Cornas and the Cult of the Stinky Red

One of the big misperceptions about wine professionals is that we sit around every day ruminating over the differences between First Growth Bordeaux, Grand Cru Burgundy, and the like. And, of course, while that does happen once in a very rare while, and while those days are truly remarkable when they do come around, they are few and far between. And anyway, most of us who live and work with wine didn’t get into this business just for the legendary bottlings. Rather, there’s a sense of discovery that brightens up most of our days: The chance to taste something new, or from a place that doesn’t quite get the respect it deserves, is what really gets us going.

I bring this up because in The Wall Street Journal this past weekend, Jay McInerney devotes his column to a wine that, outside the circles of its most dedicated fans, has remained in the shadows for far too long: Cornas.

He writes: “As far as I can tell, Cornas hasn't really been fashionable since the era of Charlemagne. The wine critic Jancis Robinson once wrote a piece describing her failure to fall in love, or even in like, with Cornas...[It] has always been a rustic wine, with formidable tannins and, sometimes, a barnyard funk that suggested a lack of hygiene in the cellar. The first few examples I tasted made me wonder if the grapes had been stomped by someone with very stinky socks.”

To which lovers of this unique wine would reply: Yum. It’s a funky wine, to be sure, often speaking of bonfire, meat, and the cage of some sort of only moderately hygienic animal at the zoo. As disgusting as this sounds, however, it tends to take on a softer personality when paired with food that can provide a counterweight to it, allowing its often unexpectedly expressive fruit to show more clearly. Even on its own, however, Cornas is a wine that, when made well and with honesty, is one of the most idiosyncratic, terroir-specific in the world. Which, for me, at least, is what really gets me excited to get to work every morning.

As we here on the East Coast stare down the barrel of yet another cold, snowy week, this is the time for popping the corks of these winter-perfect reds.

[NB: I do have one correction to make to McInerney’s article: In the fourth paragraph, he says that Cornas, Côte Rôtie, and Hermitage all “make powerful red wines exclusively from the syrah grape.” This is incorrect: Only Cornas is required to be 100% syrah. Côte Rôtie is often blended with a bit of viognier, and Hermitage, though typically all syrah, is permitted to have a percentage of white grapes in the mix.]

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Weekend Reading

As the weekend draws near, I wanted to link up some solid wine reading for the weekend.

First, make sure to check out Wine Enthusiast Magazine’s list of Top 100 Best Buys for 2010. As the editors note in their introduction, “At the end of the year we tend to count our blessings and take a minute to appreciate the good things in our lives. Family, friends and health deservedly come first, but somewhere near the top of any wine devotee’s list has to be the increasing quality of wine, available at prices that make regular enjoyment affordable.” It’s hard to argue with that. The list is linked up right here.

For pinot lovers, make sure to read The San Francisco Chronicle’s report on the stellar 2008 vintage in Oregon. Not only are there some real gems to be found, but prices, they say, are beyond fair. The Cloudline pinot noir, for example, which made the Chronicle's list of recommendations, is a steal at $18.49.

Finally, for something a bit more hearty for the cooler nights that have descended upon us here in the east, Eric Asimov’s bloggy rumination on what he loves about Northern Rhone syrah is a must-read. If only we all had access to Cote-Rotie whenever we wanted it...

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Cornas Hero

Jean-Luc Colombo, one of the great winemakers of the Rhone Valley, is responsible for some of the best, most influential wines of that ancient region, especially in the north. As the Wine Spectator put it in an April 2007 interview: “[I]t's hard to imagine where the Rhône would be without him, since Colombo was among the first to travel outside the area and not only aggressively market his own wines, but also tell the story of the entire region. Colombo...purchased his parcels of vines in the 247-acre Cornas region in 1986. From that humble start, he now makes his small-production, sought-after Cornas cuvées...as well as a range of other wines, mostly from purchased grapes, reaching all the way down the valley to...Côtes du Rhône.”

