Dry Creek Valley & Rockpile

There was a time when I was almost as passionate about baking bread as I am  about tasting wine.  My passion was so strong that I bought a baking stone for my home oven, a baker's peel to move the loaves in and out of the oven, and I made a sourdough starter for that authentic flavor and texture in my breads. 

Then I read an online article about Lou Preston, owner of Sonoma's Preston Farm and Winery, in the Dry Creek Valley, who claimed to be as enthusiastic about bread baking as I had become.  Preston is a winemaker who understands the science behind yeast fermentation in bread and wine, and I wanted to know what he knew about bread baking. 

                                     

After a few failed attempts, my starter was bubbling and had multiplied, so I baked two loaves of Rosemary and Sea Salt sourdough bread. Then, with the warm aromas of fresh bread filling the kitchen, I called Lou Preston for an interview about baking bread and making wine.

Preston's hobby had taken on a new dimension when he found the directions for building your own beehive wood-fired oven. Using adobe and willow, Preston fashioned an oven in the yard beside his winery, which he proudly showed to me.  In the winery tasting room, there was a basket of freshly-baked bread pieces, for tasters to cleanse their palates between sips of Preston wines. The Preston touch is unusual as most winery tasting rooms offer store-bought bread or crackers.

Dry Creek Valley

That visit to Preston Vineyard helped me gain confidence as a bread baker, and it  re-acquainted me with the wines of Dry Creek Valley, one of Sonoma County's premier wine regions. 

Dry Creek Valley is wedged between U.S. 101, west of Healdsberg, and the low, rolling north-south hills in west county.  A mere 16 miles long and 2 miles wide, the valley has Warm Springs dam at the north end, holding back Lake Sonoma. 

In the latter part of the 19th century, Zinfandel and a mix of varieties, known as field blends, were common in Dry Creek Valley. Before Prohibition, the valley was mostly pears and prunes.  Today, there are 150 grape growers and 70 wineries. J. Pedroncelli and Frei Bros. (now a Gallo winery) are the only wineries to have survived Prohibition.

                                

After repeal, Zinfandel took on increased importance in Dry Creek Valley, but since 2004, the emphasis on big Zins has moved to Rockpile, a rugged stony tract overlooking the lake and part of the valley.

Rockpile

Rockpile, a patch of rocks and shallow soil at 800 to 1,900 feet above the valley, became an AVA in 2002, about 11 years after the reservoir known as Lake Sonoma submerged some of Dry Creek Valley's best Zin vineyards. 

With cooler daytime temperatures than the valley, Rockpile, a sub region of Dry Creek Valley, became a good spot for red varieties, particularly Zinfandel.  Some Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah are grown, plus small amounts of Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. 

Rockpile vineyard and Lake Sonoma

Zinfandel is considered the best expression of the Rockpile vitisphere. In an earlier piece I wrote about Rockpile, I found this quote by Carol Shelton of Carol Shelton Wines on why she thinks Rockpile is a good place for growing Zinfandel. "The fog begins to burn off earlier on Rockpile than it does further down in Dry Creek Valley...and the view goes on forever."

Rockpile Zins are fleshier than Zins from the valley, with more berry and spice notes, plus black pepper and fine tannin.  Zinfandels with Rockpile on the label include Rosenblum, Carol Shelton Wines, Mauritson, Rockpile Vineyards, Paradise Ridge and St. Francis. Price range: $42 to  $55.  

More Dry Creek Valley...

Other important Dry Creek varietal red wines include Cabernet Sauvignon and a collection of Rhone-style wines such as Syrah and Grenache, two varietals that are growing in popularity. 

While red wines dominate in Dry Creek Valley, there is interest in white wine, mainly Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.  Since David Stare, founder of Dry Creek Vineyard, made his first Fume Blanc in 1972, Sauvignon Blanc has been the valley's leading white wine. 

Today, DCV continues to make Fume Blanc, plus three Sauvignon Blancs, including their flagship DCV3 Sauvignon Blanc and The Mariness Meritage blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon and Muscadelle du Bordelais.  DCV also makes a crisp Chenin Blanc, answering the demands of a faithful market for the variety.

There is no "Dry Creek wine character," but plenty of winery tasting rooms up and down the valley are available for the taster to sip and decide for themselves.  Here are a dozen Dry Creek wineries that can be counted on for consistent quality and value: Dry Creek Vineyard, Preston Farm & Winery, Sbragia, Ferrari-Carano, Wilson, Ridge, J. Pedroncelli, Mauritson, Seghesio, Nalle, Mazzocco, Michel-Schlumberger. 

Combined, Dry Creek Valley and Rockpile, offer a diversity of wine styles, one for every taste and budget.  Discover for yourself by visiting DCV today or stop at your local wine shop to see what is so special about Dry Creek wines.

 

Next blog: Oz Shiraz

Got a comment or suggestion, write me at boydvino707@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

The perfect meal: A hunk of freshly baked sourdough bread and a glass of wine.

 

Past and Future

Dear Readers,

Do you remember, in the last weeks of 1999, when excitement was palpable about Y2K and the coming of the new century?  Worriers swore that when the final second of the departing year ticked off, we would be doomed. But the new year began, like every other year, and now here we are nearly a quarter of the way into the 21st century. 

When this blog debuted in 2019, my mission statement was to stay away from wine business politics, wine gossip, and wine trade news, although I did stray a few times, when I felt the need to say something. 

In 2023, I wrote 52 weekly posts about a wide variety of wine topics, including   basic useful wine information, bits and pieces of background, designed to help you, the reader, be more informed about the wines you buy, store and drink. 

Specifically, the blogs covered wine from five different countries, 11 regions, and 13 different varietals, from Chenin Blanc to Cabernet Franc.  There was a series of blogs on my adventures in California wine, plus posts on wine flaws, rose wines, the pros and cons of wine competitions, Bordeaux blends and more. 

Looking Ahead 

Now, with the beginning of 2024 only days ahead, I'm thinking of making some major changes in the format of the blog and the service that brings Gerald D Boyd On Wine from my computer to yours.

The content won't change, just the way it will look, with a new design and the addition of social media, and a way to answer your comments.  I welcome any comments and suggestions you may have. 

I hope to have the first blog of 2024 in place by January 12, or earlier. 

 

Happy New Year,

Gerald D. Boyd

boydvino707@gmail.com

 

 

See how they sparkle!

Every year, at this time, wine writers struggle to think of different ways to write about Champagne and other sparkling wines.  So, this post is intended as a basic buying guide to Champagne, Cava, California sparkling wine and Prosecco, the four most popular bubblies. 

As reported in the e-zine "Seven Fifty Daily," the growth in sparkling wine, across all categories, continues to go up, in contrast to that for still wines. Champagne leads the pack, followed by Prosecco, then Cava.  In terms of the number of bottles sold in 2022, Prosecco outpaces Champagne, then German Sekt, Cava, Italian Franciacorta and California Sparkling wine.

