May Staff Picks

Peter: ’98 Nozzole, Super Tuscan, Il Pareto $43.99 The Nozzole estate is situated in a ruggedly beautiful valley in the very heart of the Chianti Classico zone, roughly halfway between Florence and Sienna, just north of the village of Greve in Chianti. The "Il Paretto" vineyard is situated amid a forest of maritime pines in the middle of an estate at Passo dei Pecorai at an altitude of 900 feet. Il Pareto is an intense expression of Cabernet Sauvignon, with a classic cassis fragrance offset by notes of vanilla and cedar. The palate is characterized by great ripeness and full, sweet black fruit concentration set in a firm and elegant structure of mellow tannins. The finish is lush and penetrating, confirming the notes of vanilla and cedar foreshadowed in the nose and mid-palate. Sam: ’99 St. Francis, Sonoma County, Merlot 18.49 St. Francis Winery, established in 1979 and named after St. Francis of Assisi (patron saint of humanitarian efforts), is known for its production of big, robust red wines. Consisting of over five hundred acres and located within the heart of Sonoma County, it is one of California’s best known wineries. The 1999 Merlot was harvested by hand and held in stainless steel tanks for fermentation; it was then aged in American and French oak barrels for eighteen months. Bottled without filtration, it was then held to age in bottle for eight months before it was released. So what, you may ask, would be the appeal of this Merlot, as opposed to beauties from Australia, France, or Italy? Or of the satisfaction I find in the Riojas, Ribera Del Duero, or Ampurdans I’ve found favor in lately and forsaken all others for (Or so I’ve been told!)? It begins with the benign negligence, as of late, to the treasures that California does have to offer; and I realize that sometimes we need to re-discover this. With this in mind, I settled down with my dinner of braised duck and wild rice with mushrooms and partook of this “American classic,” so to speak. The aromas of mint and polish (!) intrigued me, but it was the vibrancy of flavor here that really seized my palate!! Black cherries, spicy oak, together with the warm velvety nuances of milk chocolate and blueberries quite amazed me, for I hadn’t thought the wine would be so complex. And smooth and mellow to the finish too. In short, the wine was delicious (I wish I could’ve said the same for the duck, it was slightly overcooked). And it taught me the same valuable lesson that I hope it will teach you: when in doubt about wine, you can always come back home (to California) and find something great that you thought was not!! Cheers. Justin: ’00 Clos Puy Arnaud, Bordeaux, Côtes de Castillon $18.99 This is the sort of eminently pleasurable wine that has everything you would want in a more fruit forward style of Bordeaux: rich, ripe fruit, power, finesse, character, complexity, class and a very affordable price. Top Bordeaux winemaker Stéphane Derenoncourt combines with the once overlooked terroir of Côtes de Castillon to make this possible. Côtes de Castillon is next to St. Emilion and Puy Arnaud is situated on a continuation of the limestone plateau of St. Emilion. While both Côtes de Castillon and St. Emilion have centuries old winemaking traditions, Côtes de Castillon is generally known for more tannic, rustic wines. But when important winemakers and investment from the likes of notable classified growths step in you get a very old region reaching new heights—and very affordable ones at that. Clos Puy Arnaud is a top example of this burgeoning of quality. In St. Emilion style the blend is 70% merlot, 20% cabernet franc and 10% cabernet sauvignon. The color is a deep, velvety ruby/purple. The ripeness of the vintage is immediately apparent as you are greeted with powerfully fragrant scents of sweet, roasted, red peppers. As this young wine opens in the glass and bottle the underlying black cherry fruit comes to predominate, melding with notes of black pepper, menthol, pine tar, lead pencil and toasty oak. On the palate the supple, creamy thickness is dense with cherry fruit and shows the class of the winemaking. It opens richly into jammy, spiced sugar plums, cassis, dark chocolate, and licorice over the cherry core with good balance; showing fine, meaty, peppery tannins and a long, soft, well-mannered finish layered with hints of milk chocolate, licorice, cherry kirsch, toasty caramel and sweet red peppers. These lingering sweet, ripe, peppers will likely come to predominate again in twenty years or so when the lush cherry has faded and the wine has reached the supple, delicacy of its later