Is it an homage to Frank Zappa? Or an esoteric reference to
a family member of the wine makers? A nod to someone in their lineage?
Identifying the provenance of the "Zappa" name on
this blend by Domaine Bourdic is a bit like solving a mystery. Even the
winery's website isn't conclusive, but it does provide hints. And so does
another wine blogger.
The winemakers hail from southern France in a beautiful
region commonly known as "the Midi". It is part of the appellation
Languedoc-Roussillon. It's a shortened form of the Midi-Pyrénées. The estate is
located near the town of Pézenas, not far from the Mediterranean coast. Its website provides a rather
terse description of the wine and nothing about how it was named. However, on
the homepage, winemakers Christa Vogel and Hans Hürlimann start off by saying,
"We decided to come to the Midi as musicians, and then discovered
ourselves as wine makers."
Hmm, musicians. A slight hint, but nothing more. They do
have a Facebook page
where I asked them directly whether the name was a reference to Frank Zappa.
The bloggers at Candid Wines make a musical reference when writing about the estate in general and
the wine in particular: "Across the board, the Bourdic wines are a notch
quieter, less burly, and more approachable to our tastes. If the Languedoc goes
to 11, these wines stay at 8. (Spinal Tap anyone? Seems an appropriate
reference for a winery that produces “Zappa”)."
Close, but still not a precise connection. I guess I'll just
have to wait and see if I get a response on the winery's Facebook page.
What I can tell you about "Zappa" is that it is a
very inexpensive red blend of 50 percent Syrah, 33 percent Grenache noir, and
17 percent Tempranillo. It's more commonly priced at $9 a bottle, but I bought
mine at Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck), where I paid $13. Whole Foods always
does that with the cheaper wines. It's frustrating, but often they are the only
local retailer carrying these wines.
I paired it with a pan-seared lamb loin with chimichurri
that was accompanied with a medley of sautéed summer squash, zucchini and red
bell pepper, and baked butternut squash seasoned with nutmeg.
As expected, because of the Tempranillo, this wine was thin
both on the nose and taste when first opened. This did not concern me because
experience has taught me that Tempranillo often starts that way, even in
blends, but given time and contact with air will develop full fruit and a fine
mineral quality. In fact, when I drink Tempranillo by the glass at a
restaurant, I always ask how long the bottle's been open - not because I'm
concerned that it's been open too long, but not long enough.
It was an excellent pairing. Given time, the wine opened up
beautifully and developed a rich nose of dense fruit. The tannins were smooth
and velvety, and it wasn't a fruit bomb despite the nose. These blends are
excellent and are common for that region of both southwest France and
northeastern Spain. The $13 I paid is not a bad price, but should you find it
for $9-$10, which is the more typical price, this wine is an excellent value.
I score it with an 8.5 using my scale at the left.
Addendum Jan. 2, 2015: I received a reply to my question posted on the Domaine Bourdic Facebook page. The wine, indeed, was named for Frank Zappa, as winemaker Hans Hürlimann is a big fan.
Addendum Jan. 2, 2015: I received a reply to my question posted on the Domaine Bourdic Facebook page. The wine, indeed, was named for Frank Zappa, as winemaker Hans Hürlimann is a big fan.
