The "Sideways" and "Bottle Shock" effect

I was just watching the movie "Bottle Shock" for the umpteenth time on HBO and got to thinking about what the heck people think of the wine country life style after seeing these movies.


"Sideways"

Synopsis

A 2004 buddy movie about a couple guys with some personal issues who take a few days to get buzzed north of Santa Barbara in the Santa Ynez wine country.

They get drunk, call their ex's, smash up the car on purpose, and pick up girls at the wineries.

Reality

Shortly after the "Sideways" phenomenon started a guy at a winery hospitality seminar complained to me that he wished they'd made that movie in Oregon where he was from. The Central Coast area of CA got a lot of free publicity and get many people coming through on a "Sideways tour."

How many of the guys try to pick up the ladies working behind the bars in the tasting rooms--well, you can just imagine. I actually heard of that happening to someone I know locally as two guys made their way around the bar in a Sonoma Valley winery trying to pick up the women working there. I'm assuming they tried this in several of their stops. Come on guys, you have to buy a couple cases of wine for that to work. :)

Merlot

After years of riding the "French paradox" to increased sales Merlot got blasted in the movie and you know what? People bought into it and decided Merlot was "out." Wine is a trendy business.

OK, there is some truth to their slam on Merlot. It got very popular and became a commodity wine--something you'd order and drink without thinking about it. Which is good because a lot of Merlot became nondescript.

Pinot Noir

Pinot got praised and while it was already on its way to becoming a more popular varietal the boost from "Sideways" was amazing. In case you weren't yet aware, Pinot is the wine people in the know are seeking out. Wine is a trendy business.

"Bottle Shock"

Synopsis

This is a pleasant movie that not many people have seen. It's about Napa Valley in the mid-70's when Chateau Montelena won the famous Paris Tasting that put Napa on the map.

Reality

Montelena won the white wine tasting in Paris for their Chardonnay; Stag's Leap for their Cabernet. The movie's focus was Napa Valley and Montelena, but didn't mention the Chardonnay was actually from Alexander Valley in Sonoma. I'm sure they are enjoying the free publicity regardless.

It's really a decent movie. I've seen it several times and enjoy it every time. It helps that it's local to me, I guess.

So, the lifestyle is ...

You get up, commute to work in traffic (if you're not one of the 10-12% unemployed), go home and fix dinner. OK, there are dozens of excellent restaurants that we have to ourselves in the winter, but you can't afford many of them too often.

For a weekend diversion you can always go wine tasting, but never go to Napa on a summer or holiday weekend!

Old Zins

While we're on the subject of Zinfandel ...

(see the previous post below).

Does Zinfandel age?

Is the Pope Catholic?

Actually, the best way to safely answer this is "it depends." In the old days (15+ years ago) most California reds had more aging potential, including Zinfandel. Nowadays it depends on the style the wine was made in. Some Zins have the structure (acid, tannins, alcohol) to hold up well. Some are just simple fruit and alcohol and don't.

Here's a few I dug out of the cellar. Most are from Kenwood Vineyards. All are 13-point-something percent alcohol. I have no idea why I still had these.

Kenwood '90 Jack London Vyds. This one was a goner unfortunately. Asking for 18+ years in the bottle was too much. This was Kenwood Vyds' premier single-vineyard Zin from Sonoma Valley. These were big wines that required some aging, but not this much. Nothing to this bottle, just a little dusty tasting.

Kenwood '91 Barricia Vyds. Baricia is an old vineyards in Sonoma Valley owned by two ladies, Barbara and Patricia, or so the story was told to me. Kenwood lost the contract to this vineyard long ago, probably when Gary Heck of Korbel bought them (but that's another story). Anyway, this wine was as gone as a wine gets. No, not vinegar. I've really never had an old wine that tastes of vinegar even though that's a popular story. There was no fruit flavors, as to be expected, and not anything else. I took about two sips, let it set for awhile, tried again, then dumped.

