BestFood BLOG

Over 25 years ago, I had my first professional wine judging experience. It was 1981 at the Sonoma Harvest Fair in Healdsburg, California, on a mountaintop overlooking the valley – a very pristine setting. I was surrounded by all the big names in the wine industry including the most famous wine writers at that time. A little intimidating, to say the least! We were all sitting around a table, in white lab coats, and the first flight of wines to judge were Sauvignon Blancs. No labels, just the wines, to discuss and rate. As we started around the table, the first gentleman said, “This reminds me of fresh cut grass on my Dad’s farm where I grew up in Iowa.” It was at that point I knew I was in trouble and had to come up with a simple rating system that wouldn’t embarrass me and would make sense.The interesting thing is my rating system still works for me, 25 years and a lot of experience later. And it doesn’t just work for me, it works for novices and pros alike. It’s not a system based on 100 points, or a scale, it’s just three things: don’t like, like, and like a lot. Each month at my wine store I have a big tasting – over 45 wines from around the globe – and this system is used by just about everyone who attends!

There’s been more publicity lately about wines with screw caps, as they make their way into fine restaurants and exclusive wine cellars. Many high-end wineries are shifting from cork to metal closures, and the reason is an increasing amount of wine is being contaminated by cork taint, leaving the wine tasting musty and dull. The culprit for this unpleasant phenomenon, which can spoil up to one in 10 bottles, is trichloroanisole (TCA), a compound formed when chlorine used for bleaching reacts with mold already growing in the cork. Humans are incredibly sensitive to the compound and can detect it even at weak dilutions. TCA can flourish in several areas of a bottling facility, such as drains and barrels, but corks pose the biggest problem. So, the next time you’re at a restaurant and the waiter unscrews the cap from your bottle of wine, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an inexpensive or inferior wine. It means the winery is taking steps to protect against cork taint. And that’s to be commended!

I recommend screw caps for wines you’re going to drink within the first two to three years of their release. It’s more of a guarantee of quality. I did a wine dinner with Baroness Rothschild from Chateau Mouton-Rothschild and one of the bottles we opened was tainted. She caught the problem before that bottle was served. So even with bottles worth hundreds of dollars, you can still have a bad cork.

Each year I host a trip, along with my brother Tommy, to some distant land to explore its culture and cuisine. 2007 found us in Southeast Asia, including China, Vietnam and Thailand. What an amazing adventure it was! Our first few days were spent viewing the Terra Cotta Warriors, visiting Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, and on the Great Wall.

Our first rainy day sent us looking for a traditional local restaurant, and we saw the venue for the 2008 summer Olympics, which was overwhelming even in the rain. We flew up to see the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Excavation – the most significant archeological dig of the 20th century – which was an amazing experience. 2500 years ago, then 13-year-old Qin Shi Huang, later the first emperor of China, began work on his mausoleum. He decided he needed an army to protect him in his afterlife. The work took over 11 years to finish. There are over 7,000 figures and each one of them is unique. In 1974, strictly by accident, a farmer digging a well came up with a piece of terra cotta pottery and that’s when the excavation began. Nobody remembered the burial site was there. The story goes that when the emperor died, many of the people who had crafted the warriors and horses were killed and buried nearby, because it was an honor to buried at the site. We even got to meet the farmer who discovered it!

In the Forbidden City, we were able to access the living quarters of the last emperor, who you’ll know from the movie “The Last Emperor.” We were allowed special access to the living quarters for our group – it is never open to the public. The Forbidden City is almost seven miles long and the complex consists of 980 surviving buildings. Construction lasted 15 years and required more than a million workers. It was the imperial palace from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the end of Qing Dyansty, so for about five centuries it served as home of the emperor and as the political center of Chinese government.

