Wine Magazine Time

So I think I have finally come to my senses and realized that I need to subscribe to a wine magazine. I picked the California Values Wine Spectator issue and basically LOVED IT. I liked the information in it about the different values that the great state of California has to offer but also admired all of the other content of the magazine. This is when I experienced a personal epiphany. Why do I not subscribe to a wine magazine? I really did like the Wine Spectator issue that I read cover to cover. I then thought about subscribing to this particular magazine. Before I do subscribe to this magazine I want to research what else is out there and see what other magazines have to offer.


The obvious other big name in the wine magazine industry is Wine Enthusiast. I have not read their magazine very carefully, just poked at a few articles while at the bookstore. I think that I will pick up their most recent issue and read it cover to cover. There is a wealth of knowledge and insight in these publications and it would be great for me to have access to them. It is almost in the same category of tasting lots of different wine to expand your palate. You should always read as much as you can about anything you have a passion for. Whether it is wine, running, stamp collecting or politics, you should try to fill or satisfy your palate with a taste of knowledge. Heck who knows, maybe I will not be able to make a choice and just subscribe to both of them!

The more wine you taste, the more your palate develops. The more you read about wine, the more understanding and appreciation you have for it.

Restricted Wine & Free The Grapes

So I stepped out of the office today for a short period of time to run by a drugstore to pick up some essentials. I have not been out in the area much around my work and this was my first time visiting this Rite Aid. I walk in and to my surprise they have a huge liquor section. I must remind you that this may come as a shock to not only most of you living in places like California or other states on the west coast were alcohol is readily available everywhere, even at gas stations! That’s a great angle to promote…. Here, buy some alcohol and drive. Anyways, I was utterly surprised to see this drugstore in Quincy, MA selling wine, beer and spirits. The reasoning behind my logic is that Massachusetts law permits one business from holding more than three liquor licenses. This essentially means that one corporation or business even though it may have hundreds of locations, can only sell alcohol at three of their locations. I really don’t understand the reasoning behind this law, but it makes no sense. In addition to this, a local ordinance, also known as a city only has a certain number of licenses they can grant based upon population. This is just pure wacky and not even the worst part of it.

The other side of this coin is the dirtiest. Massachusetts does not permit shipments of any beverage containing alcohol over its borders. This means that someone like me, being the wine lover who previously lived in California can not buy wine from an out of state retailer. This is unfortunate due to the fact that all of my beloved wine merchants are located in California. Look to the right of this post to see who my favorites are. It is very upsetting to live in a wine prison. This means that I have all of my wine shipments going to a storage facility in California until my return to the golden state. I am just glad that I don’t live in Pennsylvania where you are forced to buy alcohol from a state run monopoly store. I have researched this matter a little further and that’s when I stumbled across Free the Grapes.

Free The Grapes is a movement to promote legislation in state who ban interstate shipping. In an excerpt from their website “Free the Grapes! is a national grassroots coalition of wine lovers, wineries and retailers. Our goal is to allow wine consumers to purchase the wines they want, in the manner of their choosing.” This is exactly what I want to do. It makes no sense to ban shipping directly from the wineries to consumers. All it is is a trade barrier to protect local alcohol and wine producers as well as unfair market prices. If you have a fine appreciation for wine, then you must support this cause, even if you live in a state where this is not a problem. Fight the good fight against interstate shipping laws!!

Old Wine, When To Hold and How Long?

I am pretty sure that most of our cellars or collections don’t look like the one to the left. This means that we probably don’t keep to many 1898 Lafite’s or 1921 D’Yquem’s lying around for a special occasion. I might ramble a bit more and eventually get to the topic of discussing old wine and aging wine. This coveted beverage that many of us like to enjoy is very fragile yet strong at the same time. It needs close to ideal storage conditions if you want it to live a long fruitful life. This includes keeping the temperature in the mid 50’s with no major heat or cold spikes. Wine does not like to be shocked. In addition to temperature it would also like a nice steady amount of humidity to keep the cork moist and happy. Vino also does not like to be shaken, stirred or moved abruptly. So for all of you that have subterranean cellars in California, I hope there aren’t too many earthquakes.

After we get past the nice and perfect storage conditions that wine thrives in, we come to the next question. How do we know when to drink our precious prize and how long it might keep? Tannins are on of the most important substances in red wine that help it last for a good amount of time. Tannins along with color are extracted when the grapes are exposed to the skins during the winemaking process. When we taste a wine, this is what makes us pucker up a bit if it has a good tannin structure. So, we try this wine at a tasting; decide it has good structure and an awesome tannin structure. This is all fine and dandy, but if we try a wine and decide to buy a case because we think it will last long, what is our next course of action?