Kenwood '92 Barricia Vyds. Initially a bit of a sweet nose and definitely a sweetness on the taste. Very smooth and soft with a slight peppery finish. A little pruney at the end plus a touch of acid on the finish. Very drinkable.

Kenwood '93 Barricia Vyds. Really nice rose petal sort of nose. A bit of sweetness in the taste. Similar to the '92, but without the peppery finish. Instead it finished a bit dry.

Kenwood '95 Mazzoni Vyds. This vineyard is in the Alexander Valley side of the town of Geyserville (east of Geyserville is Alexander Vly, west is Dry Creek). In fact, the label lists it as a "Geyserville" wine. Eventually the BATF noticed and made them take that off the label as Geyserville is not a real appellation. This was a really nice wine. Could have served this with a milder pasta sauce or a hunk of beef.

Gundlach-Bundschu '93 Rhinefarm Estate. This is GB's vineyard near the town of Sonoma. Most of their wines were in a style that required some aging. This one was over-the-hill however. A bitter taste and nothing else. Yuck.

So out of six bottles I got two quite drinkable, one so-so, and three goners. Previously the best I'd done with old Zinfandels is about 12 to 14 years on a few, not many. Generally, Zins seem to drink best around seven years, plus-or-minus, from the vintage date.

I have a few recent releases from a couple wineries known for making long aging Zinfandels, Lytton Springs and Storybook Mtn., that are going to sit in the cellar for a few years, but not until 2025 I don't believe.

Zinfandel

The King of Sonoma County

First, a confession, I love Zinfandel. I mean I REALLY love Zinfandel. If I were stranded on a desert island and could have only one kind of wine it would be Zinfandel. This, of course, means I'd have to be stranded with a lot of pasta and pizza delivery service ....

Zinfandel IS the king of Sonoma County. OK, there's more Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay grown, but Sonoma is about the Zinfandel grape. Even more exacting the Dry Creek Valley appellation is all about Zinfandel. DCV is Zinfandel Central -- and Zinfandel heaven.

In the 19th century the first Italian immigrants thought Dry Creek Valley looked like Tuscany so they settled in and planted things like Zinfandel, Petite Sirah, and Carignane.

Dry Creek Valley

Where Zinfandel Came From

Zinfandel is called California's grape. That's because there wasn't anything like it in the Old World and, I guess, it was a sort of immaculate conception grape vine-wise. Once UC Davis did DNA testing they found it was the same as a rare Croatian grape then they found it linked to Italian Primitivo as was long suspected. Current thinking is it's not exactly Primitivo, but maybe a distant clone.

None of that really matters for consumers. What's important is understanding the different styles.

Century old head-pruned Zinfandel near Lodi, CA

One bit of confusion is with a lot of people thinking White Zin is Zinfandel. White Zinfandel is made from Zin grapes, but that's all it has in common with real (red) Zin.

You'll never go thirsty in Dry Creek Valley!

Where Zinfandel is Grown

It seems that amongst wine varietals Zinfandel is the most tied to where it's grown. That is, it takes on very unique qualities based on the growing region.

The main American Viticultural Areas in California for Zin are:

Amador County (and Shenandoah Valley within Amador)

Lodi

Napa County (Howell Mountain is the best known sub-appellation)

Paso Robles

Sonoma County You'll find it almost anywhere except the cooler growing regions like the Sonoma Coast and Carneros appellations. The best known areas are Dry Creek, Russian River and Sonoma Valleys plus Rockpile and Alexander Valley.

Styles of Zinfandel

There are three main styles to break Zinfandel into though all wines won't fit neatly into one of these.

Old, traditional style - This is the somewhat dry, structured style that requires some aging to fully enjoy. Some wineries that fall into this category are Dry Creek Vineyards, Pedroncelli, Ridge/Lytton Springs, and Storybook Mountain.

