Craig Camp
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Posts posted by Craig Camp
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Is it breaking some code of conduct to post prices? I would love to know if I can aspire to taste a single one of the wines you praise.
Yes, it breaks Jim's. However if you wish to post purchase prices, please do.
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This is a big question. First you have to find a good store with an excellent selection that goes beyond commercial producers like Antinori or Ruffino. Although they make some good wines, they are not likely to excite. You could get hundreds of excellent suggestions here and then not be able to find them. Find a reliable Italian wine merchant and put yourself in their hands.
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Frankly I think they're great and extremely durable. I have Riedel glasses going on 20 years old. I have many and almost never break one and when I do it's my fault.
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Okay, I've heard of people 'sabering' Champagne bottles.........but I must ask 'why?', that is: here you finally have a bottle of wine that requires no corkscrew, rather, a certain amount of talent to open correctly - to produce the 'sigh of a contented woman' (cannot remember WHO said that, but it's a good one, no?) sound - in gently releasing the cork from the bottle. I thought that this was what Champane service (and consumption) was all about.....? So why do this? I would guess that it would also lead to a loss of quite a bit of the champagne...sort of like shaking the bottle before opening...? Katie, do you know?
The Hussards (French mounted soldiers of the Napoleonic era) started this tradition. It seems they carried more sabers around than the average person and it is also reasonable to assume that Champagne corks were probably harder to get out in those days. Put the two together with the urgent need to celebrate a victory and you get the tradition of sabering champagne. Unless you happen to carry a saber to work every day there are other, albeit less colorful, methods recommended, unless macho chest beating seems appropriate at the moment.
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Craig,
Can you help me with the meaning of "tenuto" in regards to wine? I've seen it and assumed it to mean something like land holdings, vineyard?
tenuto/tenuta is a farm, an estate
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I could not agree more. This wine offers incredible complexity for the price. There are some great wines from the Etna zone, also give the wines of Tenuto Sicilio a try.2001 Val Cerasa Etna Rosso, Sicilia. This $11 is an incredible bargain -
First there seems to be some confusion here. Terragens makes (at least) 3 sangiovese wines under the Romio name:
Romio Sangiovese di Romagna
Romio Sangiovese di Romagna Riserva
Romio Forli (100% sangiovese)
At a quoted price of $30 the wine reviewed would have to be the Forli as they other two wines sell for much less. At $7.99 the wine you purchased had to be the regular Sangiovese di Romagna. It is a pleasant wine and is a good bottle for that much money, but it is not the wine the Wine Advocate rated 90 pts. Honestly I would rate it a best buy at the price and it's in line for a Sottodieci selection in my newsletter.
Craig, you're probably right. My local wine store plays dirty then. I wonder if the sign was inadvertant. They have enough "wine experts" on staff to make me think they should know that RP was writing about a different wine.
Maybe they sold out of the Forli and forgot to take the sign down.
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First there seems to be some confusion here. Terragens makes (at least) 3 sangiovese wines under the Romio name:
Romio Sangiovese di Romagna
Romio Sangiovese di Romagna Riserva
Romio Forli (100% sangiovese)
At a quoted price of $30 the wine reviewed would have to be the Forli as they other two wines sell for much less. At $7.99 the wine you purchased had to be the regular Sangiovese di Romagna. It is a pleasant wine and is a good bottle for that much money, but it is not the wine the Wine Advocate rated 90 pts. Honestly I would rate it a best buy at the price and it's in line for a Sottodieci selection in my newsletter.
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Opportunism? You think those in California can't or don't recognize the difference? If it is opportunism in terms of taking advantage of peoples ignorance it seems that would be directed more at areas like the Midwest perhaps.
Careful here, both of your forum hosts are mid-Westerners
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The operative question here may not be if it is right for American producers of fine American sparking wines to use the name champagne on their labels, but why in the world they would want to? American "champagne" has the worst of reputations.
Is seems the best producers understand this and almost none use that pirated designation on their labels anymore. How about a quick survey. Who of the serious American sparking wine producers (champagne method only please) still use the word champagne on their labels?
...and we are not here to discuss French/American politics, but the right to use geographical designations of other countries on wines not from those zones. Further forays into that area will result in a locked thread or deleted posts.
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If Champagne is such a region oriented name, tell em to take Epernay or Reims.
The name of the French region where Epernay and Reims are located is Champagne. It is the name of a place, not an idea. By this logic you would have to change the name of Burgundy also. The word Champagne comes from the type of soil you see in this region and in the Cognac zone (which is why the word Champagne appears on Cognac labels). The name was in use before the wine as we know it today was created. Dom Perignon did not say, "I'm drinking stars. Let's call it Champagne." The wine was named for where they made it, not how they made it.
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" Just we silly Americans do that...
