While I was supposed to be tapering and hydrating this week as I prepared for the Peachtree Road Race 10k tomorrow, I couldn’t resist attending a couple wine tastings around the town.  Hey, it’s not like I’m going to win the darn race — it’s more like a party with 55,000 of your closest friend anyway!  Happy Independence Day!

First up was Chris Gaither, the neighborhood wine guy and mixologist, at Parish on Wednesday down in historic Inman Park.  It was supposed to be a focus on New York wines, but due to some last minute unforeseen circumstances, Chris had to change gears.  He made a nice recovery and everyone seemed to have a good time trying some different wines and learning some new stuff about wine, grapes and regions.  Yes, Chris has a flip-chart, an aroma kit as well as the Oxford Companion to Wine by Jancis Robinson and used them all in a deft and fluid manner while keeping it FUN!  The “I ♥ NY” tee-shirt was a nice touch too, Chris.

Two wines we found interesting and really enjoyed were:

2004 Leon Beyer – Pinot Gris from Alsace – Golden in color due to aging and oxidation.  The nose brought on some caramel and taste was full of tart, Granny Smith apple carrying to the finish.  Crisp and refreshing.

2007 Lioco Indica from Mendocino – Chris got a kick of informing everyone (more than once) that Indicia is a type of cannibus (shhh! – not sure how he knows this) – the wine is a blend of Carignan, Petit Sirah, Mourvedre and Grenache.  There was a potpourri of blackberries, violets and toffee on the nose followed by more black fruit, black cherries and light spice on the palate.

Next up was the very next night at Dynamic Dish where I accompanied Hardy from Dirty South Wine and some new acquaintances to try over 20 Rieslings from NY.  It seems Hardy has a well-known love affair for this grape.  There were no unforeseen circumstances here as our online, pubslisher wine friend Lenn Thompson from LennDevours provided this fare and I was fortunate enough to have an invitation.  I can’t list all the wines we tried due to space, but man, there was a ton of stuff about Riesling I did not know (nor did I profess to know, since I’ve historical been a red wine guy), and it was a great time hanging with some local wine and food groupies.  Thanks to Bob, Jimmy, Broderick, Bill and Matt who were also there!

To start the evening, Bob educated me on a very distinct characteristic/aroma of Riesling that I had not experienced before, but smacked me in the face (the bouquet, not Bob) right off the bat in the first wine: something he called “Petrol.”  It’s almost like smelling Kerosene and threw me off a little at first, but by the end of the night I had become friends with the good stank as other bottles produced more “acceptable” levels to my particular nose — to others, it may well indeed be most undesirable.  Technically speaking, this is the result of TDN (I won’t bore you with the full chemical name) which will become more detectable in Riesling as it ages.  As Bob also pointed out, you can be the smarty at the blind tasting party if you get this aroma because it is distinct to Riesling.

Two of my favorites:

2007 Dr. Konstantin Frank – Finger Lakes – lemon grass, apple and hint of spice.  The taste was like biting into a granny smith apple both in flavor as well as mouthfeel.  There was some sourness at the finish, but this was well-balanced and crisp.

1999 Marcel Deiss Saint-Hippolyte – The color of this aged wine was much darker, even toward golden.  Yes, it had the petrol up front, but with more honey that helped me enjoy this one much more.  There was good acidity to it  and showed a lot of tart citrus on the palate toward the end.  It was a favorite just to say I had the experience of tasting this wine with some very unique characteristics and to compare/contrast Rieslings of different age.

As an avid outdoorsman, cyclist, triathlete (sprint distance), and mountain biker, it was a great surprise and honor when the Clif Family Winery approached me to take a look at some of the new wines they were releasing.  Disclosure: I received free samples of the wine I review in this post from the winery, and the opinions are entirely my own.  For those who don’t know, Gary Erickson, a well-known cyclist, triathlete and overall extreme sports guy, started the Clif Barcompany in 1992 in his search for a better tasting and natural energy bar and has been very successful with that venture.  So, today we’ll see how Gary and his wife, Kit, fared with one of their latest ventures, Clif Family Winery, which was started in 2004.  It’s important to note that, like their focus on natural ingredients for their Clif Bar products, the winery is dedicated to Sustainability practices in the vineyard, sourcing fruit from organic farms when possible and trying to offset CO2 emissions via aggressive energy-saving practices.

