Every fan of Pinot Noir will undoubtedly know the name of John Haeger.

As author of the highly acclaimed “North American Pinot Noir,” John literally wrote the book on the fascinating history and evolution of Burgundy’s illustrious grape variety here in the United States. John’s academic approach to both the research and the writing created an instant hit and a must-have treatise for most wine lovers. But, more than anything, it was destined to become THE book for domestic Pinot fanatics. Of course, its appearance at booksellers just months before release of the movie “Sideways” didn’t hurt sales either.

Now, four years later John Haeger has written another wine book, “Pacific Pinot Noir.” Since, as he notes, “96% of North America’s Pinot Noir comes from an area I call the Pacific Pinot Zone,” it was only natural for him to focus on an area extending from mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon to Santa Barbara in California and extending up to thirty miles inland.

Pinot Noir’s rise in popularity over the last several years owes much to the different personalities of the grape itself. Join us as we talk with author and lecturer John Haeger about Pinot Noir, and discover its unique place in the world of wine.

For more info on John Haeger: www.ucpress.edu

Sponsor: Bagged Wine: www.baggedwine.com

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Little kids go through a phase where they need to put everything in their mouth. I wonder what it says about me that I'm pretty much stuck there? I really enjoy trying out new wines and sakes, especially those that are well off the beaten path.

So when Beau Timkin, the owner of True Sake in San Francisco handed me this bottle and said "check this out" I couldn't resist. After all, it was the sake equivalent of....well.....(if you'll excuse what may be a somewhat obscure (to you) Japanese animation reference) Howl's Moving Castle.

This sake is:

1. Nigori - an unfiltered sake

2. Junmai Daiginjo -- the highest grade of sake, where the rice kernels have been polished to less than 55% of their original volume.

3. Nama sake -- unpastuerized, designed to be drunk very soon after production, much like Beaujolais

4. Sparkling -- yes, that's right. Sparkling sake. Not entirely common.

Can you understand my fascination? Even if you've never seen the phantasmagorical animation movie referenced above perhaps you can understand what a strange beast this sake would be.

Many people who enjoy sake even occasionally are familiar with the cloudy nigori sakes, as they are somewhat trendy and likely to be offered in most sushi restaurants that aspire to have anything more than just the standard hot sake on the menu. Nigori sakes are cloudy because minute rice particles (think flour particles) that are normally filtered out of the sake are left in. These bits of starch both make the sake milky white, as well as add a slight sweetness to the liquid because they contain sugars.

Most nigori sakes are considered to be somewhat rustic, harkening back to the beginnings of sake when, in fact, all sake was nigori sake, since no one bothered to (or had the technology to) filter it in the early days of sake brewing. Consequently nigori sakes do not tend to be premium sakes, which is to say that they are most often made from rice that has not been polished to the level required for premium sake.

So to see a Junmai Daiginjo nigori sake is quite unusual, both because it means that the brewer has gone to quite an expense to deliberately produce such a sake, and that the brewer is confident that such a sake merits such treatment, as the rice sediments that are left in nigori sake tend, on the whole, to mask some of the more delicate flavors and aromas that a junmai daiginjo sake has been made to possess.

Nama sake or namazake is the sake world's equivalent of Beaujolais Nouveau, or perhaps more accurately, fresh raw milk, which is unfortunately illegal in the US. Unpastuerized by heat, namazake has a different character that is cherished by die-hard sake fans as more rustic and "authentic" than commercial releases that go through the pasteurization and stabilization process.

And sparkling sake? Well, what can I say. Sparkling sake is just a oddball phenomenon. It has been made here and there by various producers over the last decade, but not with any regularity, nor with any real commercial strategy. It is perhaps best characterized as one big experiment.

If there is any brewery that isn't afraid of experimenting, it's the Tsuki no Katsura brewery in the Fushimi district of Kyoto in western Japan. One of the oldest and most regal of breweries in the area, it is single-handedly responsible for the fact that nigori sake even exists today as a commercial product.

As I mentioned, originally all sake was effectively nigori, as it went unfiltered. But sometime before the 19th century, many makers began to press their sake through mesh bags to filter out the sediment. When the "rules" for how to make sake were written in the 1800's and it became regulated by the government, filtering (or more accurately, pressing, as there is most often a final filtration after pressing) became part of the required regimen, and nigori sake effectively became illegal. One of the primary reasons for this was that the filtering process was when the government levied its taxes on sake makers. For perhaps understandable reasons, the government wasn't too keen on the idea of skipping that step for aesthetic reasons.

