Craig Camp
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Posts posted by Craig Camp
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Ssssshhhhh...you're going to wreck a good thing!
I bought a bottle of Savennieres because it was a cool label and the liquor store guy had taped a column from the local paper about it. It was the first time in a ling time a bottle of $25 wine really changed my life. I should learn more about it, but there are so few bottlings available in DC, I usually just grab whatever the shop has. Including a sweet version once, so.
Great stuff.
Don't worry, we don't have to be secretive. Wines with distinctive character will never become popular.
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I remembered drinking a lot of Savennieres in Paris six years ago. They were one of the better bargains available even then. Since then I keep an eye out for them and other chenin blancs as they tend to be better values in restaurants.
Joly appears to be somewhat variable in terms of what he puts into a bottle. Have you tried this wine at other times or in other vintages? I have had and love the Coulee de la Serrant, but have never had this bottling.
The Joly wines have indeed been variable over the years, but seem to have become more consistent in recent vintages. Personally I prefer the Domaine du Closel wines, but you cannot help but admire the passion in the Joly wines.
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So often these days as you scan the wine list each bottle you find you want to drink gets closer and closer to $100 - or well beyond. However, while searching for bargains on the list at Milos in Manhattan, out popped out the wonderful 2002 Savennières Domaine du Closel Clos du Papillon pleasantly priced closer to $50 than $100. This was a fantastic bottle balancing a tense minerality with notes of honey, a touch of Pineau des Charentes, citrus and toffee all tied together by a bracing acidity. Really fine stuff. However, it does not seem to be the hottest wine on the list as it took them about twenty minutes to find it all cold and lonely in the back of the cooler. Too bad, as this wine is clearly more exciting than most of the wines on the list selling for double the price. Of course, the fact that no one, including the staff, had any idea what this wine was is the only thing keeping the price down.
Considering the general character of the list at Milos, I thank Joe Dressner for talking someone into buying this wine. However, I think its time for a wait-staff training on Savennieres if he wants sales to pick up. I am not in Manhattan enough to make an impact by myself.
Another outstanding Savennières bargain recently was the superb 1996 Clos de la Bergerie, Roche aux Moines, which was selling for $44 at the excellent Bayona restaurant in New Orleans. Really a stunning wine mixing rich caramel and honey notes with a steely acidity followed by lingering flavors of mangos, vanilla blended with a firm clean stony finish.
At the exciting No. 9 Park St. in Boston they offer the 2001 Savennières, Becherelle also from Joly also in the $40 range. Already browning, it almost reminded me of a Gravner and is sure to be controversial. Overall I liked it, but it was not in the same league as the first two wines. The richness and acidity never seemed to work well together and sweetness dominated the finish a bit too much. Still all-in-all a decent wine.
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But here are a couple of "California Meritage blends" that are pretty good...
Opus One
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Craig, you might also want to check out Liner & Elsen on NW 21st, which is my favorite wine shop in town. Also, there's a new place on NW Thurman, Square Deal Wine Co. that looks promising.
Welcome to the Northwest, by the way, we'd love to meet you some time.
Marshall
Thanks for the leads. I will check them out.
I am alway interested in any off-lines in the area. I was also thinking about organizing some kind of eGullet event at Anne Amie. Any ideas?
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Campari Shakerato - simply the best
Fill a cocktail shaker with Campari, ice and a splash of Gin. Shake, strain and serve in a Martini glass.
This is very popular cocktail in Italy.
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2001 Cuneo Cellars, Cana's Feast, Red Mountain, $45
After years of being bored by California Meritage blends, it was exciting to taste the outstanding 2001 Cana's Feast, Red Mountain, produced by Oregon's Cuneo Cellars in Carlton from grapes from the Red Mountain AVA of Washington. This wine is rich while retaining its balance, elegance and liveliness and is loaded with exotic coffee and bitter chocolate flavors overlaying bright raspberry fruit. The finish is long and complex with ample tannins that are well rounded enough to enjoy now, but promising a wine that will be better in 2 or 3 years.
