Cabernet sauvignon lovers rejoice! Wines from the extraordinary 2007 California vintage are beginning to make their way to a retail store near you, and you would be wise to grab as many as you can afford. While the vintage as  a whole is exceptional with just about every red and white benefitting from an almost perfect growing season,  the cabernet is stunning.

2007 is being hailed as the vintage of the century – which probably isn’t saying much since we’re only a decade into the new millennium. However, your humble wineboy has sampled a pretty good cross-section of these goodies, and I can honestly say that none of the more than two dozen different 2007’s that have passed these wine-stained lips have disappointed.

The Wine Spectator (Nov. 15 issue) sampled more than 500 cabernets from the 2007 vintage and rated nearly 200 of them with scores of 90 or above  (on a 100 point scale). And, while Napa is still the appellation to find the best of the best, every major wine producing region in the Golden State has produced exceptional cabernet sauvignon.

The wines have all of the flavors associated with great cabernet including rich plumb and cherry fruit, vanilla and mocha tones along with aromas of spice, currants and leather. These are classic wines and most have exceptional aging potential.

While you can spend several hundred dollars (a bottle!) on cult wines such as Harlan Estate, Schrader Cellars, Screaming Eagle and Staglin, prices of the wines listed below range from under $20 to less than $60 a bottle. So here are some labels to look for from the 2007 California cabernet sauvignon vintage that I recommend for your sipping pleasure.

Gallo Dry Creek Frei Ranch; Sebastiani Sonoma; Rodney Strong Alexander Valley; Kunde Estate Sonoma Valley; BV Tapestry Reserve; Whitehall Lane Reserve; Joseph Phelps Napa; Franciscan; Pahlmeyer (Jason); and Merryvale.

Disclaimer: Over the past decade, I must admit to drinking less cabernet sauvignon in favor of more medium-bodied reds such as pinot noir, sangiovese, grenache and tempranillo.  I also generally prefer meritage wines (those that are blends of several grape varieties) to most full-bodied single varietals like cabernet.   I just find them more complex and better matches with food.

But just about the time I think my appreciation of wine has evolved and I’ve become more sophisticated (preferring only subtle and nuanced wines to the fuller-flavored ones), I am utterly seduced and palate-slammed by the almost other worldly pleasure of sipping a big, juicy, purple cabernet. – like those from the 2007 vintage.

Go figure.

Charleston Area Wine Events

Mark your calendars for two wine-related events over the next couple of weeks. On Wednesday October 13, from 5 to 8 p.m., the Liquor Company will have a special tasting of Joseph Phelps wines at their location in the Patrick Street Plaza. Phelps is one of the most prestigious and historically significant wineries in the Napa Valley and their wines are renowned around the world. Cost of the tasting is $5 per person.

The Wine Shop at Capitol Market will host their annual Harvest Tasting on Sunday October 17, from 2 to 4 p.m. in the outdoor farmer’s market (weather permitting). The Harvest Tasting will feature an international array of more than 25 wines that will be specially selected to match the foods of fall. Munchies will be available and cost of the tasting is $15 per person.

By the way, if you haven’t had a chance to visit the wine shop lately, you will be pleasantly surprised to note that the location has been moved down the hall of the market to a greatly expanded space which features a special temperature controlled room for fine and rare wines. In addition, there is now a designated tasting area where wines can be sampled on weekends. Congratulations and good luck to the fine folks at the wine shop.

Canaan – Wild and Wonderful Wine and Food Weekend

It’s always both a pleasure and a learning experience to work with culinary professionals, and that’s why I love to be a part of the semi-annual Wild and Wonderful Wine Weekend at Canaan Valley Resort. These food and wine events have become a tradition at the Tucker County facility where you’ll also revel in the visual beauty of fall in the Potomac Highlands.