But nigori sake wasn't forgotten, and after decades of tireless lobbying, Tsuki no Katsura managed to convince the government to allow them to make nigori sake. How did they manage to get around at least two hundred years of precedent for pressing sake through a filter to remove solids? Well, in the end they didn't. They were still forced to filter their sake, but they convinced the government to let them use a filter that had holes in it about the size of golf balls. Apparently it took a couple of years of changing their production process so the government ministry that oversees sake brewing would approve, but eventually they did, paving the way for all modern nigori sake.

Today, Tsuki no Katsura is one of the largest producers of nigori sake in Japan, and is apparently breaking new ground by moving into the sparkling sake world as well. They also produce a range of standard sakes which are rumored to be decent as well.

Full disclosure: I received this sake as a press sample.

Tasting Notes:
Cloudy white to the point of being chunky, with a medium-strong effervescence, this sake has a yeasty nose with scents of bubblegum and malted milk. In the mouth it has a thick presence on the palate and about as much carbonation as some soft drinks. The flavors are cool and rainy, with a distinct flavor of wet paper, a light floral element, and a finish that is beer like with hints of yeast. I'm not sure if my sense of the beer-like flavor was influenced by the carbonation or not. Overall this is not a sake that does a lot for me, but it was a fascinating drinking experience and one worth trying just on principle, especially for those who are interested in sake.

Food Pairing:
Nigori sakes normally reward pairings with slightly more substantial foods than their lighter, more delicate filtered brethren. I'm not confident about it, but I might try pairing this sake with tonkatsu, the traditional breaded and fried Japanese pork cutlet.

Overall Score: 8/8.5

How Much?: $20 for 300ml bottle

This sake is not available for sale on the internet. You can give Beau a call if you're interested: 415.355.9555

This is the kind of cross diversification I can relate to! Kerin O'Keefe (decanter.com) writes:

Italian coffee giant Illy has just acquired the 90ha Mastrojanni estate^? in the Montalcino hamlet of Castelnuovo dell'Abate.
 
Founded in 1975 by Gabriele and Antonio Mastrojanni, the estate has 24 ha under vine and an overall production of 80,000 bottles a year.
 
Until now Mastrojanni has been a family-owned firm^?, and is known for its classic Brunellos, particularly its single vineyard^? Brunello, Schiena d'Asino.
 
Managing Director and winemaker^? Andrea Machetti, who is to remain in charge of day-to-day operations under Illy, has been with Mastrojanni since 1992.
 
'The Illy family members obviously love wine and are known for their good taste^?. Though they will make some investments in the business, the house style^? won't change and we will continue to focus on making outstanding Brunello from Sangiovese,' Machetti told decanter.com.
 
The Illy family, based in Trieste, which bought controlling shares in chocolate^? company Domori in 2006 as well as in French tea firm Dammann Frères in 2007, is not new to the wine business.
 
Francesco Illy, one of the four grandchildren of the firm's founder, already owns a young estate in Montalcino, Podere Le Ripi. Riccardo Illy, president of the holding group said, 'Everyone in my family has a passion for wine, and with this acquisition, we have realised one of our dreams.'

» Full Story

Tags: melgab, wine, brunello, montalcino, illy, italian, south-africa, South Africa

Port wines can seem like a challenging subject. There are all sorts of bottlings: vintage date, late-bottled vintage date, Colheitas, single Quintas, and still others know as ruby reserve, crusted, or white — and let?s not forget the various tawny Ports of 10, 20, 30 and 40 years of age. Why are there so many different bottlings, and where does one begin to explore all of these fortified wines? Thankfully, we had the opportunity to talk with Louisa Fry from the Port and Douro Wines Institute, an inter-professional council of growers and producers from this famous Portugese region.

Join us as we hear about the origins of Port, what it takes to get a vintage declared, and whether it’s called Port or Porto. We?ll also discuss the amazingly steep terraces of Portugal’s Douro region, and the varieties of grapes that are able to be blended into the final product. Of course, it wouldn’t be complete without hearing about the optimum time to drink Port.

For more info on the Wines of Portugal: www.ivdp.pt

Sponsor- Gold Medal Wine Club: www.goldmedalwineclub.com

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Since everyone loved my review of the Fish Eye Merlot, I figured I’d give the Cab a shot.

