Second flight of our pinot noir blind tasting....

The first wine turned out to be the 1998 Kistler, Kistler vineyard, "Cuvee Catherine" pinot noir (sonoma coast). I could barely drink it. Unbalanced and off-putting in the mouth. Such a disappointment for a wine with such reputation. 1 star out of 4.

Next was the 1995 Littorai Hirsch vineyard pinot noir (sonoma coast). I guessed by the nose so my notes are not without bias. The tannins had faded and the color showed its 12 years of age. Cinnamon and orange peel, with leather on the nose. Gentle and delicious, yet fading. Only 12.5% alcohol!! 3 out of 4 stars.

Then came the 2002 Marcassin 3 Sisters pinot noir (sonoma coast). Prune, leather, orange on the nose. complete and complex. Spicy. Ripe and complex with a delicious candied finish. LONG. "Wow". reminded me of Cote de Nuits because of its power (and by this time of the night I even guessed it to come from near Clos Vougeot.) 10+ years old. 3.5 out of 4 stars. An amazing wine but hitting its mature phase at 5 years old.

the last wine was the 1999 Vincent Girardin Charmes-Chambertin. higher VA in the nose but a youthful color. Medium bodied with orange and ripe black fruits. I said it was 5-10 years old. 3 out of 4 stars.


Final note... the take away was how constant these wines were. With only the DuMol and Kistler odd balls, they all were extremely high in quality and delicious. Thanks again for our host and our cellar master. I had a great time!

Another recent dinner with friends, this one turned out to be a blind tasting of US pinot noirs. (Notes and scores were given before the names of the wines were revealed) The cellar master arrived and whetted our palates with a 1997 Domaine Leflaive Batard-Montrachet. A light gold hue with even some green trace, for a 10 year old not yet ready to give up its youth. Power and youthful in the mouth, like "crystalline gold," I said. A beauty with many years left.

The first flight started with (unknowingly) the 2002 DuMol Russian River valley "finn" pinot noir. I found it sappy, with orange peel and leather on the nose, but with a tad too much volatile acidity. Alcohol. the VA reasserted itself in the mouth and it was medium bodied. I thought it was 10+ years old. Overall it was not very complex and not very interesting. 2 out of 4 stars.

Next we had the 1999 Rex Hill Jacob Hart vineyard, pinot noir (Oregon). the color showed more age than the DuMol with more orange at the rim. In the nose it was leather and spice. Fatter/juicier than the DuMol, with a shorter finish but overall much more savory and enjoyable. . 3 out of 4 stars.

Then we had the 1997 Dehlinger Estate Reserve pinot noir. More youthful in color and in nose, but some browning at the rim. Leaps out of the glass with briar and orange peel. Alcohol. Really good stuff. 3 out of 4 stars. Surprisingly youthful for its age.

The next wine of the first flight was the 1999 Domaine Comte-Lafon Volnay-Santenots-Du-Milieu (1er cru). This had a ruby rim and a stunning and complex nose of game, menthol, red fruits, and orange peel. tannic and complex in the mouth. I thought it was new world for all of its power, but going back later the less ripe tannins stood out after all of the californian pinots. 3.5 out of 4 stars. The wine of the flight

The last wine turned out to be the 2004 Pisoni "estate" pinot noir. Purple in the glass. Barnyard nose with cranberry and Thanksgiving stuffing. Cinnamon. Definitely from California. Powerful, I guessed it was from Helen Turley. Only a bit more enjoyable than the DuMol. 2.5 out of 4 stars.

I was back home last week and had several occasions to drink some excellent wine. The first at a good friend's included a 2000 Littorai Hirsch vineyard and a 2000 Littorai Savoy vineyard, both pinot noirs. I'm a BIG fan of this winery but the Hirsch was beyond my expectations. Mature now, with that characteristic tannic punch that distinguishes it for me from many other US pinots. Super stuff. The Savoy was also mature and it stayed in it's more gentler, cote de Beaune style pinot. With softer tannins and lighter body. My favorite continues to be the Hirsch

The concept...

The Pearls and Treasures concept is that of mail order wine retail company. A "virtual caviste", or wine merchant, that will sell wine over the internet and mail wine orders directly to "adventurous wine lovers". The unique selling proposition of this store will be the wine selection and its focus on european wines from small artisanal producers. "Boutique" wines from Europe. I define "boutique" as wines made by from small farmers that are passionate about their land and that prize local charater over mass appeal. The farmers will use sustainable farming practices, some will be organically certified while others will also use "biodynmic" practices.

