Category Archives: de vino

Light Years: Houston has its first radical natural wine bar

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High fives, hugs, and congratulations filled the air last night at Light Years, Houston’s newest wine bar and its first and only radically natural wine bar.

The congratulations were gladly shared, no doubt, with owners Steve Buechner and John Glanzman, who moved here from New York to build their dream wine bar in a market they suspected, rightly, would embrace it (see Eric Sandler’s preview of the venue for CultureMap here).

But felicitations were also shared between the revelers themselves.

“We finally have the wine bar we’ve been dreaming of,” said one noted Houston wine professional to another.

Houston has seen a boon of alternative and progressive wine bars in recent years: the pioneer was 13 Celsius, followed by Camerata and Vinology.

But the new wine bar/shop represents a new frontier for the city: it’s the first vineria that specializes solely and exclusively in natural wine — à la Terroir in San Francisco or The Ten Bells in New York. No conventionally vinified wine here, whatsoever.

What is natural wine? Most would agree that natural wine is wine that has been organically farmed, spontaneously fermented (using ambient yeast), and bottled with as little intervention and sulfur as possible.

My definition of natural wine? It’s like obscenity: I can’t define it but I know it when I taste it.

At last night’s friends and family event, Tracie and I drank Clos Saron Tickled Pink and Clarine Farm al basc Albariño from the Sierra Foothills in northern California. They were both great and Tracie looked more beautiful than ever.

When we arrived home, paid our babysitter, and tumbled on to the couch together, it just felt like Houston’s now an even better place to live. That’s what natural wine can do to you…

Mazel tov, Steve and John, on your launch! And thank you for bringing Light Years to Houston!

Pound for pound, is there any better value in American wine than Eyrie Vineyards?

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The locals joked last night at the famous Nick’s Italian Café in McMinnville, Oregon in the heart of Willamette Valley wine country: there used to be a tube, they told me, that connected the Lett family’s winery to the restaurant. Their Eyrie Vineyards cellar is just a stone’s throw away (literally).

David Lett made history when he singlehandedly launched the Oregon fine wine trade in the twentieth century. His story as a pioneer of American viticulture has been told many times and his renown as a winemaker has touched all corners of the globe.

Last night at Nick’s, where the wine list includes the largest vertical library of the Lett family’s wines in the world (they say), we drank the 2016 Pinot Gris and the 2014 Pinot Noir Original Vines.

Such beautiful, pure, and elegant expressions of Oregon grape growing and winemaking, these “entry tier” wines represent the greatest value in American wine today imho. They still land at a “special occasion” price for our family but they are within reach. And I couldn’t think of a better pairing for my meal (Pinot Gris for Nick’s Caesar and Pinot Noir for the locally farmed pork three ways).

Their organically farmed, they’re spontaneously fermented, the whites undergo unprovoked malolactic fermentation (said Jason Lett when I tasted with him earlier this year). They couldn’t be more natural and they couldn’t be more naturally and classically delicious.

Tracie and I drink them every chance we get. And I drank the last glasses of each at the McMinnville Comfort Inn last night, a sweet coda to a long but fruitful week of traveling and working.

No regrets, Coyote. Heading home to Texas, Tracie, and my girls today. I can’t wait to hold them… Wish me speed!

“I don’t want this tradition to be forgotten.” Some groovy wines I tasted in LA…

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“I don’t want this tradition to be forgotten,” said the importer who brings in this classic from Sardinia, the Silvio Carta Vernaccia di Oristano from Sardinia (2005 vintage).

“There are some wines you import because you love them,” he told me.

It was just one of the groovy wines I tasted this week in Los Angeles, the town where I lived and went to school for many years and one of my favorite Italian wine and food destinations in America.

I love how the dried fruit and nuttiness work against the oxidative character of this wine. 100 percent delicious.

And in a business where numbers increasingly trump soulfulness, it was awesome to sit down and taste with someone whose love for great Italian wine always prevails.

Imported to California by my friend Ramin at Vitis.

Another highlight was the Eleva 2013 Valpolicella Ripasso Tenzone.

From a great northern Italian vintage, it reminds me of the old-school Valpolicella I used to drink back in the late 1980s when I was a student in the Veneto. But its focus and clarity of fruit really took it to another level for me. And the zinging acidity kept its alcohol in check. Very food-friendly and approachable but with that mineral streak that makes great Valpolicella stand out.