Ringing in at 13.5% alcohol by volume, this cheap wine was an equal match to the FishEye Merlot. From Ripon, California, this wine lets the fruit speak for itself. Along with the dark plum taste, I also experienced a little pepper in the nose.

At only 8 dollars a bottle, I found this to be a great wine. I had mine with Spicy Montreal seasoning. Try it!

Rating: 7/10
Price: 7.99
Place of purchase: L&L Grocery
Vineyard Info:
FishEye Winery
Ripon, CA
www.fisheyewines.com

The Mountain X Hunter Shiraz 2006 is the inaugural release and the brain child of Gary Walsh and Campbell Mattison of The Wine Front. It is a blend of 95% Hunter Shiraz (good start) and 5% Yarra Pinot - a throwback to a traditional hunter blend of yesteryear. The winemakers are Rhys Eather (Meerea Park) and Franco d’Anna (Hoddles Creek) respectively.

Stylistically modern Hunter Valley - showing fruity aromas of cherry, blackcurrant and some licorice. The palate is initially juicy and intense with tangy dark fruits and berries, a dash of spice and a dollop of vanilla oak. There are just enough super fine and approachable tannins to pull the finish into the savoury realm.

If you plan to drink up now, I suggest 2+ hours in a decanter, otherwise it should improve in the cellar over the medium term. A successful first release, there is something here for hunterists and non-hunterists alike. Since I don’t mind giving this lot a plug, you can buy the wine from the Boutique Wine Center, Boccaccio or North Sydney Cellars.

Score: 91/100
Price: $30
Closure: Diam
Alcohol: 13.5%
Would I buy this wine again?
Yes I will, $30 is a reasonable price for a low production, hand picked and unique wine.

This weekend, we built a wine rack. When we first moved to Terrassa almost 3 years ago, we were regularly lacking in wine as a result of less income, less samples and less travel. Consequently, we never had a formal wine rack. But when you change any one of these factors, you end up with a lot more wine. Now imagine if you changed all three like we have?! We not only needed to figure out where to store it all, but also how to inventory it. I still have most of my cellar in Cellartracker, though I quit putting in my tasting notes. I like Snooth and Adegga as well, but they both need better cellar management for me to move to them exclusively. Since this past weekend we created the wine rack, maybe next weekend we’ll inventory the wine. Let’s see what happens.

As for building the wine rack, it actually turned out to be much easier than we expected. Odd note though: untreated, uncut, plain wood costs more than planed, beveled whole sheets of wood here in Terrassa. So instead of needing to sand and polish it, we simply bought nice sheets of solid, shelving wood and then cut it to fit. Yet, we still need another. So later today, I’m off to buy some more wood for wine rack number two!

Enough about housing. Next Monday, we’re off to judge wine blogs! It feels a bit odd to mention, after we realized at the EWBC that judging a wine blog is quite subjective once you get past the aggregators and plagiarizers. Once into the meat of the blogging world, where the hard work and effort is being spent, judging wine blogs is a bit of a silly endeavor. What’s good for you is not always what’s good for me. But none the less, we’ve been asked to judge Spanish and Catalan wine blogs this coming week in Reus, Spain, a short train ride from where we live. The grand prize is 3,000 euros, which seems a bit excessive and makes me wonder if we’ll see a lot of blogs that were “recently” launched. Oh well, anything to promote more social media in the Spanish wine world can’t be all that bad. We’ll keep you informed. DO Catalunya is hosting it, and while their website is a nightmare to look at, let’s hope this initiative leads to some good ideas.

In other news, we still want to talk to you about the wines we tasted at the EWBC2008; however, it may take some time. At the end of this month, we’ll be retasting several of the wines with an American Importer who will be staying with us for a few days. But remember, for our Keynote tasting, our intention was to select wines that we had either tasted before or that we respected. And on the night of the event, I tasted through the wines a few times; and while they all showed well, I didn’t take the time to write notes or analyze the wines. So this past Friday, I did analyze one of these wines, and I’m sad to say, it just pissed me off more than anything else. Dominio DosTares Leione 2005 - Prieto Picudo, is a wine that I have loved in the past. Now, maybe it’s as a result of the vintage, or maybe I’m drinking this too young since it does still have some stuffing to it, but I’m sorry, Oak is not a Fruit! This wine has so much going for it with the funky fruit notes and exotic touches of spice, but over it all sits a river of vanilla, syrup and sweet oak. I have a few bottles left to celler and taste again in the future, but even after 3 days being open, the wine is still bugging me. Note to Spain(rather wine makers everywhere): OAK is NOT a FRUIT. Just to be clear here are the aging and oak stats from the Dostares website (a well done website, that deserves mention!):

