image: Amazon.com
As my pile of (admittedly somewhat neglected) wine book review copies is growing ever larger, this month’s wine product review roundup will focus on two soon-to-be-released bits of printed vinous educational resources. Both of these books will start to see shelf space in September, both are priced at $24.95, and both are about wine, and both were written in English by carbon-based lifeforms… and those are about the only things that they have in common stylistically. So if you’re up for a bit of an interesting Yin/Yang of vinous-related reviews, by all means read on and try not to get too dizzy.
First, we have Master Sommelier Catherine Fallis’s Ten Grapes to Know: The Ten & Done Wine Guide (The Countryman Press, 189 pages, $24.95). Ten Grapes is an unabashed attempt at simplifying wine for the uninitiated, the premise being that learning about ten key fine wine grapes (Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Viognier, Pinot Noir, Sangiovese, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Zinfandel) will provide pretty much all that one needs to know to begin successfully navigating most wine store shelves and wine lists, with the encouragement to branch out from there (provided mainly through recommendations of similar-but-lesser-known grape varieties at the end of each dedicated chapter).
Each of the chapters in Ten Grapes follows a similar pattern: historical/geographical/taste background of wine made from each grape, followed by food pairings and a recommended price-based shopping list, all sprinkled with anecdotes and concluding with a short quiz. While Fallis’s approach might strike the nerdier among you as overly-simplistic, it works primarily because it mirrors how most normal consumers actually start to experience and purchase wine, and if it has a fault it’s in prose that might be too friendly and familiar. Specifically, Ten Grapes has an un-apologetically feminine stylistic bent. To wit: one of the sections of chapter six, on Sangiovese, begins “I had a nearly religious moment outside the Ferragamo shop in Florence.” If you haven’t shopped Ferragamo in Florence (guilty!), you probably won’t be able to relate, but then it’s hard to fault Fallis for losing some of the audience in brief paragraphs, since there are entire wine books whose prose loses most of the potential audience…
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I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes in a “mini-review” format.
They are meant to be quirky, fun, and (mostly) easily-digestible reviews of (mostly) currently available wines (click here for the skinny on how to read them), and are presented links to help you find them, so that you can try them out for yourself. Cheers!
- 2016 Grgich Hills Estate Grown Fume Blanc (Napa Valley): Still one of the standard-bearers of the style; and that standard is emblazoned with a graphic of grilled pineapples. $31 A-
- 2014 Frank Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon (Napa Valley): Because sometimes, you just really, really want to see a gratuitous sex scene in your blockbuster Summer movie. $53 A-
- 2016 ZD Wines Reserve Chardonnay (Napa Valley): Big, bountiful, bold, and perhaps just a touch too boisterous in its fondness for toastiness. $77 A-
- 2015 Rodney Strong ‘Upshot’ Red Blend (Sonoma County): There’s nothing here – including the impressive label – that isn’t well-designed, well-crafted, and fun. $25 B+
- 2014 Bending Branch Winery Tannat (Texas): Exactly how it’s supposed to be done, folks; the Lone Star state just might have found yet another star red grape. $30 A-
- 2016 Duchman Family Winery Vermentino (Texas): Temporarily transporting the Tuscan hillsides to the Texas High Planes. $20 B+
- 2014 Allegrini Palazzo della Torre Veronese (Veneto): Without a doubt, stuff will most definitely be strut, my friends. $23 B+
- 2017 Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc (Marlborough): That day when it feels like *all* of your neighbors are simultaneously out cutting the lemon-grass. $18 B
- 2016 Mud House Pinot Noir (Central Otago): No frills, capable perkiness, with a side of affability and a pinch of good humor. $18 B
- 2015 Hickinbotham Clarendon Vineyard ‘Trueman’ Cabernet Sauvignon (McLaren Vale): Sexy, complex, herbal, and like a card deck, sporting just the right mix of the red and the black. $80 A-
In the lower-ish (we’re still talking about 400-or-so meters of elevation) valley of Spain’s sunny Montsant region sits a small town (ok, village) of El Masroig.
El Masroig is quaint enough to be named (in Catalan, of course) “red country house” (most likely from the red clay soils that dominate this area of Priorat country), and small enough to sport a population of about 500 people, the vast majority of whose families live off of the farming of grapevines and olive trees.
In even quainter non-ironic fashion, El Masroig is home to Celler Masroig, a winery founded in 1917 as a co-op that’s now run by just over 25 employees, and – somewhat ironically given all of the above – is easily one of the largest producers in the area at five hundred thousand bottles per year, farming from about 500 hectares of vines.
Even more ironically, given their size, at the time of this writing Masroig has yet to gain a sales foothold in the States. That’s a shame, and is a scenario that needs quick correction, because they’re making the excellent crafting of one of the wine world’s most underrated red grapes – Carignan – look downright easy…
Read the rest of this stuff »
I taste a bunch-o-wine (technical term for more than most people). So each week, I share some of my wine reviews (mostly from samples) and tasting notes in a “mini-review” format.
They are meant to be quirky, fun, and (mostly) easily-digestible reviews of (mostly) currently available wines (click here for the skinny on how to read them), and are presented links to help you find them, so that you can try them out for yourself. Cheers!
- 2017 Villa Sandi Prosecco di Valdobbiadene Cartizze (Veneto): Looking for as refined a take on fun as one could hope to find? Your search is done. You’re welcome. $45 A-
- 2012 Tenute Silvio Nardi Brunello di Montalcino (Tuscany): Young, reserved, elegant, and full of sharp wit, along with its pedigree’s potential for greatness. $65 A-
- 2015 Campo alle Comete Bolgheri Superiore (Tuscany): Still a wee babe wrapped in a blanket of sage, leather, and truffles… but a babe born of nearly angelic stock, apparently. $79 A
- 2017 Cleto Chiarli Vecchia Modena “Premium” Lambrusco di Sorbara (Emilia-Romagna): Wild in cherry fruit, wild in floral overgrowth, and wild in perky attitude. $16 B+
- 2016 Donnafugata “Floramundi” Cerasuolo di Vittoria (Sicilia): Earth, flowers, meat, and buoyant plummy and berry fruits… it’s basically an entire tasty meal unto itself. $30 B+
- 2016 Chateau de Poncie Fleurie ‘Le Pré Roi’ (Beaujolais): The king is fond of flowers, tart red berries, pepper, and all-around abundant happiness. $23 B+
- 2015 Quinta de Roriz Prazo de Roriz (Douro): About at easy on the palate – and as easy to appreciate – as the Douro countryside is easy on the eyes. $16 B+
- 2016 P+S Prats & Symington Post Scriptum de Chryseia (Douro): Reliability as a virtue, with sure-footed tannins anchoring all of that soft, supple fruit. $27 B+
- 2017 Bonterra Dry Muscat (Lake County): A winner; and one that’s screaming “Hey, isn’t life just sooooo great? And I am just SOOOOOO happy to see you!!!” $16 B+
- 2017 Dutton-Goldfield Green Valley Gewürztraminer (Russian River Valley): Textbook levels of floral loveliness, with pretty much all varietal boxes ticked. $33 A-
