A Trip to Terroir

After many months of planning a wine field trip to a winery that understood my prerogatives, my efforts are beginning to sprout. I wanted to provide the public with a venue at which they could touch terroir, see it, feel it, and most of all, understand  this most elusive crux us wine-o's like to use in our winespeak arsenal, terroir. I live in Virginia and I must confess, our wineries are low on the todem pole of grand cru greatness. In fact, I will go so far as to say non-existant (for now) in the terroir world of outstanding soils that give the backbone to iconic, age-worthy wines. After emailing a handful of wineries, I was disappointed that I was only being offered a classic tour and tasting, nothing more elaborate to entice my inquiring mind. I wanted a picture painted of how and why their wines were of any interest in the mass conglomeration of wine coffures.

To me, a wine that records a place in time as well as exhibits a sense of place by leaving a footprint of its origins on my palate and ultimately my organoleptic perceptions, is a wine worth savouring. Very few wines deliver these qualifying measures, and scarsely any I can recall from Virginia.

To date, my closest encounter with terroir in the romantic sense greeted me at the doorstep to Quintessa--a phenomenal biodynamic winery I visited in Napa Valley back in May 2009. There I raptured in the meaning of Rutherford dust. I even put a few bits of stone and earth in my shorts pocket while I gazed over vineyards in full bloom to the backdrop of valley haze and a lazy river coiling beneath the terrace on which I stood. Those rocks decorated my nightstand for a few months to come...weird, yes, but the point I'm trying to drive home is that magical moment you can experience when a wine forever imprints upon your memory, leaving behind much more than taste; but, rather the wine envelops every tangible and untangible aspect particular to that moment in time. Now, when I drink Quintessa, my mind evokes much more than flavor, but feelings and memories with greater scope than minerality and taste adjectives.

Besides this romantic side of terroir, the word itself translates to physical attributes a wine encompasses due to every external input the grapes encounter on their journey from vine to wine. This is what I want to see, and this is what I hope to deliver right here on the rolling hills in Delaplane, Virginia. This hope was realized as I spoke to Rutger de Vink on the phone for the first time.

Now I can say, experience Virginia’s newest winery in the limelight. Winemaking maverick, Rutger de Vink, demonstrates why he crafts Virginia’s first iconic wine. He believes the formula to making exemplary wine lies in vineyard site selection, or namely, terroir.  We will travel by bus to his vineyards where de Vink will host a private seminar and blind tasting of RdV wines against globally renowned wines from noteworthy wineries in Bordeaux, Napa, Burgundy and New Zealand. Similar to the tasting Dave McIntyre described in The Washington Post with Citronelle’s Sommelier and Master of Wine, Jay Youmans, de Wink intends on replicating the same experience (http://www.rdvvineyards.com/docs/Washington-Post-3-15-11.pdf). He will then take us outside to conduct a behind-the-scenes tour of his land and winemaking facilities. The soils will be touched and talked over in order for you to experience first-hand its role in quality winemaking and how it distinguishes a wine’s pedigree.  The RdV state-of-the-art facility will serve as the perfect backdrop as he reveals his story of winemaking pursuits in a state that's missed the mark on legendary winemaking. Following tour and tasting, RdV wines will be enjoyed over a gourmet lunch at the winery made with ingredients sourced from the Falls Church Farmers Market.

I believe de Wink truly understands the feat that lies before him. Thomas Jefferson dreamed big for Virginia, hoping it could one day take its place next to Bordeaux. We quietly laugh now, but consider how The Judgment of Paris in 1976 shocked the world when California exited its anonymity and proved capable of producing wines of equal quality to the French grand crus. Before the renowned tasting stifled the world, wine lovers scoffed at California efforts to craft fine wine. Today, Virginia wines draw the same perception as California wines did forty years ago; an afterthought in the world of wine class hierarchy. Wine professionals and aficionados share an unspoken understanding of Virginia winemaking--it attracts more entrepreneurs afflicted by the “wine bug” with money and means than winegrowers with viticultural or oenological expertise.