Lighter, softer, kind of a Claret style - These are fruity and easy drinking and make good choices for a wine to pick off a restaurant menu to have with your dinner. Some wineries are Cline, David Coffaro, Nalle, and Rafanelli.

Big, blockbuster, fruit-bombs - In-your-face high alcohol Zinfandel popularized by Helen Turley. Some wineries that make this style are Carol Shelton and Biale besides Turley.

The downside to the popularity of this style is there are a number of high-alcohol Zins that come across as really hot-tasting. To me it's like putting a shot of tequila in a Dr. Pepper.

But is there one style that's best? No, it's a personal choice and there are excellent Zinfandels in all styles.

Another issue with Zinfandel is with some tasting pruney. You don't see as much of this as you used to because of better practices in the vineyards.

Zinfandel is also made into a late-harvest or port-style wine. These are usually very nice dessert wines.

Zinfandel Suggestions

For a "Taste of Sonoma County Zinfandels" here are some ideas of fairly easy to find wines you might want to try. These cover all styles. This isn't meant to be a complete list. So besides the wines I've already mentioned here's a few more to look for:

Bella, Deloach, Hartford, Preston, Rosenblum, Ridge, Seghesio, Stryker, Trentadue, and Wilson.

One warning: If you do try a few of these you will become hooked on Zinfandel and you will probably never be the same. Expect your snooty French wine fans to shun you. ;)

Food Pairings

Mmm, the perfect food match

What kinds of food are best matched with Zinfandel? It depends on the style of Zin, but generally any red-sauced pasta dish, anything a bit spicy, ribs, and most beef dishes.

Under the "anything a bit spicy" area I'd include things like rigatoni with sausage, chili, grilled meat with a tomato-based BBQ sauce (including chicken and pork), burgers, and pizza. In other words, pretty much everything I eat!

Looking forward to the new year!

There's lots of things to look forward to in 2010 in Sonoma County.

Music on the Russian River

There are scheduled events: ZAP- Zinfandel!

• The ZAP tasting in San Francisco. Imagine about 400 Zinfandels and only one afternoon to try them all!

• The Sonoma County Harvest Fair. About 600 wines and luckily three days to try them all!

• Miscellaneous open houses by smaller wineries not usually open to the public, such as Siduri.

• Great open house weekends like April in Carneros and Winter Wineland. I leave out the Russian River Barrel Tasting because it's only "great" if you likes hordes of intoxicated 30-somethings. (And if you're 30 you probably do).

• Art celebrations like the Sonoma Film Festival, the Russian River Jazz and Blues Festivals.

• Tons of other festivals from Gay Pride to Classic Cars.

Extrapolating for 2009 (and earlier) trends here's some things to look forward to:

• Chardonnay isn't all oaky and buttery any more. Some are, but many go for a lighter touch and even, my God, some minerality.

• More blending going on and not just with Cabernet, but with Rhone grapes and others.

• Now that Sonoma County has pretty much figured out how to make Pinot (if wasn't always so) they're getting Syrah figured out.

• New grapes like Tempranillo and Rhone varieties are getting planted and they are good!

• They've discovered rosé doesn't have to be sweet so there should be more good ones.

The economy:

The good side of the economic downturn is good value in wines if you look.

Also, fewer people visiting the wine country means better deals on rooms and smaller crowds. OK, Napa will still be crowded in the summer.

In fact things may be slowly returning to normal (whatever "normal" is anymore) by the summer and people will be touring and tasting again.

Changes in the Past Decade

Since we've hit a new decade too, it's nice to look back at the recent trends for California wine:

• Organic and Biodynamic wines
• Bad corks and Screwcaps
• Competition from South American wine especially Argentine Malbec
• Realizing Chardonnay didn't have to be oaky and buttery
• Syrah
• $35 Zinfandel with 16% alcohol

Wine Buying Guide

The only wine buying guide you'll ever need -- and it's free!

Petite Sirah

A Petite Sirah kind of meal

Why doesn't anybody drink Petite Sirah?

