Winter Warmers

[vserna]

Respectfully, as a mere amateur, allow me to point out the following facts:

1. Leaving more or less residual sugar in wine is not really dependent on the vineyard, but a winemaking decision.

2. The Quinta dos Malvedos is indeed at the bottom of the steep valley, right on the Douro river where the Túa river joins it, and as such it's in the hottest part of the valley where grape ripeness can be greater. But it's not in any different position, as far as terroir, microclimate and potential ripeness, as other top estates right on the river, like Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas, Martinez's Quinta da Eira Velha or the independent Quinta de la Rosa, among many others.

3. Quinta dos Malvedos supplies only a part of the grapes used by Graham's, even though it's vinified on its own in non-declared years. Graham's also uses the fruit from a number of other estates, most notably the Quinta do Vale de Malhadas and the Quinta da Vila Velha, both in notably cooler terroirs than Malvedos. So I would have to reject the idea that Graham's is sweeter because their grapes are sweeter than anyone else's. That just wouldn't make much sense to me, either from a viticultural or an oenologic viewpoint. But that's just my opinion, of course.

On Lustau, I would also beg to differ. It's just one more producer as far as we see it in Spain - but one with a wonderful attention-catching line, the Almacenistas, and a devilishly effective US importer, Europvin. Spanish wine writers are less sanguine about the range, and I agree with them. I see in the 2004 edition of the leading Spanish wine guide, the Guía Peñín, that none of their currently released wines gets more than a very good (but not great) rating of 90 on the American-style 100-point scale Peñín uses, while San Emilio gets a modest 80 points and Emperatriz Eugenia a rather forgettable 75+, with some severe comments to boot.

There's much better stuff out there in the wide world of sherry, believe me! Again, just my opinion. But I think it may be interesting for eGulleteers to hear a number of different views.

[Boris_A]

Respectfully, as a mere amateur

Too late, Victor. You're already busted.

And even true, an advise by a passionate amateur can be exactly as valuable.

But I think it may be interesting for eGulleteers to hear a number of different views.

I fully agree.

And the names of those different Jerez producers ? To quote those famous three words: bring it on!

[Craig Camp]

Victor - your playing the game of a "mere amateur" is quaint, but hardly true.

Your characterization of Europvin as a "devilishly effective US importer" is almost laughable and you clearly have little information about that company. Europvin has no organized PR strategy and no USA based sales staff - only Christopher Cannan and Paul Sharp (certainly excellent people) cover the entire USA and for that matter the whole world for Europvin - why you even need a password to visit their website. Their massive, phonebook size catalogue of French, Italian and Spanish wines is almost brand name free except for Lustau. Europvin has succeeded based on quality alone and is the antithesis of a "devilishly effective US importer". In fact it is my opinion that they would sell 10 times as much wine with a major importer.

It would also seem that you are misinformed that a vineyard that provides particularly ripe fruit does not determine a house style. Vineyard owners in Brunate, Montrachet, Pomerol, Stag's Leap and every other important wine region in the world will be interested to learn this new fact. To define Graham's as only being higher in residual sugar is to oversimplify their style which is not only sweet, but rich - in other words high in extract. Of course Malvedos is not the exclusive vineyard used in their Ports, but it is the heart of their Vintage Port, which is not to be confused with their wood port blends.

I see in the 2004 edition of the leading Spanish wine guide, the Guía Peñín, that none of their currently released wines gets more than a very good (but not great) rating of 90 on the American-style 100-point scale Peñín uses, while San Emilio gets a modest 80 points and Emperatriz Eugenia a rather forgettable 75+, with some severe comments to boot.

From this I take it we can assume you buy all your Italian wines based on the ratings of the Gambero Rosso. It is not always reasonable to assume that reviews based in the country of origin are more accurate than others.

[Craig Camp]

There's much better stuff out there in the wide world of sherry, believe me! Again, just my opinion. But I think it may be interesting for eGulleteers to hear a number of different views.

It would be most interesting if you shared this information. Why don't you start a Sherry thread outlining your preferences?

[vserna]

Victor - your playing the game of a "mere amateur" is quaint, but hardly true.

Your characterization of Europvin as a "devilishly effective US importer" is almost laughable and you clearly have little information about that company.

It would also seem that you are misinformed that a vineyard that provides particularly ripe fruit does not determine a house style.

It is not always reasonable to assume that reviews based in the country of origin are more accurate than others.

You keep heaping such undeserved compliments on me, and then you brilliantly demonstrate all my failings: my amateur status is immediately clear.

I’ll still attempt, if you will allow me, a few more amateurish responses, which you can debunk easily, as a real pro.