I think the next best thing to do is take your case of wine and put it into your climate controlled cellar with all of the above qualities mentioned in the first paragraph. In using a good California red wine from a reputable producers reserve line, the first bottle should not be touched for the first five years. You should then try that bottle and try to asses how it has developed and changed over the past five years. The wine should still be moderately tannic but show more fruit and complexity than when you first tasted it. After this, the next should come at eight years and then ten. By the tenth year, you should have 9 bottles left and these should be staggered out every one to two years. You should be keeping a good diary of notes to asses how your prize has changed. It is kind of similar to watching a kid or dog grow up. If you see the wine start to fade, then you might want to drink up. On the other hand if it seems to stay well, then cut back to a bottle every three years, after the ten year mark.

The point of this is that this should be a fun rewarding experience. You get to watch and monitor how something so beautiful as wine itself change over then next quarter century. Just a little patience is all it takes to reap the rewards that nature has to offer us.

A Humbling Experience

There are many things today that can make one feel almost slightly smaller than life, or even gracious that they have such an opportunity. This to some or even many is known as a humbling experience. When I was out in California, a person that is very close to me as well as a big part in my life had the opportunity to share something very special with me. This gentleman has a rather large wine collection and was nice enough to share a few bottles with me. One of these was from the famous producer Chateau De Beaucastel . The vintage on this Chateauneuf Du Pape was the blockbuster vintage of 1989. When he pulled this bottle off of the mahogany rack and looked at me, I was speechless. This is a wine that when in the presence of, most of us would feel humbled. I certainly was and was very gracious at the opportunity to share this with good company, as well as a killer molten chocolate cake!

This wine was absolutely amazing. It showed a nice brick color around the edges yet still seemed reasonably youthful with its dark inky ruby color. It possessed a richness that was so profound and a purity that was unreal to me. I had the honors of opening it and once I did, the aroma leaped out of the bottle and slapped me in the face. It had a huge nose of wonderful dark black fruit. The nose was so floral that once I got past the fruit it was hiding a very beautiful flowerily, almost lilac aspect. Once on the pallet, it danced around coating my whole mouth with a chewy like aspect. Great complexity and a huge mouth feel. The finish was so silky and long that the flavor did not want to leave as it lingered around for almost a minute. The dark fruit paired exceptionally well with the rich chocolate cake we were eating.

It was such a humbling experience for me to even be in the presence of such a wine, even to taste such a remarkable one. There are a few things in life that can humble a man and this was definitely one of them for me. This is a moment when time seems to stand still and I feel smaller than life itself.

I hope many of us get to experience life event such as these.

Cheers!

Lancaster Estate Visit

Upon my return to the other side of the country, I wanted to fill everyone in on some of the wonderful wineries that I had the opportunity to visit. One of these places was Lancaster Estate. This winery is nestled right off of chalk hill road in the Alexander Valley. This estate has a relatively small production when compared to other wineries of the modern day, only a mere 8900 cases per year. In my mind, this is one of the most quality driven estates around today. The owners still live right on the property with their twin daughters. Who wouldn't want to live on this property? Look at how gorgeous it is from the picture to the left!

When we first arrived, we were greeted by Crystal Jackson who is their direct sales and marketing coordinator. Crystal also handles some of the guest hospitality. After a small introduction she took us around the property where we were given a history on the estate and Lancaster’s philosophy. She then led us in to the fermentation room where we sampled a taste of their 2007 Sauvignon Blanc right from the tank prior to bottling. The tank sample was rather bitter due to the fact that they were turning the wine from tank to tank and that the wine had not fully developed. Bottling was not going to be until some time in the middle of the summer.

After the tour of the fermentation room, we then proceeded to the caves that were constructed into the hillside of the estate in 2001. The 8000 square feet of cave space is where they have their private tasting room, large event room used to host events as well as barrel storage. We took a walk around the cave and admired the 2006 and 2007 vintage that were currently in the aging process. We then proceeded to the private tasting room which was decorated with most of the previous and current vintages on Lancaster wines. We sat around a huge round table where the three wines we would be tasting were already poured. These three wines included their 2006 Sauvignon Blanc, 2005 Sophia’s Hillside Cuvee and the 2004 Lancaster Estate Cabernet Sauvignon.

What a gorgeous vineyard, estate and facility to visit. It was magnificent and the tour was perfect, Crystal was very knowledgeable on the history and wines. I could not have asked for a better tasting appointment. I would strongly recommend this winery to anyone visiting the Alexander Valley, not only for their world class wines, but the people that make it possible.