentation and extended bulk aging. The press cake from the first half of the batch is in the pic to the left. Up until I inoculated it with the malo-lactic culture the wine had been trending much like many others I had made. I have always felt like something took a turn after that, and not only because of this batch of wine. I made Cabernet, Syrah and a couple blends at the same time, with the same method and the same grape source. The Cabernet fermented fine but then continued to bubble into a stinky mess that ended up getting dumped. The Syrah and Cab/Syrah blend turned out OK, but the Cab/Syrah blend and Malbec always seemed a little acetic (vinegary) to me. The Syrah was the best of the bunch and I think we've succeeded in drink all of it already! I believed I had come in contact with some type of spoilage bacteria and when an unrelated new batch of wine went south I proceeded to replace all my plastic and hard-to-clean equipment in hopes of getting rid of the bugs.

I was pretty happy when I opened a bottle of the Malbec recently and found that the acetic component had faded considerably and a measure of earthiness was now detectable. It still has some mild flaws, but I'm alright with that. The fruit and non-fruit facets of the wine are balanced fairly well, and the additional body in this wine when compared to some of my juice based wines is nice to be able to identify. It is unmistakablely a Malbec, but I don't have enough experience with Chilean Malbecs to compare it to those wines from the region where the grapes came from. I didn't immediately pick up any other funkiness so I am hoping that the time I allowed this wine to sit around undisturbed has been beneficial. I hadn't been making enough red wine up until 2010 to really know what a year or two (and more) of aging would do to homemade wine firsthand. Finally being able to have that experience does bring a reward in knowledge and considerations for future projects.

Cheers!

Jason

Neu Direction 2007 Malbec

I spotted this bottle on my wine rack today and couldn’t figure out where it came from. I am actually going to have to ask around to see if any of my friends can claim being the original owner. My life is just like that I guess!

The wine pours with a deeply concentrated purple/red color where the light is struggling to come through. Sometimes that is a good sign!

The aroma of cherry fills the nose followed by dry soil and a little smoke. In the mouth there is more plum than I picked up in the nose, and tons of cherry. The dry soil aroma is swapped out for a bit of unsweetened chocolate and black pepper.

The tannins are pretty soft and compliment the acidity on the finish quite nicely. The wine lingers long enough for a full profile, but doesn’t hang around annoyingly. I would drink this wine routinely if I had it available to me! Now I hope I do find out how I came by it.

The one thing that struck me about the bottle presentation and story is that the wine is fair trade certified, which I think is rare for imported wines. There is also a nod to environmental sustainability, which in agriculture is so important for the future of our society. Well done, my friends!

Cheers!

Jason

#malbecworldday extras

I revisited several of the Malbecs from Sunday last night. Here are my micro-reviews from that session.

Alamos Malbec 2009 for #WW #WineWednesday - Great utility with bold flavors, acidity and obvious tannins. Need age perhaps.

More Malbec for #WW #WineWednesday Gato Negro 2010. I can see what others were saying from Sunday. Pours light, acidic no fruit. #wine

Y+B 2008 Malbec TetraPak. Slight brown shift, not a good sign. Eco pack no good, or something ? Need to try a fresh one. @ybwines #wine #WW

That last Tweet got an early AM response from the company, and just the kind you like to see. I clearly want to enjoy a fresh pak of their wine to prove what I have already said about their wines, which is when I have had it, it was very good. I didn’t want to miss that just because of one bad one. I’d likely buy it like I have others, but in this case I will be getting a complimentary replacement for my bad pak. Par excellence!

I thoroughly enjoyed Malbec World Day. All of the wine lovers we hosted did as well and comments on the Meetup site went up within hours. Gotta love wine peeps!

Cheers!

Jason

Malbec World Day Ancient Fire Wine Style

( Our final lineup, 15 in total! )

When I saw that Wines of Argentina had organized a Malbec World Day to celebrate Malbec and its world-wide history I was overjoyed. Last year at this time a group of us with April birthdays got together with our wives and enjoyed a flight of Malbecs with a meal. The wine was my muse for my upcoming project to make a Malbec, which is coming along well, but the quality is yet to be determined. This time around would be a celebration taking into account multiple locations where Malbec-based wines are made.

The Manchester Area Wine Lovers Meetup.com Group is a fantastic bunch of wine loving, interesting, knowledgeable and enjoyable people who live near us. We invited them to our place last July to meet some of our winemaking friends. We had a blast then and this newest occasion proved to be even better.

We had eleven Malbecs on hand by the time everyone arrived. There were two duplicate bottles, a fact I found refreshing in an area that doesn’t always have the best regional wine selections! We enjoyed a range of vintages from 2007 to 2010 and producers in Argentina (9), California (1) and France (1) were represented. There was a range of styles from very dry and austere to juicier and fruiter, something that makes you think of more casual appreciation.

