by Julian Schultz
julian@oxfordwineroom.com
Palateer and dear friend Karen Robert Davis missed me at the recent Castle tasting of 30 relatively obscure Southeastern wines. Sommelier/maitre d' Jim Nicas had informed her that I was ill. Thoughtfully, Karen of the refined palate sent me her excellent tasting notes, which I will insert into the column.
Karen wrote that "an old friend" of mine had attended the tasting. I e-mailed back to Karen, saying that all my "old friends," contemporaneously aged friends, were dead.
My now "old friends" I wrote to Karen are young old friends, young enough to be my children; young old friends of long standing despite our age differences, such as she and Jeff are. Curious about the "old friend," however, I asked Karen:
"She said her name was Venus Venusheffski," replied Karen, "said she had read your www.oxfordwineroom.com wine column about your recent Spanish wine dinner at the Webster House restaurant and that she had tasted 29 Spanish wines with you some years back at a Castle wine tasting."
Did I remember? Karen asked.
Yes! Indeed I did! How could my red-blooded, he-man, swashbuckling cavalier-macho persona not remember? I added that I believed I had written a wine column about that tasting.
Karen said, wryly, that Venus' personality was so stimulating - especially to her husband Jeff - that she hoped I had saved the column.
I resurrected it and sent it to Karen. Excerpted, this is what I sent:
She introduced herself. "Venus Venusheffski is my name. Wine tasting is my game. Everyone calls me Venus Venus. You get two Venus' for the price of one!"
Ever gallant in the presence of alluring, provocative, pulchritudinous women, I added. "And you are far prettier and more statuesque than Venus de Milo."
Tossing back her head, arching back her spine, pulling back her shoulders, she said coquettishly, "And am I not better upholstered, don't you agree? And I have arms."
I readily agreed. Considering her prominent and exciting fore and aft attributes, I suggested we taste together and compare notes as we moved through the 29 wines that represented the length and breadth of Spain.
Half way through the tasting she selected three wines as being her best. I chose three others, saying that if were we to taste them blind-bagged a week later most likely we would substitute other wines. Such is the inconsistency of the palate, especially mine, I added.
Venus augmented my statement: "If we re-tasted them next week blind-bagged, they would certainly be rearranged from today's order of choice. Palate inconsistency is a an old and familiar creature, so don't despair."
Shoulder-to-shoulder cozy like, we continued tasting together and exchanged perceptions of the Spanish wines and discussed our tasting our philosophies.
I noted Venus would sight the wines quickly; then sniff, sip, close her eyes and tap her forehead. She explained: "I probe, I sniff, I sip, I think. I think, therefore I am…an educated palateer, as Descartes might have said. I plumb my memory and use my imagination about the aromas and flavors."
Since 1953, when I became introduced to wine, I had never sipped 29 Spanish wines at one tasting. Many of these were from obscure regions and vineyards. I will append the wines in this tasting to follow Karen's insightful report on the Southeastern European wines that follow now:
Southeastern Europe Wine Tasting at the Castle, by Karen Robert Davis:
The Castle's wine tasting yesterday was quite enjoyable. Approximately 24 people attended this exposition of wines from Southeastern Europe -- a palate-boggling 30 wines to sip and savor! Many were quite good.
Knowing that you were unable to attend, I decided to really concentrate on note taking while I tasted so that I could tell you about what I felt were the shining stars of the tasting. Hence, I won't comment on all of the wines.
There were 11 white wines from the regions of Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Greece, Lebanon, and Georgia. My favorites were as follows, and note that the grape varietal is shown in parentheses:
Sauvignon Blanc 2001 Sepp Moser (Kemstal) from Austria. Tropical nose followed by tastes of guava/grapefruit. Long finish, or as you say, a "forever farewell!" It was my favorite of all of the whites tasted, but at price of $21, not the best bargain. A-/B+ on price point rating.
Lac des Roches n.v. Boutari (Saviatano) from Greece. Easy drinking, light and clean. A perfect picnic/barbeque wine, even for those who think they don't like wine. Apricot/melon notes that fade quickly on the palate. A bargain at $9.
Pinot Blanc "Private Reserve" 1999 Hopler from Austria. I detected anise and pear in the nose and on the palate. Crisp acidity. Very nice, but $16.
