Baga: it’s not just for leitão anymore!

Baga is one of the hundreds of native Portuguese grapes that most people have neither heard of nor encountered. A few writers have sporadically brought a spotlight to the maligned grape but it has largely remained in obscurity. And rightly so until the last few decades… the harsh, rustic style of the wines gave rise to an old saying, “it takes three men to drink a bottle of [Baga]: one to drink it and two to hold him up.”

 

Portugal's wine regions. Bairrada can be seen just south of Vinhos Verdes.

Baga is native to the Bairrada region of Portugal. It has historically made two main styles of wine: tannic, unapproachable reds that mellow very little with age, and red sparkling espumante tinto. These wines find their perfect pairing in the legendary regional dish called leitão. Leitão is suckling pig, 6 weeks old, rubbed with spices and lard, skewered, and roasted to a crispy perfection in a hot clay oven. The pig is cut into small pieces (none of it is wasted)  and served with the obligatory potatoes and leafy greens of the Bairrada region. The harsh tannins in the Baga reds and the racy acidity and rustic fruitiness in the espumante tinto are exactly what’s needed to cut through the gooey fat of the suckling pig. However, these wines tend to be a little more difficult to consume sans leitão.

the typical dish of Bairrada: leitão

But this grape has experienced a recent renaissance courtesy of a man known in some circles as “Mr. Baga.” The man is Luis Pato, the best-known producer in the Bairrada region. Pato is a trained chemical engineer who, after taking over his parents’ winery in the 1980s, took a slightly different approach to winemaking. He began destemming and using oak barrels, introduced rotary fermenters, and stood behind the use of the almost extinct native Baga grape.

Luis Pato and his Baga vineyards

 

And Pato proved himself to be a revolutionary in more places than the winery. His relentless battle with pushy Bairrada administrators regarding the DOC laws resulted in his choice to abandon the Bairrada DOC on his labels and replace it with the umbrella appellation Beiras. After a prolonged campaign, the DOC revised its regulations. Beginning in 2008 “Bairrada” once again appeared on Luis Pato wines.

Pato’s Baga reds are a softer, rounder, but true-to-form version of their coarse ancestors. The 2008 was rich and powerful, and had a deliciously intriguing funky note of earth and barnyard that made it a favorite for us. His Baga espumante tinto, available by the glass at The Barrel Room (see our menu here), is a wonderfully unique rosé-colored sparkling red wine made from grapes harvested six weeks early. The high acidity present in the grapes is maintained throughout vinification resulting in a refreshing bubbly that would be excellent with the suckling pig of Bairrada, but also pairs nicely with our hard cheeses and prosciutto-wrapped dates. 

Luis Pato's espumante tinto

Luis Pato has succeeded in paying homage to the native Baga, embracing a style that offers culinary versatility and is sure to force the grape from its veil of anonymity. So, Mr. Pato, we at The Barrel Room thank you. Saúde!

- Sarah 

An Anderson Valley Adventure

Map of the Anderson Valley

This weekend, the ladies of The Barrel Room will be heading up north to Mendocino to watch one of our own tie the knot with a wonderful man. In honor of their nuptials (and in preparation for the wine tasting we will be doing there!), today we're going to discuss the cool-climate wines of the Anderson valley--one of our favorite AVAs in California.

The Anderson Valley is an AVA within an AVA within an AVA. If that sounds confusing, imagine you've been handed a large, gift-wrapped box with a card attached that reads 'North Coast AVA.' "How delightful," you say, "I thoroughly enjoy the wines from several of the six grape-growing regions north of San Francisco, like Sonoma and the Napa Valley." Excitedly, you tear open the box, only to find a smaller box inside! This one bears a note with the words 'Mendocino AVA.' Knowing this is one of California's most diverse growing regions, your curiosity as to what lies within is piqued. Of course, you are not surprised when you open that box to find yet another within. This one is labeled 'Anderson Valley AVA,' and you breathe a sigh of relief. By now you're pretty certain that there is a bottle of wine inside (and if there isn't, the person who gave it to you is kind of a jerk). Based on what you've heard about the Anderson Valley, you feel confident that the cooling influence of Pacific fog rolling in from the coast will have helped to produce a nuanced wine that is low in alcohol and high in acidity, whether it is red, white, rosé or sparkling.

