Summertime Thirst Quenchers

berkeleywine — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:24:31 +0000

As we head into the month of August I feel the need to offer up some suggestions for warm weather beverages that will satisfy your thirst, awaken your appetite and remind you of good times had (or yet to come) in sunny Spain.

This is the first week in recent months that we don’t have a new rosado wine to offer, but we do have loads of these perfect summer wines on the shelf.

On the other hand, after much whining on my part about the lack of Spanish beer in the American market, I am happy to report that this week we received not one but two excellent cervezas from Spain.

The new 2007 versions of a few of my all time favorite white wines are now available, as are some unique and interesting red wines from Chile and Portugal.

Check out the latest arrivals below, and while you are at it, take a moment to consider the following recipe that I prepared last weekend for a large birthday party.

Grilled sardines are hugely popular in Portugal and Galicia. These small fish are inexpensive to buy, are sustainably harvested and are really good for you. This version, wrapped in grape leaves, makes an interesting and tasty presentation.

Sardinas Asadas En Hojas de Parras (Grilled Sardines in Grape Leaves)

(Serves 8 as an appetizer)

Ingredients:

8 whole fresh sardines

8 jarred grape leaves

4 bay leaves (fresh or dried)

¼ cup sea salt

2 lemons, cut in wedges

Directions:

Prepare your grill (gas or charcoal) as you normally would. Clean the sardines (scales off, innards and gills out, head and tail stay on). Sprinkle the salt over the cleaned sardines, making sure to get some salt inside the fish as well as outside. Place one half of a bay leaf inside the belly cavity of each sardine. Roll up each fish in a grape leaf (use 2 leaves if they are small or if the sardines are big) leaving the head and tail partly exposed. Grill the wrapped fish over a hot fire for approximately 5 minutes on each side. The grape leaves will ‘shrink wrap’ around the fish and prevent them from drying out or burning. Unwrap the cooked sardines, squeeze a little lemon over the top and eat the fish, discarding the bones and the grape leaf wrapper.

Alhambra Lager This beer, from Granada in the south of Spain, takes its name from the famous Moorish palace in that ancient town. This crisp and refreshing lager is well known in Spain and finally available here for the first time. $14.99/6 pack

Estrella Damm This popular Beer from Barcelona is now available here for the first time. Enjoy this light, refreshing beer just like they do in Barcelona where countless nights on the Ramblas (the wide pedestrian boulevard that is Barcelona’s epicenter of eating, drinking and people watching) have included at least one (sometimes many) small glasses of this famous lager. $14.99/6 pack

Santiago Ruiz 2007 Bodegas LAN, located in Rioja, is known for their red wines, but this winery also produces a white wine in the Rías Baixas region in Galicia. Santiago Ruiz is a blend of Albariño, Loureiro and Treixadura fermented in tank (no oak). This relatively full bodied (for the region) wine pairs bright acidity with abundant melon and citrus fruit character. The fresh 2007 vintage has just been released and is drinking at its best right now. $19.99

Montebaco Blanco 2007 Like the previous bodega, Montebaco makes red wine in one region (Ribera del Duero) and white wine in another (Rueda). The new vintage of Montebaco blanco is made from the Verdejo grape and displays aromas and flavors of tropical fruits such as guava and pineapple along with a mineral back note. $17.99

Calcu 2006 In the Chilean Mapuche Indian dialect ‘Calcu’ means magician (or witch doctor, depending on the translation). This years’ blend (it changes with each vintage) is composed of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Carmenere and 15% Cabernet Franc from the Valle de Colchagua region of central Chile. This wine displays dark garnet color and rich, berry-like aroma. Spicy, peppery Carmenère adds contrast to the deeply structured Cabernet Sauvignon. The rich fruit character, reminiscent of fresh mulberries lingers on the palate. Grilled spicy sausages, fresh corn on the cob and the full compliment of American summer foods will compliment this wine quite well. $10.99

Azul Profundo Pinot Noir 2006 The fruit for this wine is sourced from the Bio Bio Valley, Chile’s southernmost grape growing region. This temperate region is quickly becoming one of the most highly regarded areas in Chile for wine production. This climate is well suited to growing the fickle Pinot Noir grape. Azul Profundo is a bright and fresh wine that is reminiscent of a Pinot Noir from the Sonoma Coast of California or the Willamette valley in Oregon. Crystalline ruby color and fresh berry aroma create an intriguing first perception. Tart, pie cherry fruit character balances but never overwhelms subtle grapeskin tannins. This unoaked red is made in miniscule quantities (only 600 cases were produced) and each bottle is hand numbered. Regular price $19.99