Champagne

Perhaps it's the centuries spent making the same wine in the same place, using the same grapes to cause the wine to sparkle in the same labor-intensive way, that makes Champagne the epitome of sparkling wine. 

Or, is Champagne the top sparkling wine because we've been told for decades by Champagne marketing that it is?

                                              

Whatever, sparkling wine makers worldwide probably agree that the champenois make the best Champagne. But there is equally good bubbly made outside the delimited region of Champagne in northeastern France. 

Champagne is a blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and occasionally a little Pinot Meunier.  The chef de cave makes the blend, sometimes adding in reserve wines from earlier vintages, plus a dose of wine and sugar, called liqueur de tirage to form the bubbles.  A crown cap (like those on beer bottles) is affixed, the bottles are stacked (tirage) in a cave or cellar, where they develop complex flavors. 

A second fermentation is achieved en tirage, producing the famous pin-point bubbles.  The bottles are shaken and rotated by hand or machine to settle the yeast sediment in the neck of the bottle and are then taken from tirage. The crown cap is removed, a finishing dosage added for style and the final cork rammed home and held in place by the wire net. Finally, the bottle is dressed with the foil capsule. 

These are the broadest styles of Champagne: Blanc de Blancs, made only from Chardonnay; Blanc de Noirs, made from Pinot Noir and/or Pinot Meunier; Rose Champagne and Vintage Champagne. Each house usually has a Prestige Cuvee, a luxury wine such as Cristal and Dom Perignon.  

Within these broad styles, the dosage levels, dry to sweet, are:  Brut Nature or Zero Dosage, under .3% residual sugar; Extra Brut, less than .6%; Brut, 1.2%; Sec, 1.7-3.2% ; Demi-Sec, 3.2-5% ; Doux, 5% plus. Prestige Cuvees are usually made only in the Brut style.

There are hundreds of Champagne houses, far too many to recommend here, so here is a short list of Champagne, priced at $35 to $250: Louis Roederer, Michel Arnould, Billecart-Salmon, Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Gosset, Pol Roger, Laurent-Perrier, Krug, Taittinger. 

The buzz in Champagne, at least from Bollinger, is that the future of Champagne could be still wine. It's another worry brought on by climate change, but if a changing climate will make it difficult to ripen the three varieties used to make sparkling wine, then switching to still wine may also be problematic.  Besides, there is Coteaux Champenois, a still wine made by a number of Champagne houses. 

Cava

Cava is the Catalan word for "cellar," and not a Spanish acronym, as is commonly thought.  The majority of Cava is produced around Sant Sadurni d'Anoia, near Barcelona.  However, Spanish DO regulations allow sparkling wine in five other appellations, including Rioja, to be called Cava.

Prior to 1970, Spanish sparkling wine made using the traditional Champagne method was called "Champana."  The French objected, so the Spanish adopted Cava.  However, the objection didn't deter sparkling wine producers in other parts of the world from continuing to call their bubbly Champagne. 

                                                    

Today, 95% of all Cava is made in Catalonia from three grapes: Macabeo, Parellada and Xarello. In 1986, in a move away from native Spanish varieties toward more traditional French grapes, Spanish law allowed the addition of Chardonnay, and in 1998, Pinot Noir was allowed. Garnacha (Grenache) and Monastrell are also permitted.

There is some turmoil within the ranks of DO Cava.  In 2019, nine major Cava producers, unhappy with the way the DO was running things, left DO Cava and became part of Corpinnat. Meanwhile, depending on what source you read, sales of DO Cava have been going up.

Cava must be made using the traditional methods, and must spend a minimum nine months on the lees in tirage.  Remuage, the technique of riddling or shaking the bottles, is mostly done today in Spain by a gyropalette, a mechanical devise capable of shaking hundreds of bottles at a time.

Major brands of Cava include Juve y Camps, Roger Goulart, Segura Viudas, Campo Viejo, Jaume Sera, Codorniu, Vilarnau, Freixenet. Price range: $17 to $25.

California Sparkling Wine

Although, in the early years, a few sparkling wine houses in the Napa Valley, Schramsberg, Kornell, plus Korbel and Iron Horse in Sonoma Co., made bubbly using the traditional method.  The number of producers remained static until 1973 when the Champagne house of Moet & Chandon opened Domaine Chandon in Napa.

                                              

Before long, other European producers were making sparkling wine in California, including the French houses of G.H. Mumm, Roederer, Piper Heidsieck, Taittinger, Pommery, Champagne Deutz, and the Spanish houses of Codorniu and Freixenet (Gloria Ferrer).  Deutz and Pommery eventually left the state.

Another way to get bubbles into wine is the tank or bulk method, commonly called Charmat, or the French name, cuve close.  Use of the tank method is less expensive, but, say critics, it makes lower quality sparkling wine.

There is a broad range of California sparkling wine, both in quality and price. Here are just a few of the better known ones made by the traditional method: Gloria Ferrer, J Vineyards, Mumm Napa, Domaine Carneros, Ultramarine, Domaine Chandon, Roederer Estate, Iron Horse and Schramsberg. Price range: $18 to $35.

Prosecco

Few sparkling wines have smashed U.S. sales records like Prosecco, the Italian bubbly from the huge DOC zone in the northeast Italian regions of Veneto and Friuli. While there's no denying the popularity of Prosecco, especially in the United States, sorting out the grapes, appellations and production practices, can be confusing.

In 2009, Prosecco was granted DOC status and shortly after, the classic zone was made DOCG.  Prosecco Classico comes from the tongue-twising towns of Coneglino-Valdobbiadene.  The majority of Prosecco lies in the Veneto region, with the balance around the town of Prosecco in Friuli.

Typically, Prosecco is grapy and slightly sweet, the product of the Glera grape.  With international fame came pressure to finish the wines drier.  Today, some producers have backed off the residual sweetness or make both a dry and semi-dry version.  

                                           

Since popularity of Prosecco took off, the U.S. market has been flooded with brands, including: Bisol, La Marca, Nino Franco, La Gioiosa et Amorosa, Zonin, Carpene Malvolti, Ruffino, Mionetto.  In fact, nearly every major Italian wine maker now has a Prosecco in their portfolio. Most Prosecco is $20 or under.

I read recently that a representative of the house of Bollinger said the firms noted Vielles Vignes special cuvee "may disappear."  The reason?  Climate change and phylloxera are destroying the old vines

I want to end this post with two thoughts: There is a sparkling wine for every taste and sparkling wine is not just a wine for special occasions. 

Happy Holidays!