These wines will have a high quality to price ratio. the winemakers will beamong the up and coming stars of europe, the stars of small production, and the local stars for each region. This store will market its selection to what I call the "adventurous wine lover". The wine lover who has an attraction for constantly discovering new wines, new producers, and then sharing these experiences with their friends. I argue that for many wine lovers the "known" is often too boring and they prefer variety and adventure and actively search it out.

This concept wine merchant will be located in Mass, and due to State liquor laws, will only be able to ship wines to Mass residents.

Marketing and sales will be comprised of a quarterly printed newsletter in addition to direct email campaigns to "members" (our customers) who have signed up, via the form on the web site, to receive these notices. Web based marketing will include banner ads and Google ads.

Thus is the basic concept. I invite your questions and critiques.

I dream of a wine merchant......

A wine merchant that will give experienced wine lovers adventure and those new to wine an new tool to learn more about wine. The wineries I want to represent will be stewards to their land, treating their land in sustainable ways, expressing their terroirs. The wineries will be both the "up and coming" as well as the older, local tradition bearers. The merchant will reflect the growers passion of the earth by running as "green" as possible; email marketing instead of mailed brochures, recycling programs, low(er) emission delivery services, 100% recyclable shipping materials, low inventory (clearing the wine through the wholesaler), etc.

Most importantly, it will not have a brick and mortar store (no more than is required by law). It will promote its own exclusive brands AS WELL as those that are already available yet in limited supply. Sales would be promoted through email campaigns (but not ruling out regular print newsletters, a la Rare Wine Co). Orders will be processed one online, or over the phone, with wine being delivered the next day (in MA) by UPS (etc.)


The company will be made up of people passionate these ideals and these wines. Will have years of customer service experience as well as wine tasting experience (two WSET Advanced degree holders, frequent travelers to Europe). Ideally, the board of advisors will be made up of a wines sales expert, a online marketing expert, and an importer. Lastly, part of the management team will be based in Europe and will leverage this proximity to the producers to improve the overall "experience" for the customer. (Cellar notes, video reports from the domaines, etc.)

During my trip to Burgundy for the weekend of "Les Trois Glorieuses", I paid a visit to one of my favorites in all of Burgundy, Domaine M. Lafarge of Volnay. Hi son, Frederick invited us downstairs to taste some newer vintages and I left with a case of treasures. Back home I recently shared with my wife their '04 Bourgogne rouge. At 8 euros, this is a delicious bottle of "Bourgogne". Nothing complicated but everything in place. Lipsmackingly good. Lovely fruit with just a hint of forest floor.

Lafarge is not one for following trends, and I tend to categorize him as a traditionalist. Very little new oak (none in anything under a 1er cru) and his wines full of soaring aromatics. Lots of forest floor and raspberry notes come out of the glass. People more familiar with CA pinot will find his wines too astringent for them and lacking color. But they are missing the point.

The second wine we shared was a bottle of '00 Volnay, "vendenges selectionnee". A cuvee one step up over their Volnay. What started out precise, raspberry and tight, opened after an hour into a broad and complex pinot with forest floor, leather and truffle. Again, the color was more red/orange and transparent, but this belies the power this wine has. Sheer pleasure.

Ahhhhhh, the official tasting of the 2006 vintage from the Domaine des Hospices de Beaune. The timid should stay away because this tasting involves 41 different cuvees of reds and whites of the recently fermented vintage. You leave with stained fingers and black teeth, and a palate that is crying for water! It's tough work but somebody's gotta do it.

Lines can be long but the ambiance is party-like. We entered the new cuverie, next to the hospital just north of Beaune, and start the process by going through the reds. As for operations, this assembly line of tasters and pourers goes very smoothly. I'm a hero for the little guy so I try to pick out all that is good in what comes first; the lesser reds. The Savigny's, Monthelie's Auxey-Duresses, and the Pernard-Vergelesses. In general, these are highly aromatic with more present tannins than what comes later. Lighter red wines for more casual consumption. Next come the Beaune's, first the villages then the 1er Crus. More spicy here, richer and longer than what preceded. The 1er crus have better integrated tannic structure and become less-spittable. Of note was the 1er Cru Beaune-Greves, cuvee Pierre Floquet, and the Beaune 1er Cru, cuvee Guigone de Salins.