40% cabernet sauvignon, 29% merlot, 13% cabernet franc, 12% petite verdot
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I finally got a chance to visit Portland's E and R Wine Shop and it more than lived up to my expectations. This is no mega-store trying to offer every wine made, but a tight selection of outstanding wines from small, passionate producers trying to put something special in the bottle. In the "Mondovino" world of cookie-cutter wines with little individual personality is is wonderful to find a store dedicated to the work of individualists dedicated to terroir and regional character. Of particular interest is their excellent selection of Italian wines not often found in American wine shops. Their pricing is fair and the staff is very well informed and more than helpful.
E and R is located at 6151 SW Macadam Ave. ( 503-246-6101)
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many thanks for that, Craig. quite enjoyed it.A side-by-side tasting of Mascarello Barolo 2001, 2000 and 1999 revealed a consistent range of flavors featuring a refined floral nose full of violets and roses layered with touches of caramelized oranges and bittersweet tar.
can't tell you how jealous i am of the very notion of being able to do a vertical.
the other day, i was reading one of those Barolo descriptions saying they're so tannic and big as to be undrinkable ... especially those made in the traditional style. that seems to sum up some of these wines, but i never felt Mascarello's was unapproachable, even if it needs years and years and years to mature. but maybe it's just me and my weird relationship to tannins.
I would have to say that I find the traditional styles easier to taste in their youth as they are pure and resolved in their character while barrique aged wines are often very unbalanced and unresolved at the same point.
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I was lucky enough to see Signore Mascarello last September, one last time before his death. There is much many winemakers and wine journalists could learn from his clear vision of what he wanted to create. Below I reprint an article I wrote have from last interview with him)
His hands once hardened by hard work in the vineyards are now delicate and unsteady. While the body is now weakened by age, the passion of a lifetime of work still burns brightly in his eyes. Bartolo Mascarello is Barolo and eight decades living among the nebbiolo, barbera and dolcetto vines planted by his father and grandfather before him have made the man and the wine one. The small winery located in the town of Barolo itself is a study in simplicity with no technology to separate the winemaker from the wine. The Mascarello label means purity and drinking their wines puts you into direct contact with the vineyards where they were born.
Bartolo has now passed on the winemaking to his daughter, Maria Teresa, whose vision of wine and drive for excellence burns as brightly as her father's. One thing you are sure of after a few minutes conversation with her is that this is not only an inherited passion, but one that burns deeply in her own heart. Her winemaking philosophy is clear: grow outstanding grapes in outstanding vineyards and then do as little as possible to them in their journey from fruit to wine.
Winemaking at Cantina Bartolo Mascarello is traditional and non-interventionist and they produce wines of uncommon elegance and balance with a purity of flavor that dances across the palate. The grapes for all of their wines comes from four vineyards: Cannubi, San Lorenzo and Ruè in Barolo and Rocche in La Morra. Rocche was the families start in the Langhe and was planted by Bartolo's grandfather and along with the portion in Cannubi, are their largest vineyards. The San Lorenzo vineyard is adjacent to Cannubi and very similar in quality and personality and the wines of Mascarello clearly show the famed aromatics and refinement that has made the wines of Cannubi and San Lorenzo justifiably famous. The Barolo fermentation takes place in glazed concrete tanks. Maria Teresa feels that the natural gradual temperature control of the thick concrete tanks provides the most natural fermentation environment. Only naturally occurring yeasts are used and the wine ferments together with the skins for around two weeks. After fermentation, the Barolo is racked into large Slovenian oak casks ranging from 25 to 50 hectolitres. Most of the newer casks are 25 hectolitres. The wine matures in casks for three years and then receives a year of aging in bottle before release.
