South Africa has a hit rosé

Admittedly, I have not always had good luck with South African wines. The reds I've tasted have been fruit bombs that made many an Australian red seem tame. And the whites I've tasted have been too citrusy and not enough herb. So I haven't tasted many because I've been disappointed so many times.

But the 2012 DMZ rosé from DeMorgenzon is delicious. This rosé is made with Cabernet Sauvignon. It is crisp, juicy, full of strawberry and kiwi flavors that roll deliciously about the tongue and finish with a fresh zest. There's watermelon and pomegranate as well, but it remains a refreshingly dry quaff. The nose is light spring fruit and subtly floral. And the color, wow! A vibrant pink, even reddish, but clear as crystal.

Also, an interesting note, the producer plays music in the vineyards under the idea the vines will produce better grapes!

Best part: it's just $12 a bottle. This will definitely be at the top of my list of summer wines. But the hunt continues!

I score this with an 9 using my scale at the left.

Try something new when dining out

Dining at a new restaurant, one you've never visited before, is not just a great opportunity to try something new when it comes to food. It's also an excellent opportunity to experience new wine. Maybe it's a varietal you've never tried before, or perhaps a region; regardless, dining out is a great time to try something new in wine.

My brother and niece were visiting this weekend and as we were disuccsing dining opportunities, my brother suggested lamb. Well, I said, there's a Greek resatuarant about two blocks aways that's always busy and I've always wanted to try.

It was settled; we went to Melantios Greek Char House. In addition to the sumptuous menu, the Greek wine choices by the glass were plentiful, and I was determined to try one.

One of the specials that night was a lamb shank slow cooked and then roasted to deliciousness. I knew I wanted a Greek wine but I really had no clue what to order, so I let the server steer me. And his recommendation was really delicious.

It was the Ktima Tselepos Cabernet/Merlot blend from 2007. The blend is 70/30, producing a rich wine that is sumptuous and a bit fruit-forward, but retains the stern structure and dryness of a Cabernet Sauvignon. It wasn't a cheap pour at $14 per glass, but it was an excellent match for the lamb shank. I'll be curious to see how much it fetches retail for a bottle.

Often when we dine out, particularly when we are trying out a new place, we can slip into a mode of safety when reading a wine list. We can have a tendancy to look for something familiar, whether it be a particular brand or varietal. But if you can resist that tendancy toward safety, you can find some great wines, new styles, and new regions that you might not otherwise experience but for visiting that restaurant.

Got any great wine stories to share of when you let yourself be steered toward the unfamiliar on a wine list? Please share in the comments! I'd love to read them.

Despite Two Left Feet, this wine can dance

My friends Nate and Steve recently had me over for dinner at their new Chicago condominium in Edgewater, a fabulous place just a block away from Lake Michigan. I offered to bring a wine, but wanted to know ahead of time what they were preparing so I could select an appropriate bottle from my cellar, er, closet.

I had several bottles ripe for drinking, but each were quite different in character. And when they said grilled skirt steak, my choice was easy.

Ah yes, there was that bottle of Mollydooker that had been lying in my closet for about 3 years, which translates to about 6 to 7 years cellaring time given the fact my closet has been known to hit temperature extremes that make grown men weep in terror. Not temperatures high enough, mind you, to completely cook a bottle. But over time, and a very short time it can be, wines kept in a closet can age more quickly and become over the hill before you know it.

I have largely been blessed with success, with only one wine so far going over the hill on me (and thank goodness I drank two good bottles of that before opening the third a year later). A closet can be an excellent option for wine storage when you don't have the space or the money for a wine refrigerator (and besides, the key to buying the right wine refrigerator is not the brand of the refrigerator, but the brand of the cooling unit it uses). If you have a closet where you can avoid wide fluctuations in temperature, particularly at the high end, you can safely store wine there for several years at a time. I currently have some wines in my closet that have been there for 7 years.