Join me and a whole host of other wine and food lovers on October 22- 24 for an entertaining and educational gourmet extravaganza. I select wines from the best vineyards on the planet that will be matched to culinary delicacies prepared by Canaan Valley Resort’s executive chef. The event will begin Friday, October 22 at 7 p.m. with a “taste-around reception” where wines from the world’s most prestigious regions can be sampled with matching culinary treats from food stations featuring, Italian, Mediterranean and Mexican delicacies. And for the sweets folks, there will also be a dessert station featuring custard and berries, chocolate cheesecake balls and mini apple dumplings.

On Saturday, guests will participate in a tasting of wines I will select that will be followed by a scrumptious four- course Mediterranean-inspired luncheon with matching wines. After lunch, guests will be free to hike, bike, nap (what I plan to do) or just enjoy Mother Nature’s purple mountain majesty! The evening’s activities begin at 7 p.m. with a six-course grand gourmet dinner with accompanying wines.Guests have the option of attending the entire weekend for a package price, or choosing to participate in individual events ala carte.

For pricing and additional information or reservations call 800-622-4121 or visit online at www.canaanresort.com.

The next time you feel like complaining about the weird laws surrounding alcohol in the Mountain State, be thankful you don’t live in that land of plenty just to the north of us.

To say that wine, beer and liquor laws in Pennsylvania are complicated and restrictive would be an epic understatement.
In fact, getting a bottle of hooch was probably easier and less complicated during Prohibition than it is in the Keystone state today.

But now bureaucrats in Harrisburg have devised a new method of getting wine (which, like liquor, can only be purchased in state stores) to thirsty Pitt and Penn State fans. They’re making it available in vending machines in selected supermarkets. Sounds great, right? Here’s how it works.

After selecting a wine from among the more than 50 bottles available in the machine, customers must insert a driver’s license into the kiosk proving they are at least 21 years old. Next, a camera in the machine verifies their identity via video link with a state liquor control board official. If that’s not complicated enough, customers then must blow into a breathalyzer to make sure their alcohol level is not more than 0.02, or just one quarter of the legal limit for driving.

Why not require a birth certificate, immunization card or, at least, a note from your dentist attesting to fact you don’t have trench mouth? Our brethren from Pennsylvania have taken a pretty neat customer convenience idea and complicated it to the point of bureaucratic absurdity.

The French, however, have added a true wine customer convenience device that I would like to see here in the good old U. S. of A. sometime soon. They actually are installing 500 and 1000 liter wine self-serve tanks in supermarkets around France. The tanks look like gasoline pumps where consumers fill their own reusable bottles and jugs (or they buy containers at the store), and then use the self-serve hoses to fill them up.

It’s pretty simple too. You just select your wine type (red, white or rose), pump it into the container and take the printed receipt to the checkout counter where you pay. Now, obviously these pumps are not going to be dispensing Chateau Lafite, but for everyday sipping, in a country that takes its wine drinking seriously, this is about as good and convenient as it gets.

 

Until we get vending machines or wine dispensing pumps, we’ll have to settle for the old tried and true method of purchasing our wines from shops and grocery stores. Here are some bottles you may wish to acquire in this traditional method.

2007 Masciarelli Montepulciano ($10.99) Soft and supple, this red will marry nicely with pizza topped with fresh tomatoes, olive oil and fresh mozzarella.

2009 Paitin Langhe Arneis ($18.99) One of the most famous white wines of Italy’s Piedmont region, arneis is delicate, somewhat spritzy and fruit forward. Try it with mussels poached in some of the arneis along with a little chopped garlic.

2007 Cantele Primitivo ($15.99) Full and rich, this zinfandel-like red will match up nicely with lasagna in a spicy red sauce.

2008 Alois Lageder Pinot Grigio ($19.99). This pinot grigio is a fuller-bodied version of this popular white from northern Italy. With flowery and somewhat spicy notes, try it with penne pasta in a basil pesto sauce.

Since I am able to trace one-half of my ancestry back to southern Italy, I am prone to wax poetically from time to time about the tasteful treats emanating from that remarkable boot-shaped peninsula bisecting the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas.