A handful of mavericks, like Luca Paschina at Barboursville and Jim Law at Linden, successfully craft preeminent wines. Now, the most daring of all, Rutger de Wink, tills the path to producing terroir-driven wines that bridge the elegance of Bordeaux and Thomas Jefferson’s dream of wine in the New World (aka Virginia). I still scoff at the undertaking of Patricia Kluge and her high falutin expectations for her over-priced wines. Her magnificent tale of winery management or mismanagement and her spectacular exiting bow in the throes of bankruptcy leaves a bitter taste with not just me I imagine. But, after reading this de Wink's credentials and merits, backed by Jim Law's endorsement, I am eager to see his venture first-hand. Furthermore, he has managed to entice Eric Boissenot to venture overseas, away from his most beloved land and first-class growth clients, such as Chateau Margaux and Latour.

So, join us Saturday, June 25th for a trip to TERROIR. Meet the man with the vision to produce world-acclaimed Virginia wines, Rutger de Vink of RdV Vineyards in Fauquier County (http://www.rdvvineyards.com). Tour a state-of-the-art winery, participate in an objective blind tasting of wines that exhibit terroir in its truest sense. Pair wines with a gourmet luncheon. Encounter wines that stand up to the classed growths of Bordeaux and Napa Valley’s stars, as demonstrated in Dave McIntyre’s Washington Post article March 16th (http://www.rdvvineyards.com/docs/Washington-Post-3-15-11.pdf).
All inclusive trip package:
Transportation to and from winery in Delaplane, Virginia
Catered luncheon and wine pairing of RdV wines
Blind Wine Tasting
Private seminar and vineyard tour

Experience terroir first-hand. Taste world-class wines blind. Discover the journey of wine from grape to glass.
Saturday, June 25th 9:30am – 5:00pm
$75 all inclusive

Heart Unmelting

My wine passions seem to parallel my sentiments towards life. They can change at any moment, but in general they trend cyclically. As the frost from winter melted away, my desire for bold Bordeaux, extracted Napa Cabs, oaky Spanish gems, ancient Madeira, decadent Ports, warming Washingtonian Syrahs and alcoholic Aussies waned. Symbolically my heart melted to the tune of Chinon roses, Languedoc Lascaux, supple Malbecs, peppery Zins, and velvety Sauvignon Blancs (more like musque clones and old vine Gruner). Over a glass of 2000 vintage Chartogne-Taillet, immediately followed by a 2010 Merry Edwards Russian River Sauvignon Blanc, I listened to my heart pound with nervous energy. The events of the past two years flashed before my eyes, and I reluctantly started to unwind. Solitude provides a sense of security to which I could always cling. The past four years, I welcomed solitude with open arms, just like the arrival of spring and the release of the 2009 roses, like the delicate peach-rose tinted Baudry-Dutour Cuvee Marie Justine I cracked last week over a Wisconsin Carr Cardona (snow white goat's milk rubbed with cocoa). I'd forgotten how lush rose and mouth-watering. But my seasonal wine habits opened a latched door. A passage to my denied desires, a frenzy of relentless soul chatter. An awakening to life unbridled, risky, and unknown. Solitude slumped on my stoop outside, hunched over waiting for me to change my mind, but the bottle had already been uncorked and the wine poured forth.

I survived my daughter's first year of life. Yes, me, not her. The challenges of child-rearing always present mental hurdles, especially as a single mom. I feel I can stand the test of time raising her on my own, as a certain security settles in my soul. She revolves my universe, even though I'm completely bound, trapped in the duties of motherhood, I'm still free and rhythmically attuned to her needs. No restrictive relationship, or cumbersome battles over what's best for her. I own the remote control and I sprawl between my sheets carefree. Loneliness seeps in from time to time, but nothing that cannot be abated, stomped out with busy schedules, child demands, friendly comaraderie, tasting groups, study rituals, and just good ol' "me" time over a glass of wine and cheese indulgence. Most of all, no distractions churn my thoughts in a downward spiral, no anxious doubts of "he likes me, he likes me not." No thumb twitching over anticipated texts or phonecalls. 