 

Next blog: Dry Creek Valley

Leave a comment at boydvino707@gmail.com

Portugal

In these heady times, when the demand is for more wine, there are still some growers and winemakers who find it difficult not to succumb to the pressure for more Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Among the holdouts is Portugal, an important wine producer that has resisted the international clamor for more of the same. In recent years, however, the Portuguese wine industry has yielded to pressure, adding a few French grapes, like Syrah, for limited use in some areas.

Portuguese winemakers appreciate the differences between, say, a California and a French Chardonnay.  But they want wine drinkers to know that Portugal does not rely on Chardonnay or Cabernet, preferring to focus on a range of unique wines.

Touriga Nacional & Douro Vineyards 

Indigenous grapes take pride of place in Portugal, with Portuguese wineries using  native varieties to make some of the world's best fortified and still wines. Port (Porto) is a world-beating benchmark for fortified wines. And a handful of the same grapes used to make Port also forms the base of an increasing number of excellent Portuguese still wines.

As of 2013, a Portuguese trade association counted 248 indigenous varieties grown throughout the narrow country that shares the Iberian peninsula with Spain. 

That unwieldy number was whittled down in 1986 when Portugal joined the European Union. Today, wineries work with red varieties like Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (the Spanish Tempranillo), Trincadeira, Alicante Bouschet and Baga, the latter grown mainly in Bairrada, a small region near the historic city of Coimbra. 

In 1970, Port producers, Cockburn and Ramos Pinto, narrowed a group of 80 grapes, traditionally used for Port production, to the five best red grapes: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cao. Since then, a growing number of wineries throughout the country are using the five grapes, especially Touriga Nacional, for still wines.   

Here's a breakout of six of the 17 wine regions in Portugal, including the Azores and Madeira islands; the six are in order of importance to domestic and export wine markets:

Douro: Long known for Port, perhaps the world's best fortified wine, today the Douro River valley in northern Portugal, has built a solid reputation for high quality still wines at reasonable prices.  The same five grapes used to make Port --Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Franca, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cao -- are also used to make Douro still wines. 

Vinho Verde: Portugal's largest wine region, west of the Douro, is best known for aromatic white wines, based mainly on Alvarinho, the Portuguese version of Spain's Albarino.  Many of the vines in this region are still trained on high pergolas.  There is a sparkling Vinho Verde known as espumante.

Dao: More than 80% of Dao wine is red, made mainly from Touriga Nacional and Tinta Roriz.  White Dao wine is made from the Encruzado grape. Dao is a large area south of the Douro and Vinho Verde.

Alenjeto:  Red wines from this small region on the border with Spain rely more on Aragonez, Trincadeira and Alicante Bouschet then Touriga Nacional.  Alentejo supplies more than half of all wine corks used worldwide.

Colares: Smaller yet, this coastal region, north of Lisbon, makes small quantities of distinctive fino Sherry-like white wines, from a type of Malvasia grape and a red wine that resembles Pinot Noir.  Colares vines, planted in sandy soils, are scattered in dunes along the coast.

Algarve: Famous more as a tourist mecca than for its wines, this region, along Portugal's southern coast, makes fortified wines from Portuguese and French grapes, including Negromoll, the most planted grape in Madeira.

Traditionally, red wines from areas like Dao, were available in export.  But since the Port house of Ferreira released Barca Velha a Douro red from Port varieties in 1952, the number of Douro still wines has exploded.  

Here are just a few wineries, most using Touriga Nacional as their primary grape.  Prices are about $20-$25, with a few as high as $50.

From the Douro: Delaforce, Ramos Pinto Duas Quintas, Graham's Quinta do Vesuvio, Symington Vinha do Arco, Quinta do Noval, Mary Taylor Wines Felipe Ferreira, Quinta do Roriz, Prats & Symington Chryseia. From Alentejo and Dao: Niepoort Alentejo, Cartuxa Evora Alentejo, Casa de Passarella Dao, Quinta de Saes Dao. 

The number of non-fortified still wines from Portugal became international best sellers in the 1990s and are still good alternatives, for value and quality, to Cabernet Sauvignon. 

Next blog: Champagne & Sparkling Wine

Leave a comment at boydvino707@gmail.com

 

 

Muscadet & Affordable Wine

In his 1951 book, Wines of France, Alexis Lichine had this brief comment about Muscadet: "Pleasant and dry, the wines are most appealing with oysters and sea food."

Not much there to entice a reader to Muscadet, but then, Lichine added this interesting tid bit: "Prior to the control laws (no doubt, meaning AOC regs.), they (Muscadet) were openly blended with Chablis, to stretch the supply of that scarce and famous wine." Who knew?

Nearly three decades later, Lichine, the eminent wine man, upped his game on Muscadet with two pages in Alexis Lichine's Guide to the Wines and Vineyards of France.  Still not much, but Lichine does give a more thorough explanation of Muscadet, the Loire white wine, produced near Nantes, that's well known to French wine drinkers.  

Muscadet of Nantes 

Nantes is the last major city along the Loire, before the river empties into the Atlantic Ocean.  Closest to the ocean are the sub regions Muscadet Pays Nantais and Muscadet Cotes de Grandieu.  Northeast of Nantes is Muscadet-Coteaux de la Loire. Together, these three small Muscadet zones are known more in local markets than in export.  

Loire River at Nantes

Closer to Nantes is Muscadet Sevre-et-Maine, with 75% of the vineyards, named for the Maine River that flows north past Nantes and the smaller Sevre that connects with the Maine just south of Vallet. The influence of all this water, combined with a variety of soils, makes Muscadet a terroir driven white wine.

Yet in 1979, American wine drinkers were still not that familiar with Muscadet,  despite its popularity in France, and the region being granted AOC status in 1936, as one of France's early approved appellations.  

But Lichine's expanded comments did help popularize the wine in America. Born in Russia, Lichine moved back and forth between France and England, while recognizing the growing potential for wine sales in the United States.

Today, despite Lichine's efforts, Muscadet struggles to stay relevant in an increasingly crowded market.  Blended low-cost whites (and reds) are becoming more common and cheaper, while Chardonnay is still the wine to knock out of first place. 

Muscadet doesn't pretend to be as complex as Chardonnay, although since 1990, some producers add 10% Chardonnay to help Muscadet appeal to more sophisticated consumers. Nor does Muscadet claim to have the flavor profile of Sauvignon Blanc, a wine that's holding its own in the top ranks of white wines.

Melon

Although it sounds like Muscadet could be the name of a grape, perhaps part of the Muscat family, Muscadet wine is made from Melon de Bourgogne, a grape of Burgundy origin.                                 

Banned from Burgundy, along with Gamay, in the 17th century, but adopted in the western Loire by Dutch traders, Melon was mainly used by the Dutch to fuel the distillation in Holland of brandewijn (brandy).  The Burgundy connection makes sense since Melon is related to Chardonnay, and shares some of the same aromatics and flavors like ripe apples, pears and citrus.                  