Margot and shared selections from Argentina, France and California, including one in a Tetra-Pak. I also included a bottle of my own Chilean Malbec from 2010. I found it to be too dry, but others disagreed. Deli sliced London Broil, Cajun Crab Dip and cheese & crackers rounded out our starting spread. Guests also provided some of our amazing food items to pair with the wines. We had risotto, curried lamb empanadas, quesadillas, deviled eggs, cured meats, kabobs, and multiple cheese spreads. People know how to party in this group! Margot and I went heavy on the meat in consideration of the classic Malbec pairings, and others seemed to do the same. Bravo!

( I think these had curried lamb in them! )

( Margot headed for this as soon as she saw it. Gabriel knows his stuff to be sure! )

( The marinade with citrusy and sweet. I ate the leftovers for lunch yesterday! )

Here are the Malbecs we enjoyed:

Clos La Coutale Cahors 2008 (FR)
El Malbec 2008 Richard Santos
Trapiche Oak Cask
Vintners Cellar Malbec (2009?)
Alamos Malbec 2008
Graffigna Centenario 2007
Gato Negro 2010
Ruta 22 2009
Red Rock 2009 (CA)
Y+B 2008 Malbec
Ancient Fire Chilean Malbec 2010

My absolute favorite was the Ruta 22. It had depth, powerful aromas and flavors that made me take notice of it. I found berries, earth, and a great balance of wood. It paired wonderfully with both the London Broil and the steak tips.

I think the Y+B might have been past its prime and my own Chilean version was underdeveloped, and maybe permanently so. The Gato Negro seemed young, and a bit acidic, to me as well. The feedback from the others on the Y+B and Gate Negro was similar.

The Clos Las Coutale from France was very interesting, one that Chris and I talked some about. I had heard the term rustic used to describe it and it made me think less about quality and more about the tradeoff between polish and power in the greatest artisanal products. This proved to be profoundly true. It was clean, great tasting and rich enough to appreciate, but not elegant in the wrong ways.

The Graffigna was polished and hefty, but it seemed to drift away too soon. Hints of charcoal made me think of exotic circumstances. The Trapiche and Alamos are familiar and performed as they typically do. Both are good values and great cooking wines too. I would drink them so I would cook with them as well. The Richard Santos Malbec was a good central spot with fruit and earth in a good balance, very dry and with a lengthy finish. The Vintners Cellar wine was an interesting one to review. It was quite good and actually contained the fruit that I felt mine lacked. It was equally earthy and woody, but it had just a little something more. Something to consider I guess.

One of the other notable pairings was the Red Rock with the dark chocolate fudge. The fruitiness in the wine was the asset with tart raspberries mixing with the chocolate.

I had some Malbec facts and trivia on hand which made for great fun at several points during the afternoon. I have often thought it would be fun to train to be a wine educator and I realized this week that I already am doing it. Here’s a link to a PDF, Malbec Facts, with the information I compiled. There was a lot learned and the conversations about wines found in travels near and far are always welcome. Everyone enjoyed themselves and I am sure more good times are in store for this group. I can’t wait to talk wine with them again soon.

A few hours into the party we took a tour of the “wine cellar” or our wine in the cellar as we say it. I asked if anyone wanted to try some more homemade wine and I got the expected answer, “hell yeah!”
I opened up Strawberry, Plum Riesling, Jalapeno and Dandelion. These are our signature dessert wines from the last couple of years and really reflect the area where we live. Gabriel had the most humbling words, and I knew this from a past conversation, that for someone who isn’t fond of dessert wines, that all of them reminded him of what he was told they were, they all tasted good; to the point of making him change his mind about the potential for these types of wines. I can’t be anything but so pleased to hear something like that.

We signed off with a group shot. What a great day!

Cheers!

Jason

My Relationship with Argentinean Malbec

I don’t recall the very first glass of Argentinean Malbec I ever had, but I am guessing it was in the early 2000’s. I likely picked it from a menu based on the description of it coming from a wine region on the rise and having been made from a well known French grape.

I do know that the empty bottle I pulled off a display shelf earlier today was one of the first ones I ever bought to enjoy at home. I vaguely recall pairing it with a steak covered in a red wine gorgonzola sauce that I was fascinated with at the time. I just took a photo of the label (above) to completely ferment this memory.

Recently I have ventured to make my own Malbec. Anytime I set off to make a new wine I am either inspired by a wine of the type and style I have already enjoyed, or I go out and find as many as I can to provide sensory cues that will be my guide. Argentinean Malbecs had not disappointed me up to that point so I set my sites on a few.