The Barolo of Bartolo Mascarello is stunning its balance between elegance and power. These are wines that are defined by complexity not brute strength and they flow seamlessly over the palate and with each second reveal new layers of nuance. The tannins, while substantial, have a refinement that adds its own complexity and are surprisingly delicate in spite of their intensity. A tasting of recent vintages reveals an amazing consistency of style with the differences caused by the qualities of the vintage alone standing out. A side-by-side tasting of Mascarello Barolo 2001, 2000 and 1999 revealed a consistent range of flavors featuring a refined floral nose full of violets and roses layered with touches of caramelized oranges and bittersweet tar. On the palate the wines almost float with a high-strung elegance that features notes of fresh wild strawberry, bitter black licorice, fresh porcini and black truffles and what seems like hundreds of other flavors that play hide-and-seek with your senses. As you would expect from such young Baroli the tannins are still intense, but are so refined they don't seem harsh. The 2000 is clearly the most forward of these wines and is recommended for drinking prior to its tenth birthday, which is perfect as you will have to be much more patient with the 1999 and 2001, which demand the respect of at least ten years of aging, but waiting longer is recommended. The 2000 shows a riper note of cassis in the fruit and is decidedly softer than the 1999. The 1999 and 2001 are classic Baroli that show beautifully every aspect of what makes Barolo a great wine. The 1999 is just starting to reveal its greatness and shows perfect balance and incredible complexity. It is a "must have" wine for any collector. The 2001 is still extremely young and unresolved, but the great potential of this vintage clearly shows in the wine, which has the potential to surpass even the great 1999 in the future. They did not produce a Barolo in 2002 due to the devastating weather conditions in La Morra and the Barolo commune. All of these wines are highly recommend and, the fact is, I have never tasted a wine from them that I would not highly recommend.
The wines of Bartolo Mascarello are traditional in the strictest sense and are not likely to please lovers of jammy wines with heavy barrique flavors, but to me these are some the best examples of Barolo as the unique, distinct wine that it is and reflect the finest characteristics that the vineyards of the Barolo zone can produce. These are not wines that reach out and grab you, but that invite you in to savor and contemplate. I recommend accepting the invitation. Imported by Robert Chadderdon.
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For very old vintages the best resource is Michael Broadbent.
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Sangiovese
in Wine
The name sangiovese covers hundreds of clones (Banfi reports over 600) that spread through 2/3 of Italy. Each region had their own name for the types grown in their region. The two most famous are the Prugnolo Gentile of Montepulciano and Brunello of Montalcino, but even these names are not as precise as it would appear as there are also many clonal breakdowns of these sub-groups. Over the last two decades, intensive research on the clones of sangiovese has clearly identified clones that produce wines with more depth and concentration and, in reality, the same clones are being planted in all the best vineyards of Montalcino, Montepulciano and Chianti.
Sagrantino from the Montefalco zone in Umbria is not sangiovese, but is blended with sangiovese in Montefalco Rosso, while the increasingly famous Sagrantino di Montefalco is 100% Sagrantino.
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Obviously there are many fine Merlot wines produced: Petrus for example. However, when Merlot became the fashion a flood of mediocre wines, produced from vineyards not suited to Merlot, began to fill store shelves making it one of the worst quality/price ratio wines at all price levels. Avoiding bad value is not wine snobbery.
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Ciao Craig,
Super cool move - although I guess we won't be seeing eachother here in Italia. Forse, ci vediamo a ORE.!!
I know your knowledge on Italian wines is up there, but, this new Pinot Noir and Oregon thing, is it something for you that is going to be a learning experience as well, or would you say that you are already quite familliar with the Pinot Noir and its production?? How is the weather where you are?? I think or Oregon and wine and somehow think of mountain ranges - is that how it is??
Ciao,
Ore
The weather here is actually a lot like Piemonte. I have been working with Oregon Pinot Noir closely now for over 15 years. The Willamette Valley is located between the Cascade and Coastal mountain ranges, which provide the perfect climate for Pinot Noir .
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Craig:
Congrats on your move. I e-mailed Anne Amie months ago to inqure about their port that one of my waitstaff had tried and raved about. Never got a response at all.