Fog rolling in over the Anderson Valley

The wines of the picturesque Anderson Valley often bear a striking resemblance to those from Alsace--the region that France finally seems to have declared permanent victory over in the perpetual game of Red Rover it has been playing with Germany for centuries. Like their Alsatian counterparts, the reds are primarily light-bodied, earthy Pinot Noirs, while whites like Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and Pinot Blanc stun with precision and aromatics. In fact, this region is so enamored with the wines of that region in northeastern France that each February, the International Alsace Varietals Festival is held there. 


Cabot Vineyards (based in Humboldt County) makes a great example of Anderson Valley Pinot Noir, currently available by the glass at The Barrel Room. The 2010 vintage is soft and earthy, with notes of spice, red cherry, and strawberry. Served alongside the Domaine Allimant-Laugner Pinot Noir from Alsace in a flight, it is interesting to compare the differences and similarities. Other notable producers in the area include Navarro Vineyards, Handley Cellars, Goldeneye Winery, Londer Vineyards, and Philo Ridge Vineyards, Roederer Estate (known for sparkling wine). 

More fog rolling in over the Anderson Valley

Located just over two hours north of San Francisco and encompassing the towns of Boonville, Philo and Navarro, the Anderson Valley is unique in its geography in that the vineyards cut laterally through a coastal mountain range, rather than lying between ridges. Combined with the cooling effects of the nearby Pacific Ocean, this produces a wide diurnal range, meaning that temperatures are radically different between daytime and night. Warm daytime temperatures enable the grapes to slowly reach physiological ripeness without the sugar levels going through the roof, while cool nights--sometimes up to 50 degrees cooler--allow the fruit to maintain its acidity. This type of climate helps to create a wonderfully balanced end product.

If you plan to visit the Anderson Valley, you may want to brush up on your Boontling. What's that you say? Your high school didn't offer Boontling as a language option? Whatever, I'm sure Spanish will be really useful. If you want to impress the locals in Boonville, you'll have to speak to them in the esoteric, English-based language invented by residents of this 700-person town in the late 19th century. Drawing also on Scottish Gaelic, Irish, Pomo Indian, and Spanish, the language is spoken nowhere else in the world, which is a shame because its 1000-plus words are extremely colorful and creative in nature. To get you started, the most important word you need to know is 'frati'--Boontling for wine, of course. But don't get can-kicky and throw a wheeler if you pike to Boont and the locals want to shark because you're a brightlighter.* They're a pretty insular community. But they make some damn good wine.

-Nikki

A little bit of Boontling poetry

*Translation: Don't get angry and throw a fit if you travel to Boonville and the locals want to fight because you're an outsider. 

Grower Champagne: Step Outside of the Big Houses

View of the Côtes des Blancs

When most people think of Champagne they think of the big names: Veuve Cliquot, Moët & Chandon, Mumm, Bollinger and many others.  These are the prominent houses of Champagne who primarily source their grapes from many growers throughout the Champagne region.  The small growers who provide the big houses with grapes not only make their own Champagnes but they make Champagnes that are comparable to some of the big names, in many cases for a fraction of the price.  These Champagnes are called “Grower Champagnes”.

While the big houses produce some noteworthy champagnes, grower Champagnes tend to be more terroir driven, reflecting the place where the grapes are from, perhaps a little more subdued, yet still refined. In contrast, the big Champagne houses are more focused on making consistent wines vintage after vintage. 

Grower champagnes are easily identified by looking closely at Champagne labels.  At the bottom of a Champagne label you can find 2 letters followed by a set of numbers.  Look for the “RM” (Récoltant-Manipulant), which is an indication that the Champagne is a grower Champagne.

  

Grower Champagne has gained some traction over the past few years in the US market, and it’s worth checking out.  While the big houses are spending millions in marketing, the growers depend on their importers and distributors to taut their wines, which leads to a more affordable and accessible Champagne.

There are around 5,000 growers who produce wines from their own grapes in Champagne, some of which is imported into the U.S. Try Grower Champagne at the Barrel Room. We have Bereche et Fils Brut Reserve, Guy Brunot 1er Cru Grand Reserve Brut, Paul Déthune Grand Cru Brut and André Robert Grand Cru ‘Le Mesnil’.  All are fantastic and affordable Champagnes made by families of grape growers, not corporations. 