Until ampelographers sorted out the mistake, a lot of California Pinot Blanc was, in fact, made from Melon. Identifying grapes in the vineyard is not always easy, as berries can look similar and a close inspection is needed to determine leaf shape and design. Years ago, growers and winemakers in northern Italy believed that what they thought was Chardonnay turned out to be Pinot Blanc.  

Affordable Wine

One of the positive things about Muscadet is its good value for the price, about $20 or less.  So, a fitting way to close this post is with a few words on affordable wine. 

Andrew Jefford, a columnist for Decanter magazine, had some interesting things to say about price/quality in a recent issue. Jefford maintains that "ultra wines" like red Burgundy and first growth Bordeaux deserve their high prices, but only the wealthy can afford them. So, he said that, maybe, there's another way for the consumer to benefit from the "ultra" connection.

For those who don't have the big bucks to buy a wine like Ch. Lafite, Jefford said they could look to a "Bordeaux first growth, whose owners also sell $10 Chilean wine...and Corbieres." Lafite distributes Los Vascos from Chile and Ch. d'Aussieres, Corbieres, a red blend, from Languedoc, consisting of Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah and Carignan, although the latter is slowly disappearing from Corbieres.

Perhaps there is a winery patron in Burgundy or Bordeaux that would be interested in adding Muscadet to their portfolio.

Next blog: Portugal

Leave a comment at boydvino707@gmail.com

 

The Purpose of Wine

This week's post was intended to be about Muscadet.  But a few things came up over Thanksgiving that I think merit a few words. 

Wine Surprises

One of the opposing realities of being an avid wine drinker is that shortly after  recognizing your passion, you become a hoarder. The number of wines multiply,   and before you know it, you have more wine than you can drink. 

Why is this a potential problem?  Because some of the wines you intend to drink may have been pushed to the back of the rack and forgotten. Or, and this is the bane of all wine collectors, you check the vintage of a red wine you want to drink, but then say to yourself, "Maybe it needs a few more months of bottle aging."

                                  

Ironically, as fate would have it, a few more months of bottle age is just what your chosen wine needs. To make my point, consider the following examples of two wines poured at the two-day Boyd family Thanksgiving gathering.

On Thanksgiving eve, we had a simple meal of calzones and salad. It wasn't meant to be a "wine meal," so maybe just a wine showing its age, past its prime, could be fun. And who knows, maybe its still drinkable. 

Tucked away, at the back of my wine rack, was a 1981 Ridge York Creek Zinfandel.  I'm thinking: This wine is 42 years old and had been moved around California and then to its final resting place in Washington...it's gotta be over the hill.  

Not so. In fact, it was amazingly in very good shape!  The color was a vibrant, clear ruby red and light brick at the wine edge. There were touches of spice and dark berry, and the textured flavors offered loads of fruit, good acidity and refined integrated tannin.  Here was a drinkable aged Zin that tasted more like a mature Cabernet that was a good choice with calzones or just for sipping.

The dinner menu included a traditional turkey spread and a vegetarian Field Roast. So, I pulled a 1999 Dominus Napa Valley blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. Deep ruby-garnet color, seamless Bordeaux-style bouquet, rich textured berry and black currant notes, hint of cedar, no tobacco leaf, refined smooth tannin and a long elegant finish. An ideal wine with Field Roast and turkey.

 

The third wine was the 2012 Williams Selyem Foss Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, from my winemaker son's collection.  He makes Cabernet but loves Pinot Noir, especially from Williams Selyem. Impeccable balance, full of black cherry flavors, a hint of boiled tea and spice, good length and structure. It was everything you come to expect from Williams Selyem. Pinot Noir, with a little age, is a great wine with turkey and it stands up to the variety of Thanksgiving sides. 

 

The point of all this elaboration, is to suggest trusting your wine may still surprise you, especially if your storage conditions are less than ideal.  Well made red wine usually does what it's designed to do: age gracefully, add complexity and show the patient a few pleasureable things they didn't know were in the wine. 

 

More on Wine and Food

 

In my "Turkey Wine" posting of November 17, the suggestion was to serve a light red such as Pinot Noir or Gamay with light and dark turkey meat, and save the big reds for a meal centered around red meat.  Which is just the opposite of what I describe above.

Unfortunately, when I looked at my wine cache, there were no Pinot Noirs or light reds.  So, since a "special" wine was called for, I grabbed the 1999 Dominus.

 

                                    

 

Fortunately, the 20-plus years of bottle aging had worked wonders on the Dominus, softening the tannin, melding the fruit and transforming a Cabernet Sauvignon into a pleasureable wine more like Pinot Noir. 

The Purpose of Wine

Recently, the wine press has been obsessed with the monetary value of wine. And that makes me a little crazy. Adding the bottle price in a wine review is one thing, but showing how much money a wine with a few years of age will bring misses the point of the real purpose of wine. 

For example, according to a friend, the current price of the 1999 Dominus, if you can find it, is about $300.  That's much more than I paid for the wine years ago. And while I might, momentarily, think of all those bucks, I remind myself that wine should not be a commodity but a drink to enjoy with food in the company of others.

Weighing the Wine

Another topic of concern getting a lot of press lately is the weight of wine bottles.  Simply put, the heavier the bottle, the harder it is on the environment; from mining the raw materials, to making the glass, to transporting the bottles, the environmental cost of heavy wine bottles is high. 

                                                   

 

So, I was wondering if a standard 750ml wine bottle weighs more now, then say, 40-50 years ago, when there was less concern for the environment.  I weighed seven empty bottles, with vintages spanning 62 years, of wines enjoyed with family and friends, and here's what I found:

 

Ridge 1981 York Creek Zinfandel, the lightest at 15.4 ounces

Heitz 1999 Napa Valley Martha's Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon, 17.1 ozs

Williams Selyem 2012 Russian River Valley Foss Vineyard Pinot Noir, 17.7 ozs

Penfolds 1999 South Australia Bin 707, 18 ozs

Dominus 1999 Napa Valley Red Wine, 19.6 ozs

Franco & Fiorino 1950 Alba Barbaresco, 23.6 ozs

Fetzer 1999 Bien Nacido Reserve Pinot Noir, the heaviest at 29.7 ozs  

Concluding questions: Between 1981 and 1999, there was a slow creep upward in bottle weight, until it nearly doubled.  As the years went by, did wineries demand heavier bottles?  Did marketers say that heavier bottles somehow suggested higher quality wine? Was anyone thinking about the cost of heavier bottles to the environment?  And, in case you were wondering, I don't know why four of the seven wines were 1999s and from different wine regions.