We then drove to the Great Wall. This is something you never think you’re going to see or touch, so it’s pretty incredible to be there. At 4,163 miles long, it’s is the only man-made structure astronauts can see from space. The building of the wall is a truly spectacular feat, too. You think this wall would go through some of the valleys, but it goes along the highest ridges of the mountains. Construction began in the 11th century B.C. and was essentially finished around 1644, and it is estimated than a thousand men a mile died while building it. I was reminded recently of my time at the Great Wall when I reached into the pocket of a coat and found a few pebbles I picked up while there.

While in the area we went to the most famous restaurant for Beijing Duck, also known as Peking Duck, a place called Dadong. The city of Peking has had its name changed several times, and it’s quite a complicated history so I’ll spare you the details. The dish itself has a history, too, first appearing on imperial menus, then becoming popular with the upper class, and finally, in the mid-20th century, it became a national symbol favored by tourists and diplomats alike.

On our final night, we all had dinner at The Lan Club, a 55,000-square-foot, one-floor restaurant designed by the well-known Frenchman Philippe Starcke. Fifty-five thousand square feet is ten times the size of my restaurant, Michael’s On East!

Buying futures, or “en primeur,” is the perfect way to purchase wines before they are released into the open market. Bordeaux futures work like other market-traded commodities - you invest in wine that has not yet reached the market. This allows you to obtain a share of a potentially rare wine at a bargain price, then watch it increase in value. You take possession of the wine when it becomes available in approximately 24 months.

To some, the concept of paying for wine years before they receive it may seem odd. However, there are many advantages. Wine futures afford consumers unprecedented access to world-class wines that may never be seen on retail shelves. Many chateaux and estates have earned such a reputation for excellence that their wines never see the open market. Every single bottle is sold via futures. Price is also an issue. It is extremely unlikely that these wines, were they to someday be available in limited quantities, will ever be sold for less than on a futures basis. Historically, vintages such as these increase in value almost monthly until their release two years after purchase. For example, we paid for the wines listed in the previous blog entry two years ago, and the purchase cost now, with the change in the Euro, would 25% greater or more.

Buying futures is a unique opportunity for collectors and investors alike to have access to wines from great estates from an outstanding vintage that will age well for many, many years.

If you enjoy the wines of Bordeaux, you’ll want to pick up some from the 2005 vintage. At Michael’s Wine Cellar and WineFlorida, we’ve got a huge selection in every price point with more to come in the next three months.

No matter what we’ve opened, we’ve been nothing less than amazed by the quality. Although there’s been a lot of talk about the prices, it was the classified growths and higher end wines where the prices went nuts. There are a lot of great wines for $25 and under that weren’t affected by the buying surge we saw toward the end of the futures buying campaign. Here are some bits of what’s been written about the vintage.

“I have never tasted so many extraordinarily rich, concentrated, massive wines … with such precision, definition and freshness. It is clearly a singular vintage that should evolve into one of the great vintages [in the history] of Bordeaux.”~ Robert Parker, The Wine Advocate

“Bordeaux’s 2005 vintage is … a record breaker on every level. Extraordinary wines are everywhere. Demand is unprecedented.” ~ James Suckling, Wine Spectator

“All the red wines have the sweet-fruit character of exceptional ripe vintages, like a 1982 or ‘90. Above all, they ally great richness of alcohol with an enormous tannic punch, making them clearly wines for keeping. We have no recent experience of tasting a combination of such concentrated ripeness together with such freshness and tannicity!” ~ Bill Blatch, Vintex S.A.

“It’s the greatest single vintage I’ve ever tasted out of barrels.” ~Mark Golodetz, Wine Enthusiast

We’re particularly fond of these:

Chateau Brisson $16.95A sleeper of the vintage, this sweet, plump wine possesses abundant quantities of black cherry and currant fruit along with licorice, herb and spice box characteristics. Enjoy it over the next 7-8 years.

Chateau de Fonbel $28.95An inky/purple color, sweet aromas of flowers, crushed rocks, blueberries, and cassis, a full-bodied palate, and loads of extract, glycerin and sweet tannin. It should drink well for 12-15 years.