And while it would be a gross oversight to disregard Italy’s contributions to art, culture and, indeed, Western civilization, my interest in the country has always been squarely focused on food and wine, along with the warm and talented people who produce those exceptional products.

My maternal grandparents landed at Ellis Island in the late 19th Century, following others from their home state of Calabria to north-central West Virginia. After more than 15 years working in the mines, my grandfather built a bakery in the North View section of Clarksburg that, to this day, my cousins continue to operate.

Sunday family dinners at my grandparents’ home, replete with dozens of cousins, aunts and uncles, are happily and indelibly seared in my memory. Those Calabrian-inspired feasts, washed down with jugs  of home made red wine, would begin shortly after noon and proceed until early evening.

Once the multi-course meal was completed, the adults would insist that we children provide the postprandial entertainment. As our elders sat sipping vino or grappa, we would sing, recite poetry and/or perform little skits to our always appreciative audience.

One of my occasional duties on those Sundays decades ago was to descend into the earthen-walled, dark, dank and spooky basement to fetch a jug of wine from one of the oak barrels in my grandpa’s cellar.

I would rush down the steps, open the door to wine cellar, and pull the string on the single hanging light bulb to illuminate the room. Then I would turn the spigot on the barrel, quickly fill the jug and hurry back upstairs, hoping to avoid any contact with creepy crawlers or poltergeists.

Once, in my haste to complete the task, I inadvertently filled the jug from the wrong barrel – one containing vinegar. My grandpa, anxious to toast that day’s meal, poured himself a glass, uttered the words “Salute” and took a big sip of the vinegar.

Suffice it to say, the next words out of his mouth were  unprintable, but I was no longer asked to fetch the wine on Sunday.

We still keep the tradition in our family of gathering for Sunday dinner and many of the recipes I’ve recounted to you over the years have been versions of meals from those halcyon days. I’ll even open a bottle or two of my home made wine on occasion.

And while I do not (intentionally) make vinegar, some not so subtle individuals, after tasting my home made wine, suggest that  I have killed two birds with one stone!

I have always maintained that a good meal can be transformed into a great dining experience when a complimenting wine accompanies it. This is particularly important for restaurants. Those that understand and incorporate this principle into their business model should be recognized.

Now it’s one thing for this backwater gourmand to say nice things about a grubbery, but when a prestigious international magazine – like The Wine Spectator – does…well…that, to use the local vernacular, is “spay-chull ” (or special for those whose ears are unaccustomed to our twang).

Therefore, wine lovers and foodies in West Virginia should be proud to know that the annual Wine Spectator restaurant awards were recently announced and that 12 Mountain State establishments are among those receiving the lofty honors.

According to the magazine, “Wine Spectator’s restaurant wine list awards program recognizes restaurants whose wine lists offer interesting selections, are appropriate to the cuisine and appeal to a wide range of wine lovers.

“To qualify for an award, the list must present complete, accurate wine information. It must include vintages and appellations for all selections, including wines by the glass…” The three categories of awards are: “Awards of Excellence;” “Best of Awards of Excellence;” and the “Grand Award.”

Only 2880 restaurants across world have received the “Award of Excellence,” including nine restaurants in our state. Three other WV restaurants, the Bavarian Inn and the Greenbrier’s Main Dining Room and Prime 44 West, received “Best of Awards of Excellence. ” That’s quite an honor since only 788 restaurants on the planet achieved that distinction.

The state restaurants receiving “Awards of Excellence are: Bridge Road Bistro, Charleston; The Chop House, Charleston; Ember, Snowshoe Mountain Resort; The Glasshouse Grille, Morgantown; La Bonne Vie, Chester (at Mountaineer Racetrack); Provence Market Café, Bridgeport; Sargasso, Morgantown; Savannah’s, Huntington; and Spats, Parkersburg (in the Blennerhassett Hotel).

Tell your friends and associates about the award winners and encourage them to patronize these restaurants. I know there are many other fine restaurants in the state that are very close to achieving a Wine Spectator  award.