years—as you might expect from one of the better right bank classified growths. This is clearly a bottle that will get to you when you realize it's gone—you'll be wishing you had another to go with those last few juicy bites of steak. It goes into my book as case-worthy—a rare designation these days. James: ’98 Glen Fiona, Walla Walla Syrah $17.99 Washington is known as the Evergreen State but only one third of it lives up to the name, and a two hour drive east of Seattle illustrates the point dramatically. Leaving the verdant coastal plain behind, you head up into the green foothills thick with Douglas fir and hemlock. Reaching Snoqualmie Pass the trees are smaller and sparser; snow-covered peak appear and disappear from between rocky crags surrounding the road. Then once you descend the other side, vegetation almost disappears and you reach the sere landscape of the Yakima valley, The beginning of the wine country, nourished by the now complacent Columbia River and dominated by the glacial mass of Mt. Adams. Farther along you come to the cooler and slightly wetter region around Walla Walla where the story begins; this is a perfect climate for producing elegant Syrahs. Glen Fiona winery was started in 1994 and was the first to grow syrah grapes in the Walla Walla area. Winemaker Rusty Figgins(now of Northstar Winery) decided that this was a perfect climate for making Northern Rhone-style wines, and his ’98 and’99 vintages make his point perfectly. We were recently lucky enough to get a hold of some ’98 Glen Fiona at a terrific price and I fell in love with this wine, as you might tell by the introduction, it made me think of home. This wine is beautiful in the glass, medium dark ruby that is very consistent to the edge, only a sight tinge of brick at the rim hints at the age. On the nose is blueberry, shoe leather and white pepper. More blueberry follows on the palate along with pepper and spices, all bolstered by barely tart acidity. The tannins are juicy and restrained until the end of the mid-palate, when they threaten to overtake the fruit, but recede gently to uncover a delicate finish of cool and earthy huckleberry and elderberry, both abundant in this wine as in this region.

John: ’00 Kilikanoon, ‘Siblings’ Shiraz/Grenache $14.99 Kevin Mitchell and his father, Mort, have been grape growers in the Clare Valley of McLaren Vale for more than 30 years. In 1997, Kevin purchased the facility known as Kilikanoon in the Skillogalee Valley of McLaren Vale, and 1997 was his first vintage under this name. The soil there is Terra Rossa (red-brown clay) over limestone allowing for excellent drainage and perfect pH for vinifera grapes. Virtually all of the grapes are dry-farmed and hand-harvested. ‘Siblings’ is a blend of 60% Shiraz and 40% Grenache and all those Rhône grape fruit flavors do indeed come through. Not at all a super-sweet style of shiraz due to the crisp acidity. Intensely flavored and firmly built, but grows lusher with aeration. Dark berry flavors are accented by tobacco, dark chocolate, eucalyptus and subtle oak. Finishes with firm but ripe tannins and nice persistence. Should develop well in the bottle. Patrice: ’01 Planeta, La Segreta Rosso, $11.49 For over 300 years the Planeta family has been cultivating vines in the Manfi region of Sicily. Still a family run business (Diego Planeta has been president since 1972, along with relatives Alessio in charge of winery management, and Francesca handling marketing), Planeta has been very influential in augmenting international interest in the higher quality wines of Sicily. The winery produces a number of varietal wines along with several blends. The 2001 La Segreta Rosso is an excellent value and wonderful introduction to this region. A blend of 60% Nero d'Avola, 20% Merlot and 20% Syrah (no wood aging) this wine is a rustic beauty. Bright red currant color is complemented by a nose of blackberrries, bacon fat and a touch of mint. On the palate the wines reveals layers of ripe fruit tinged with notes of smoked meat. The tannins are somewhat forceful but not overbearing as is the lively acidity. The finish is lingering. This wine will work great with grilled red meats or spicy barbecue. Enjoy! Dominique: ’00 Domaine Dupere Barrera, Bandol ‘Cuvee India’ $15.99 Spring is here at last. The sun is shinning and temperatures are climbing. Therefore, I’m thinking picnic in the park, a walk in forest, being near a lake or the ocean, relaxing and drinking a nice and easy B.B.Q wine. In the south of France, it is the best time to open a bottle of red Bandol; one will keep the "Rose" for the summer. In stature