The bargain of all bargains: Sauvignon Blanc 2002 Avia from Slovenia. Nice crisp acidity, tropical fruits, yet light on the palate with tones of grapefruit. And only $5, YES! A bargain at $5 -advise your local wine purveyor to stock up! Great for upcoming warm weather entertaining!
And now for the notable reds. There were 14 to swirl and sip!
Dole des Monts 2001 Robert Gilliard (50%Pinot Noir, 50%Gamay) from Switzerland. A lighter bodied red, full of nice peppery notes and berry fruit. Not the best bargain at
$24.
Zwiegelt 1999 Prinz Lichenstein (Zwiegelt) from Austria. This was fabulous! Tannins were a bit tight, denoting age worthiness. Lots of depth with crisp cherry fruit. WOW! $19 at your wine shop.
Plavac Mali 1997 Ggic (Plavac Mali) from Croatia. Nicely balanced tannin/fruit. Big cherry nose, jammy, long finish; $24.
Naoussa 2001 Boutari (Aghiorgitiko). Great here with shish touk hot appetizer! I would compare it very much to the Nemea 2000 from Macedonia. Great with the chicken Megapanos that we had at the Webster House's last Greek dinner -- same grape, but this one I like better! More fruit on the palate. In between chatting with folks and sipping, I forgot to write notes on it! But I do remember how well it went with the appetizer! At $15, it's a good value.
Another good value at $10 was the Cabernet Sauvignon-Aghiorgitiko (50% each) Vatisas from Greece. Another great food wine with balanced tannin and fruit, dark cherry and tobacco.
Stradivari (50% Merlot, 50% Cab.Sauvignon) Granat from Moldavia. This came in a beautiful, violin-shaped bottle, which I procured from James after the tasting! However, it wasn't just pretty to look at! Huge cherry fruit. Soft, round tannin like the voluptuous curves of the violin (did I tell you I played?). Easy drinking, and at $12, quite a bargain.
Six dessert wines completed the tasting. I must say that all were quite tasty!
Pinot Gris 1997 Tsar Winery...Crimea (Yalta). How often does one have the opportunity to taste a late harvest Pinot Gris? This one was a velvety sweet example at $9.
Muscat n.v. Loel....Cyprus. Not my favorite muscat ever tasted. After sipping the sweet Pinot Gris, this one had almost sourness to it. Not that nice, orange/peach flavor that I so dearly love! About $15.
Kagor Massandra... Crimea. A red dessert wine similar to a ruby port in taste but with vintage port-like price--$45.
Kindzmarauli...Georgia. Another red wine with sweet berry notes; $21.
Nalewka Babuni (white grape and cherry)...Poland. Jeff loved this one! It was very red cherry up front. However, I thought it had a cherry cough syrup finish! About $24. I think it would work well in place of kirsch in recipes.
Chocolate Cherry Kijafa...Denmark. My favorite of the red dessert wines. It tastes just like a Cella's (that's a brand name, if you're not familiar) chocolate covered cherry. I'd be eager to try it when making a Black Forest Cake. (James already mentioned it to Stanley for the next time he makes one. Should be fabulous!) $16.
Super job, Karen! Welcome to the fraternity of wine reporters. You're my surrogate wine scribe.
Now returning to the past when I tasted the Spanish wines with Venus. We agreed to pool our evaluations. I will report only on the "shining stars," as Karen so aptly refers to them.
White wine: Etxanix rated straight A for its compost nose and crisp, clean, dry fruit with lingering sweet-nuanced finish. Surprisingly very good; the oenophile intelligentsia usually disdain Spanish whites.
Venus: "The Etxanix is simple, seductive, sensual; reminiscent of my introduction to wine, sipping it by a woodland pool, receiving and enjoying my first kiss."
I said, "Alas! Would that I were so fortunate to be the person at that woodland pool." I asked how she would score the wines.
She dismissed the question, saying, "If I like a wine, scoring it for myself is inconsequential. I don't write; I don't teach; I don't recommend; I only enjoy."
I described the red wines succinctly, tersely, devoid of my oft-applied purple prose and tumid odes and turgid stanzas.
Venus listened approvingly to my description of the wines: "I am pleased you didn't string out descriptors of the wines. When did you change your style? You were notorious as wines' prince of pretentiousness and pomposity. Congratulations!
"Only fools furrow their foreheads and dogmatically spew forth descriptions of wine that are more relevant to fruit salads, vegetable salads, men, women, minerals, game, flowers, spices and herbs. Such wine speak in wine evaluation - if you will forgive me - is BS.