I’ve been fortunate enough to taste a number of his wines in recent years, and have found myself regularly impressed by both the accuracy of expression of their terroirs of origin and their almost dangerous drinkability. A close friend of mine, Ryan Davis, the Beverage Director of Daniel Stern Restaurants in Philadelphia, was the first person to really turn me on to Colombo’s full range of wines, in particular a 1999 Cotes du Rhone Blanc “Les Figuieres” whose nutty, waxy, still amazingly lively character was stunning after all those years in bottle.

This past weekend, I headed back to Colombo’s origins with a bottle of 2002 Cornas “Les Ruchets” at a family dinner. Now, ’02 is a bit of a misleading year in the Rhone: Though the southern part of the region was clobbered by a severe late-season rain storm, “the north,” according to a Wine Spectator report form 2004, “was not as severely hit. Though rot and low ripeness levels provided some challenges, producers were slightly more upbeat than their southern colleagues.”

And with good reason. I’ve had generally good luck with the Northern Rhone 2002’s, and this one was a standout. It led off with a mature nose of truffles, leather, perfume-y violets and a hint of smoked meats. The acid on the palate was a touch high, but that really just served to keep it all fresh and make it that much more useful at the table. The fruit leaned in the red and black raspberry direction, with lingering notes of cinnamon, white pepper, green olives, and black licorice on the finish. In other words, perfect right now, and a great expression of this tiny, ancient piece of the Rhone Valley: Tied to the land, expressive, a hint rustic, and altogether as honest as wine gets. Delicious.

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2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape: The Reviews Start Rolling In

I hope the prices of Châteauneuf-du-Pape stay about where they are, because, despite the fact that they’ve gone up in, say, the past decade (and what hasn’t!), they still represent one of the best values at the high-end of the French wine market.

Sure, they’re not bargain-basement cheap; but when considered in light of the prices being charged for top wines from other regions in France (Burgundy is a great example), they’re really quite reasonable. Factor in the longevity of the best of these bottlings, and the return on the investment is actually very good.

Personally, I’ve always felt that Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a great wine to start a collection with. In fact, it’s what I started filling my own cellar with when I decided to buy one and begin laying bottles down for the future. And while I hope to one day be able to dedicate shelves to, say, Romanée-Conti or Latour, I’m very content to keep on building the Southern Rhone end of my collection right now...and for a great price, too.

The New York Times published an interesting piece on the 2007 Châteauneufs today, and it presented an interesting counterpoint to the glowing assessment of the vintage by critic Robert Parker, who said that 2007 is “[t]he finest vintage I have ever tasted in Châteauneuf-du-Pape... In my thirty years of evaluating these wines, I don’t think any vintage has achieved the heights of complexity, richness, and overall purity and balance as 2007.”

On the other hand, Eric Asimov wrote in this morning’s New York Times: “I was thinking about the overbearing side of Châteauneuf recently after the wine panel had completed a tasting of 20 bottles from the 2007 vintage...We found some wines we liked very much, yet on the whole the 2007s left me unexcited. Stylistically, they presented Châteauneuf’s too-friendly side. Châteauneuf is always a big wine, but these wines were huge — full of lush, opulent fruit with powerful, jammy flavors.”

Personally, I find myself leaning toward Parker on this one, though I have not yet had the chance to taste enough of the ‘07s to formulate a formal opinion. (I will in the coming weeks and months, and will report back right here.) Still, from what I’ve tasted, I am very impressed with the vintage. Yes, these are wines with a real sense of opulence, but so far I have also found elegance, detail, and terroir-specificity generally balancing out that richness.

But that’s the beauty of wine: Its ability to elicit passionate, deeply personal responses from consumers, and to keep them arguing even as they sip, slurp, and savor.

(On a less vintage-specific note, I found an interesting video on the 13 grape varieties permitted in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and employed by Château de Beaucastel. It's posted below.)

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Rhone History

It’s sometimes easy to forget, what with the typical focus on the details of the bottle in front of you, but wine ties us to our earliest days of civilization. Every time you open a Grand Cru Burgundy, for example, you’re actually benefiting from a thousand years or more of human endeavor in the Cote d’Or, of the meticulous plotting of the land by generations of monks and then, later on, hundreds of years after that fact, of the labors of vineyard managers, winemakers, scientists, and others.