Finally, I read about a wine bottle weighing in at a gob-smacking 2.69 lbs!  As crazy and irrresponsible as that is, it's reassuring to know that there is a movement underway to wash and recycle wine bottles, along with innovators working to develop lighter wine bottles and bottles made from lighter materials than glass, such as paper.  Verre Vert bottles look like glass but are lighter and unbreakable.  Also, there's the non-glass Verallia Bordelaise Air bottle, 10.5 ounces. 

 

 

Next blog: Muscadet

 

Leave a comment at boydvino707@gmail.com

  

 

 

 

Wine Touring in Italy

Anyone who knows me is aware of my love for Italy.  Mention vacation in my family and I'm sure to say Italy.  There's something about the Italian land and the people and the wine and food that resonate with me...and with thousands of others as well.

When I was a boy, my mother worked for an Italian-American family that owned an Italian deli and sandwich shop in a suburb of south Philly.  Mom Lodise, the matriarch of the family, "adopted" my mother and me and between Mom Lodise and one of her daughters-in-law, my mom learned to cook Italian dishes like pasta e fagioli, sausages and peppers and long-simmered red sauce.  

I didn't know it then, but that exposure to the pleasures of Italy helped me build a lifetime love of all things Italian. 

While serving in the Air Force in Germany, in the early 1950s, a friend and I took a road trip to Italy. My Italian-American friend, Tom, from Queens, New York, and I drove as far south as Naples where I had my first taste of pizza and Campania red wine.  

We sampled the local wines, up and down the country, sometimes with food sometimes without food, in Capri, Naples, Rome, Pisa, Milan and at a roadside inn somewhere in the Alps between Austria and Genoa. 

                              

Once we left Austria, Tom and I spent hours in my 1950 Chevy, twisting and turning on mountain roads, and we needed a break. As luck would have it, we saw a roadside inn and restaurant just ahead that looked like a good place for a pit stop and a meal. 

The innkeeper met us at the door, and in broken English, apologized that the restaurant was closed for the day, but beaming with pride, explained that he was having a wedding reception for a member of his family. Then, with open arms and a big smile, he graciously invited "our American friends," to join the festivities. 

My foggy memory is that we ate too much food, washed down by lots of local red wine, that I figured probably came from Lombardy or Piedmont.  And, though the inn was full with family, two small rooms were found, so we stayed the night. 

Good thing we did, because the following day, coming down the Italian side of the mountains, the brakes over heated and I lost pedal pressure, just managing to anxiously coast into an overlook. Stopping and starting, we eventually made it down, limping in to Milan where we found, of all things, a General Motors garage.  The mechanics were so excited to see an American GM car, they fixed the brakes free of charge and we were on our way south.

Great Red Wine of the South

I returned to Naples and Campania wine many years later, as a writer on a visit to Mastroberardino, at the family's earthquake battered winery in Atripalda, on the backside of Mount Vesuvius. As I turned on to Via Manfredi, it was clear the damage caused by the 1990 earthquake had tilted the dun-colored walls, causing them to lean precariously toward the street, propped up only with wooden braces.   

Mt. Vesuvius and the Bay of Naples

On the other side of the wall, Mastroberardino's winery appeared to be bustling and reassuring.

Antonio Mastroberardino, a quiet, studious man who spoke English with a gentle accent, introduced me to Walter, his brother and partner in the winery. Then,  Antonio and I adjorned to his office and library.

Antonio Mastroberardino's passion was to make wine from, what he called, "grapes of antiquity." The extensive collection of 19th century, and earlier, books and folios on grapes and Campania wine, fed his passion, mainly for ancient Greek and Roman varieties.

Mastroberardino's reputation, led by Antonio, for revitalizing the historic grapes of the Campania region, helped boost the popularity of the red Taurasi and two white wines: Greco di Tufo and Fiano di Avellino. Of the many unique Italian wines, those three from Mastroberardino stood out for their distinct personalities and flavors. 

My visit to Mastroberardino was an unforgettable and singular experience, an occasion to taste unique Campanian wines with the man considered indispensable in bringing wines of antiquity to today's wine consumer. 

Togetherness in Tuscany

Group vacations can be great fun or one of the most trying things you'll ever do.  One year, a group of friends, three couples with a link to Colorado, one couple from California, decided to rent a farmhouse in Tuscany. 

Our chosen destination was the Chianti Classico region, outside of Florence, where we settled in to a large farmhouse that was part of the Italian agriturismo, a program that offers the traveler an opportunity to participate in farming or just relax in a private room in a farm house or a separate building.  

But, who goes to Tuscany to relax?  Not us.  We were there to taste wine, eat Italian food and see the many sights of Florence.  Absorbing the architecture and art of Florence is a full-time undertaking and there are hundreds of guides to make sure you don't miss a thing. 

But, armed with a guide book, we headed out on our own to experience the riches of Florence, artifacts of the past that left a lasting personal impression: Michaelangelo's David in the Accademia Gallery, the Duomo cathedral, the Piazza delle Signoria, Ponte Vecchio over the Arno river, the stunning Uffizi Gallery art museum.  

Ponte Vecchio on the Arno

And, for an unusual wine experience, there was a buchette del vino, or "little wine hole," (the one at Osteria delle Brache is the oldest) a holdover from the Renaissance, where a glass of wine is passed through a small ornate "window" in the outside wall. 

Sated with food and wine, we still had room for a creamy gelato, so before heading back to the farmhouse each day, we stopped at Vivoli.

Counting off just a few of the many places to eat in Florence is not easy. There is no denying that you have to work hard to find a bad meal in Italy.  And we hit it lucky, finding a small trattoria, with the odd name of "Everest," in a small town, not far from the farmhouse. 

The food at Everest was local, tasty and filling, but what really impressed us was, in place of a wine list, there was a large table against one wall packed with bottles of Chianti Classico. No other wine, just Chianti Classico.  Walk over to the table, select the bottle you like, bring the bottle to your table to be opened and you pour the wine when you're ready. 

We liked Everest so much that we returned a few times that week, for more good Tuscan cooking and Chianti Classico wine. 

Other Tuscan food memories, that are still with me today, was walking into the nearby village, from the farmhouse, each morning for a slab of freshly baked warm aromatic foccacia; and the incredible hunks of roast pork between two slices of crusty bread we bought from a food truck parked on a narrow hillside road. 

But, finding a farmhouse with a large friendly kitchen in Chianti Classico, worked in our favor.  A day of sightseeing or visiting a winery or two would usually mean a few bottles of Chianti Classico came back with us. We had some aspiring chefs in our small group, so Chianti-fueled dinners were a relaxing way to end the day.  

 Vinitaly in Verona

The first time I went to Verona, was to attend Vinitaly, then the biggest show of Italian wine in the country and probably the world. Verona is a lovely city, on the Adige river, that reminded me of a smaller Florence, with its jewel box opera house, restored coliseum used today for outdoor entertainment, lots of excellent restaurants, and a number of nearby wine regions, like Soave and Valpolicella. 