OK, I have some ideas why.

1. How do you know when is an optimal drinking time for a Petite Sirah? You don't because it's never ready until all of a sudden it's over-the-hill. (Just kidding ... kinda).

2. Nobody knows what it is. It's not Syrah. (Who wants a "petite" one when you can get a regular Syrah?)

3. Confusing styles:

"Old style" meaning really drying when young--much more than Cabernet even.

"New" fruity style that's approachable when young -- same idea as the "fruit bomb" Zinfandels.

Characteristics of CA Petite Sirah

PS can be inky, dark, dense, and tannic when young. It's been used more as a blending grape with Zinfandel in California. Petite Sirah is "old California" in that they just don't make it like that any more.

You want your dentist to really hate you when you go in for a cleaning? Drink Petite Sirah.

If you're serving a young PS decant or use your wine aerator.

CA Producers

Some California producers that have been in the Petite Sirah business for a long time are Concannon, Field Stone, Foppiano, Lava Cap, Parducci, and Pedroncelli. There are others in the modern "fruit-forward" style that produce small quantities of expensive PS. But Petite Sirah should never be more than a $30 wine.

Concannon Petite Sirah, the '78 I think, was my first "wow" wine in that, "Wow, wine can taste like this!" Field Stone Alexander Valley Petite Sirah has been my favorite over the years.

Food matches

What sorts of foods go with PS? In the summer any red meat BBQ is great. Pretty much anywhere you'd serve a Cabernet. I usually think of heavy, beefy dishes when I think of Petite Sirah as it's a heavy, beefy wine.

Petite Sirah is also a good wintertime wine. Just like beer folks tend to switch to heavier, darker beers in the cold weather Petite Sirah is a darker, heavier wine. Think of PS as the Stout of wines.

I admit I don't have many in my own cellar. I've got some Field Stone, Meeker, Teldeschi, and Valley of the Moon Petites. Still, that's more than I have of Carignane (Carignane??).

Zichichi Petite

I recently discovered a new (to me) Petite Sirah producer. A tiny Dry Creek Valley operation called Zichichi. They had a couple estate Zins, a Cab, and an estate Petite Sirah. She had just opened a bottle of the 2006 so it was tight and tannic as young PS usually is, but will be a very nice wine. "Inky, blackberries" is the way I'd describe it. Only downside I could see was the $48 price tag.

More info

If you want to find out more about Petite Sirah check out PS I Love You.

Merry Christmas!

Ho Ho Ho

Wine Judging

First, I have never been a wine judge. I have taken a wine judging class at the local college, talked to judges, attended or worked at wine events that are judged. So I'm not an insider, but then I don't have anything to defend either.

Looking at a wine's medals is one way to decide to buy, but what does a medal actually mean?

First, a winery has to enter their wine in a judging. Sometimes the wine is actually picked by the event rather than the winery volunteering the wines. But most likely it's the winery deciding what wines to enter in what events. So a wine may get entered into lots of events, a few, or none. A wine that's available only at the winery and not sold retail or a wine that easily sells out every year is unlikely to be entered as the purpose of the judgings is to win medals and sell wine!

If you have the time and desire there are some things to investigate about individual medals giving at a competition.

1. How many wines were entered and how many received medals. If 80% of the wines got something then what's the point? Actually, the point is marketing. A winery is more likely to enter if they are likely to get a medal.

2. How many gold vs. silver vs. bronze medals were given out? If there were 20 wines in a particular category, 18 got medals, and 12 of those were gold then what's the point? However, if there were 200 wines in a category and two got gold then that should mean something.

How do judges do it? They taste a lot of wine over a couple days or a week. Palate fatigue is an issue. Sometime a wine may just stand out (not necessarily completely in a good way). Even the order the wines are tasted makes a difference. The first and the last wines get noticed. If there's a particularly "strong" or nasty wine whatever unfortunate wine to follow it is in trouble.

