Different Vintage, Same Great Value

Different Vintage, Same Great Value – More Louis Jadot Gamay Goodness!

As a naturally frugal (perhaps cheap) person, I am constantly in search of a great bottle of wine under $10 – a wine that I ‘want‘ to drink, not a wine that I drink because it cost less than $10.   About this time last year, I wrote a post about my search for a ‘house red wine’ under $10.  For me, this means a wine I can open mid-week, enjoy one or two glasses, and dump the rest without down the drain guilt.

For some time now, the 2008 Louis Jadot Beaujolais-Village has been my go to mid-week wine.  At under $10, the 2008 delivered great value for many a Tuesday or Wednesday nights.  Now that the 2008 Louis-Jadots are harder to find, I’m left with the 2009′s, which is great because 2009 has been heralded as the best vintage in decades in Beaujolais.

Although some of the large producers seem immune from vintage variation, Jadot’s Beaujolais offerings do tend to express vintage variation.  Given the ‘hype’ surrounding the 2009 vintage in Beaujolais, I was certainly looking forward to trying the latest Beaujolais-Village from Jadot.

Garnet in the glass, the 2009 smells of violets, cherry, and spice.  In the mouth, more cherry and spice along with mineral components – nice acidity. I’ve had the Louis Jadot 2009 Beaujolais-Village on several occasions since release last year, and am glad to report this vintage still represents an excellent, under $10 value.

Amazing how the Beaujolais region continues to deliver excellent value wines year after year, yet most people overlook the region because of the Beaujolais Nouveau stigma.  Shame.

Looking for an economical, good mid-week sipper for under $10 (about $9 at Total Wine, $10.99 a local Harris Teeter grocery store)?  Try the Louis Jadot 2009 Beaujolais-Village.

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Exploring Regional Wine – Gruet Got Game!

Gruet Winery – A Regional Wine Rockstar!

By most accounts, Champagne is the center of the bubbly world.  However, I’m not sure the US has a ‘clear’ (if there is such a thing) nucleus for sparkling wine.  Though I am very fond of the Schramsberg sparkling wines from California, and the bubbly from Claude Thibault in Virginia (see previous VA sparkling wine post here), I recently had the chance to visit a state that could make a run for top US sparkling wine production – New Mexico.  Yes, that Southeastern state bordered by Arizona on the west, Colorado on the north, Texas on the east, and Mexico to the south.

More specifically, Gruet Winery based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

During a recent visit to Albuquerque, I had the opportunity to visit this gem of the Southwest.  Gruet was founded in the early 1980′s, with their first harvest in 1987 and subsequent inaugural release in 1989.  Today Gruet has 700 acres under vine located about 150 miles south of Albuquerque near Truth or Consequences at an elevation of about 4,000 foot.  Gruet currently produces about 130,000 cases annually all from New Mexico fruit.

Riddling machine holding 500 bottles of Gruet Brut

Riddling machines as far as the eye can see... (or, a lot of them!)

Gruet’s current sparkling lineup includes nine different wines – six non-vintages (Sauvage, Brut, Blanc de Noirs, Rose, Extra Dry and Demi-Sec) and three vintage wines (2006 Blancs de Blanc, 2003 Grand Rose, and 2001 Grande Reserve).  During the visit, our host for the afternoon, Shannyn, graciously opened a couple of sparklers and still wines not normally on the tasting menu.  A few of the most notable include:

Sauvage, $17 – This is Gruet’s newest release.  With no dosage, this is the driest of Gruet’s sparkling wines.   Although I like very dry sparkling wine, I wasn’t too fond of this one.  Although I didn’t include a bottle of Sauvage in my order, I wish now that I had so I could have tried this one again.  Tasting notes – basic, green apple, with hints of lemon. $17

Brut, $13.75 – Chardonnay 75%, Pinot Noir 25%. Gruet’s flagship sparkling wine. Lively nose, green apple, nice yeast components, lemon/lime candy, refreshing. Excellent QPR!

Blanc de Noirs, $13.75 – Pinot Noir 75%, Chardonnay 25%.   Great mousse, rose petal and berries throughout.  Wish there were more sparkling wines like this at this price point.  Made in the Methode Champenoise style.

Sparkling Rose, $13.99 – A nice summer sipper.  Strawberry, watermelon. Refreshing.

2007 Blanc de Blanc, $25 – 100% Chardonnay.  Wow!  Pear, pear, pear with yeast, mineral, and green apple components. Bright, refreshing.  Excellent.  Would love to put this in a blind tasting with other US sparkling wines.

2003 Grand Rose, $30 – Sexy. The Natalie Portman of sparkling wine.  Bright salmon color. Cherry Garcia ice cream complemented by fresh strawberry and watermelon candy.  At the high end of my price scale, but worth it.  Would be perfect on a hot summer evening on the deck with friends.

2001 Grande Reserve, $42 – Only 600 cases produced.  Gruet’s premier offering. Holy US sparkling wine Batman – damn good. Made from still wines that are fermented and aged in French oak barrels for one year, followed by seven years in bottle.  Green apples and lemon cream pie meets toasted almonds.

Not only is Gruet making serious sparkling wine, they are also producing still wines from New Mexico grapes – including a Chardonnay, Syrah and Pinot Noir.

When I first heard the words Pinot Noir and New Mexico used in the same sentence, I was skeptical.  Shannyn setup a vertical of the 2006, 2007, 2008 and Barrel Select Pinots for me to taste, and was pleasantly surprised by each of them.  Although I am a huge advocate of the wines of my home state of Virginia, I must concede that I prefer the Pinots from Gruet more than the Pinots I’ve had from Virginia. In my personal opinion, Willamette Valley and Anderson Valley are still ‘the’ places for US Pinot, but I was impressed (surprised) by the purity, freshness, and varietal correctness of Gruet’s pinots.