Early in April of 2010 we had dinner at Le Milsa, a Brazilian churrascaria, in downtown Montreal. I had read several very positive reviews of the Bodega Norton Malbec but found it was not available in NH where I live. My dinner partners approved of the selection when I requested it, and reiterated their approval upon tasting it. I found it to be subtle and focused, making a great match with the grilled meats I was enjoying.

Later in the month we opposed the Bodegas Escorihuela Don Miguel Gascon Malbec 2008 and the Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Lunlunta 2007. The intensity of the Catena selection resulted in it being less talked about. I decided to shoot high and try for the Catena’s style fully knowing that my source of fruit and winemaking experience would be the reasons why I would or wouldn’t get there. The Gascon was a weird one, reallyonly being pleasurable with a lot of breathing time.

My homemade Malbec is coming along nicely, but it will need much more time before I can decide how well I have done.

My relationship with Argentinean Malbec goes back a few years and I hope it will extend for many more. The quality and selection of these wines is consistently increasing, providing all the fodder for continued adventures. If you haven’t yet embraced Malbec from Argentina, get to it!

Cheers!

--Jason

Photos from the Malbec Pressing June 5th, 2010

I asked Vincent to come and help me run the press. I had six buckets, about 110 pounds, of Malbec grapes that had been fermenting since the Monday prior. With only about 12 gallons or so of volume expected I was sure setup and cleanup would take longer than the pressing. Everything went smoothly and we ended up with 12 gallons on free run and light pressing and 3 gallons from a heavier press. We actually did a press over of my second run experiment which yielded some more from the Malbec for the whole mix. The gravity after pressing was 1.004. Almost dry and definitely ready for MLF.

Check out the pics on Flickr.

http://bit.ly/9hIPCn

Cheers!

--Jason

Malbec Lineup

We gathered some friends for a mutual birthday celebration and used the occasion to taste and compare three different Malbecs. Next month I will be making my first Malbec, and I was interested in trying several different selections and collecting feedback on the aromas, flavors and textures that I might aim to created in my own wine.

We tasted the following wines:

Bodegas Escorihuela Don Miguel Gascon Malbec Mendoza 2008 (Argentina, $14.99)
Clayhouse Vineyards Paso Robles 2008 Malbec (California, $13.99)
Bodega Catena Zapata Malbec Mendoza Lunlunta 2007 (Argentia, $23.99)

The food pairings included a cheese plate containing, brie, smoked gouda and dill havarti with crusty bread, oil and crackers. We moved on to dinner of Margot's meatloaf, bacon & cheddar potato skins and broiled asparagus. Dessert was chocolate cake.

First up was the Gascon which due to lack of aeration, bad serving temperature or something else tasted flat to everyone. It presented itself with very low acidity, mild aromas and flavors and Richard comment it tasted "rusty". Pete and I returned to it later and it had opened up a bit, but still tasted off and lifeless. As I write this, the next day, I am tasting it again and it is more aromatic and flavorful, although still a bit understated. All of this suggests some air is necessary before serving this wine. This wine was underwhelming enough that no food pairing notes were taken.

Next in line was the Clayhouse, which from the very first sniff caught everyone's attention. Dark purple in color it was a pleasure to pour this wine and imagine what aromas and flavors awaited me. I found this wine a bit drier and more acidic than the Gascon, but with the intense fruit in this wine those attributes were well needed. The group shared thoughts on the fruit with my suggestion of raspberry garnering some objections. Cindy suggested black currants and Wayne added choke cherries, with currant being widely agreed upon. This selection went very well with the dill havarti for me, the spiciness of wine matching very well with the hit of dill in the cheese. I finished this bottle earlier today and found it even more pleasant with some air.

The final selection was the Catena Lunlunta. I specifically selected this more expensive wine to evaluate how price affected our experiences with the wines. The aromas of the wine were less pungent than the Clayhouse, but felt cleaner and more focused. This wine had the fullest body of the three and offered more refinement in the flavors as well. This wine was spicier than the two previous and slightly more tannic with a noticeable "teeth cleaning" sensation. It paired well with the brie matching the mild earthy flavors in the wine with the usual funky brie flavors. Wayne clearly enjoyed this bottle, specifically asking for it to be passed his way again during dinner. I very much enjoyed this wine and would buy it again for a special occasion, but I would be more apt to stock the Clayhouse as my house Malbec.

In the end the Clayhouse inspired the most conversation. Pete and I returned to it a bit later and found that although the air had helped it open, the increase in temperature made it taste harsh and hot.

This was a very fun and rewarding experience. I took a away a good impression of the range Malbec can span and a better understanding of where I can hope to take my home crafted version.

Cheers!

--Jason

Montreal's Food & Drink - April 2010

From the last post you can get a feel for the mission we were on to experience some of the distinctive beverage offerings found in Montreal. That mission is continued here.