One interesting thing coming out of the wine judging class I took was you got "attaboys" for agreeing with the majority of the other folks and your judgement was suspect if you picked wines others didn't.

So should you care about medal-winning wines? Sure, it's a place to start. I would look for wineries winning in different competitions over multiple years. Of course, that's if you want to do the research on this. Why do this? Because a wine can easily get a gold in one competition and fail to get a medal in the next.

Like you I sometimes pick a wine on a retailer's shelf because there's a little card under it saying "Orange County Gold Medal Winner!"

Bubbles

We don't understand sparkling wine well because if we did we'd all be drinking a lot more bubbly.

Is sparkling wine just for:

-- New Years

-- Weddings

-- Major celebrations like job promotions, anniversaries?

NO

What is a sparkling wine?

Sparkling wine and Champagne are the same. Champagne is sparkling wine from that district in France. Sparkling wine is more acidic than still wine and so has a bit of sugar added back in at the end of it's creation for a touch of sweetness to balance out the acids. The acid is what makes sparklers go so well with most foods.

Sparkling wine is different

OK, part of the problem is that sparkling wine is a bit confusing. Blame it on the French. :) After all, what's a cuvee or a dosage? (Pronounced doh-SAHJ just to add to the confusion). And when you're shopping an Extra Dry is actually kind of sweet; a Brut is much drier.

Also, opening a bottle of bubbly is a bit different. I've seen someone purposely try to shoot the cork out of a magnum of sparkling wine for distance -- it went a long way! Also, a few years ago, a winery to remain nameless was sued by a guy who damaged an eye opening a bottle. Apparently it wasn't the first bottle of the night. It can be a dangerous weapon--point it down range!

What food to serve with a sparkling wine

Question: What kind of wine goes with the salad course?

Answer: Either a sparkler or just have water.

The slightly sweet sparkling wines go well with desserts, plus fruits and nuts. With any rich food the acids in a sparkler will help cut through that richness.

Traditional pairings are sparkling wines with strawberries, with strong cheeses (such as Brie), and with chocolates, but there's so much more. Seafood, pastas, many spicy dishes, and salty foods are often better with a bubbly than with the usual still wines paired with them.

Chinese food and Gewürztraminer or beer? Try a bottle of bubbly!

Crab cakes and sparkling wine? A favorite! A very romantic pairing. To be ended with chocolate and sparkling wine, of course,

A nice bottle of bubbly makes any meal special.

California sparkling wine suggestions

Prices, for California wines anyway, are low for good quality sparklers. In Sonoma, Gloria Ferrer is one of the best for quality and price. Iron Horse and "J" Wineries are also outstanding. The best California sparklers come from Schramsberg in Napa Valley. They put on a great tour and tasting if you're ever in the neighborhood.

For a good $20 Brut try one of these from Sonoma, Napa or Mendocino County: Gloria Ferrer, as mentioned, plus Domaine Carneros, Domaine Chandon, Mumm, Piper Sonoma, and Roederer.

BTW, I just picked up a Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs for $17 at the local market.

Celebrate Every Day!

Holiday food/wine pairings

An often-asked question: What goes with my holiday dinner?

The basics of food & wine pairing are:

-- Don't let the wine flavors overwhelm the food, and vice versa. A young Cabernet with turkey? Probably not. But with just the cranberry sauce, probably yes. Of course, the focus of the meal is the turkey and stuffing.

-- It's not just the meat, it's the entire dinner, including any sauces. Halibut in butter with Zinfandel? Yuck. But fish with a flavorful salsa on top with Zin, probably.

The following suggestions would be for dry wines and nothing "special" added to the meats.

Ham -- Sparkling wine is my first choice (goes well with salty foods). Pinot Noir, Gewurztraminer, Riesling, or a dry Rosé can work, too.

Turkey -- Chardonnay, Rosé, or Pinot Noir.

Crab -- Chardonnay or Riesling.

