This is a photo of Manchester, Vermont for those of who haave never been there.

One of the best features of the Symposium that was interesting was the focus on Spanish wines. There was a program by Doug Frost, MS, MW, on wines of Spain where he featured unusual but distinctive and wonderful wines from less known regions.

Another program featured Steve Olson, the Wine Geek, on Sherry. We tasted about a dozen wines from the driest imaginable to wines with a texture so rich they had a viscosity similar to motor oil, but in a good way.

One of the featured underwriters of the symposium was Wines of Spain, USA. They did a great job and certainly had engaging and knowledgeable speakers.

There will be reviews later on of the wines tasted throughout the event.

Some Surprises

I was lucky enough to attend the Sante Magazine Symposium held at the Equinox Hotel in Manchester, VT. With lots of advance program information I was able to select from all the great programs and focus on wine, especially wines from Spain and ways of training staff in wine service. As a huge bonus there was a tasting and retrospective on wines of Bordeaux, with tastings back to 1989.

This Symposium will take several postings to cover.

Today I'll start with the Bordeaux wines. Presented by Roger Bohmrich, MW, who is managing partner in Mellisima USA, it was a revelation in just how good great Bordeaux wines can be.

We started with the 2005 vintage tasting Ch. De Sales from Pomerol and Ch d'Armailhac
from Paulliac.The De Sales had intense but subtle red fruit aromas and plenty of fine ripe tannins. The d'Armailhac had a deep intensity of color with a slightly smokey tinged aroma and palette of dark fruits. Composed of 60% Cab Sauv, 29% Merlot, 10% Cab Franc and whopping 1% Petite Verdot, it displayed incredible balance and confidence that let us know it would be alive and well for many years.

From 2003 we sampled Ch. d'Issan from Margaux and Ch. La Fleur Peyrabon, again from Pauillac. The D'Issan was a rapturous black red color showing dense aromas of black fruits, oak and dirt. On the palette there were plentiful tannins and great structure. At 70% Cab Sauv and 30% Merlot, this wine is still in its infancy.

The Peyrabon exhibited a large nose of deeply ripe red fruits, spice and oak. The palette was lush, full and ripe with a promise of increasing complexity as the years pass.

Vintage 2000 was represented by Domaine de Chevalier and Ch. La Dominque.The Chevalier was a deep ruby color with a long finish and tannins just starting to drop out of the wine. The flavor was intense but with an almost transparent lightness of being.

Dommique again showed intense dark ruby color with vibrant dark red fruits on the nose. After eight years, the ripeness of the fruit on the palette was impressive.

Ch. Ducru Beaucaillou from St. Julien and Leoville Las Cases, its almost neighbor from St. Julien, were both impressive. Ducru was showing a slight garnet on the rim evolving from a deep red core. The nose displayed red and dark fruits, noticeable dark cherry and spice and licorice notes. The palette was expressive and beginning to resolve into a fully mature personality. The Las Cases was also going to brick red on the rim with a little less intensity on the nose than the Ducru. The tannins were evident in maintaining a wonderful, firm structure while displaying a remarkable purity of fruit. This wine is 65% Cab Sauv, 19% Merlot, 13% Cab Franc and 3% Petite Verdot.

What Mr. Bomrich showed the attendees was how truly impressive the wines of Bordeaux can be. Despite all the hype of the French wine trade going down the drain, so long as wines such as these are produced, Bordeaux with remain the benchmark for wine growing areas around the world.

Mr. Robert Mondavi

Robert Mondavi died at the age of 94. In the course of his long and eventful life he was one of a tiny handful of people who created the modern American wine industry. From his time as a novice to his time as an international business man with oenological interests all over the globe, his name was synonymous with quality, generosity and creativity.

When I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 1979 his wine brand was a leader in California wines in stores and restaurants. In a very real way, he made our wines known throughout the world.

There will be many lengthy pieces written on Mr. Mondavi. This is simply a thank you to a great man who had and continues to have a profound impact on me and the entire wine world.

Here's a toast to your life Mr. Mondavi.

Thank you.

Northwest Wine Symposium

What a great experience. I recently was a judge at the above named event held on Mt. Hood, at the Timberline Lodge. There were twenty judges from around the country broken into panels of four each. Members rotated panels and we had some time to discuss wines after personal evaluations.

Wines were from Or, WA, ID, MT, Alberta and BC. What was cool was there were so many unusual wines: lembergers, ehrenfelsers, tempranillos, kerners. And Italian varietals were coming on strong; I had not thought of the Northwest as a good area for these red grapes. But was I wrong!

The overall quality of the wines was good and we had over 1200 hundred to sample in five tasting sessions. Judges were educators, winemakers, academics, retailers and restaurant professionals. We had a vibrant cross section of people and the rotation system all but guaranteed a fresh perspective for everyone when judging.

Surprises for me wre the quality levels of the Italian and Spanish grapes. There were some delightful muscat frizzantes (just in time for summer), excellent sparkling wines, well made fortifieds (although when will New World wineries stop using the European name Port for their fortified wines?), coomplex ice wines and some well made Rhone blends, both white and red.

Some problems arose with excessive brettanomyces aromas and flavors as well as some high levels of volatile acidity. But for the most part, the wines displayed a growing sense of quality, professionalism and well tended vineyards. This event highlighted what a world class region the Northwest is.

See the following link for continuing reports and updates on these wines.

Red Hills AVA

Just to the northeast of Calistoga in Napa Valley lies Lake County. Within lake County is a sub-appellation called Red Hills. Lake County was the first major wine grape growing area in California with a history dating back to the end of the 19th century. As with so many other promising places and wineries, the growers and wineries were wiped out during the black hole of Prohibition. Folks planted mostly pear and walnut trees to get by.

Fast forward to the 1960s and we see some grapes growing again in Lake County. There are now about four dozen wineries and over 100 growers of grapes who sell on contract to other wineries out of the area.

Red Hills is a sub-appellation within the Lake County AVA. It lies on the southwestern shore of Clear Lake, the largest natural lake in California and the oldest lake in the United States. The local volcano, Mt. Konocti, is responsible for most of the soil types in Red Hills. Obsidian, pumice, clay/gravel, all combine to provide a unique sense of place for this area.

Add to that the altitude of vineyards starting at around 1300 feet and rising to almost 4,000 feet, and there are many factors that go to creating wonderful grapes and wines.

The elevation creates diurnal temperature swings of often 40 to 50 degrees. The steep slopes create breezes which help keep fungus and rot to a minimum. Many of the vine problems found at lower altitudes are not an issue in Red Hills.

Vineyard soils often have high levels of calcium which helps grapes retain acidity to create balance in the finished wines.

The area's altitude places most vineyards above the fog layer coming in off the Pacific so early morning sunlight gives extra hours for slow ripening at cool temperatures.

Wines of Red Hills tend toward great purity of fruit, exquisite balance, moderate alcohol levels and reasonable prices. What more do you need?

Vines are young, with most showing under ten years of age. As these vines mature we will see greater intensity of fruit and complexity on the palette.

While reds do well here, Sauvignon Blanc is a real winnner, showing citrus and tropical fruits with good acidity and elegant balance. New Zealand watch out-someone's gaining on you!

We'll have some more on Red Hills and Lake County later. But for now, go buy some wines from the area and see what I am talking about.