Ponte Pietra on the Adige

Vinitaly, like its sister wine exhibition, Vinexpo, in Bordeaux, overflows with just about every Italian wine imaginable.  And, if you found yourself with an appetite,  there's an adjoining food fair, where I saw a mortadella the size of a tree trunk and a robust man wielding a knife almost as big as the meat roll, hacking off large chunks that he handed out to salivating attendees. 

On the first day of my two-day visit to Vinitaly, I just wandered around the hall, up and down the aisles, wondering how anyone could taste even a small number of the wines on display.  Large wineries, like Bola, had a big spacious booth, while small wineries, usually in a remote corner of the hall, were pouring unfamilar wines.  I sampled a selection of muscat dessert wines from Pantelleria, a small volcanic island near Sicily, and wondered why they were not in my local market.

Vinitaly is impresssive but it can be overwhelming.  So, I suggest a plan of what to taste, who to visit and what can be ignored.  Vinitaly 2024 will be held, March 31 and April 1-3.  Set your plan, then go to Verona and enjoy yourself.

Note.  The above wine tour of Italy is in place of "My California Wine Adventures," a continuing series of personal reflections that will cycle in now and then in the coming months.

Next blog: Muscadet

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Turkey wine

The title of this post could have been,"the wine of Turkey," (there are some), or maybe a smarmy statement, like, "This wine is a turkey!" 

What I'm saying with the title, though, is it's time, once again, for the annual suggestions of which wine or wines to serve with "The Bird" on Thanksgiving.

                               

Let me assure you, faithful readers, that I have no intention of suggesting that I know more about your personal tastes in wine and food than you do.  However, I do have a few general ideas to offer you, hoping that they will bring added cheer, and expressions of admiration from your guests gathered around the holiday table. 

So, let's begin. 

Not every Thanksgiving feast is centered around turkey. Plenty of people believe you can celebrate this uniquely American holiday by loading down the table with ham, beef, sausages, or maybe, chicken or duck. 

As a vegetarian, it pains me to think that thousands of sentient creatures will be sacrificed this Thanksgiving, but I understand that it is what it is, and so, I'll give thanks for the plentiful amount of non-meat victuals available during this holiday.

Anyway, the following suggestions are for folks who are undecided about which wine to have or for folks needing some general advice; not for the experienced wine drinker who knows which wine is best, for their tastes, with Thanksgiving  fare.

Before pulling a bottle of wine from the store shelf, or from your personal cache, please remember that the side dishes on your menu, and not the main meat, are the most important consideration when selecting a wine.

A typical American Thanksgiving table is heavy with a selection of sweet and savory dishes, ranging from sweet potato casserole to cranberry sauce to spicy green beans to cornbread and oyster dressing to, well, you get the point. 

There's no one wine that's a perfect match with any of these sides, so let's focus on picking a wine that pairs with turkey and a few other meats. If turkey is on your holiday table, remember that there is both white meat and dark meat on The Bird, so you'll need a wine that goes with both, like Beaujolais or Gamay or Grenache. Any light-medium fruity red will do, including Pinot Noir or Cote de Beaune Burgundy. 

Some people wait all year to pull out a treasured Cabernet, Syrah/Shiraz or Zinfandel, but if you're planning a traditional Thanksgiving meal, you may be disappointed with your choice of a big red over a light and fruity red wine. So save the big rustic Syrahs and tannic Cabernet Sauvignons for another occasion.

A Thanksgiving meal is all about enjoying the food, the day and the people at your table. It would be a shame to spoil all that with searing alcohol and the hard tannin of red wine that call for an entree more substantial than turkey white meat.

Beef is best with a red like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Rhone/Syrah.  Merlot or Grenache are good with roast pork, but a high-end Pinot Noir or red Burgundy will also work nicely.

Some people like to keep the heavy out of the holiday meal, so they go for fish, roast chicken or pork, or just turkey breast meat. For that you might opt for a dry white wine, or even a medium-dry white, one with a little noticeable sweetness.  

                         

Stay with unoaked Chardonnay or Pinot Blanc or a dry Riesling or Gewurztraminer; there are loads of them from Alsace, Germany, Australia, California and New York's Finger Lakes.  

One more caveat: watch the level of oak in white wines, like Chardonnay, since heavy oak, especially if it's new oak, will overpower most light foods.

Dessert is another course that trips people up. Should you even serve wine with dessert? Maybe, but remember holiday desserts are always sweet, no matter if its pumpkin pie or chocolate mousse.  Think of it this way: a sweet dessert will struggle with a sweet wine, with both of them losing.  The solution: Have a late harvest German Riesling or French Sauternes as dessert rather than with dessert. 

Now, before closing this post, let's circle back to non-meat holiday meals. Although there are many ways to go when building a meatless meal, the base really comes down to three meat substitutes.  The most common is tofu, a soy bean product that comes in soft, firm and extra firm textures. Tofurky is a brand of tofu that sells well during the holidays, but I find the flavor and texture of Tofurky an acquired taste.

                                            

Another soy meat substitute is the firm fiber-rich Tempeh. The third is Seitan, made from high-gluten wheat.  Often called the "white meat" of meat substitutes, seitan is available in a number of forms, especially from Gardein.

Wine recommendations with any of these meat substitutes is the same as for a meal based on white and dark meat turkey. 

Finally, when a good friend and fellow wine fan, Denis Broderick, who lives outside Belfast, Northern Ireland, read that the next post was titled "Turkey Wine," he wrote me about visiting Vinopolis, in London, a number of years ago and found a computer that allowed him to ask for recommended wines with certain foods. 

Denis entered "roast turkey" and got a short list of 15 wines of various styles and colors. Then, at the bottom of the screen, he noticed "page 1 of 97."  That impressive over kill, made Denis smile and say, "Whatever takes your fancy."

I agree and add, Happy Thanksgiving.

 

Next blog: Wine Touring in Italy

Leave a comment at boydvino707@gmail.com

 

 

The Other Red Cabernet

      

If you mention Cabernet, I'm likely to ask, Cabernet Sauvignon?  My response makes sense since the market is saturated with Cabernet Sauvignon.  

But I could have said the other red Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, a red hot wine right now. According to wine industry statistics, Cabernet Franc jumped from 16th to 7th place among the most shopped wines, an impressive change in value of 87%. 

Bordeaux Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc is the third most popular variety in the vaunted Bordeaux quintet  of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot.  Today, along the left bank regions of the Medoc and Graves, the go-to blend is Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc, occasionally with small percentages of the other two varieties. 

On the right bank, St. Emilion and Pomerol rely more on Cabernet Franc, blending it with Merlot, while Cab Sauv is an afterthought. The St. Emilion first growth, Cheval Blanc, for example, is predominately Cabernet Franc. 