Obviously there wasn't anyone there "managing" and answering those e-mails, so it's a fine thing that you've been hired to take over!So maybe now that I know someone there, you can tell me if your product is available in PA or NJ??
Hi Katie, we make a tiny amount of Syrah Port from some grapes we get in the Rogue Valley. Normally it is only sold at the winery and a few places in Portland. It is a very nice "new-world style" port. The wines are available in NJ and hopefully in the future in PA. If you have any questions you can e-mail me at: craig@anneamie.com
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Hey Craig,
Welcome back to the States. What varietals does Anne Amie Vineyards work with? Where are they available? Tell us about the winery.
John - thanks for the welcome. A trip here a few months ago led to the move. The owner, Robert Pamplin, recently purchased Chateau Benoit and renamed it Anne Amie with the goal of creating the finest Pinot Noir, and, as they say; he made me an offer I could not refuse. The opportunity to join the quest for great Pinot Noir with all the resources required to reach that goal was just too much to pass up. About 90% of our production at Anne Amie is Pinot Noir with the balance being Pinot Gris and some very interesting old vine Riesling. While our production is small (7,000 cases) we have the capability to double that as our vineyards mature. We have two ranges of Pinot Noir: the Winemaker’s Selection, which is a blend of vineyards, and a range of single “Cru” selections: Deux Vert, La Colina, Rainbow Ridge, Hawks View and Yamhill Springs. Unfortunately the Vineyard Designates are very limited with only a few hundred cases of each being produced. The opportunity to be in the winery and vineyards every day working to make great Pinot Noir is an exceptional experience and I am thrilled to be here. I hope that you can come visit us.
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This site often has stuff like that:
http://www.willamettewines.com/
PortlandFood.org did do a tour of some wineries this last fall, too, here:
http://www.portlandfood.org/modules.php?na...c&t=77&start=60
Thanks, but I am looking for a regular group that likes to do in-depth technical tastings (not only of Oregon wines please!)
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Ciao Tutti
I just made the move from Italy to the Willamette Valley to manage Anne Amie Vineyards. So - where are the tasting groups out here?
Welcome Craig! Wow, quite the move. I was just out looking for a Temperanillo (and I can tell I spelled that incorrectly) from Oregon. Had a glass at Matt's in the Market (Seattle) but didn't catch the name (maybe started with an A?). It was a smooth glass of wine.
Have a great time getting to know the PNW, if you aren't already familiar.
Thanks for the welcome. You must be thinking of the Abacela Tempranillo from the Rogue valley in Southern Oregon. Very tasty!
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Ciao Tutti
I just made the move from Italy to the Willamette Valley to manage Anne Amie Vineyards. So - where are the tasting groups out here?
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I am just returned from a visit to Oregon wine country and in the 4 years since my last visit, I was very impressed by the dramatic and almost across the board increase in quality. While there were many outstanding wines some really stand out. For example the Pinot Noirs of Anne Amie combined delicious fruit with classic terroir complexity. I found the 2002 Anne Amie Willamette Pinot Noir excellent and would rate it in the 92 point range. Does anyone have tasting experience with the Anne Amie wines?
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Marchesi di Grèsy, Barbaresco
While these beautiful Barbaresco vineyards had been in the family since the 1800's when Cisa Asinaris of Grèsy purchased the property, it was only in 1973 that Alberto di Grèsy begin making wines from them under his own label, Marchesi di Grèsy. Perhaps he was inspired by the results of the Cantina del Produttori who first bottled wine under the Martinegna name in the late sixty's. Surrounded by some of the finest vineyards in the Barbaresco commune, Rabajà and Asili, the Martinegna vineyards form a natural amphitheater that catches the full force of the sun and protects the vines from wind. While Martinegna is a very good vineyard, a small perfectly exposed section called Camp Gros is capable of greatness. Marchesi di Grèsy produces three excellent Barbaresci and a full-range of well-made Piemontese wines. However, the star of the show is clearly the magnificent Barbaresco Camp Gros which competes with the finest wines of the region.