An article that ran in this morning’s New York Times, about a recent archaeological discovery in the Rhone river, reminded me yet again how ancient the wine world really is. And while the article does not actually deal with wine at all--the discovery was of a bust of Caesar, made in the murky depths--the fact that it was found in the Rhone River is a reminder of just how ancient a land that home of Syrah, Grenache, and other great grape varieties really is.

This seems especially relevant around the holiday season, as the focus turns both to richer, heartier wines as well as to ones that don’t put too deep a dent in the budget. The wines of the Rhone fit this bill as well as any in the world right now; in fact, Wine Spectator recently ran a list of their top Rhone values for under $25, and it’s full of great wines that far outperform their low price tags, proving yet again that this slice of land in Southeastern France has been providing spectacular drinking pleasure for a very long time indeed, and that this is as good a time as any to explore all that it has to offer.

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Monday News Roundup...And the Grand Opening!

Some big news has broken lately in the world of wine. Decanter.com recently reported that “Renowned Rhone producer Nicolas Jaboulet is set to release his first wine from a new joint venture with the Perrin family of Chateau Beaucastel.” This is a dream team of sorts for wine lovers: Jaboulet’s former firm, Paul Jaboulet Aîné, produces some of the most sought-after wines of the Northern Rhone. And the Perrin family produces what many consider to be among the finest wines of the Southern Rhone. This, then, is as promising a partnership as we’ve come across in a long time.

The new label, called “Nicolas Jaboulet, Perrin Frères,” will produce, according to the report, “cuvées of 3-12,000 bottles, selected from parcels of vines across the key appellations of the northern Rhone, and then blended and bottled in the Perrin winery in Orange….The first wines will be the 2007 vintage from Hermitage Rouge, Hermitage Blanc, Cote Rotie and Saint Joseph.”

Also of note is a recent blog post on the Carignan grape by Eric Asimov of The New York Times. What’s important about what he has written isn’t so much the specifics, but the fact that someone has finally penned a piece on this most misunderstood grape variety. For indeed, it has been responsible for—or, at the very least, contributed to—some excellent wines from all over the world, most notably South West France and California.

Bottlings like the Ridge Three Valleys and the Delas Frères Cotes du Rhone Saint-Esprit demonstrate how significant a role the grape can play in a blend. Purer expressions of the variety include the Odfjell Vineyards Carignane Orzada and the standout Domaine de Nizas old-vines Carignane “Causses de Nizas” Vin de Pays de Caux. (That last one is a mouthful, and so, too, is the wine!)

And, finally, the biggest news of all: Wine Chateau’s Grand Opening celebration of the new, 10,000-square-foot store in Piscataway, New Jersey. Hundreds of people stopped by the gorgeous new space this past weekend and were treated to tastings of fantastic wines (the photo above is a close-up of part of the spread), great food, the company of family and friends, belly dancing on Friday night, and a ribbon-cutting on Saturday. I’m still editing the video I shot, and will have it posted here in a couple of days. But needless to say, if you haven’t been able to visit already, make sure to do so soon. From the knowledgeable, passionate staff to the incredible selection of wines to the spectacularly elegant (and fabulously stocked) fine wine room, the new Wine Chateau in Piscataway is a wine experience you definitely don’t want to miss.

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Rhone Highlights

With summertime in full swing, more people are buying bottles of Rhone Valley wine for their barbecues and casual heartier meals. And most of these reds (too few people still drink Rhone Valley whites) are likely from the Cotes du Rhone, the large, famous appellation of ripe, earthy wines that pair so well with that kind of eating.

But, as is the case with so much of France—and, indeed, so much of the wine-producing world—there are smaller, often more idiosyncratic wine-producing places that are not just worthy of attention, but also of some serious sipping al fresco.

In the latest edition of the Wine Spectator Insider, 2006 and 2007 Rhone highlights are covered, and, as always, it seems as if they offer both great pleasure and tremendous value. From highly sought after appellations like St.-Joseph and Gigondas to the less familiar villages of the Cotes du Rhone itself, these are wines that can range from everyday sippers to special treats for nicer nights of dining. And the best part is their price: With a few notable exceptions, even the best of these wines are fabulously affordable.