I was also lucky enough to have a few moments to chat with their winemaking consultant, Sarah Gott, for her take on this venture and about the wines she helps them make.  Sarah has been a friend to the Erickson’s through cycling, gym and their childrens’ school activities in the Napa area.  Eventually their conversations would come back around to wine and even though Sarah was not looking for another engagement (she currently consults for Joel Gott, Blackbird, Aaron Pott and Oakville East as well), she was evantually asked to join the Clif team and she obliged.  She is also a believer in sustainability and has experience with natural and biodynamic techniques while at Joseph Phelps and Quintessa earlier in her career, and she wants to focus on trying to make the world a better place and develop good habits for the support of mother nature.  However, she readily admits that winegrowing/winemaking still ultimately come down to quality and if there is an issue where a man-made solution that may or may-not be considered “natural” will help, she would readily make that call.

The Clif Family winery is “still trying to figure it out,” according to Gott.  There are so many little parts to building the business and great wines, including mother nature, up-front costs, etc., it’s not like following a recipe in your mother’s kitchen that’s repeatable and controlled very easily.  Add to that their goals of sourcing organic while keeping costs low in order to be a profitable business, it can prove quite challenging.  As a consulting winemaker, I asked Sarah about the level of control she has.  She agrees it certainly depends on the winery and what they are looking for and in this situation, Gary and Kit have given her insight as to what they like and what they’d like to achieve, and Sarah has a lot of control to make that happen.  In the case of the The Climber Red Wine, Gary wanted something in line with Orin Swift’s The Prisoner (which got a very good write-up from Vinography.com).  This idea aligns well with Sarah’s strengths as her “specialty” of creating super blends as she demonstrated uniquely and superbly while at Joseph Phelps with Le Mistral, a wine she says would be one of her top items to have with her if deserted on an island.

Now for my tasting notes of the wines:

2008 The Climber White Wine (88% Sauvignon Blanc, 4% Muscat, 3% Riesling, 3% Chardonnay, 2% Chenin Blanc) – $14 SRP –  Screw cap closure.  Very light straw color with medium to high reflectivity meaning fairly high acid.  There was even a bit of effervesence in ths glass.  Nose produced grapefruit, apricot and honeysuckle.  The taste was a little toned down from the aromatics of the nose, yet brought out some lemon/citrus, grapefruit, minerality and a little petulence on the finish (light spice).  My wife felt this could compare to Conundrum and it was very refreshing for this time of year, as it expects to hit 98 degrees here in the ATL today!

2006 The Climber Red Wine(32% Zinfandel, 28% Syrah, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, 11% Merlot, 4% Petite Sirah) – $17 SRP – Real cork closure. The color was medium to dark ruby and produced black fruit, slight vanilla and green/vegetal/celery? on the nose.  Got the expected blackberries and black cherries on the taste, but was a little disappointing overall.  The wine did open up a bit more after another 15-20 minutes displaying some currant and possibly anise and there was a little spice on the end, but fairly average, in my opinion.  With Zin, Syrah and Cab as the leading varieties in this blend, I expected bigger bang for my buck in the ways of fruit forwardness and boldness and I just didn’t get it.

Overall, the white was the winner to me in that it was refreshing and had all the aromatic and citrus/floral  characteristics I would expect and really enjoyed.  But, as Sarah shared with me, Clif is still trying to figure it out and I’m sure with Sarah, Gary and Kit’s historical track records it won’t be long before they do, so I will be looking forward to much success from them in the very near future!!  Isn’t the joy mostly about the journey anyway?

In these trying times, as you and I tilt back a fine wine, there are others who are not as fortunate.  I had the opportunity to join my neighbor, Robert, who is a DeLoach Vineyards club member, and attend a wine event sponsored by Tower where Jean-Charles Boisset himself entertained, talked about his wines and asked us to join him in the fight against hunger.  The event was held at Paul’s Restaurant.  Basically, for every bottle of wine purchased over the next 6 months from Tower, Boisset Family Estates will supplement 3 meals for families in need.  What’s more, these will be families in Georgia.  Of course, they are touring the nation and asking other retailers and restaurants to do the same in their states and regions.  I walked away with a case order.  Won’t you help?