On Europvin:

I’ve known Chris Cannan for many years, and I can tell you that he doesn’t need any “PR strategy” to perfectly place the wines that he represents in the market he seeks - the top-end one. Perhaps I don’t understand exactly what you mean by “brand name”, but I can assure you that the few Spanish names in Chris’ portfolio have very big brand names in Spain: Vega Sicilia, La Rioja Alta, Mauro, Belondrade y Lurton and Lustau (at least, the Almacenista range).

On this subject, I have some (uncharacteristically) professional reasons to believe that practically all of Spain’s quality producers reject “major importers”, which are most effective downmarket, with basic wines. Indeed, the choice of importer may have been crucial in Lustau’s surprisingly upmarket placement in the U.S. See, Spain’s top two quality producers, Alvaro Palacios of L’Ermita and Peter Sisseck of Pingus, have a very small outfit called the Rare Wine Company, run (with devilish effectiveness) by Manny Berk from a small town in Connecticut, as their U.S. importer. All other top-notch Spanish producers are imported by the decidedly minor companies run by Steve Metzler, Eric Solomon, Jorge Ordóñez and Fran Kysela, plus Cannan, of course.

On Graham’s port:

I am somewhat familiar, in a dilettante sort of way, with fine vineyards producing ripe fruit, from Vosne to Serralunga to the Green Valley to (would you believe?) even Spain’s forlorn Manchuela. But I also know that major vintage ports from the big Vila Nova de Gaia houses look for a ‘house style’ that dominates all other factors and are the terroir-poor product of arcane blends of grapes from very diverse places. Let’s take your terroir-driven view that Quinta de Malvedos is “the heart” of Graham’s: why, then, would the style of, say, Taylor’s be so different from Graham’s if its own “heart”, the Quinta de Vargellas, is extremely similar in terroir and mesoclimate to Malvedos?

When Ramonet makes his Montrachet, OTOH, it’s not a blend but a wine entirely made with grapes from a tiny parcel (0.6 acre) on that vineyard, and terroir takes precedence over all other considerations. Or so I have been led to believe, from my amateur’s vantage point.

On Spanish guides:

I mentioned Peñín because it’s the leading guide, but I could have quoted Gourmetour, Campsa or, goodness gracious, even www.elmundovino.com. None of us considers Lustau as one of the very top producers of sherry, taking in the breadth of its range and not just the tiny Almacenista niche. Indeed, a recent in-depth study of the best Pedro Ximénez sweet sherries in Spain hardly mentioned Lustau:

http://elmundovino.elmundo.es/elmundovino/...icia=1077187594

Then again, in Spain it’s quite possible that we don’t know how to taste sherry.

[Adam Balic]

Interesting discussion....

Victor - while in Malaga I tasted numerous 'Malaga' wines (for reasons of historical interest), must of which were quite simple and light. I did take one bottle home that I was told was from a very old fashioned producer and made in the 'old style'. It was a very good fortified wine, very rich and complex (unfortunately the name escapes me). Have you any thoughts on these wines and is it worth while to look for more good examples?

[vserna]

Have you any thoughts on these wines and is it worth while to look for more good examples?

The great, historic house of Scholtz disappeared a few years back. It was a tragic loss. Your wine may indeed have been from them. They were revered in the UK, and Jancis Robinson was particularly fond of their traditional Málaga wines.

Málaga makes almost exclusively sweet wines. Inland, on the road to Córdoba, there are pedro ximénez vineyards, while the Axarquía hills near the sea have the region's most interesting treasure: the old moscatel romano (muscat of Alexandria) vineyards on precipitous schist slopes. The wines themselves are made following arcane local methods, mostly from dried grapes à la 'vin de paille' or 'passito' wines. Curiously, the appellation's regulations demand that the winery be within the city limits of Málaga, dozens or perhaps hundreds of miles from the vineyards! This absurd situation has been alleviated by the creation of a new appellation, Sierra de Málaga, for wineries near the vineyards, such as Telmo Rodríguez's Molino Real. This, a non-oxidative style wine fermented in cask, has revolutionized the region's habits. Great stuff. Names to look out for in traditional Málaga, after Scholtz's sad demise, are Gomara (terrific Trasañejo) and López Hermanos (Don Salvador Moscatel is one of Spain's greatest sweet wines).

[Adam Balic]

Ah thank you for that, I was told that the wine contained a large amount of muscat and that these vines were rare survivors of 19th century phylloxera infestations. It resembled the Australian fortified muscats of Rutherglan (made from 'Muscat à Petits Grains Rouge'), but slightly richer, possibly due to the presence of PX.

It could very well have been Scholtz (name rings a bell), what a great shame. I guess that the great fortified wines of the world are in trouble and that the smaller regions are the one to suffer the most.

[Rebel Rose]

Christmas pudding in a glass!