Twisted Tinto 2006 The immense, steeply terraced Douro Valley in Portugal has, for centuries, been the source of Port wines. Forward thinking wineries have, in recent years, been re-purposing the fruit of the Douro to produce red, white and rosé wines of excellent quality. Dirk Niepoort is one of the leading proponents of unfortified Douro wines. ‘Twisted’ is one of several names given to Niepoort’s most affordable red wine, depending on where you buy it. In Portugal the wine is called ‘Diálogo’, in Germany it goes by ‘Fabelhaft’, in Estonia they call it ‘Öö Ja Päev’ and in Finland it is ‘Sarvet’. The wine itself is composed of a wide range of typical Douro grapes including Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Amarela, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão among others. Twisted Tinto is dark garnet in color with aromas and flavors of fresh berries and a touch of tannic oak (20% of the wine is aged in barrel for one year). $15.99

South Continent Pinot Noir: The Instant Glow

winehousesf — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:59:58 +0000

2006 Azul Profundo Pinot Noir Bio Bio Valley
Red Wine; Pinot Noir; Chile;

$19.98

Every once in a while something special drops in your lap. You can search through price books, go to tastings, visit wine countries, and find nothing. Yet some guy walks in and pours a glass, and you’re looking at him thinking “Where did you come from?” From the Bio Bio Valley in Chile (further south and cooler than the famous regions of Maipo and Casablanca) comes one of the most exciting sub $20 Pinot Noirs I’ve tasted in a long time. Where I’m normally looking for price points that are acceptable under $20 with this grape variety, this wine is impressive-delicious and more suited to the company of $30 dollar wines. You can imagine that winemakers, both Californian and Burgundian, would be happy buying this wine bottled but unlabeled. They could slap their label on it, give it a healthy markup and walk away with a profit, having done very little work. Of course, this won’t be $19.98 forever. They make 600 cases total and with the rising costs of everything, soon this pricing won’t make sense. Please take advantage if you’re into high quality/high value Pinot Noir. We have an allocation for this email, but after that, no guarantee.This wine came to us via the winemaker who is also an importer and wholesaler. He and his wife run the businesses together (she’s a winemaker too), and they had just picked up a label I had been buying direct. He asked if he could come by and pour the new vintage, and the Azul Profundo tagged along. I help a woman find wines for her club, and she was tasting with us. With one look we agreed we were both buying this wine. Beautiful pure fruit, deft oak use (you have to be looking to notice any at all), and a style that speaks to many palates. After watching my wife and mother-in-law fawn over it on Thursday, I started writing. When a wine lights up my wife’s face like that, I go back for more. I’m a Beverage Industry Professional (BIP) so I can get an “It’s good, I like it,” out of her most of the time, but to get that instant glow is difficult and therefore my constant challenge. This is instant glow wine.

I really enjoy this grape when it is done well, and most of the time it is not, so I end up being very picky. I think I’ve written about two non Burgundy Pinot producers total: Cima Collina and Anthill Farms (2006s coming soon!), and this made the cut to be number three. I love what this wine is doing under $20, and everybody who tries it seems to agree. Delicious, quality Pinot Noir with a retro price. There’s not a lot more to say than that.

SCD Dinner Report: Peter and I had two very successful dinners with SubCulture Dining last weekend. 9 courses, eight wines, and too many chocolates to count. There was an abundance of creative, delicious food, and the communal dining environment was a blast. If you were on the fence about attending, and you’re wondering whether you missed out: Yep. I wasn’t exactly sure what Peter and I were getting into, but now I’m looking forward to the next one. If you’re adventurous, you like to eat well, and you enjoy meeting foodies from all walks of life, we recommend checking it out. - Ben Jordan

2006 Azul Profundo Pinot Noir Bio Bio Valley
Red Wine; Pinot Noir; Chile;

$19.98

Tasting Notes (For the Pinot Noir, not the 9 course meal)
You know me, if the wine does’t smell good, it’s not going home with me. I was skeptical (as I should be) about a Pinot Noir with a price this low, but when I put my nose on it that changed. And then there’s the palate. There’s a wonderful mouthfeel that you can only achieve with this variety. But to really describe this wine we have to talk about the fruit. The way it charms you, the way it carries richness, and the way it harmonizes the experience of the wine as whole. When I'm recommending wine, I feel the need to describe it in terms of its components and how extreme or subtle they are. I do this because everyone has different tastes, and I want them to understand where on their taste spectrum these pieces-parts sit. You really need to do that so you don’t send someone home with exactly the kind of wine they despise. I don’t feel the need to do that here. This speaks the language of all palates.

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Summertime Thirst Quenchers

South Continent Pinot Noir: The Instant Glow