If you are ever in the Albuquerque area, I highly recommend a visit to the Gruet tasting room.  If you can’t make it to Albuquerque, look for one of Gruet’s sparkling wines in your local wine shop.  Gruet is yet another testament to the growing quality of the regional wine movement in the US!

Thanks to the Tyler for the initial contact and Shannyn for sharing her time and Gruet knowledge with me!

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The Return: Wine Blogging Wednesday 70 – Spanish Wine

Wine Blogging Wednesday 70 – Spanish Wine – A Cool, Unique Find!

Today marks the return of Wine Blogging Wednesday to the blogosphere – the 70^th monthly installment.  I’m glad to see WBW return from the brief hiatus since this monthly virtual tasting is a great way for wine folks to interact and make new connections.  Back in the day I participated nearly every month and always looked forward to the interaction and learning more about other’s wine preferences and tastes.  I even hosted the next to last WBW #68 – Got Gamay? (I’m thinking there is no correlation to my hosting and the WBW hiatus that ensued.)

Our hosts for the return of WBW70 are Ryan and Gabriella Opaz of Catavino – an excellent site dedicated to providing information on the wines of the Iberian Peninsula.  For this month’s WBW we were charged with flexing our creative muscles and seeking out a Spanish wine we’ve never had before.   An interesting theme to be sure.

Since I’m in New Mexico this week, finding that right bottle for the tasting took several visits to Albuquerque ‘wine shops‘ (irrelevant side note:  Interesting how many liquor stores call themselves wine shops in New Mexico).  On my third stop, I found an interesting Spanish wine that I’ve never had before and thought would make an excellent entry for this month’s WBW – a 100% Petit Verdot from the Jumilla region.  A very cool and unique find in my book!

I’m a huge fan of the oft under-rated Petit Verdot, and have had many from other regions, but this is my first time tasting a 100% Petit Verdot from Spain.  Petit Verdot is one of the six noble grapes of Bordeaux, but is often relegated to second string as a blending grape (in small amounts) used to add tannin, flavor and in particular color to a blend.  This little beauty of a grape seems to thrive in my home state of Virginia and is growing in popularity amongst winemakers and consumers here.

Nudo 2007 Petit Verdot Private Collection, $16.99 – Since I’m on the road this week, I paired this with pre-grilled steak and pesto from WholeFoods, and Tyler Cowen’s newly released 15,000 word essay, The Great Stagnation.    Deep dark purple in the glass, this wine had a nose of dark berries, some funky funk (I like) earthiness, violets, and spice.  In the mouth, this was much lighter than expected with cedar, dark cherry, and even pepper notes.  Perhaps I’m just too partial to Virginia Petit Verdot, but I was expecting more from this wine – more character, more tannin, more, well… Petit Verdot.   I enjoyed this wine from the perspective of trying a varietal that I dig from a new ‘place,’ but I’m not sure I’ll would seek this particular bottle out again.   

I do plan to revisit this bottle tomorrow night, but am not expecting too much change.

I wish I had planned further ahead and found this wine sooner so I could have a Virginia-Spain Petit Verdot comparative tasting. 

Hat tip to Lenn Thompson for brining back Wine Blogging Wednesday, and to Ryan and Gabriella for an interesting theme this month.  Looking forward to many more monthly WBW episodes!

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WBC Scholarship – How You Can Make a Difference

As most readers know, the Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC11) is coming to Virginia this year.  Beginning July 22, 2011, 325 wine bloggers, industry insiders, print journalists, wine PR professionals, wineries and even students will converge on Charlottesville, VA for WBC11.  For three days, The Commonwealth will serve as the epicenter of the new media wine blogging world, which provides Virginia a great opportunity to introduce Virginia wine to an influential group of wine enthusiasts that have little experience (in some cases none) with Virginia wine.

No doubt WBC11 will create many new brand evangelists for Virginia wine – that is, for those wineries that fully embrace the conference.  As part of the WBC11 conference there are a number of sponsorship and branding opportunities for Virginia wineries and associated businesses that want exposure to a national, and even international audience.

One of the lesser-known sponsorship and branding opportunities that many Virginia wineries may not be aware of is the WBC Scholarship program.  The WBC Scholarship assists bloggers who can’t otherwise afford, in full or in part, to attend WBC11.  As part of the selection process, the WBC Scholarship Committee pays specific attention to bloggers who post regularly, have never attended the conference before, and who might be students with a particular focus in wine.

The scholarship program is operated by wine blogger Thea Dwelle, also known as @WineBratSF in the Twitterverse, who has been a passionate and tireless advocate for providing a way for bloggers to attend Wine Blogger Conferences.

In 2010, the WBC Scholarship Fund assisted 11 bloggers in attending the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla, Washington.  With an average personal donation of $100, and average corporate sponsorship of $300, the WBC Scholarship fund raised over $6000 last year, which paid for these bloggers to attend.  Each blogger received an average of $800 to attend the conference, to cover travel costs, attendance fees, and accommodation.  Notably, four of the scholarship winners were students with a focus in wine communications, oenology, and other wine related studies.  Additionally, several scholarship recipients from 2009 and 2010 have gone on to new careers in wine.

Not only can Virginia wineries participate as WBC Scholarship donors – Inns & Hotels, organizations, wine shops, local businesses, and individuals can also donate the fund.  The WBC Scholarship is accepting donations as a 501(c) non-profit organization, so donations may be tax deductible (consult your wine drinking tax professional).

Please consider supporting this worthy program!  Donate here.

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Questions, Comments, Complaints, Random Observations? Contact Me Here

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