Really? Yes the walls were built, mounted behind a deep, wide moat while the town disposed of ropes and lumber long ago. But as the spring aromas fill the air, and my daughter's independence grows with each passing day, I can't help to notice a floundering change of sentiments. The blue Rhododendrons nourish their blooms. Irises border the drive, yellow, white and purple. My all-time favorites spring mid-June, wild and free: orange tiger-lilies. The orange petals spotted brown mark the savage dreams, the internal burning flames, the silent cries stifled deep within, passions rearing to be unleashed. Full-circle, a year gone by. Now I wonder what new philosophies should I live by? I think it's time, to share a bottle of most beloved wine with a new love. Yearning to covet a fledgling desire, the wines will turn to bubbly Champagne, sapid Italian whites, lovely Vouvrays, white Bordeaux, Gru-Vs, and chilled Beaujolais. The list of zest and thrills goes on and on, but the choices for decent companionship do not. Men do not line the dusty rows of a wine shop waiting to be plucked, and if they did, how would you know the complex layers of flavor inside from the outside label alone?

The truth be told, wine shared is more cherished. As quoted in Their Eyes Were Watching God, Jannie's heart was like the seashore, shaped and molded with each crashing wave--forever changing with each new chapter of her life. Now, for my change in the tide. What bottle dare I pick? Who dare I let inside?

2008 Chateau de Lascaux Coteaux de Languedoc J.B. Cavalier
spring garden, loaded with herbs, lavender, lilac, purple flowers. Bright red fruit, underlined with some baking spice, minerality, smooth, fine-powdered tannins. Full-bodied, huge flavor profile for the inexpensive price. find out afterwards it was a 2010 TOP 100 and mostly sold-ou

2009 Baudry-Dutour Chinon Rose
Absolutely mouth-watering, delicate, yet savoury. rose petals, dried cranberries, crisp acidity. most darling of a rose paired with cocoa cardona goats milk cheese and framani nostrano salame--very fragrant meat, but paired nicely with the cab franc rose.

2000 Chartogne-Taillet
no longer Japone-shaped cork, bit oxidized, sherry-like qualities, but the nose was so fragrant of floral and fruit, not as yeasty as I would have expected. not the best vintage for Champagne, but great experience, none-the-less. Acidity still bright with delicate mousseaux

2010 Merry Edwards Russian River Sauvignon Blanc
musque clone leading to explosive tropical fruit of pineapple, mango, papaya, very little gooseberry or grassy, cat-pee sensations. maybe a bit of asparagus and jalapeno hints, but mostl pure fruit with amazing mouth-feel. viscous and velvety. full-bodied, delicious.

Birthdays Come True

For Kate Middleton, dreams come true, princes marry commoners like Cinderella. Love stories still swoon the world. Fairytales do come true. Now, with spring in the air, azaleas raging bloom, will my Birthday wish come true? I didn't think turning 30 would bother me so much. It did on the eve of my last night in my 20s. With my baby girl tucked away in bed with visions of sugar plum fairies hopefully dancing in her head, I sat at my desk in all my state of fatigue and mustered up the will to dream.

The days get shorter with punctuated moments of relief, the chores pile high, the demands seep in where your cozy thoughts cower, hiding from the cacaphony ever threatening to conquer your reason. To erase, for a moment, the outside world and just think, what do I want? What would fulfill me from within, burst forth, and shout to the world: Here I am! Quickly, I just think, I want to read a book on historic romances, like Diana and her young Henry in the castle of Chenonceau. Or flip through moving poetry, pour over Eustache Deschamps and Geoffrey Chaucer, ponder the satire of Le Miroir de Mariage or the beginnings of iambic pentameter.