In the cellar of André Robert. Le Mesnil sur Oger, Champagne

Cheers!

- Carolyn

All-American Zinfandel?

What’s more Californian than a glass of spicy, jammy, rich Zinfandel? Californians have been sipping massive Zins with typical American fares like barbecued ribs and peppery steaks for generations. Zin was, in fact, termed “America’s vine and wine.” As a blush wine, White Zinfandel took the market by storm in 1869, when El Pinal Winery in Lodi started the trend. And though White Zin has become less favored recently, it still has enough intrigue to inspire veteran cult wineries like Turley to produce it.

the best-known White Zin: Beringer

Until quite recently the origins of this mysterious grape were unknown, and the style of Zinfandel wine developed in the hot, sunny vineyards of California. It was no wonder this explosive high-alcohol raspberry- and blackberry-fruit laden red was though to originate in the south of Italy, especially given its similarity to the Primitivo grape (later proven to be a clone of Zinfandel). But U.C. Davis Professor Emeritus Carole Meredith discovered in 2002 via DNA profiling that California Zin is, in fact, an ancient grape that used to be widely grown in Dalmatia in what is now Croatia: Crljenak Kaštelanski.

a Crljenak vineyard in Croatia

So how did this confusion come about, and how did the grape get the name “Zinfandel?” Between 1820 and 1829, a horticulturist on Long Island named George Gibbs received crates of grapes from all over Europe. One crate was labeled tzinifándli, a Hungarian translation of Zierfandler, a white grape from Austria’s Thermenregion. The receiving team couldn’t quite make out the name written on the crate and relabeled it “Zinifandel,” from which the name Zinfandel ultimately arose.

a Zinfandel grape bunch beginning to raisin

During the Gold Rush in the 1850’s Zinfandel made it to the west coast and was planted just north of Napa. In the hot California sun the grape ripened to an extremely high sugar concentration, and had a tendency to raisin. In 1857 Joseph Osborne made the first Zin which received high praise and was soon repeated by many local wineries.

After Prohibition there was quite a shortage of the grape. Its origins were forgotten, and wineries began to confuse it with the Black Sonora grape which was growing alongside it. Winemakers started producing insipid, uninteresting wine with it through the mid-1900’s. But luckily more recently a new interest in Zin has emerged and winemakers have been experimenting with this powerhouse of a wine grape, bringing it to new heights.

Zayante vineyards in Felton, California

But back to Croatia momentarily… Crljenak was a very popular grape in Dalmatia until the phylloxera epidemic in the late 19^th century. One of its prodgenies, however, survived quite well and is thriving today: Plavac Mali. Plavac is a cross between Crljenak and Dobričić, and is one of Croatia’s largest wine exports to the US today. It produces wines similar to California Zins: black pepper, spice, and blackberries, all wrapped up in a rich, tannic structure, perfect for grilled meats. Plavac and its Zinfandel counterpart are very interesting to taste together. If you’re curious, we’ve got a comparison this month at The Barrel Room: Zayante Zinfandel versus Dingač Plavac Mali (see our list here).

So how Californian is Zinfandel? Though the grape made its way here from the traditional vineyards of Dalmatia, California Zin now has a style all its own and is without question one of the all-American grapes.

- Sarah

Happy Father's Day, Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc grapes

Did you remember to call your father yesterday? Maybe you sent him a card, bought him a tie, or took him out to lunch. Perhaps you even enjoyed a great bottle of cabernet sauvignon together. If so, chances are there is one very important father you forgot to acknowledge: cabernet franc. 


You see, when a mommy grape and a daddy grape love each other very much, they spontaneously cross-pollenate and a new grape variety is born. In this case, sauvignon blanc and cabernet franc had a little too much to drink one 17th century night in southwestern France, and we now have them to thank for the existence of cabernet sauvignon. Sauvignon blanc has since gone on to lead a rich and fulfilling life, achieving worldwide fame for tart and aromatic white wines in New Zealand, France and beyond. But poor cabernet franc has received little recognition, unjustly overshadowed by a son who grew up to be bigger and stronger than his father. 