Mmm, mmm. During the holiday weekend, a friend brought me a scosh of 1985 Warre's Port. I wasn't able to focus on the finer nuances of taste, unfortunately, as I was entertaining at the moment (or at least I thought I was ) . . . but oh my, it was good. He had opened it four days earlier for a date (lucky girl) and brought the rest to me. At first there was a whiff of over-the-top volatile acidity, but after I got past that, there was a pure citrus rind aroma backed up by roast beef, and flavors of golden raisin, pastry and caramel. Wow, we said, fruitcake in a glass! Who needs flour?

[Fernwood]

Although I discovered that I love both port and sherry some years ago, I haven't drunk enough in either category to know much about the wines (I also love beer!). For my husband's birthday last year he, coincidentally, received two different bottles of port. We have been wanting to open them sometime when we can enjoy them with friends and drink them up, rather than wasting them. I'm trying to plan this occasion and I'm thinking that it would be nice to have a third port to round out the little tasting. I need some advice from those of you who actually know something about the wine.

The bottles we have are:

Cockburn’s Vintage 1994 (only 375ml )

Presidential Tawny "Matured in wood for 40 years Bottled 2001" C. Da Silva

Can anyone make suggestions for a third bottle that might complement these? I think the other drinkers know even less about port than I do. I should also point out that I am shopping in New Haven County, CT--don't think I will be able to get to NYC sources between now and then--so my selection may be limited.

Any pointers for decanting the Cockburn's? Since it's just a little bottle, I don't want to waste a drop, but I am not experienced in decanting wines.

Also, I'm working on a menu of nibbles for this event. I have heard that walnuts work well with port and I was thinking to include a version of a Turkish filo & feta called sigara boregi. This version includes minced walnuts and Aleppo pepper (the pepper is rich-flavored and only mildly hot). Do you think the feta and pepper are a mistake with the wine?

Any other menu suggestions would be welcome, as well!

Thanks, Fern

[TongoRad]

Sure Fern, just a few thoughts:

#1) Blue Cheese!!!! You just have to serve some sort of blue veined cheese with tawny port! If you don't do it then the entire balance of the universe will be undone! Even if you don't like blue cheese you just have to do it- it is the single best wine and food pairing in the history of ever. The port and cheese combine on the palate to create an entirely new flavor akin to butterscotch or toffee, and it is so wonderful. ...other than that I have no strong feelings on the topic...

Personally I'd be inclined to let the Cockburn's sit for another decade or so and invest in two more bottles for the tasting, one of which could be moderately priced. If you only intend to serve three bottles and want to include the vintage style (bottle aged as opposed to barrel aged) , an LBV might be one way to go.

A 40 year tawny is a beautiful but mellow thing. To appreciate the spectrum of what port has to offer you should also serve some younger bottlings. Definitely a 20 year tawny (Taylor Fladgate, if it is available) along with the LBV, if you choose to go that route.

Walnuts will be a good choice all around. I think I am familiar with the aleppo pepper (I think I've seen it called Syrian pepper), and it's not too aggressive a flavor so pairing it with a younger port should be an interesting matchup.

But definitely, above all else, the blue cheese!

[Carolyn Tillie]

Sure Fern, just a few thoughts:

#1) Blue Cheese!!!! You just have to serve some sort of blue veined cheese with tawny port! If you don't do it then the entire balance of the universe will be undone! Even if you don't like blue cheese you just have to do it- it is the single best wine and food pairing in the history of ever. The port and cheese combine on the palate to create an entirely new flavor akin to butterscotch or toffee, and it is so wonderful. ...other than that I have no strong feelings on the topic...

But definitely, above all else, the blue cheese!

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Amen, brother... I finished a bottle of Niepoort 10 Year Tawney last night with an English Stilton. In fact, it was dinner...

[Rebel Rose]

Ditto on the Stilton--I'm particularly fond of double English Stilton, and Stilton with preserved lemons.

For nuts, if you can find the Diamond sesame-glazed walnuts (in a purple zip snack bag, usually in the snacks section of the grocer), they're softer and not as tannic as other walnuts, without being sappy with sugar. I keep bags of them in the freezer and pull them out with a bottle of late harvest syrah for impromptu entertaining. Get the sesame, though, not the butterscotch or whatever flavors--too sweet.

[Fernwood]

Even if you don't like blue cheese you just have to do it- it is the single best wine and food pairing in the history of ever.

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Okay, okay! No problem convincing us to eat blue cheese.

I've done a little more research and see that, indeed, the Cockburn's is probably barely old enough to drink. I like your suggestion for diversity; I'll have to start cruising the local package stores and see what I can get my hands on.

Thanks very much for your advice. Thank you to Carolyn and Rose, as well.

Fern

[Rebel Rose]

jende's recent question about wine with savory chocolate dishes reminds me that this is sherry and port weather.

What are we drinking, and what are we pairing our wines with?

Late harvest California syrah for me, paired with a murder mystery and a roaring fire.