Today, you pay dearly for top-end right bank wines: Ch. Ausone, a First Growth St. Emilion that is 50% Cabernet Franc and 50% Merlot, is selling for $1,000.00.

How much Cab Franc makes a difference in the structure and taste of the blended wine? Even a small percentage can add an inviting scent and taste of fresh raspberries with a leafy or mineral back note. In the warm soils of the Loire Valley, Cabernet Franc develops those flavors plus depth and complexity.  And, Cab Franc helps boost the wine's longevity.

Loire Cabernet Franc

Americans shopping for French Cabernet Franc are more likely to stop at the section with Bordeaux reds, than they are to look for Loire Valley wines.  Not to be missed are the fruit-forward reds of Chinon, Bourgueil, Saumur and Anjou, all from the Loire Valley. 

Wineries in these middle Loire areas hold Cabernet Franc in high regard. And, while using Cab Franc as a blending component is common in Bordeaux, in the Loire Valley, the other red Cabernet often stands on its own.

                      

In the Touraine district, both Chinon and Bourgueil specialize on Cabernet Franc, allowing up to 5% Cab Sauv in the blend.  The wine ranges from light and fruity to more complex, barrel-aged styles. Anjou is famous for Cabernet (Franc) d'Anjou, a rose with good acidity and a bit of tannin.  Up river from Anjou is Saumur, known for its sparkling wine and Saumur-Champigny dry red, made from Cab Franc.

Further south in France, wineries make Cabernet Franc the major part of blends in the regions of Madiran and Bergerac. In Madiran, Cabernet Franc is known locally as Bouchy and is sometimes blended with the Tannat grape.  

Tannat was falling out of favor in France, but it moved off shore and found a new home far away, in Uruguay, where the grape's rough edges were smoothed off by blending with Pinot Noir.  A similar move happened when Malbec found success in Argentina. 

Cab Franc's popularity continued to spread throughout the world, especially since the rise of interest in California, Australia and South American wines. Today, the versatile red grape is successful both as a blending grape and as a varietal in northern Italy, California, Washington state, Australia and South Africa, to name a few places.

California Cabernet Franc

The history of Bordeaux varieties in California likely took root in the 1970s with the belief among Golden State winemakers that varietals made more sense than blended wines.  Eventually, the belief gave way to blending of two or more of the five Bordeaux grapes; the most common blend, then and now, is some variation of Cab Sauv, Cab Franc and Merlot.

The latest numbers show Cabernet Franc the sixth most planted red wine grape in California. A few years ago, to help things along, a marketing group popped up to convince the consumer that a Bordeaux-style blend is more interesting than a single varietal. 

                                

Over the last decade, Cab Franc acreage in California grew and so too did the price for the grapes.  In 2022, a ton of Cab Franc hit a high of $10,419.  Compare that to the more reasonable $2,074 a ton in Washington state.

The growth habits of Cabernet Franc are more accommodating than those of Cabernet Sauvignon. Cab Franc adapts easily to both warm and cool soils, thus it is found in California wherever Cab Sauv is grown.

Look for varietal Cabernet Franc or in blends from Napa Valley: Lang & Reed, Hendry, Beringer, Turnbull, Keenan, Truchard, Darioush.  Other California Cab Francs: Union Sacre (Paso Robles), Blue Rock (Sonoma),  Foxen (Santa Maria), Lava Vine (Sonoma), Gainey (Santa Ynez Valley).  The price range is wide, from $25 to $60 a bottle.

Washington Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc is the fourth most planted red wine grape in Washington state, after Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah. Washington red blends rely on Cabernet Franc and the Evergreen State is building a solid reputation for varietal Cab Franc. 

Cabernet Franc didn't arrive in the state until about the mid-1980s with a small plot at Red Willow Vineyard.  Popularity grew slowly until Chateau Ste. Michelle released a Cab Franc from its Cold Creek Vineyard.  

Other Washington Cab Francs of note include Columbia, Andrew Rich, Cayuse, Chinook, Sightglass Cellars and Walla Walla Vintners. Expect to pay $25 and up for a Washington varietal Cab Franc. 

Want to experience more about Cabernet Franc?  Then mark your 2024 calendar for the Cab Franc-a-Palooza, "a wine tasting carnival for the senses and a celebration of all things Cabernet Franc," started by the Steven Kent Winery. The celebration is held for four days in June in the Livermore Valley.

Next blog: Turkey Wine

Leave a comment at boydvino707@gmail.com

Reflections of a Former Wine Judge (My California Wine Adventures 7)

                            

Had you asked me, five or six years ago, if there was a future for wine competitions, my answer would have been that it doesn't look good. Criticism has been on and off about the value of wine competitions and the expertise of those people selected to judge the wines. 

In its original form, the idea of staging a competition where wines of like type are  pitted against each other in a controlled setting, by carefully vetted judges, would "improve the breed," was idealistic.  Also in question was rewarding winemakers who submitted a wine as an excellent example of its type, or informing a winery  that their wine didn't measure up, might help make wine better. 

The object of wine competitions is to bring together a group of people, with different backgrounds, knowledge of wine and tasting expertise, to decide if a wine merits a medal.  Wine competitions make money for the owners, but otherwise,  I suspect they are of questionable value.

So, the question is, do wine competitions still make sense, or are they an outdated exercise that pretends to suggest wine quality to both the wine industry and the wine consumer?

Becoming a Wine Judge

I first learned about the supposed major aim of wine competitions at the 1978 Los Angeles County Fair Wine Competition, then the largest and most important wine event of its kind in California. 

My career as a wine writer was just taking off and the invitation to join a panel of such known California wine experts and judges as Belle and Barney Rhodes, Narsai David, Bob Thompson, Darrell Corti, Steve Mirassou and Dimitri Tchelistcheff, was not to be missed.

Tasting hundreds of wines sounds like a sweet assignment, but I can honestly say that in time it became hard work.  As entries surged from hundreds to thousands, it became clear that it took a lot of ordinary wine to fill the classes.  

For the price of an entry fee and a few bottles of wine, a winery owner could put his or her wine(s) up against other wines of like type in hopes of winning a coveted gold metal, or maybe silver or bronze.  

The reality of that gambit is if you don't win a gold medal (or even silver), your lesser medal is mostly lost on the wine consumer. The hard reality is no one remembers (or cares) about a wine that won a bronze medal.  

That's cynical, I know. And a bronze medal winner might counter: "At least my Chardonnay won a medal in a class of 400 entries."  True that. But, beyond the personal satisfaction that your wine won recognition, if a bronze (or even silver) medal doesn't help sell more Chardonnay, then was it worth the entry fee and wine?

                                                      

After a few years at the judging table, my personal opinion about the value of the L.A. wine competition won out over my desire to be there. But I continued to judge at various wine competitions throughout the country and the world, most notably in Washington state and D.C., New York, Texas, Australia, South Africa, Belgium, China and Italy. 