Goose, Duck, Quail -- Pinot Noir or Merlot.

Lamb -- Cabernet Sauvignon, a Cabernet blend, and many Italian wines.

Beef Roast -- Cabernet Sauvignon, a Cabernet blend, or Syrah.

Anywhere Pinot Noir is mentioned other softer, lighter reds would work well such as Beaujolais, many Rhones and Rhone blends. Also, sparkling wines go with almost any meal (especially ham, crab or turkey) and adds to the festivities.

While we're talking about "softer, lighter" wines it's important to realize that for most of these dishes listed a wine that's lower in tannin, alcohol and acid than some is generally a better match.

Some Pinots and Zinfandels especially can be hot--too high in alcohol. Some younger Cabernets are too tannic. And for some dishes a very dry sparkler, Sauvignon Blanc or Sangiovese can be too acidic. This doesn't mean you don't want tannin, acid or alcohol, but it can't be overwhelming.

Chardonnay usually shouldn't be over-oaked or too buttery.

Happy Holidays!

Siduri / Novy Open House

Siduri is a well thought of Pinot Noir producer in Santa Rosa with a second label, Novy, for Syrahs. Each label makes a couple other things, but this is what they're known for.

A couple times a year they open up their warehouse for public tasting and some good sales.

My favorite was the 2008 Siduri Pisoni Vyds Pinot at $55. Pisoni is in Central CA. I bought the 2007 version of this wine last time.

But because only certain wines were on sale--and everybody is looking for good prices right now-- I bought the following:

2007 Siduri Amber Ridge Pinot Noir. Rich fruit, spice, and enough backbone to balance out.

2007 Siduri Keefer Pinot Noir. Not quite the strength of the Amber Ridge. A bit jammy, but should go for a year or two.

2006 Novy Napa Vly Syrah. Very good wine at a great sale price ($15).

2007 Novy Christensen Syrah. Nice fruit, spice, and depth.

Siduri makes reasonably priced Pinot labeled with a Sonoma County, Sonoma Coast, or Russian River appellation. These are usually around $25 and are good wines for the price.

A few Arizona (ARIZONA!?) winery stops

While visiting Tucson I went to four southern Arizona tasting rooms in the Sonoita/Elgin area between Tucson and the border. In fact, on the way back to Tucson we went through a Border Patrol stop manned by three guys about 30 miles north of Mexico (your tax dollars at work).

Many of the wines are from grapes brought in from California, but most were local grapes. They seem to be growing most everything from Sauvignon Blanc to Zinfandel. Tempranillo and Rhones also seem to do well. This is a high desert area, about 4500 ft. elevation.

Area vineyards. Photo taken Nov '09

Following are recollections from my four stops. I've listed the wineries from my least favorite to my favorite stop.

Rancho Rossa

They are the only estate vineyard in the area meaning they grow all their own fruit.

Across the board, except for the Cabernet, the wines are flawed. There is a very distinct, and bad, nose and taste to the wines. I sampled the Sauv Blanc and about six reds. Something in the soil? The water? Cellar? It was sort of a metallic, chemically taste. Somehow the Cab escaped this and was pretty decent.

Kief-Joshua

Sampling several reds I noticed most were from CA grapes. One that had the same nose and flavor flaw as the Rancho Rossa wines was made of grapes from Mendocino County per the label. The other wines were decent, but there was nothing I would have to take with me.

Canelo Hills

I tried several reds. The Sangiovese and Syrah were my favorites, but they were pretty good across the board. They were sold out of their Tempranillo that seems to be a favorite.

Callaghan

I sampled several reds here, also. Most were blends and all were very good to excellent. Nice fruit in the wines; better than the other stops. It's possible they may leave a little residual sugar in them (I'm just guessing), but so what if it works? By far my favorites. And they get bonus points for using screw caps.

A number of Spanish and Rhone varietals in the blends; even a Petit Verdot based blend.