The Volnays, Pommards, and Grand-Cru's follow and by the look of my notes, which started with descriptions now only contain stars or smiley faces. Spitting was becoming more difficult. A perennial favorite, Pommard 1er cru, cuvee Dames de la Charite, was a stunner. As for the Grand Crus, Dr Peste (Corton) was our favorite.

Then come the whites. Thankfully, because in a way they are the thirst quencher you need after all the reds. A homogeneous high quality was evident in these 2006's. The numerous Meursault cuvees were equally good to the grand crus (Corton Charlemagne) and it was very difficult for any of us to discern differences between any of them. Some were still undergoing malolactic fermentation, but other than that (major) difference, distinct cuvee personalities were hard to pick out. Good news for the quality conscious but perhaps less so for those who pay equal value to "terroir". It will be interesting to see how the "professional" critics judge the vintage....

The tasting takes place Friday and Saturday before the auction, which begins at 2:30 on Sunday. I've experienced
the auction a few times but never considered bidding on a barrel because of, the cost obvioulsly, but also because of the the logistics surrounding said barrel once I take ownership. You must find a negotiant willing to raise and bottle the wine for you and that's not so obvious...

This year I was invited to bid with aconsortium of buyers in the non-profit "Les Amis des Vin des Hospices de Beaune". This association has a relationship with a prominent negotiant in Beaune who raises the barrels they win at the auction. From the tasting the buzz around town was that the reds would go or similar prices as the '05 but that a 20% increase was expected for the whites. With this in mind we chose to bid on a barrel of white, with the hopes of gettiing some Mersault 1er Cru. A 20% premium over the '05 meant we had to select a bid of 56 euros/bottle (tax incl.). That would be or max, but we hoped to get a deal. We placed the bid but left before the results. On Monday we learned that the whites sold at 60% above what the '05 vintage earned and that our barrel of Meursault 1er cru went for 60 euros/bottle. Ouch! What's 4 euros you say? Not much but we were hoping to get a barrel for closer to 45 euros a bottle. No such luck this year. France's wealthiest hospital would have to do without our contribution. I think they'll survive.

A visit to domaine F&L Pillot is always a warm experience. We arrived chez Pillot at 6 pm, the Thursday before the Hospices, and had a very generous tasting with Laurent Pillot. You arrive at his home, which is at the SW end of the town, just uphill from the 1er Cru vineyard "Les Champ-Gains", and he welcomes you into his newly refab'ed tasting cellar. This was my second visit and his generous hospitality is uncommon among winemakers. We must have tasted 12 different wines over the course of our TWO hour visit.' Our thanks to Laurent

Laurent poured nearly his entire range for us, and we were blush with gratitude (and wine). Of particular note in the whites was his broad and rich '04 Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru "Les Morgeots", and his powerful yet more classic '05 Chassange-Montrachet 1er Cru "Vide Bourse". Delicious. But the surprise of the tasting was his '04 Meursault 1er Cru "Les Caillerets". Very different from his Puligny and Chassagnes, as it should be, and a delightful exercise in terroir. One of my favorites of the tasting. (As a side note his villages '05 Puligny-Montrachet is a great value for the money. Buy some.)

In his reds, his Pommards are the stars here. Stylistically speaking, I find Laurent's reds lean more towards a modern style, with soft tannins and rounder fruit flavors, but there's plenty of structure to support their "drink me now" personalities. The best wine is his 1er Cru "Rugiens", with it's great balance and super structure, this one is for the cellar. My purchase, however was the 1er Cru "Charmots". A slightly more delicate style that is more nose than mouth feel. I'm a sucker for a beautiful nose.

Buy this wine! I love this wine. The 2005 Petalos, Bierzo DO, Descendientes de J. Palacios. I bought a case a week ago and I'm already through 6 bottles. It's rich, it's delicious, it has great acidity and life, and a distinct personality that sets it apart from the average fruit bomb. At 12 Euros it is a steal. They made 220,000 bottles of this organically grown Bierzo so there is plenty for the world to share. Bug, no, pester your local merchant to get you some of this because Petalos is a star. (postscript, Parker gave the 2004, a very good vintage, 90-93 points and most people in Spain consider 2005 a BETTER vintage) In the USA, imported by The Rare Wine company, in Belgium, by La Buena Vida

Of all things wine I love old red Burgundy, young red burgundy, and everything in between. I also love Jancis Robinson's web site which I often find to be one of the more entertaining and insightful professional wine sites on the 'net. So when I visited her site this week to see what was new, I nearly fell off my seat when I read about the record breaking auction that took place in NYC last week. Ahhhh, mature buurgundy....mmmmmmm This is making me thirsty. Read it and weep.