Before I left for the trip I was reading a recent issue of Imbibe magazine that did a lineup of coffee stouts including the Imperial version from Dieu Du Ciel! based in Montreal. I planned to seek it out, try it and bring some home. Oddly I had forgotten when I organized the pub tour that this brewer does have a downtown location, as well as retail distribution, but had chosen locations closer to the hotel so we missed a visit. We did end up finding the beer at the IGA.

We also picked up the Rosee d’Hibiscus at the same time and sampled both at the hotel and brought the remainder home for future tastings.

Peche Mortel Imperial Coffee Stout ( 9.5% ABV)
6 pack for $14 CAD + tax

Smells like a Starbucks mocha!
Tastes like high cacao (85%+) dark chocolate
Strong smoke and coffee tastes
Triple chocolate cake with espresso dark chocolate sauce
Small sharp bubbles, but not overpowering
Will enjoy the remaining ones of these for sure!

Rosee d’Hibiscus ( unfiltered what beer infused with Hibiscus and spices, 5.9% ABV)

Pale red color
Strong floral and citrus nose
Tastes of flowers, spice and orange
Tastes like a hoppy/grainy rose wine

Next up was dinner...

Le Milsa
1445 Bishop St.
(514) 985-0777

Le Milsa is a churrascaria style restaurant with rodizio service. In Portuguese churrascaria is roughly translated as “barbeque”. Rodizio represents a fixed price offering where “meat waiters” bring various grilled meat offerings to the table until patrons signify they are full/done.

Le Milsa does not disappoint in the above definition. With ten meat offerings including, chicken, chicken sausage, pork, lamb, filet mignon, rib roast, sirloin, prime rib, strip steak, and turkey wrapped in bacon, you can be sure your cholesterol and salt numbers are going to go in the wrong direction! Served along with salad, bread, rice, sweet potato and spicy mushrooms many flavor combinations are possible.

All four of us, Margot, Gerry, Eloy and I, went with the standard menu and paired our meal with the following wines.

Bodega Norton Malbec Mendoza (vintage not acquired)
Errazuriz Estate Shiraz 2008 from Chile

The strategy I had for the wine was to have two different reds. For the first I looked for a subtle and focused wine to complement the richness of the grilled meats for which the Malbec did performed nicely. For the other I wanted a wine with more fruit and a bit of spice to counter balance the seasonings and take the flavors in another direction. The original choice was a California Zinfandel, which was not available, so the Shiraz was selected and played the part well. All of us agreed that both wines paired with the different meats differently and that all pairings were enjoyable.

One of the other experiences I was hoping for at Le Milsa was to try cachaca or a drink made from it. Without fail the Brazilian national drink, Caipirinha, similar to a traditional white rum daiquiri from the Carribean was on the menu. This drink contains cachaca, muddled lime and sugar served over ice. Somewhat sweet with good lime flavors, this drink was very pleasing and made for a great post-meal digestif.


We weren’t quite finished. With dessert, which was a choice of ice cream or grilled pineapple, we all also tried a strong coffee drink that included Gran Marnier and Crème de Cacao. Though I was originally worried that the coffee and pineapple flavors would not pair well, Margot was surprised by the perfect match due to the cinnamon coating on the pineapple. The flavors of the coffee were fantastic and its ability to promote laughter all around propelled us out on to the streets of Montreal for a brisk walk home.

Now that is making memories!

I did try a couple of other beers during the trip that are also worth mentioning.

Unibroue Ephemere - a tribtue to the green apple.

The green apple aroma was present right away and was unmistakable. It faded fast however, something I do believe to be a flaw. As for flavors I would say that my taste buds were still working, but were not picking up the fruit. It tasted like a typical light unfiltered ale without any other tangible flavors or aromas. This was not terribly memorable, but Unibroue makes many other styles I do like and will return to frequently.

We stopped at the Vermont Pub & Brewery in Burlington Vermont for lunch on the way home. I tried two of their house brewed beers that had unique descriptions on the menu.

Tulach Leis

Flemish style sour red ale
Fermented with Brett (also used in the Saison at Le Cheval Blanc)
Complex beer with pronounced aromas and flavors
Definitely sour and a bit yeasts
Not an everyday drinker unless this is your bag
Paired well with sweet potato fries and onion rings

Forbidden Fruit

This is big beer competition winner for them
Brewed with 500 lbs of local raspberries
Strong beer – no ABV determined
Sour mashed and oak aged
The fruit is unmistakable in the nose and flavors
Good on its own and would be good with fruit pie
No real pairing attempt was made, just enjoyed it solo

It was a drag coming home from such a whirlwind tour, but there was little choice. We have already started scheming up where we will go the next time.

Cheers!

--Jason