When the movie Sideways became popular, strange things happened to the wine industry. No one could have ever predicted that the musings of one fictional, disgruntled wine snob could have effectively destroyed the entire merlot industry while simultaneously making pinot noir the most sought-after grape on the planet, but they did. That's old news, though. One scene, however, is often glossed over in discussions of the movie--that in which the aforementioned wine snob embarks on a derisive rant against cabernet franc, dismissing it as being "hollow, flabby, and overripe." This criticism had little effect on the cabernet franc industry because, well, no one has seemed to give much of a damn about cabernet franc before or since.

Miles and Jack are NOT drinking any fucking Merlot!

But they should! Softer, subtler, more perfumed and less tannic than the cabernet of the sauvignon variety, cab franc can produce truly beautiful wines in the cool soils of St.-Emilion and Pomerol in Bordeaux, and in the even cooler soils of the Loire Valley. These wines tend to have pronounced aromas and flavors of juicy raspberry, cassis, wet stone, tobacco, green bell pepper, and violets. Most notably, this under-appreciated grape gets top billing in the revered Premier Grand Cru Saint-Émilion Château Cheval Blanc, the cab franc/merlot Bordeaux blend whose virtues the main character in Sideways spends much of the movie extolling. Elsewhere in Bordeaux, cabernet franc is generally treated as an "insurance policy" in case the cabernet sauvignon grapes fail to properly ripen, relegated to the lowly status of a blending grape--adding a touch of seasoning to tame the aggression and power of its bolder offspring. 

Château Cheval Blanc

Luckily for fans of this underdog grape, winemakers in parts of Canada, New York State, and Washington seem to be waking up to the potential of the wines it is capable of producing. Cabernet Franc is also gaining momentum as a varietal wine in Australia, Italy, Chile, South Africa, New Zealand, and California. A particularly pleasant surprise, though, is the 2009 Batič cabernet franc from Slovenia, available by the glass at The Barrel Room this month. Like the cabernet franc grape itself, Slovenia doesn't get a lot of credit in the wine world. But this country, home to the oldest living grapevine in the world (400 years and counting!), is producing wines that are certainly worthy of worldwide attention. Father-and-son duo Ivan and Miha Batič make a rich, juicy cab franc with a gorgeous perfume of flowers and herbs, a silky texture, and flavors of dark chocolate, spice, and ripe fruit. If there was ever a wine that could make the world appreciate cabernet franc for more than just siring a famous and beloved son, this is it. Do yourself a favor and give this grape some belated Fathers' Day love soon!  


-Nikki

 Ivan and Miha Batič 

Old World versus New World Wines

Many divide the wine into two categories: Old World and New World. 

Old world refers to Europe and the Mediterranean, countries like France, Italy, Spain, Hungary, Turkey and Germany.  Old world wines are more terroir driven, generally softer and subtler wines.  Often earthy and subdued, Old World producers rely more on geography and tradition than technology. Old World wine tradition goes back several thousand years to the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans.

Vitis Vinifera or wine vines were introduced to the New World during the Age of Exploration in the 15^th, 16^th and 17^th Centuries. They were planted primarily by missionaries who followed the explorers, bringing with them vines to make wine for religious purposes.

The New World style is more fruit driven with bold flavors.  New World wines include wines from the U.S., Chile, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. Many of these countries and growing regions are located in warmer climates, which produce riper wines. In the New World there is predominant culture of change and experimentation in wine making styles compared to the Old World, where winemakers are constrained by strict local regulations. In the New World, through technology and science, winemakers are able to adapt more.  The varietal and winemaker play an important role in New World winemaking, where in the Old World weather and environment are regarded as forces that determine the outcome of a vintage. 

While the Old World is very much steeped in tradition there has been some crossover in the past few years, more Old World producers are embracing some of the wine making techniques and technology conceived in the New World.  At the same time many New World wine makers are intentionally creating wines in an Old World style, with less manipulation and earlier harvests.

On a personal level, I find the wines from the Old World to be more food friendly.  French wines for instance, wines pair perfectly with their regional dishes.  Red Burgundy and coq au vin,  Cahors and Cassoulet are great examples.  New World styles tend to work better as quaffing wines.  Most inspiring to me are the New World wine makers who successfully create wines in an old world style, I find myself in constant search of a New World wine that breaks out of the big, oaky, fruity, high alcohol mold.  