The Germans have a nice one word name Sekt. The Itallians Prosecco. New Yorker's have their own Language. We Californians and other American's, untill we find a one word name for it that we like better call it Champagne. To repeat once again though, I (and I feel many others) call it Champagne due to its style of wine. That the particular style comes from that region is just how it happens to be. If this is so odd, then why, oh why do people say something like "I had a nice French Champagne....." and don't tell me you haven't heard the terminology "French Champagne" used on many occasions.
Prosecco is the name of a grape. You can buy still, sparkling and grappa called prosecco.
Metodo classico or metodo tradizionale is the name of Champagne method sparkling wines in Italy.
Also, sparkling wine labeled Franciacorta can only be made from the metodo classico so usually don't mention that on the label.
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If one was to purchase a decanter, what would be the recommendation?
I'm normally a "gimme a bottle and a straw" type of person, but I figure I should get a little classier with the types of wines I'm now buying
The differences between decanters is not as important as those between wine glasses. If you are decanting just to remove sediment anything is fine. If you are decanting to let the wine breath you want a design that maximizes the surface contact between the wine and air. In other words, a wide decanter. When it comes to actually functioning those cheap liter carafes work as well as many expensive crystal decanters. It is a questions of personal preference and your budget. If I was on a budget I would spend my money on the wine glasses and make do with a basic decanter.
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Thanks.
Criag, I am thinking of 94 and 95 Jordan cab, and 92-96 Silver Oak (mainly Alexander Valley). Are Rhone wines decanted? Australian and American Syrah/Shiraz?
The Jordon and Silver Oak A.V. wines may have some sediment so should be decanted. I would not give them much breathing time as these wines are quite soft to begin with. By the way I would recommend drinking these up as I do not see them as long agers.
Rhone wines cover a broad range from the syrah wines of the north to the grenache based wines of the south. Both have the potential to throw sediment as they age and will benefit from breathing. The amount of time depends on the age and the quality of the vintage.
I would see no reason to decant (or age) commercial grade Australian shiraz like Rosmount or Hardy's. These wines are ready to drink upon release and do not improve. In fact, as they are probably used micro-oxygenation they are kind of "pre-decanted". Small estate syrah/shiraz wines from California and Australia are only medium-term agers. The can throw a sediment as they age (especially bottles marked unfined and unfiltered). Breathing time once again depends on the quality and style of the wine.
In general, when it comes to breathing:
- Traditionally styled wines need it more than internationally styled wines
- Tannic varietals (like cabernet sauvignon, nebbiolo) need it more than low tannin varietals (pinot noir, gamay)
- Traditionally styled wines need it more than internationally styled wines
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I only ask because the price seemed high compared to the $39.90 cdn we can buy the 2000 for here in Vancouver. It's unususal that anything wine wise is cheaper here due to our government distribution system. How would you compare this wine to the Segeretta Belguardo 2001, which I found very closed, even after 2 hours in the decanter.
The Campaccio is more open. Campaccio always seems ready to drink.
The prices I quote are a high average of what I see the wines being sold for and you can most likely find them at lower prices. Sometimes much lower at discounters.
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Yes, In a past life I was an importer when I lived in the USA. This is a great wine made by great people. I doubt they are currently available in the USA as Colline Lucchesi wines are not exactly a hot item. You need to find crazy people like me to go out and do the missionary work to find people like you. Unfortunately there aren't many people like you so a lot of great wines just can't find their way through the anti-small producer and retailer three tier system.
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2001 Perticaia Sagrantino di Montefalco, DOCG, Umbria (92)
Dense, brilliant ruby with purple highlights. Firm, concentrated ripe and bitter cherry aromas with touches of iodine, butcher shop and sweet oak. Smooth and voluptuous with dense sweet dark wild raspberry flavors balanced by an intense bitter cherry that dominates the sweet fruit and oak. The clean bitterness continues to balance the sweet cassis finish. Under all this fruit you can still find some firm tannins that suggest a few years of bottle age to get rid of all this baby fat. This is one big wine, yet shows breeding. ($40) A Jens Schmidt Selection-Imported by Montecastelli Selections.
VinoCibo.com Sottodieci - good wines for around $10
2003 La Carraia Sangiovese, IGT, Umbria (87)
This fresh, crisp sangiovese is the work of super-star enologist Riccardo Cotarella and is a tremendous bargain for everyday drinking. It is a brilliant light ruby and both the aromas and flavors are packed with delicious ripe cherry fruit laced with a bitter tobacco touch. I wish more Italian restaurants would get rid of the thin commercial Chianti wines they pour and use wines like this with real sangiovese varietal flavor. A Leonardo LoCascio Selection-Imported by Winebow.
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Happy Birthday Craig Camp
in Wine
Posted
Thanks, I most certainly will!