Noooo, instead I must study in every spare moment. I dream to be enraptured by wine at a level where expertise commands respect. I want to be a Master of something, namely wine. So, I march on to the tune of my birthday song. What a party it was, friends of yesterday come aglow, martinis clinking to the chatter of wine free-flow. The 1977 Magnum of Dow's Port, perfectly paired with chocolate and blue cheese smatterings. Even the Inflourescence Champagne was unforgettable, next to my birthday dinner at Palena where a 2005 Guigal Brune et Blonde came to visit after Kim Crawford's 2006 Central Otago Pinot Noir.

The cupcake confections linger wantonly everyday another bite of cookies n' cream pure delight. The 2004 Chateau Montrose roused the band, with cheerings of full-bodied cocoa, coffee, chimney-sweep scents packed in lovely textured tannin sippings. Mmmmm, my birthday was one for the decade to be sure. Now, to move on and focus, the goal is not yet within reach, but as Confuscius said it does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.

How to make my birthday wish come true?....dare to dream, and dream BIG. Master of Wine will I greet you the next decade birthday bash? I venture to take heart, birthday wishes do come true. And I am determined, settling in to my long lost friend...my imagination.

2004 Clos du Marquis Saint-Julien
Herbaceous, cocoa, bitter upfront, needed to open more. Delivered rustic mouthfeel. 2nd wine of Leoville Las Cases. Supple though, through and through, backed with power, bit of cassis, not singing to me really, a bit too bitter.

2006 Chateau Talbot Saint-Julien
So accessible even though quite young. Velvety smooth, bodacious red fruits, chimney place in my living room, cold ash murmurings, refreshing--mouth-watering, balanced acidity, black fruits rampant, chocolate dustings. Mouth-smacking.

5x7 Folded Card

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Garden Preoccupation

The time of year is here, the roomie and I anxiously anticipate harvesting the fruits of her labor from her plotted terrace in the backyard. All winter long we've thoughtfully added to the compost pile with our recyclable wastes. Creating, we hope, a garden to be envied. Never do you taste vegetables and fruits so fresh, then when plucked ripe from your own tilled earth. Squash, carrots, melons, peas, greens of chard, lettuce, spinach, peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, assorted herbs....mmmm. My mind is turning with images of recipes churning from our homey kitchen. The only trick is to keep the roving hound, Stella, out of the heaping mounds of glorious dirt--great for digging I presume, and wolfing down scrumptious, succulent veggies.

Last night, poignant memories of garden goodness instilled indelible tastes in my mouth while I salivated over an aged Rioja. Paired with a simple whole wheat rotini pasta tossed with zuchhini, tomatoes, red peppers, and pecorino cheese, my 2003 Baron de Ley Rioja Reserva, imported by Frederick Wildman, wrapped flavors of garden fresh aromatics around my olfactory senses. As the words flow, images of fresh turned soil penetrate savory reminisce of dill, tomato leaf, and sun-tanned fruits. So good on which to finish a Thursday night after Ab Ripper X and a long, hard week of Tony Horton, my goal of P90X.

Nose your Spring Fragrance

Le Nez du Vin: Spring Series

When speaking of aromas, wine blesses us with a myriad of fragrant bouquets. How to interpret these smells and identify them with savvy wine speak remains the elusive gift wine-o’s spend a lifetime attempting to master. So, what is in a nose of wine, and what does that really mean? Why do wine critics write florid descriptions in wine reviews that read to the tune of: soft, velvety, rich in chocolate, blackberry and smoky oak flavor? How does wine, an alcoholic beverage, exhibit flavors of fruit, spice, wood, herbs, and flowers?

First, let’s start with the primary organ of taste, your tongue. The human tongue detects five primary tastes—acidity, bitterness, saltiness, sweetness, and umami, or savoryness. When molecules from food or wine touch the palette, they bind to receptors specific to each taste. Acids set off sour receptors, sugars trigger sweet receptors, etc. With the survival of the fittest in mind, humans have evolved to like sweet tastes, since sugars/starches provide primary sources of calories. On the other hand, poisons taste bitter, so humans harbor distaste towards bitter flavors. Perceptions can be altered, though, and tastes can be acquired; the very phenomenon that takes place when an adolescent sips coffee or wine for the first time. Over time, as a youth matures and repeatedly exposes him- or herself to certain flavors, acquired tastes are born.