it is Provence’s most important wine and one, moreover, that fulfils many modern wine drinker’s criteria for pleasure. Bandol is a relatively small seaside region about 30 miles drive southeast from the center of Marseille. The appellation produces mainly "Rose" made with Mourvedre as a predominant grape variety and Red wine made by law with a minimum of 50% Mourvedre. The best vineyards are located in protected pockets, mostly facing South toward The Mediterranean with the hills at their back as a natural protection against the cold northern coming wind called the Mistral. The best Provencal wines are said to smell and taste of Garrigue. A word that well describes the character of the land: parched, low rolling limestone hills covered in dry scrub with tough, resiny Plants: wild rosemary, wild thyme, lavender and half decayed green oaks. This 100% old vine Mourvedre Bandol from Emmanuelle Dupere and Laurent Barrera, wine negociants with a non-commercial mentality by preserving Quality and Respect of the Terroir, is produced from a 50 year old vineyard on red clay with limestone subsoil. The production is 85% of old vines Mourvedre and 15% of Grenache/Cinsault located on excellent plots facing south-east and north-east. The Biodynamic method is used as much as possible. The wine is raised for 18 months in big wood vats. Then aged for 2 to 6 months in small oaks barrels and is neither filtered, fined and no added yeasts. It is closed to being Organic. Just to let you know, the name ‘Cuvee India’ has been taken off of the label for the U.S market to avoid the confusion with wine coming from India. It is ready to drink now but will need decanting, otherwise let it rest for the next two years. So just pop the cork and let the wine release all the perfumes of the Garrigue and the Mediterranean. Dr. Marty: ’98 Francois Baur, Alsace Riesling Grand Cru Brand $16.49 If the 2001 German Rieslings were your introduction to Riesling, you couldn’t have done better. The vintage was described as one of Germany’s best ever. However, the German Rieslings you encountered were basically all sweet or semi-sweet. Although there are dry German Rieslings, only a tiny fraction of these leave the country, being used primarily for the nation’s restaurant trade. So, where do we go for Old World dry Riesling? The answer is Alsace, located in the northeast corner of France. For many, Riesling produces winedom’s best white wines. This superiority is probably related to its very late ripening nature which facilitates the ability to extract more out of the soil than any other grape. It’s from the depths of the subsoil that the vine absorbs an abundance of minerals and trace elements, and the longer it takes the grapes to ripen the higher the content of these taste-forming elements in the wine. Low yields, older vines, traditional clones and the soil of the vineyard site are other important contributory factors. Riesling sees no new oak and spends its elevage in large, older, neutral oak casks—foudres. The dry Riesling flavor package, which may take a few years post-vintage to develop, includes peach, grapefruit, pineapple and other tropical fruits, minerals, wet pebbles, herbs and the distinctive petrol character. The mineral-like component usually comes from the slate-rich soil. The petrol-like element has been attributed to the grape’s natural high acidity interacting with certain chemical compounds found in higher levels in Riesling than other grapes. And, oh yes, dry Rieslings can age for a good 10 years which is somewhat less than their sweeter brothers—but 10 years is pretty good. This 1998 Riesling Grand Cru Brand comes from Domaine Francois Baur. Like many of their fellow wine-makers, they can trace their roots back many generations— in the Baur’s case, it’s nine generations. Brand is one of the 51 Grand Crus of Alsace. Located behind the village of Turckheim, it has a south-southeast exposure and a soil of deep granite laced with black mica. The wine reflects all of the above. The predominant aromatic at the outset is deep and mineral. Backing it up are apple, pineapple and a light petrol scent. The palate provides excellent acidity, a medium body and a viscous mouthfeel. The finish is persistent and here apple and cinnamon are in the foreground and the mineral component in the background. Great purity and depth of flavor are the wine’s hallmarks. Food choices, according to Steve Pitcher, run the gamut—from vegetables such as asparagus to poultry, white-fleshed fish, pork, veal, smoked meats, shellfish…and how about Asian cuisine, from Chinese to Thai and everything in between.