The skirt steak was sans marinade, so I chose the 2007 Mollydooker Two Left Feet, a blend made with Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot. The history of Mollydooker is pretty interesting and worth reading. This was a big wine with strong fruit as one would expect from an Aussie Shiraz, but it was not a fruit bomb. It was smooth and velvety, with a texture and flavorful hint of butterscotch. And when the skirt steak was sprinkled with just a bit of truffle-flavored salt, it was a delicious match.

While I probably could have held this bottle for a bit longer, there probably wasn't a whole lot left to go. The tannins were very soft, but still detectable. When I bought the wine, Wine Spectator rated it an 88, but Robert Parker gave it a 93. It certainly was in the realm of deliciousness when served with that skirt steak and a side of roasted red pepper.

I give it a 9 using my scale at the left.

Nebbiolo grown in Arizona?

I hadn’t visited the former ghost town of Jerome, Ariz., for 30 years, so I was anxious to return to see what had happened to this arty enclave clinging to the side of a mountain determined to slide into oblivion. When last I visited, the hippie and art crowd were just beginning to squat, turning old, crumbling buildings into new shows, restaurants and even apartments and condos. I in no way expected to find so many wine tasting shops when I returned, and one I visited had some very interesting wines produced from grapes grown in Arizona.

Yes, in Arizona, and among them was a rosé crafted from Nebbiolo grown in the hills north of Wilcox, Ariz., which is in the southeast corner of the state. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Caduceus Cellars & Merkin Vineyards Tasting Room in Jerome offers a wide variety of wines and tasting flights, including some that match cheese and other appetizers with their wines. The $10 flight I tried included four wines: a white, a rosé, and two reds.

The first wine was called Dos Ladrones, a 2010 vintage made with Malvasia Bianca and Chardonnay grown in Arizona. It had a bright, fragrant nose, but was a bit creamy on the first taste. Happily this creaminess disappeared on the finish, which was fresh and had just the right combination of orchard fruit and citrus. There seemed to be a little bit of herb and maybe even some white pepper? It was a very nice start.

Then came the wine that intrigued me the most: a rosé made from Nebbiolo, but not just any Nebbiolo, but Nebbiolo grown in Arizona! What was this? To me, Nebbiolo is a truly noble grape used to craft outstanding Barolo. And like Pinot Noir, Nebbiolo can be a delicate and finicky grape. Certainly, I was familiar with the beautifully elegant and even muscular Barolos, but a rosé?

Called Lei Li Rosé, this 2010 vintage had an almost amber pink color. The nose was fresh with lovely but so ephemeral fruit that had just a bit of zing to it. Tasting, this wine was very delicate, the flavors very subtle but really quite good followed by a lingering finish. Seriously, the flavors were so delicate that I could see someone easily missing them. This was a wine that demanded your attention, but was a delight to drink. So delicate, I wondered how to pair it with cheese. They had an answer for me at the shop, but unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the cheese; it was a creamy French cheese with a mild flavor unless you got piece next to the rind.

calvinwazoo

Number 3 was a 2009 vintage blend of Syrah and Malvasia Bianca, also grown in Arizona, called Primer Paso. It had a very oaky nose, so overpowering that I couldn’t smell any fruit no matter how I swirled and sniffed. The oak was so strong it was almost like sniffing a cedar box. It was juicy, not jammy, on the taste, but there was nothing left for the finish. Not my favorite at all, but surprisingly it was the favorite wine of one of the pourers in the shop.

The final wine was made with grapes from California, a 2008 vintage blend of Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon. Called Nagual de la Naga, I half expected something robust and even muscular, not just because it was the last wine in the flight, but also because one of the pourers described it as a “super Tuscan” style wine. Powerful it was not, but it was a nice wine. There was a light nose of cherry and cassis with a bit of herb and earth; very rustic. It was juicy and bright, the Cabernet nicely tempered, I thought, by the Sangiovese. It had nice tannin as well, suggesting that it might cellar for a few more years.

So there you have it. Even in a town like Jerome, Ariz., you can find wine tasting rooms with interesting offerings and even some surprises, like that Nebbiolo rosé.

A Flipflop flop

Sometimes you can find an extraordinary wine for $5, like with this one I wrote about in the past. But sometimes a $5 wine is just a $5 wine.

