2000 Clos les Lunelles
By perryd | December 17, 2007
The 2000 was produced the year before before Gerard Perse and his wife purchased this 24-acre property. The 2000 Lunelles is about 80% Merlot, the rest being Cabernet Sauvignon and a bit of Cabernet Franc, as is more or less traditional for the Cotes de Castillon. It’s just now coming to its peak…the wine is starting to show a tinge of maroon around the edge, and it has started to produce that lovely cigar-box and cedar character of a maturing wine. There’s a nice touch of tannin still which will likely stay with the wine over the next few years as it ages. It’s still a bit hot and you’ll want to let it sit in the glass a few minutes to let off a little steam.
This is how I like right-bank wines to taste…mature but still full of that lovely grapey Merlot flavor. The soil around Cotes de Castillon is a mix of clay and gravel and seems to give the Merlot a little bit of that mineral taste that you’d expect from the other side of the river. It doesn’t hurt that 2000 was just an overall excellent year in Bordeaux…just about anything from that vintage will drink well. This particular wine has a few more years left in it…another five, at least, especially if you like your Bordeaux a bit on the sherry side.
The good news is that this is a very affordable bottle. Most places it carry the 2000 for under $20 (search for it at WineZap), and Wine Commune regularly has it at auction for about half of that price (search for it at Wine Commune). Parker gives the wine 90 points, which makes it a great value.
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An Awesome Aussie for $15
By perryd | December 14, 2007
Australian red wine is the antithesis of French Bordeaux. Instead of the quaint, stone-wall-enclosed vineyards of tens or hundreds of hectares, lovingly hand-tended by a garagiste we find, to be it blunt, wine farms.
Not that this is a bad thing. It’s similar to the model used in California, Argentina, Chile, and many, many other wine producing areas. The grapes are farmed, juiced, blended, adjusted, fermented, and adjusted some more to produce a consistent product year after year. It’s the consistency that makes these wines so attractive…you know that a Yellow Tail will taste the same, whether it’s from the 2002, 2003, 2005, or 2008 vintage. Exactly the same.
This means that once you find a wine that you like, you can grab a bottle or two without even thinking about it. The marketing departments play on this by making their bottle labels similar to popular brands. I’ve also read a paper or two pointing out that an animal on the label increases sales by 10 to 15 percent, which. Go figure.
When I’m looking for a simple, consistent Australian wine my first choice in Wynn’s Coonawarra. They produce several varietals and blends, including a straight Shiraz (Syrah to the francophones), and a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Each sells in the $12 to $15 range. Wynn’s grapes come from a terroir know as terra rosa, a loose red soil that sits atop a bed of limestone. Cabernet Sauvignon does extremely well in this kind of soil. Shiraz also likes the soil, but suffers when the growing season is cooler than usual. The region also produces whites from Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and some Semillon, but really it’s the reds that shine.
Wynn’s wines tend to be very dark with just a hint of fruit but lack the tanning you’d normally find in a Cabernet Sauvignon. The addition of Shiraz to the Cab makes a very meaty, well-rounded wine, and the Merlot softens everything out a bit. For meals that need a wine that can stand on its own, the straight Shiraz is the obvious choice.
The Coonawarra wines don’t need much in the way of cellaring, at least not the standard wines. Wynn’s makes a few special cuvees each year that do hold up well, but for the most part these are buy-and-drink kinds of wines. Throw a case or half a case in the basement and you’ll always have something to serve with a stew or roast.
You can read more about Wynn’s wines here, or shop for them on WineZap here.
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Great Bordeux Value: 2003 Puygeuraud
By perryd | December 13, 2007
With the euro growing stronger with every passing day against the dollar it’s becoming more and more difficult to find French wine at reasonable prices. Chateaux that used to run in the $20 per bottle range are now selling in the $40 range. The outstanding 2000 vintage, with its concomitant leap in prices, didn’t help matters, either, especially since the past five years have seen a string of great seasons in Bordeaux.
I love finding bargains. A bargain to me is a wine that I love the sells for $10 to $15 per bottle…wine that I won’t hesitate to open for an evening meal.
The 2003 Puygeuraud Cote de Castillon fits the bill. It’s a right-bank blend of Merlot (60%) and Cabernet Franc (25%) with the remainder being Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec. The Merlot gives a silky smoothness that we expect from this side of the river, but the Franc brings its frank fruit to the table. If you’ve had straight Cabernet Franc you know that it is intensely fruity but with a very ripe, almost overripe, flavor, an earthiness. The ‘03 Puygeuraud balances that overripeness with the the Merlot to create a dark flavor with a hint of raisin and spice and a finish that reminds me of a sherry or port. I think another year or two in the bottle will make this an outstanding wine rather than just a very good wine.