Tasting notes:
1998 Barbaresco Camp Gros Martinenga ($55)
Marchesi di Grèsy has given this excellent wine extra aging before release and this wine is a great reminder that the 1998 is an outstanding vintage in its own right. Bright light ruby with garnet highlights, quite translucent. The expansive nose is extremely complex with layers of bitter tobacco and tar blending with touches of cassis and a warm rich earthiness. On the palate the wine dances with a bright clean elegance and layers of spices and fine cigars carried on the round ripe fruit. The finish is firmly tannin, but starting to open show the refined character of this wine. Wait until it reaches its tens birthday and you will be well rewarded. (Rating A+, excellent)
1998 Barbaresco Gaiun Martinenga ($55)
This is Marchesi di Grèsy's modern styled offering, while the other two Barbaresci are made in a more traditional style. Brilliant ruby with scarlet highlights. Just translucent. Oak is very apparent in the nose with fresh pencil shaving aromas blending with light tar and sweet cherry fruit. Pungent dark cherry fruit flavors blend with smoky, earthy touches on the palate that is firmed up by a clean mineral note. The finish is roundly tannic with pronounced oaky flavors blending with sweet black licorice accents. (Rating A-, excellent)
2000 Barbaresco Martinenga ($45)
Produced from very old nebbiolo clones. Bright scarlet with garnet hints. Quite translucent. Dense smoky, mineral and ripe plum aromas mix with an earthy tar highlight. Firm and complex on the palate, very stylish with a rich mixture of power and refinement. The flavors are ripe, but balanced with sweet fruit carried by bitter licorice and tobacco notes. The finish shows tannins that are still intense, but surprising refined and round. A very nice, balanced 2000. (Rating A, excellent)
2000 Virtus (cabernet sauvignon 40%, barbera 60%) ($30)
Brilliant ruby. The nose is packed with fresh cherry and sweet oak with a touch of mint. The forward, ripe fruit flavors show sweet oak flavors with minty cabernet fruit overlaid by zesty barbera freshness. The finish is clean with full oaky highlights and round easy tannins. (Rating B+, very good)
2002 Dolcetto d'Alba, Monte Aribaldo ($16)
Marchesi di Grèsy produced 50% less than normal in this difficult vintage and their careful selection produced a lovely wine. Brilliant purple with ruby hints. The nose is explosively fruity filled with fresh blueberries and plum. Fresh and crisp on the palate, the lively fresh fruit flavors are juicy and delicious. Drink up while it is fresh and fruity. (Rating B+, very good)
2001 Sauvignon, Langhe Bianco DOC ($16)
Bright light gold. Clean, flinty aromas mix with ripe melons with a smoky hints. Crisp and fresh on the palate with a metallic firmness and round ripe pear notes. The finish is zesty and clean. (Rating B+, very good)
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I got a Brunello for about $9.00
Brunello for $9? ...and the dish still tasted good? Brunello wine vinegar costs more than $9!There is no such thing as drinkable $9 Brunello (unless somebody mispriced it). I never understand this concept of putting expensive wines in recipes to begin with and I am willing to bet the Monte Antico I recommended above not only tastes better than cheap Brunello, but does a better job in the dish too.
It is never a good idea to buy the cheapest label in existance of a famous wine name.
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I would agree that their "regular" Brunello is their best wine. Although Centine is certainly a decent wine for the money and the Rosso di Montalcino is a very good drink.
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Principesco is a label put out by the Cantina di Montalcino, the cooperative in Montalcino and is imported by Paolo Boselli. They bottle wine under many labels. It is a middle-of-the-road wine of average to good quality. However, using it for cooking is still a waste unless you just want to toss good money away.
If you want very high-quality sangiovese character for cooking (or drinking) try Monte Antico, which you can find for under $10. (You might like it better than this Brunello).
Wine
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Wine IS a food.