Our new Menu launches today, featuring wines from all over the world.  Stop by the Barrel Room to participate in our passport program and try wines from around the globe, including Greece, South Africa, Australia and Slovenia.  Taste for yourself the difference between the Old World and New. 

Cheers!
-Carolyn

sherry, spain's little-known treasure

 "If penicillin can cure those that are ill, Spanish sherry can bring the dead back to life." - Sir Alexander Fleming 

"So fine, varied and noble a wine is sherry - and so intriguingly complicated is it to make..." - Jancis Robinson

Sherry is a fascinating wine with a rich and colorful history. Luckily for us the Sherry wine styles haven’t changed much over their 3,000 years of production, allowing us the opportunity to explore an ancient wine untouched by modernization.

the Sherry triangle

The “Sherry triangle” consists of three cities in the southwest of Spain: Jerez de la Frontera (from which Sherry derives its name), Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and El Puerto de Santa María. This area has been making wine since a Canaanite tribe, the Phoenicians, brought grapes here from the Ancient Middle East in 1100 BC. Later the Moors introduced alembic distillation to the region, creating a precursor to brandy.  Spanish and Portuguese explorers during the Age of Exploration loaded up their ships with Sherry in order to have the comfort of wine while traveling far from home. Sherry was likely the first wine that came to the New World aboard explorers’ ships. The English love for “Sherris sack” (literally translated from “Jerez saca” as “extracted wine from Jerez”) began with Sir Francis Drake’s raid on the Spanish Armada in Cadiz during which he captured many barrels of the coveted wine and brought them home; William Shakespeare’s Sir John Falstaff has been famously quoted as saying “If I had a thousand sons, the first humane principle I would teach them should be, to forswear thin potations and to addict themselves to sack.”

Sherry clearly has quite a history. This story would never have come about, however, were it not for the unique soil in the Sherry triangle and the two crucial winds that blow across it. 

Albariza is a fine white chalky soil composed mainly of miniscule fossilized sea creatures. This powdery mixture absorbs water like a sponge and dries like cement. Introduce the hot, dry levante wind blowing from the east and you get a perfect situation for the unlikely vineyards in the region: moist soil providing water to the roots of the vines, kept in place by a blow-dried hard crust on top. Another wind, the humid poniente, blows from the west providing additional moisture that becomes trapped in the soil little by little. This presence of groundwater and a bit of humidity allows the vines to grow healthy grape bunches, and lets ambient yeasts that will later form flor ensconce themselves on the skins of the Pedro Ximénez, Palomino, and Moscatel grapes growing in the Sherry triangle. 

Palomino vines in albariza

Now for the winemaking. After the grapes are harvested and fermented, the desired Sherry style is determined. If the wine is destined to become a crisp, pale Fino (or Manzanilla, which is a very light Fino made only in Sanlúcar de Barrameda), brandy is added to raise the alcohol level to around 15%. If it is made in the Oloroso or Amontillado style, alcohol is added until the wine reaches 18%. This very important distinction determines the style of the Sherry. 

a Sherry cask with flor

Finos have a low enough alcohol content such that a special native yeast that forms a film known as flor can survive in it and grow into a protective layer on top of the wine. Finos then begin aging “biologically” as tiny amounts of oxygen seep through the layer and the yeasts in the film slowly convert the acid and sugar in the wine. Biological aging increases acetaldehydes in the wine, producing the characteristic bite Fino is known to have. 

an Oloroso, Amontillado, and Fino, left to right

Amontillados and Olorosos have too high an alcohol content to support the film of flor for long. The layer dissipates, leaving the wine exposed to oxygen. This darkens the color and gives a nutty flavor to these Sherries. Palo Cortados are a very interesting hybrid of the two styles which originally start off as Finos until the flor dies off (intentionally or accidentally), after which oxidative aging occurs. These wines have the bite and salinity of Finos and the complex nuttiness of Olorosos.