The best news is that the 2003 Puygeuraud can be bought for around $12, a great value indeed. Here’s a search for Puygeuraud at Wine Commune.
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Bordeaux Heaven
By perryd | November 27, 2007
What to choose? Perhaps the ‘61 Lafite Rothschild. Maybe the ‘45 d’Yquem…no, make that the ‘97 d’Yquem. The 1897 d’Yquem!
Surrounded by row upon row of outstanding first- and second-growth Bordeaux, from all of the important vintages…a dream? No, it’s a visit to the Société des alcools du Québec store in the old town. My wife and I spent Thanksgiving in Vieux Quebec this year, and among the highlights of the trip was a visit to this amazing wine shop in the walls of Chateau Fontenac, up on the hill. About half of the large retail space is devoted to Bordeaux, and there are some truly remarkable wines on display, including several large-format first-growths.
Just seeing so many outstanding wines in one place is a treat. Ausone next to Palmer, Margaux nestled alongside a Mouton. The fragile wines, like the 1897 Sauternes, are behind glass, but the rest are on beautifully crafted display racks for the handling.
This location is apparently a small outlet (!). SAQ has stores throughout the region, including a large store in the St. Foy area near the malls. Frommer’s calls the St. Foy shop ‘a supermarket of wine’. SAQ offers three publications, including The Wine Courier, and has an extensive online store that’s worth a visit. If you like the cold, they’re currently advertising for a store manager :^)
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JJ Buckley Black Friday Sale
By perryd | November 20, 2007
JJ Buckley Wines just announced their Black Friday sale. Last year saw some outstanding bargains, but you’ll need to get to their website early. The sale starts on Friday, November 23rd at 6am EST and ends at midnight EST. They also are featuring free shipping on champagne orders between now and the end of the year.
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Outstanding Wine Values at Wine Commune
By perryd | November 15, 2007
Most of my Bordeaux comes from California. I used to spend a fair amount of time prowling the bargain bins at my local wine shops, occasionally sucking it up and buying half a case or a case or just an individual bottle at retail prices.
Then it happened. I was reading an article on Decanter about online wine auctions. At the top of their list was Wine Commune, based in California. It’s basically eBay for wine, where hundreds of sellers bring their wines to the table in a variety of auction formats. Even though some offers look tempting, I’ve done business with only one seller, JJ Buckley, which happens to be the shop that owns the site. 300+ bottles later I can still recommend them, and the site, as one of the best places to get excellent wines in pristine condition at outrageous prices.
How outrageous? JJ Buckley’s auctions are often without a reserve price and start at $1. Here’s a random sample from my recent purchases…the 2002 La Confession rated 90 points by Parker. At a fine restaurant the bottle will go for close to $100. At your local wine merchant you’ll be paying close to $50. On Wine Commune? $25. I typically see discounts of 50% to 75% off of retail prices. The wines are shipped weekly and arrive fully encased in protective styrofoam wine packs.
On the rare occasion that I’ve had problems, the folks at JJ Buckley have gone out of their way to make things right.
I’m sure I’ll be writing more about Wine Commune. Just stay out of the Bordeaux auctions!
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Finally, decent French bread!
By perryd | November 13, 2007
I’ve been playing around with French bread recipes ever since our last trip to Paris. There’s just something magical about a warm baguette from the corner boulangerie and that crispy, chewy texture. Nothing but flour, water, yeast, and salt.
What I’ve discovered is that there’s a fifth ingredient that many books and recipes for the American market allude to but don’t seem to emphasize all that much…time. Most books focus on the kneading process and hint that a good knead will line up the gluten into a mesh that contains the gases created by the yeast. And over the past year I’ve tried a vast set of kneading time, rising time, temperature, and ingredients without getting even close to traditional French taste and texture.
Julia Child provided the clue in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, volume 2. She nearly didn’t include a recipe for French bread; as she points out in the book, most French don’t bake bread, since it’s never more than a few minutes’ walk to the boulangerie. Julia was also skeptical that French bread could be made with American ingredients in American ovens. She herself had never really attempted to make the stuff before her editor insisted that it be added to the book.
Julia emphasizes the time element. She correctly describes the ripening process that the gluten must go through to gain that familiar chewy texture and nutty flavor, and goes so far as to recommend that the rise take place at a relatively low temperature, around 70 degrees. At this temperature, it takes a good three hours for the first rise, and two hours each for the second and third.
It’s worth the wait. The dough transforms from a heavy mass into something light yet full of body, and once baked it pushes back when bitten. Julia’s recipe as too much salt for my taste and should be cut in half. A spritz of water against the bread every four or five minutes helps develop a brown, crunchy crust.
Bon appetit!
[DEcember 23rd] Several readers have asked for my recipe… here it is!
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