Pre-fermentation maceration: 3 days at 12ºC
Alcoholic Fermentation:
Duration: 12 days
Temperature: 27ºC
Malolactic Fermentation: in French, American and Hungarian oak

Ageing process in barrel:
Capacity: 225 litres
Age of barrel: New & second-fill.
Type of oak: French, Hungarian and American
Toasting level: Medium and medium+
Ageing time: 9 months

What stuns me is that I assumed this wine saw 100% new oak, and as you can see it is not.  Now for contrast, we were just in Miguel Merino’s winery, who is using 100% new oak, (mixed barrels, American Staves, and French tops and bottoms). That is a lot of new wood, and a lot of American wood influence and yet his wines are perfumey, full of terroir and complex fruit, without the sickening vanilla oak sheen.

Too many factors go into winemaking to pinpoint anything specific as the problem, but in the end, 100% new oak is not always a bad thing, despite the bad reputation people give it. If you hear anyone ever say 100% new oak is evil, well tell ‘em to shove off, or at least explain what wine they are talking about. Sometimes they are right, sometimes their not, Almond Joy’s gots nutz, Mounds don’t…sorry…

Other than that, the weather here is starting to chill down a bit, which is nice and sad at the same time. I unfortunately, have not had enough sherry this year. Too busy? Not sure why that is an excuse, but it is somewhat true. Therefore, I’m making up for it with a steady intake of Osborne’s Fino Quinta and a new cheap Manzanilla I picked up a couple of days ago that is quite nice, Bodegas Barbadillo’s Muyfina. Full of honey notes, and light nuttiness, I really have to say this is a treat, and pairs great with a late afternoon siesta!

Cheers,

Ryan Opaz

Wines Mentioned:

• Dominio DosTares - Leione 2005
• Bodegas Barbadillo Muyfina
• Osborne Jerez-Xeres-Sherry Fino Quinta

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This is another dry red wine from the sunny ?emovsko valley near Podgorica, Montenegro. We’ve covered a few wines from the Planta?e winery in the past and this is probably the poorest of their wines, without much character. Enjoyable only with a meal.

The difference in perception of this wine and the Dulka Cabernet we just covered is quite huge - the wine makers from Fru?ka Gora do seem to know how to add some magic to their wines and add a special touch to it (OK, it costs twice as much, but is well worth it!).

Score: 5/10
Price: 240 RSD (?3)
Retailer: Widely available in Serbia and Montenegro

Technorati Tags: Montenegro, Montenegrin Wine, Podgorica, Cabernet, Cabernet Sauvignon

You cannot have a better match with a plate of salumi than with this wine. Chill it up a little bit, and start your engines. From the Grasparossa grape, I took a bottle over to a chef from Emilia-Romagna the other day. He has known me for years, but has rarely if ever acknowledged my presence in his world. When I handed the bottle to his son to give to him, you?d think I was his long lost cousin. His eyes lit up, he smiled, he liked me. He really, really, liked me. I owe it all to this friendly little Lambrusco.

Served slightly chilled, it is frizzante, and enters with a burst of slightly under-ripe dark cherry notes. Then the fruit kicks in and there, all of a sudden, you have a party on your palate.

Note: this wine is bone-dry.

Get yourself hooked up with a Lambrusco like this. It takes the snob off the table. It?s subtle and bold, delicate and a romp. It?s a serious wine that laughs at itself. Go get yourself some.

In the U.S. it retails for under $20.

Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro from Tenuta Pederzana.

The Award-Winning Wine:

Viansa Winery 2006 Syrah

Reason for Reviewing:

Viansa Winery 2006 Syrah earned Best of...

Social Media Friends

Social media is creating quite a long tail of industries - lots of software companies, consultants, new modes of public relations, etc, etc.  Some of them focused on getting you into using social media, which is great, and many of them aspiring to help you “use” social media for your business.  The latter point is what I find interesting.

I’ve spoken on the topic of social media before (with assistance from the self-proclaimed “Bonafide Marketing Genius” Marta Kagan - FYI, I’m glad she has the confidence in herself to tag herself that way b/c she’s one of the few I would actually agree with) and I think the biggest point from my talk and others that I’ve seen (like Marta’s deck) is that this all is an excercise in sociology.  There are so many technologies that one could use, so many things that you could do, but in the end what is happening to the web is just another means of connecting, interacting, a