Boisset Family Estates includes the DeLoach Vineyards, Lyeth Estate, Oceana and French Rabbit labels and we had an opportunity to taste wines from each that evening.  Robert and I were partial to the DeLoach brand, but mostly Robert who has been drinking their wine for decades, and Jean-Charles was very excited to talk to a rabid fan.  Of course, I am very much a Pinot Noir fan and this is the grape Jean-Charles really likes to focus on, so this was a treat for me too.

Boisset owns one of only two Pinot Presses in the U.S. of which the main feature is a much slower pressing time and smaller fractions.  The Pinot grapes, most of which are organically farmed, are then slow pressed for 2-3 hours before they are racked into barrels.  They also implement a 30 day slow fermentation at cooler temperatures in open wood barrels.  He doesn’t like to use too much new oak so that it does not overbear the delicate fruit that you want in a traditional Pinot Noir.

Our favs on the night were:

2007 DeLoach Pinot Noir OFS – black cherry and pepper spice on the nose, thought just a little hot.  Red fruit and some toffee on the taste, very nice and balanced.

2006 DeLoach Pinot Noir Green Valley– light toast, crackers on the nose with smooth, light cherries on the taste.  Went well with the pork tapas we had, which is the traditional French Burgundy pairing.  Here’s a short video of Jean-Charles talking about this wine and the fact it won over other Pinots (i.e. Burgundy) in a recent tasting in France… listen for the great quote about “wine experts”

YouTube - Link toJean-Charles Boisset

Living in Georgia, we don’t get an opportunity to vacation in Napa, Sonoma, or the other northwest wine regions of the country as often as we’d like.  And certainly, wines from those areas get most of the notoriety which kinda makes sense since California produces roughly 90% of the wine made in the U.S.  But, what can you do if you want to visit the wine country without the costly airfare, 4 hour flight and the need to take at least 4 days off to really enjoy the experience?  Well, chances are there is a winery in your own backyard — check out my latest guest post on Back to Bakas –> http://rickbakas.com/?p=608

A guest post by Alina Brown of murphygoodemovement.com

My recent road trip from Bellingham, Washington, to Healdsburg, California, included a three-day stop in Willamette Valley, popularly known as the heart of Oregon wine country.  With more than 200 tasting rooms and wineries, Willamette Valley resembles a younger, less sophisticated version of California’s Napa and Sonoma wine countries.  With an adolescent-like energy, Willamette Valley wines have buried their way into wine cellars around the world as the region gains notoriety for more than its Pinot Noirs.

This July, Willamette Valley Wineries will celebrate Oregon’s 150 years of statehood with a weekend of special events.  While a significant occasion for the state, the celebration also marks a kind of rite of passage for the 40-year-old wine region.  Over the last decade, the Willamette Valley has been suffering from teenage angst – growing, developing and searching for meaning.  And while the valley has a lot of maturing yet to do, its eagerness can be tasted in original and exciting new wines.  Now is the time to visit Willamette Valley; while the practiced refinement of adulthood is nice, we also know that out of teenage angst can blossom wonderful things.

Some great Willamette Valley stops on my road trip?

Dobbes Family Estate/Wine by Joe, Dundee, OR

These two labels run by the Dobbes family out of Dundee have excellent wines, a fantastic staff and a refreshing attitude towards business.  Wine club members often stop by the winery during lunchtime breaks and at the end of the workday just to hang out.  The more affordable Wine by Joe label is currently undergoing a re-haul that shouts “fun” and “fresh.”

Mystic Wine, Amity, OR

Richard Mafit, owner/grower/winemaker extraordinaire, has been working in the industry his entire adult life.  Richard learned the trade in the wine regions of California but moved to the Willamette Valley to start his own winemaking business.  He does everything from planting the grape seeds to selling his wines in a home-based tasting room.  Last year, Richard built an entirely new winery with the help of his son and a neighbor.

Ancient Cellars, Dundee, OR

Brothers Craig and Chris Baker founded Ancient Cellars in the fall of 2007.  While Craig manages the business from his Indianapolis home, Chris performs all aspects of the winemaking process out of Dundee.  This work is done in addition to his full-time job as assistant winemaker at 12^thand Maple Wine Company.  Basically, Chris is at the winery non-stop, working up to 20-hour days at the height of the harvest.  Regardless, the brothers’ love of wine and winemaking shines through in their product.