And in terms of previous vintages, the Rhone has had a remarkable string of good to great ones—I’m a big fan of 2005, 2004, and 2003 in particular, not to mention several prior ones.

As always, Rhone comes through beautifully…and affordably. How perfect for this time of year.

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Mix in Las Vegas: What Dining Out is All About

Once in a while, a meal is so complete, so thoroughly enjoyable, so reaffirming in its balance of elegance, creativity, and warmth, that it reminds you exactly what makes dining out such a treat and, in times like these, such an emotional necessity.

I had an experience like that this past February at Mix, the fabulous restaurant at the top of THEhotel, next to the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. For my last night in town (coincidentally my birthday), my wife had flown out to join me for a special dinner. I’d been in Vegas all week hosting the culinary demonstrations at the Catersource and Event Solutions Conference and Trade Show, the largest gathering of its kind in the world, and this meal was to be the capstone on the week.

It also was a chance to reunite with a good friend of ours, Christophe Tassan, who we’d gotten to know in Philadelphia when he worked as the Sommelier and General Manager of the legendary Le Bec-Fin, and who now is the Wine Director at Mix. He’s also one of the single most knowledgeable wine experts I know, blending a deep knowledge and understanding with an infectious enthusiasm that’s impossible not to get swept up in.

So, just to reiterate: I was already in Las Vegas for work, but my wife had flown across the country for a single meal (we found a cheap flight…gotta love Southwest!). If ever there was pressure on a dining experience to be great, this was it: Hours on a cramped airplane, with only a single night out providing the light at the end of that long tunnel, tends to amplify expectations.

Put simply, we were not let down. In fact, quite the opposite happened: This proved to be one of the best dining experiences we’ve ever had.

Upon stepping off the elevator at the top of THEhotel, we were greeted by a shimmering sea of whites and creams; a gargantuan chandelier that, despite its size and its composition of 15,000 Murano glass balls made to look like Champagne bubbles, managed to appear almost impossibly light; and the best views in the city.

As for the food, it more than lived up to the surroundings in which it was enjoyed, blending brilliantly defined flavors, a sense of luxury, and just the slightest touch of whimsy. The dishes on the Grand Tasting Menu, regardless of their individual ingredients, all struck perfectly balanced poses that highlighted both richness and a stunning sense of restraint.

The highlights were too numerous to include in their entirety: Kampachi sashimi was the texture of silk and the perfect in situ argument for allowing top-notch ingredients to speak for themselves; seared Thai snapper with a carrot fondant and a tagine jus embodied everything that's great about dishes that pull from numerous cultures to create something new and deeply satisfying; roasted Maine lobster “au curry” with coconut basmati rice utilized its ambrosial perfume as well as it velvety flavors and textures to create a unified, gently aromatic whole; impossibly tender Colorado lamb loin was paired with miniature samosas whose own sense of spice cast the earthiness of the meat into exquisitely sharp relief. The list goes on.

And all of these dishes were made even better by Mr. Tassan’s wine pairings. From the fantastic Herman Story “Tomboy,” a white Rhone-style stunner from Santa Maria, to one of the most complete wines I’ve ever tasted, the Zind-Humbrecht Pinot Gris Rangen de Thann Clos St.-Urbain 1996, the procession of glasses demonstrated exactly what has always made Mr. Tassan one of the best in the world: His pure love of wine from all over the planet, and his willingness to experiment with flavor and texture combinations, leading to pairings that surprise, delight, and, indeed, make you think.

That theme carried through to dessert, too, when we were shown to our “dessert table” on the outdoor terrace 43 floors above the Strip. From the rich to the refreshing—the “floating island” was a standout—the selection of sweets, the planes taking off and landing in the distance, the spotlight shining up from the Luxor below...it all brought the meal to a perfect close.

This was, without a doubt, an extraordinary meal, one of the best I've ever had. Indeed, it was an experience worth flying across the country for. Great food, spectacular wine, and being reunited with an old friend you haven’t seen in a long time: There’s just nothing better.

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