The Flipflop 2009 California Cabernet Sauvignon is one that falls into the latter category. It has a definite cabernet nose full of oak barrels with a hint of cedar and not a lot of fruit, which was a pleasant surprise. The taste brought out cassis and cherry that was a bit fruity, but not quite a full-blown fruit bomb. It was slightly dry with tannin very subtle. The finish? Nothing.

It was well suited for the hamburgers we had, but I don’t think I’ll be picking up any of this wine in the future. I’ll rate it with a 4.5 using my scale at the left.

Washington Cabernets bring it on

While there’s no doubt that there are outstanding California Cabernets out there, you will pay a premium for them. And sometimes that premium is not well deserved. On the other hand, Washington had made tremendous strides with both Cabernet and Pinot Noir, and one that is easily found right now is worth the couple extra bucks it will cost you.

The Dusted Valley Vintners 2007 vintage Boomtown Cabernet Sauvignon can be had for about $13 and is a delicious find for the price. It is smooth, velvety, with enough fruit to make it interesting, but with a firm finish that is delightful to quaff. I’ve had this one twice, once with a steak and the other with pasta, and both times it was delicious.

Wine Spectator scores it with an 88, while Wine Advocate is more generous with a 91. I peg it with a 9 using my scale at the left. Definitely worth picking up.

When a famous name means nothing

A wine’s name – particularly when that name is a person’s or family’s – can carry great weight and be a moniker for consistency. But increasingly, a celebrity’s name attached to a wine is more of a marketing gimmick and less so a sign of quality. Case in point: the 2006 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon by the Andretti Winery. Knowing a great deal about car racing hasn’t helped Mario Andretti much when it comes to wine.

It’s not that this wine was lousy. But at a retail price of $45, a wine ought to speak something special. This one did not. Thankfully, neither I nor my friend Curt bought this wine ourselves. Rather, it was a gift to Curt from someone else.

We both agreed that this was a perfectly acceptable wine with our bison strip steaks, had it cost about $10. But at $45, this would have been a rip-off.

Using my wine rating scale at the left, I give this a 5.

A bottle of pure POW!

Last weekend I had an urge to pull out a bottle from my closet and enjoy it with someone. There was a tenderloin left over in my fridge that needed eating, a perfect excuse to bring out a big, bold red. So I invited my friend Curt over, who also brought along his own beef tenderloin, some fresh green beans and some slaw. I baked an acorn squash, seasoned it with butter, nutmeg and brown sugar.

The selected wine was from the Australian producer Mollydooker, the 2007 bottling of The Maitre D, a moderately priced Cabernet Sauvignon from the McLaren Vale. I had heard a lot about the various Mollydooker wines, all of it praiseworthy. But many of these wines are very expensive. The Maitre D, however, I saw for $23, so I picked up a bottle and put it in my closet. That was last year.

Interestingly, this wine is not corked. It has a screw cap. And as more and more research evidence comes out, it is becoming increasingly clear that screw caps are superior to cork. The most recent Wine Spectator has an item that shows evidence that wines with screw caps are protected from oxidation much more effectively than bottles with corks. And you don’t have to worry about tainted corks either.

When we opened this wine, it presented the typical Aussie nose full of jammy fruit. When Curt took his first sip, he immediately said, “Wow!” Indeed, this wine had power. There was big, bold fruit, a chewy punch of blackberry backed with soft tannins. As the wine aired out a bit, the fruit took a softer position, allowing flavors of vanilla and chocolate to come through. Later still, it became toasty. But all the way through the bottle, blackberry played the starring role. Clearly, I think this wine could have managed more time in my closet, even with its less-than-ideal conditions. It went very well with our delicious and tender beef tenderloins, and despite the softer tannins, it matched well also with the acorn squash and all its flavors.

I will certainly consider buying more of the Mollydooker wines I find in the moderate price range, but when it comes to the more expensive items, I’ll stick to my French Rhones.

I’ll rate this one an 8.5. See my wine rating scale at the left.