Plonkapalooza. Finally, wine professionals are getting serious about cheap wines. My hometown newspaper reported recently that a group of wine professionals got together to rate the best under $10 wines (in the local market). Read for yourself:

The Boston Globe

Two wines I really liked, recently purchased from the Kempische Wijnhuis, came from the recommended Domaine de la Guicharde. The Cuvee Ninon is an oak aged cuvee made of 60% syrah 40% grenache, and comes from the hot '03 vintage The wine displays very attractive and complex nose of rspberries, lavender, iron, and mushrooms. Chocolaty (torrefaction) in the mouth but a beautiful sweetness that is still light and precise. Delicious and low in alcohol for an '03, it went great with arroz con pollo and then with a vacherin to finish the meal.

Tried on a different night, the Le vin rouge d'Isabelle, also '03, is pure grenache and aged in stainles steel. The wine is more brooding with leather, raspberries, and what smells like blood from a stone. It's grainy and assertive, and finishes very figgy. In fact, a couple of hours later the fig aroma was dominating. 14.5% alcohol (but not surprising for the varietal and vintage).

I really enjoyed both of these wines but I LOVED the cuvee Ninon. This recent focus on S. french and Rhone blends has confirmed my suspicion that as good as these southern French grenache blends are, it's the delicacy of the N. Rhone and predominantly Syrah blends that really turn me on.

Check out the web site of this domaine and while your at it, take a look at the site of the idependant vignerons of France. It's an informative site that provides links to similarly minded producers in France as well as dates and locales for upcoming wine tastings. For me, I'm thinking about going to the Paris Salon on the weekend of Nov 25 and 26th. If you'd like to try and meet up while I'm there, post a comment and we'll see if our schedules work.

Be sure to take my new poll in the right column!

I'm just glad he doesn't make red Burgundy....

Michel Rolland

Yes he has been an agent for improved quality in wine making around the world, BUT his influence has become so large that the result is a massve shift in the way wines taste today; away from distictiveness and towards homogeneity. One can argue that his legions of customers are no longermaking their own wine, they are instead making Michel Rolland wines.

I agree with the sentiment expressed in Mondovino , this man can be likened to the Pied Piper, and winemakers are following the tune of high RMP points. Only thing the winemakers forget, is what happened to the mice.

Is it too much to ask the NY Times food section, in general, and Frank Prial, specifically, to know the difference between the French words "clos" and "cros"? Apparently so, even if the subject is the vineyard owner and winemaker of one of the most famous vineyards in all of Burgundy.

This week Henri Jayer, a Giant in the world of Burgundy, passed away and Mr Prial published an appropriate sentimental obituary of a man who helped revolutionize a region, and who's wines were praised world-wide. Unfortunately, in describing his most famous wine, the Vosne Romanee 1er Cru "Cros Parantoux", he called it a "clos". Egad! So much for notariety! A sloppy and embarrassing error.

2003 Bourgogne Epineuil, "Cote de Grisey", Dom. de l'Abbaye du Petit Quincy
There comes a time when a Burgundy lover can no longer avoid his favorite regoin and must choose a bottle even from the most mundane of retailers, the big-box. And so, I broke down and bought a few different bottles at the local Carrefour (the French Wal-Mart) to see what I could find in terms of quality. I bought a Bourgogne rouge, a Cote de Nuits villages, and a Volnay 1er cru. A small sampling and the other night I opened this unassuming domaine bottled Bourgogne (I may be hooked but I'm not crazy!). For an '03 the color was all wrong. Orange-brown instead of purple. Something went wrong with this wine, either too much oxygen during vinification or bad cellar conditions since it's bottling. In the nose, very little juicy fruit BUT, at least it showed typical Burgundian flavors of cinamon, leather, orange, and dried leaves.... It kind of smelled like it looked. Brown. Nevertheless, the aromas it did have were enjoyable "Burgundian" and made me smile (I'm easy). In the mouth, it was dry, a bit bitter and herbaceous for the vintage. Finished with strawberry, and strawberry leaves. Fell apart after a couple of hours into a sour mess.