Finally,  politics, a lack of professionalism and the absence of high-end wines,  ended my time as a wine judge. Wineries that sell all of their wine have no economic reason to enter a wine competition. And, why would a winemaker risk getting a bronze or no medal for a top-selling wine the critics and wine consumers love?

Competition Faux Pas

Every wine judge I have known has had issues with fellow judges (probably, including me) or objected to the administration of one competition or another.  These are but a few of the odd things that irked me during my years as a judge. 

* At a European competition, the organizers arranged for each panel to have a majority of local judges, resulting in more higher medals for the wines of the host country.

* At a California competition, the director assigned a noted, and perplexed French sommelier to a panel judging flavored wines and unfamiliar, to him, varietal wines.

* At a U.S. competition, the organizer, hoping to stage a wine competition with a different focus, required the judges identify and describe wines by detectable terroir, when it was clear that any terroir was masked by wine making. 

* At various Australian competitions, judges were tasked with tasting and evaluating as many as 80 young highly  tannic red wines and to be as accurate with their assessments of the eightieth wine as the first. 

* At a California competition, a judge from the restaurant wine trade refused to award a gold medal to any wine assigned to the panel, claiming no wine ever reached that quality level.

Closing Thoughts

If you've read this far, you're probably asking if I had developed such a negative opinion of wine competitions, why did I hang in there for so long?  Fair question.  

As a wine writer, I have worked for years to increase my knowledge of all wine and to improve my ability as a wine taster and judge. I believe in "improving the breed," and hold out hope that wine competitions will accomplish that goal.  Finally, I enjoyed the fraternal opportunity, provided by wine competitions, to gather with fellow judges, to taste and discuss wine. 

                                

It has been more than five years since my participation in a wine competition and it looks like my earlier prediction that wine competitions were becoming irrelevant has apparently not proven out.  If anything, the number of wine competitions has increased.  Which leaves me puzzled and asking, why?

Next blog: The Other Red Cabernet

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A Pair of Veneto Reds

Here's a multiple guess question: What two popular Italian red wines are made from the same four grapes? 

a. Barolo and Barbaresco

b. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano

c.  Bardolino and Valpolicella

d.  None of the above

Give yourself points if you picked option C.  Both Bardolino and Valpolicella, produced not far from each other in Italy's northeast region of Veneto, are made from Corvina, Rondinella, Corvinone and occasionally Molinara. 

The Negrara grape, once a common part of the blend, has mostly been replaced by international varieties like Merlot. The move has improved acidity, but old timers maintain it has changed the character of the wine. There was a time when adding a French grape to an Italian blend would be considered heresy.

A Veneto wine estate

Bardolino and Valpolicella are not the only noted Veneto wines. White Soave, red Amarone and sparkling Prosecco also claim Veneto as home.  And there is more. In fact, at least a dozen Veneto wines are made in an area that stretches from Lake Garda to the Alps and proudly claims Venice, with its miles of navigable canals, as arguably the world's most romantic city. Well, okay, maybe one of the most romantic, since Paris is a special place for romance.  

There are some basic differences between the two wines: location in Veneto, soils, vineyard practices, production and the choice of a rose (Chiaretto) wine. 

Valpolicella

The Veneto region of Valpolicella is famous for wine and marble quarries. One possible translation of the name is, "valley of many cellars," referring to the Fumane, Marano and Negrar valleys.  

When DOC status was granted in 1968, the authorized area expanded, so that today, Valpolicella is much larger than Bardolino, which lies to the west.  At the heart of Valpolicella is Mount Lessini, northwest of Verona. Vineyard soils are calcareous and the climate in the hillside vineyards is cooler.

Valpolicella is made from the same mix of grapes as Bardolino, in a range of styles. 

* Valpolicella is light and fruity, simillar to Beaujolais. The more Corvina in the blend, the greater the body and structure. 

* Valpolicella Classico is an upgrade, made from at least 40% of the grapes grown in the original Valpolicella production zone.

* Valpolicella Superiore requirements call for an additional 1% finished alcohol not to exceed 12% and the wine must be aged in a cellar for at least 12 months.

* Valpolicella Recioto is a dried-grape wine, made from the ripest grapes, those in the lobes or ears (orecchio in Italian), in a cluster.  Mainly Corvina grapes are raisined in special drying rooms.

* Valpolicella Ripasso is made from the unpressed skins of Amarone or Recioto, after fermentation and the new wine has been racked off.  Often aged in new French oak, and finished with a hint of sweetness, ripasso is similar to Amarone.

Dessicated Corvina grapes

* Valpolicella Amarone is a recioto fermented to dryness and with a slightly bitter (amaro in Italian) finish. Amarone della Valpolicella, made mostly from Corvina or Corvinone and Rondinella, must be aged at least five years in neutral French or Slovenian oak and from grapes not affected with botrytis. 

Both Amarone della Valpolicella and Recioto della Valpolicella were elevated to DOCG in 2009.

The classic way to enjoy Amarone is with a chunk of aged Parmigiano-Reggiano and freshly shelled walnuts. A bottle of Amarone will set you back $50 to $80, from Allegrini, Bolla, L'Arco, Masi, Musella and Zenato.

Bardolino 

The vineyards of Bardolino are southeast of Lake Garda. Bardolino is made from the same grapes as Valpolicella, with Corvina making up 35% to 65% of the blend. Bardolino is smaller and not as well known in the U.S, as Valpolicella. 

Besides Corvina, there are eight varieties allowed in Bardolino, including the musically sounding grape, Rondinella (10% to  40%), and Rossignolla, a name that bears a resemblance to "Rossignoll," a well known ski manufacturer.  

The other grapes: Molinara, Barbera, Sangiovese, Marcemino, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. Up to 20% of any authorized grape is allowed, but Molinara is no longer required in Bardolino.

Bardolino Superiore, made from the same grapes, is allowed an extra 1% of alcohol and must be aged in a cellar for a minimum of 12 months. 

                                           

And, there is a Bardolino Chiaretto (rose), Chiaretto Spumante and Bardolino Novello, made in the style of Beaujolais Nouveau. These wines are exported but require a search to find in this country.

Bardolino sub zones further define the amount of flavor and body in the wine.   Sub zones, like La Rocca, require lower yields and chaptalization is forbidden. Unfortunately, sub zones are not always shown on Bardolino labels.

So, the best policy is to know your producer. Reliable Bardolino wineries include Folinari, Tomassi, Zeni, Leonetti, Zenato and Santi.

There's no question that Valpolicella and Bardolino are popular Italian wines. Expand your appreciation of them by moving up to Classico or Superiore. 

Next blog: Confessions of a Former Wine Judge (My Adventures in California Wine 7)

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