Chateau Bellisle Mondotte $34.95Exhibits a deep ruby/purple color and sweet black fruit notes interwoven with new oak, licorice and loamy soil undertones. Medium to full-bodied, moderately tannic, fresh, lively, and vibrant, it will provide enjoyable drinking over the next 15 years.

Chateau Faugeres $49.95Rich and full-bodied boasting a deep ruby/purple hue along with notes of blueberries, black raspberries, cassis, minerals, flowers and spice. This impressive effort tips the scales at 14.5% natural alcohol.

Chateau Quinault L’Enclos $54.95Exhibits a dark ruby/purple hue along with beautiful aromas of charcoal, spring flowers, blueberries, raspberries, cassis and a subtle note of wood. The overall style is one of finesse, elegance and minerality. Medium to full-bodied and impeccably pure with a beautiful texture as well as 14% natural alcohol, this wine will be at its apogee between 2012-2025.

My recommendation to my friends is to sample five or six different wines and see what you like!

Rosé Champagnes are perfect for Valentine’s Day – or any day, really. Alone or paired with food, there is a certain “wow factor” to a pink Champagne.

The pink color of a rosé can range from a pale orange to a vivid near-purple, depending on the grapes and wine making techniques. The main method of making a rosé is crushing red-skinned grapes and allowing the skins to remain in contact with the juice for a short period of time, typically two or three days. The grapes are then pressed and the skins are discarded rather than left in contact throughout fermentation (which is what’s done when making red wines). The skins contain much of the strongly flavored tannin, and by removing them from the process after just a few days you end up with a taste more similar to a white wine. The longer the skins are left in contact, the more intense the color, which is why the color of rosé wines and Champagnes can vary so greatly.

Another method is blending juices from several grapes, mainly Pinot Noir with Chardonnay. Blending is more often used in the Champagne region of France than other areas of the globe. One method isn’t necessarily better than the other – again, it’s a matter of your preference. Maybe it won’t even matter to you!

Rosé Champagnes, as with any variety of wine, are offered in a wide range of prices from very affordable (but no less delicious) to very pricey. Here are some I’m particularly fond of:

Francois Montand Brut Rosé, NV, Crancot, FR ($10) - Classy and a remarkable value! Light bodied and bursting with flavor and lots of great bubbles featuring aromas and flavors of dried cherries and raspberries. Crisp and very dry with an extremely clean finish.

Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut, NV, Reims, FR ($22) – Very aromatic with floral and citrus flavors, a creamy texture and vibrant structure. Fine balance and personality with a lingering lemon note on the finish. Made of Pinot Noir for roundness and strength, Pinot Meunier for fruitiness and liveliness, and Chardonnay for finesse.

Montaudon Brut Rosé, NV, Reims, FR ($32) - Gingerbread aromas introduce berry and orange flavors in this tangy Champagne. Tight and on the tart side, so have this one with food, for sure.

Krug Rosé, Reims, FR ($375) - A succulent harmony of flavors that is truly perfection in a glass. Produced in strictly limited quantities, it is an original. Its pale, tawny-pink color and miniscule bubbles lead to a bouquet of wild strawberries and concentrated flowers. The color is beautiful – a pale delicate salmon touched with coral. On the nose, Krug Rosé is fragrant, complex, enchanting, with notes of fruit including wild berries, and hints of spices. Particularly delicate, it is also very dry yet subtle, mellow and beautifully silky. Grape blend: 20-30% Chardonnay, 50-55% Pinot Noir, 15-20% Pinot Meunier.

We searched the web for some dishes to pair with rosé champagnes, and we found several on CHOW: Zucchini Carpaccio with Goat Cheese and Pine Nuts, Snapper Ceviche, Linguine with Clams and Zucchini, and Oysters with Mignonette Granité.