"I even dumped a man friend because he prepared for wine tastings and wine dinners by first going to church with Parker's evaluations of the wines. He would study them with reverential biblical devotion.
"At the wine event he would roll his eyes heavenward for confirmation and then deliver Parker's deity-inspired judgments with religious solemnity. He said that to disagree with Parker was like disagreeing with the gospels and if you did, when you died you would go to wine hell. That did it for me!"
The red wines "shining stars":
· Priorato, Clos de L'Obac '98, $40 (and worth it): immense complex nose, beautifully balanced with sweet raspberry fruit, tart fruit acids; dry, firm tannin, smooth texture, velvety finish, lingering farewell. A; in five to 10 years, A-plus.
· Ribera Del Duero, Prado Ray '98, $16: fruited nose with smoky underlay, big fruit with zesty fruit acids balance; dry; some mature complexity for so young a wine. A.
· Teofilo Reyes '97, $33: Big Burgundy barnyard on nose and palate. Although I rated it A to A-plus, I was baffled. I recently tasted a much different '96 vintage that I had rated A-plus.
Venus viewed my consternation over the Duero's Reyes with perplexity. She suggested, "Can it be we weren't tasting the same wine? I noted an earthy, stony quality, perhaps a whisper of vanilla. I found power and structure. As I said, I don't rate wines; but if I did, I would rate it in high 80s or low 90s. My quotation of John Milton is appropriate: 'One sip of this wine will bathe the drooping spirits in delight beyond the bliss of dreams.' "
Venus' melting browns could convince me of anything. I told her that because of my enthusiastic admiration for the Reyes '96, I had ordered three of the '97 and now planned to cancel them. I didn't want to re-taste them here - maybe the peppery ginger duck rolls or the salty Blue Tobias Cheese had disedged my palate. Reflecting on the '97, I didn't cancel. I've never been disappointed in a Teofilo Reyes…ever!
From Rioja, Venus and I rated all eight wines in the A category, of which two merited A-plus. All disclosed the attributes necessary for perfection: aroma, acidity, alcohol, assertiveness, aftertaste; balance, body, bite; color, complexity, concentration; dryness; flavor, fruit, finish; tannin.
Outstanding, comparable to a classified top growth Bordeaux, were the A-plus wines: Ramirez de la Piscina Gran Reserva (at least seven years aging in barrel and bottle before release) '91, $35; and Sierra Cantabria "Colleccion Privada" '98, $45.
Excellent A-rated wines: Torre Muga '91, $70; Muga Reserva '96, $23; San Vincente '97, $30; Sierra Cantabria Crianza '97, $16; Ramirez de la Piscina Crianza '97, $16; Sierra Cantabria Reserva '95, $23.
Venus interjected: "I'm find more complexity and barnyard in the Riojas than in the other wines. Do you suppose the soil, temperature, vineyard lie and age of the vines might account for their superiority? They are explosive with fruit flavors. I thought the Dueros would give them more competition. Of course, each of us has a different perception of what is in the glass and of what we prefer on the palate; and, of course, each one of us is correct."
Venus attracted ogling males. Flattered by their attention, she summarized the tasting: "I thought the Riojas were a combination of tenderness and spunk; the Dueros were assertive yet unpretentious; the aforementioned Gran Reserva and "Colleccion Privada" were breathtaking. Some of the young reds are kinky now, lacking finesse and subtlety; that develop with maturity."
Confused die-hard males scratched their head and stayed on; the less stalwart scratched and departed. Venus continued: "The Dueros and Riojas will mellow with age, which means
long cellaring. So be patient with them. And this above all, to thine own self be true: Don't be persuaded by wine talk at wine tastings. There's an awful lot of bull….assailing your ears. And let us hear no more knocks from wine snobs about Spanish wines."And always remember this: Your true connoisseur sips his wine and lingers thoughtfully over each separate mouthful. And each time he derives total pleasure; much more so than had he emptied his wineglass in a single barbaric gulp. I think some old codger said this many years ago. No, not Julian here."
Wine Pick: Trinchero Terra d'Oro Deaver Old Vne Zinfandel 2001, around $21. A full-throttle, big, ripe zin with spiced oak bouquet, leather and cassis; flavors of blackberry and clove are balanced with heavily toasted oak and fine grain tannin; a gentle giant.
Email Comments to Julian at:
julian@oxfordwineroom.com