The tongue supplies only part of the story, the nose completes the picture with the sense of smell. Taste buds determine the degree to which something is salty, sweet, sour, bitter, or umami; but, the nose qualitatively assesses thousands of smells that the brain computes into words. Molecules giving rise to flavors and aromas are volatile, meaning they pass easily into the gas state. When you sniff or sip a wine, the volatile flavor molecules waft through your nasal passages to the olfactory bulb where they are interpreted. A wine becomes one dimensional if your sense of smell is incapacitated, like when you have a stuffy nose.

Putting the technical talk aside, this process fails to explain why aromas of chocolate, cherries and blueberries spill forth from a glass of Malbec. Little attention do we pay to the thousands of aromas we “visually” memorize. A vanilla bean smells like vanilla because an ester molecule called “vanillin” gives the bean its characteristic smell. When considering wines, the aromas depicted originate from the grape varietal itself, yeast fermentation and the chemical reactions incurred while wine ages in a bottle. The resulting aromas are the same compounds found throughout nature, just in smaller quantities, and out of context. Pass a blueberry plate under your nose before sniffing Malbec, your chances of identifying hues of blueberries will increase. But swirl a little Malbec without the presence of a blueberry plate and see if you pull out blueberry. It’s there, just out of our vernacular reach.

Aroma molecules in wine span the families of fruit, spices, herbs, flowers, minerals, earth, and more. Consider Sauvignon Blanc, for instance. This white wine commonly exhibits ester molecules that dominate the following organic forms of life: bell pepper, tomato leaf, asparagus, grapefruit, gooseberry and passion fruit. How to train your brain to identify aromas present in your glass remains the ultimate talent. Practice proves best. I recommend lots of wine tasting. Common aroma groups repeatedly occur in every grape species. For instance, Merlot gives plum, Cabernet Sauvignon boasts currants, Pinotage reveals tar, and Pinot Noir renders mushrooms and cherries. This month at Red, White and Bleu Wine Shop in Falls Church, I host the first aroma class of a series: Le Nez du Vin. Thursday evening April 21^st feel free to attend the Spring Series. We will pair every one off and blind fold you for a short time to taste you on foods you can’t visualize: a brain boot camp of sorts! Spring aromas and flavors will be a focus. Fruits, greens, and herbs sourced from the local Farmer's Markets will be sniffed in their natural states, followed by a wine tasting of wines which exhibit the selected scents. Aroma education proves humbling, but great fun is definite! Phone the shop for more information 703.533.9463 or email me at oenophile81@gmail.com

Savor with Savigny-les-Beaune

 

Pic from www.foodnetworkstore.com

Mouth-watering cheese and wine pair: Abbaye de Belloc partnered with a savoury Savigny-les-Beaune, Burgundy Pinot Noir. Tucked away in the Cote de Beaune region of France, nestled up against a hillside southwest of the famed vineyards of Aloxe-Corton, sits a region known as Savigny-les-Beaune. Great value pinot noirs leave this commune boasting silky, supple tannins and soft berry fruit. The mixture of flavors perfectly swell your mouth with luscious hints of violets, black cherry, blackcurrant, spice, leather, and crinkly autumn leaves--the crinkle texture sprouts from the high acid levels in the pinots.

Benedictine monks from the Notre-Dame de Belloc artfully craft the Abbaye de Belloc, a French Pyrenee's sheep's milk cheese sporting rich texture and high fat. Truly Basque in nature, the cheese calls for an elegant Bordeaux or a dense Madiran, but I had Pinot fixation in mind this night (and Pinot tasting notes to write). So, I grabbed three different Savigny-les-Beaune Pinots from vintage 2008. The acidity levels and soft fruits took on the rich, semi-hard cheese, melting it in your mouth. Highly recommend a fresh baguette! Enjoy.