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.

Some Suds

This is a picture of picking hops in the bad old days. How uncomfortable does this look? But from the past we derive the future and that's what this post is about.

This past week at Le Cordon Bleu Atlanta there was a competition for students. The focus was on using beers of Flying Dog Brewery in original recipes. The winners will be posted on their web site. We were lucky enough to have Eric Warner, one of the premier craftbrewers in the US, as a judge in the contest.

It was great to see the enthusiasm, creativity and interest from future chefs in creating some really good dishes using beer as a key ingredient. Some were more successful than others, which is to be expected. The better offerings displayed a finished flavor that fully incorporated the beer in the overall recipe. The better recipes allowed the taste of the individual beer to come through as well as being integrated in the dish.

Eric is a great speaker and loved judging and meeting the students and a million thanks to him. Despite a busy schedule he took time to speak to my Beverage class the next day. Throughout his visit there was enormous interest in the competition and in the students to learn more about good beer.

This was, I think, indicative of how good beer will progress in the years ahead. Craft beers are where wine was in the 1980s as far as market share and public interest. The sleeping giant of American consumers is waking and an awful lot of that interest will be increasingly focused on craft beers. Recent sales show that while industrial beers sales are flat at best, craft beers are increasing at rates of around 30-45% per year.

I see this as part of a general trend that is also reflected in the swelling of interest in slow food, naturally raised beef, pork and lamb and poultry as opposed to the horrors of factory farming, and a passion for people to feel a connectedness to their food.

There is a deep seated need in people to be a part of their environment, part of the land, and this most basic need is evidenced through our food. It is no accident that people are starting push back against frankenfoods, hormone and anti-biotic laced meat, chemical fertilizers and pesticides that do so much damage to the natural world.

Craft brewing is part of this and the beers produced help give people a real sense of being connected to their food. It is reassuring to know that somewhere there is a real person supervising the brewing; and taking a personal interest in his or her products. All is not faceless and spiritless mega-corporations. Ever notice how many beers are increasingly going organic? Same idea.

So support your local craft brewer and brew pub. These folks represent a return to one the most personal aspects of society. They deserve everyone's support. In five years, people will be talking about beers the way they now talk about wines. Be a part of this wholly positive movement.

Prossit!

Wines to Watch Part 1

There are several interesting areas that received good press reports over the last several months. What I am about here is to summarize some of these items and give you ideas for further pursuit of some good wines.

MICHIGAN: Never in my wildest fantasies did I think Michigan would be getting national recognition for their wines. Cherries and cherry pie? Sure. Great blueberries? Sure. Gas guzzling car? Well......

But now the state's burgeoning wine industry is racking up positive press left and right. What does best here are grapes that like a tough climate or can be shown to advantage with less ripening than others. The varietals that come to mind are riesling and pinot gris, AKA pinot grigio. Riesling seems to actually like lousy weather, which is why it does well in Germany. Alsace is is more user friendly but at the 48th or 49th parallel that can mean different things to different grapes. In Michigan the wines produced have lots of structure and a mouth filling tartness coupled with a ripe fruit nose and palette that belie their place of origin.

Pinot grigio can show well if picked early, as many Italian growers do voluntarily. In Michigan, the cooler temperatures can be a blessing in that a consistency of style is not difficult to achieve due to more problematic ripening conditions than in the Veneto region or even Trentino/Alto Adige.

With an aggressive and informative professional association, these wines are making headlines on a regular basis. Look for more news from Michigan in the next couple of years and vines achieve maturity and new wineries get started.