Sherry wines are aged in a complex system called a solera. This is a process of fractional blending which mixes wines from each new vintage with wines from all previous vintages. The aging process is sped up by blending; Sherry derives its unique style partially from this process.

a drawing of a solera system

Sherry is often misunderstood in the international wine market. This is largely due to the many imposters, including that bottle labeled "Sherry" you can find in the supermarket... that bottle, in fact, typically does not even contain wine. It often is a mix of distilled cheap alcohol and artificial coloring. Also, the many confusing styles of Sherry are intimidating to would-be consumers. But hopefully a little clarification of Sherry will pique interest in this ancient wine. 


If you’d like to have a taste of these delicious wines, sample a few with a flight (our Sherry flight can be seen on our menu at The Barrel Room here) and delve into the traditional and generally unappreciated world of Sherry!

-    - Sarah

only excellent: the story of the wines of the finger lakes

"Only Excellent. Good Wine is not good enough for humans - only excellent will do."--Dr. Konstantin Frank

Dr. Konstantin Frank

Once upon a time, the wines of the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York were little more than boozy grape juice, and those who produced them had resigned themselves to mediocrity. Believing that it was simply too cold in the region to grow quality, vitis vinifera grapes, winemakers of the region had long relied on the simple, sugary wines made from cold-hardy native American and French hybrid grapes like Concord and Catawba. It would take the persistence and dedication of a maverick mad scientist to turn the Finger Lakes into the impressive wine-producing region it is today.

In 1951, the prayers of those who desired great wine were answered with the arrival of Dr. Konstantin Frank, a 54-year-old Ukrainian immigrant, to the region. Although in the old country Dr. Frank had been a respected viticulturist, English was not one of the nine languages he spoke, so in New York he was forced to take a low-level, menial labor job at the Geneva Research Station, a grape research facility at Cornell University. Once he had found his in, Dr. Frank immediately began urging the local winemakers to experiment with planting vinifera grape varieties. He explained that his thesis at the Odessa Polytechnic Institute had been on techniques for growing vitis vinifera in a cold climate, and that if it could be done in the below-freezing winters of Ukraine, it could certainly be done in slightly milder New York. 

Winter in the Finger Lakes

As most mad scientists are at first, Dr. Frank was ridiculed by the local winemaking community. His idea that the failure of vinifera wines in the region was due not to icy temperatures but to the lack of proper rootstock was viewed as ludicrous (although admittedly, he may have hurt his case by telling women who drank labrusca wines that they would be unable to get pregnant as a result). The ornery Ukrainian viticulturist, however, refused to give up. After much perseverance, he finally was able to convince local sparkling wine producer Charles Fournier to give him a chance. Together, they planted thousands of Chardonnay and Riesling vines grafted onto hardy rootstock in Quebec, Canada, and then waited patiently until 1957, when the vines proved Dr. Frank's hypothesis to be correct. 

Shortly thereafter, Dr. Frank founded Vinifera Wine Cellars, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary next month, in Hammondsport, New York. The first vintage, a trockenbeerenauslese Riesling, was released in 1962, and upon tasting the success for themselves, other winemakers sheepishly began to follow suit. The Finger Lakes region is now home to more than 100 wineries producing wines made from vinifera grapes, the best of which are often bone dry, aromatic Rieslings, although great success has been had with Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, and Gewürztraminer as well. More recently, experimentation with Austrian varieties such as Blaufrankisch and Grüner Veltliner has led to pleasing results. 

Keuka Lake in Autumn

In addition to Dr. Frank's Vinifera Wine Cellars, now run by Konstantin's grandson Frederick Frank and still producing some of the best wines in the state, top Finger Lakes producers include Sheldrake Point, Red Tail Ridge, Ravines, Hermann J. Wiemer, and Hearts & Hands. These wines are still sorely under-appreciated in the national marketplace, which makes them a little hard to find on the West Coast, but luckily a few of them are available at The Barrel Room. We have Sheldrake Point's fantastic 2007 Reserve Riesling by the bottle, as well as their delightfully aromatic and spicy 2010 Gewürztraminer by the glass. Also available by the bottle is Red Tail Ridge's earthy and unusual 2008 Lemberger (a synonym for Blaufrankisch). If you haven't tried the wines of the Finger Lakes, you are missing out. But if you, like us, have tried them and loved them, then you can thank Dr. Konstantin Frank. 


-Nikki