Two Charleston restaurants that get WineBoy kudos for not only presenting delicious cuisine, but for taking their wine lists seriously are the South Hills Market and Café and the Bluegrass Kitchen. While the lists at both establishments are not exceptionally deep, they are well selected and the food is superb!

While these awards probably won’t go a very long way toward changing the stereotypical hillbilly image some flatlanders have of us, I think it does argue for an upgrade to the traditional seven-course West Virginia gourmet meal.

Instead of a six-pack and a chili dog, how about a fried green tomato, three sausage biscuits with gravy, a corn dog and a moon pie all washed down with a flagon of Uncle Roger’s Ramp Rose’?

We’re movin’ on up !

So which pinot noirs at the International Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC) stood out to yours truly at that lovely weekend event in the Willamette Valley? So many were special, but several exceeded my expectations.

As I mentioned last time, there were two evening tastings at IPNC where approximately 100 wineries were featured. The task of tasting the wines and then evaluating each was, to say the least, daunting, but your intrepid boy of wine was up to the task. Armed with a pen, notepad and palate, I plodded through the exercise and came away with a purple tongue and some unexpected insights.

First eye-opener was the quality of the 2007 Oregon pinot noir vintage. Largely (and prematurely) panned, the 2007 wines are certainly leaner than many of the recent Oregon pinot noir vintages, but they uniformly showed a silkiness and suppleness that is very appealing. Given a few years in bottle, these wines will continue to develop complexity and should be delightful for years to come.

The 2008 vintage in Oregon is already being hailed as one of the best ever. Deep, rich and earthy, these are more hedonistic wines than their 2007 older brothers. The tannins are harder and therefore the wines will require a few years in bottle to reach drinkability. But make no mistake, these will be excellent wines.

One of the most important aspects in producing quality finished wines is the art of blending. As a home wine maker, I can attest to the fact that blending different wines (made from different grapes) can produce a more refined and complex finished product. However, I have never had the opportunity to blend wines made from the same grape and vintage date – until a seminar at IPNC.

This particular seminar was held at Selena Winery – a brand new facility within the Yamhill Carelton AVA. The focus of the seminar was on the importance of blending and it was hands (or should I say lips) on. Our group was divided into tables of eight, each of which was presided over by an Oregon wine maker. The wine maker was there to answer technical questions, but was not involved in choosing our blend.

Our job was to create a final blend out of wine made from three different 2008 Selena pinot noir vineyards. Each of the wines we tasted had different characteristics, and it was our job to agree upon the proper proportion of each to achieve the blend which would then be evaluated by a panel of professionals.

Charleston native Kevin Wiles Oregon pinot noir

Guess what? Our table’s blend was judged best! I’m sure it was my years of home wine making experience that put us over the top (actually, the blend I suggested was picked by another table and came in third place). Anyway, this was not only great fun, it was also an insightful exercise that gave us an appreciation for how difficult it is to make good wine even better.

There is no doubt that pinot noir is among the most food friendly wines on the planet, and a key component in producing excellent wine requires not only geography, science and wine making skills, but also people with experienced palates to create the final blends.

So which Oregon pinot noirs tickled my palate most? Here is listing of my favorite wines, including one made by Charleston native Kevin Wiles whose 2008 Wiles Cellars Hope Cuvee is a delicious, round and rich wine I had the pleasure sipping with lunch in McMinnville one afternoon. You may contact Kevin and order the wine direct from him by calling 843-338-0583 or emailing him at mrkevinwiles@msn.com .

Other favorite wines: Domaine Serene, Bergstrom, Brooks, Chehalem, Elk Cove, Lange (they also make a killer pinot gris), Lemelson, Redhawke, Scot Paul, St. Innocent, Domaine Drouhin and Raptor Ridge.

If you are a pinot noir lover too, you might want to consider a trip out to the Willamette Valley to sip some of the best wines on this planet. Better yet, sign up for next year’s IPNC event to be held July 28-31. Check it out online at: info@ipnc.org or by calling 800-775-4762.