This wine was damaged, either by poor (careless) vinification or by its storage conditions. That being said, it did provide pleasure for about 30 min, not terrible for 7 euros. Hey, I'm a "glass is half full" kind a guy. On to bigger and better stuff!

2002 "Valtuille", Bierzo D.O. Bodegas Castro Ventosa . Here is one of the upper price-point wines from the producer of El Castro del Valtuille , and it comes from 100 year old vines. "Cepas Centenarias."

In the nose, at first, it's very oaky and only after some time in the glass can I coax out iodine and graphite. In fact it was almost like a medoc in the nose. Cigar box and flint. In the mouth this wine is more reticent and shows less juicy fruit than the "El Castro" (vintage difference, or 100 year old vines?) and instead shows more woody and mineral character. Lip smacking acidity and soft tannins with a moderatetly long finish. Why so much oak though? I would have preferred less oak and more of the intrinsic grape qualities. More research is necessary because these wines continue to intrigue me for their minerality, acidity and brambly fruit. 33 euro locally and I'm sure much more in the US, which lowers its attractiveness a bit.

2003 El Castro de Valtuille, Bierzo, D.O. Bierzo . Situated in the North-west corner of Spain (in the western-most part of Castilla y Leon) , this small viticultural region produces Spain's answer to red Burgundy. Here, instead of pinot noir, they work with the indigenous Mencia, a grape variety that makes exuberant reds with a nice dose of flint on the nose and palate. This monocepage wine is starting to get noticed, as evidenced last May in the NYTimes food section:

"EVERY once in a while an unfamiliar wine region rises and demands attention. Suddenly, that region and its wines begin to wallpaper your mind like a new hit tune, so that you can't get them out of your head. Most recently, I've been hearing the song of the red wines of Bierzo." (A.A., NYTimes)

My first taste of Bierzo was last year last year at a local tasting given by local importer La Buena Vida , where I met the winemaker of this wine, Raul Perez. While going through his different bottlings, Mr Perez was very excited to show me how his wines reflected each of their "terroirs". This wine, his entry level wine, comes from vines plannted in sandy soils, while his other wines have different degrees of schist and clay. Of course, this ability to reflect the attributes of each individual vineyard reminds one of what is seen up and down the Cote d'Or. I gather from our discussion that the mindset is the same as well.

Onto the wine! Immediately after opening it's shy and I was a bit concerned with some acetone and volatile acidity, but time in the glass proved to be the key here. Eventually, cinamon, grafite, and rose aromas intice you to come back for more. Floral and high toned, has good structure, and finishes with that wonderful blackberry and slate/flint characteristic I found in the "Petalos del Bierzo" from Descendientes de J. Palacios (a wine I previously tasted in an earlier newsletter). I love the snappy acidity that balances out the ripe, brambly fruit flavors. At 12 Euros, this is a great bargain and deserves to be snapped up by the case.

2002 Vacqueyras, "Montirius" Straying from the bought local theme but sticking with the Rhone, this wine was a very pleasant surprise. A wine made under the direction of bio-dynamic farming practices by Christine and Eric Saurel, this Vacqueyras had a deep reddish brown robe with concentrated strawberry (leaves?) and rhubarb aromas. A precise and laser straight wine with mellow but tactile tannis and great fruit intensity. Finishes with bright cherry, mint, and pepper. Great thirst quenching acidity. We had it with roast pork but it cried out for cheese! Medium bodied red that is drinking superbly today and is a beautiful and harmonius blend of syrah and grenache. I could drink this wine ALL day, and Valerie agreed. A wonderful "gift" from my cousin and retails for around 14 euros loacally (John you are free to enjoy something of mine at the same value) . Ask your favorite wine merchant to find this one for you.

Here's a new (March '06) piece of legislature from the Mass Alcoholic Beverage control Commission that I suspect not too many people know about, but should. Essentailly, it allows all those people who order a bottle of wine at a restaunt, but do not finish it, to bring the remainer home with them. What and idea! I believe that some restaurant owners quietly let some patrons out of the building with an unfinished bottle but the practice was not widespread, and it made them a bit uncomfortable. Now it's legal! Bravo Mass legislature for removing another impediment to enjoying wine on a night out!

Read for yourself...


New Mass Legislation