Benziger Sauvignon Blanc

Spring weather has returned to Virginia – at least for today.   Seventy-five degree weather definitely calls for Sauvignon Blanc – which brings back great memories of relaxing on the deck on summer nights with my wife and looking out over the lake.  For some reason, I happened to drink quite a bit of Sauvignon Blanc this summer and this Benziger SB definitely brought back memories of the good times of summer.  Amazing how wine can bring back memories. 

Benziger, based in Sonoma, CA, practices sustainable, organic and biodynamic viticulture in their various vineyards.  I drove past Benziger several times during my quick trip to Sonoma a couple of weeks ago and plan to stop by for a visit to take the Biodynamic Tour if time permits during my next trip in January.

Benziger 2006 Sauvignon Blanc North Coast

$10.48.  13.5% alcohol.  Real cork.  Pale straw color.  On the nose there were aromas of lemongrass, grapefruit, green apple and slight hints of crème.  Light tannins along with lemon and grapefruit on the palate.  Clean and crisp lemon/grapefruit finish.

For more information about Benziger’s farming practices, you can check out the June 30, 2007 issue of Wine Spectator: 

http://www.benziger.com/pdf/JuneWineSpec_BZGreen.pdf

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Indie Wine of the Week: Ceago Vinegarden Cabernet Sauvignon

Indie Wine of the Week: Ceàgo Vinegarden 2002 Camp Masut Cabernet Sauvignon

For our post Christmas dinner, we opened a bottle of Ceago Vinegarden 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon.  The grapes are from Ceago’s biodynamic Camp Masut vineyard in the Russian River Valley.

Ceàgo Vinegarden 2002 Camp Masut Cabernet Sauvignon

14.0% alcohol.  1,200 cases produced.  $35.95.  On the nose there was initially a vegetal component – bell pepper and slight hints of jalapeno – after an hour decanting I found lots of currant, plum, blackberry and chocolate powder.  Firm tannins with dark plums, blackberries and hints of cinnamon on the finish. 

The word “Ceàgo” is derived from a local Pomo Indian word meaning “Grass Seed Valley”.  Ceàgo Vinegarden is one of the best known biodynamic producers in the US and is owned by Jim Fetzer, formerly of Fetzer Family Vineyards (Fetzer Vineyards was sold to Brown-Forman in 1992).  Ceago, located on the shores of Clear Lake in Lake County, California, currently produces a total of 8,000 cases of biodynamic wines, all from estate grown grapes.  All of Ceago’s vineyards are certified biodynamic by Demeter-USA and the wines are certified organic by California Certified Organic Farmers. 

 The Ceago website (www.ceago.com) is a great resource for straight forward information about biodynamic farming and viticulture practices.  A few notable articles featuring Ceago Vinegarden:

• Vineyard & Winery Management
• Food & Wine
• Time Magazine
• Wine Spectator – Green Revolutionaries

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Sparkling Rose – Wolfberger and Francois Montand

What to pair with leftovers?  Sparkling Rose of course.  I really dig sparkling roses and look for any excuse to drink them.  Since my wife really dislikes sparkling rose, I’m wondering if this, in part, one of the reasons why I really like this bubbly.  Can’t figure that one out.

To pair with our leftovers, tonight’s drink of choice is the Wolfberger Sparkling Brut Rose and the Francois Montand Sparkling Brut Rose.

Wolfberger Sparkling Brut Rose

$18.99 at Let’s Talk Wine in Chesapeake.  From the Alsace.  I first had this wine early last year at Vino Volo at Dulles airport and it has since been one of my favorite go to sparkling wines.  Made from 100% Pinot Noir.  Salmon color.  Very fresh – strawberry and watermelon with slight hints of bread dough on the nose.  Clean and crisp watermelon finish.  (this one was finished off before I remembered to snap a photo)

Francois Montand Sparkling Brut Rose

$12.99.  Light salmon color.  Refreshing, light nose of cherry, strawberry, apricot and slight hints of lime spritz.  Clean finish with more apricot/strawberry sauce.

Both of these are great bets for under $20 and will pair well with your in-laws and holiday leftovers.   I noticed that Deb at Good Wine Under $20 recently posted a list of under $20 sparklers which will also go well with a diverse holiday menu.

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What does Brut mean anyway?

Earlier this morning a colleague asked me for a wine recommendation to take to a family gathering this weekend – The easy answer… a good sparkling wine since they tend to pair well with a broad selection of bland foods cooked by in-laws.

In trying to explain the differences in Champagne/sparkling wine terms I realized that I needed a refresher on all of the different terms used to describe the various sweetness levels of Champagne/sparkling wines.  After exhaustive research (about 5 minutes) I have produced an amazing piece of invaluable information below as a quick primer on Champagne/Sparkling Wine label terms:

• Ultra Brut/Extra Brut/Brut Zero/Brut Nature/Brut Sauvage: Totally dry – No added sugar
• Brut:  Should taste dry with no perception of sweetness. (Contains no more than 1.5% sugar.)
• Extra Dry/Extra Sec:  Off dry – tastes slightly sweet. (Can contain up to 2% sugar.)
• Sec:  Translates in to ‘dry’ – Noticeably sweet. (Can contain up to 3.5% sugar.)
• Demi-Sec:  Sweet. (Can contain up to 3.3% – 5% sugar.)
• Doux:  Sugary Sweet. (Can contain up to 10% sugar.)

Although the residual sugar levels noted above are the common market standards, adherence is voluntary.  And, the residual sugar amounts for each of the classifications above seem to vary slightly among multiple sources.

Below are a few more basic items to note:

• Champagne is always sparkling wine, but sparkling wine isn’t always Champagne. Only sparkling wines from the Champagne region of northern France are entitled to be called “Champagne.”
• Champagne is almost always produced using one (or more) of three permitted grape varieties – Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier.
• In Italy, the term Spumante is used for sparkling wines. In Spain, Cava is used for sparkling wines and in Germany they use the term Sket.

Wikipedia has a useful page on the Champagne/Sparkling Wine process:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Méthode_Traditionnelle

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