Really loved this.

Imported to California by my friend Anthony at Palermo.

I’m not sure who imports Miani to California but G-d bless them!

I visited Miani back in 2010 and was blown away by its maniacal grape growing and laser-sharp winemaking. The winery’s bottlings are among my all-time favorite wines and they represent some of Friuli’s most compelling whites imho.

The rich stone fruit in this wine just seems to wrap itself around your palate and its elegant savory character taste like a subtle flourish of flaked sea salt lightly sprinkled over a grilled peach.

Man, I loved this wine and I loved that it was poured for me by my good friend Rachel who’s worked as a sommelier at Mozza in LA for some time now. She is super cool.

And I just have to give a shout out for the tagliolini al limone at Gino Angelini’s Angelini on Beverly, one of the best Italian restaurants in the U.S. imho. It’s just so good that I have to get it every time, a Platonic expression of Californian-Italian that plays on the bounty of great produce here.

This restaurant is just so damn good and the people who work there are so joyful. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Thank you, Californian friends, for treating me so well out here. It’s always good to come “home” to you.

Now it’s time to head up to Oregon wine country for one last round of tastings before I get back to Houston where I belong.

Wish me speed!

The ultra-rare 1990 Giacosa red label sans vineyard designation was opened last night…

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Manhattan was abuzz with ministerial week at the UN when my taxi brought me to the city yesterday.

But the back room at Morrell Wine Bar in Rockefeller Center was peaceful as a group of Nebbiolo collectors sat down for an extraordinary flight of wines stretching back to the 1960s.

Moved by their generosity, they had asked a lonesome Texas wine blogger to join them.

It’s hard to say that any one wine was better than the other last night. Aside from one bottle that had clearly peaked some years ago, all the wines were extraordinary and each would have been a joy to drink in its own right.

They were served blind and every guest offered impressions and speculations as the group tasted.

Most agreed that the standouts in the three indisputably illustrious flights were the Produttori del Barbaresco 1990 Barbaresco Asili and the Bruno Giacosa 1990 Barbaresco Riserva (Red Label). According to at least a couple of the tasters, the 1990 vintage was the only Giacosa Barbaresco riserva that he ever released without vineyard designation.

Both were vibrant, fresh on the nose, and rich with fruit. The Produttori del Barbaresco was in a state of grace, perfectly ready to drink. The Giacosa would have had many years ahead of it had it not been opened.

It was also a treat to see the old Roagna label from an era before the estate developed its distinctive black and white lettering.

The Gaja 2001 Sorì San Lorenzo was also remarkable, still very young in its evolution but a pleasure to drink as it was beginning to reveal its fruit.

Heartfelt thanks to my dear friends Ken Vastola who “sponsored” my participation and Eric Guido (above) who organized the excellent dinner and superb wine service.

Ken is the author of the immensely useful Nebbiolo-focused online portal Fine Wine Geek. He is particularly dear to me because he knew my Uncle Manny Parzen. And he is the sweetest man, a genuine mensch.

Eric runs Morrell’s online program and holiday catalog and he is also an executive buyer for the operation. He is one of the most remarkably productive and talented people I know in the biz.

I only had a moment to look at the wine bar list, now run by Anna-Christina Cabrales. In another era, wine insiders wouldn’t expect much from a midtown list like this. But Anna has transformed it into a fantastic program that offers something for everyone, from the New Yorker executive and tourist to the wine überhipster (Lieu Dit Santa Ynez Sauvignon Blanc by the glass, anyone?).

Wow, what a night! Thanks to all the folks who made me part of it. A wonderful time and a great way for a lapsed New Yorker and lonesome Texan to come home.

Now it’s time to get my butt on a plane to Pittsburgh and play some blues…

Flight 1
1974 Francesco Rinaldi & Figli Barbaresco
1974 Roagna Pajè Riserva
1990 Produttori Asili
1990 Bruno Giacosa Barbaresco Riserva

Flight 2
1961 Vietti Barolo
1986 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Villero
1990 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Villero
1996 Bruno Giacosa Barolo Villero

Flight 3
2001 Sandrone Cannubi Boschis
2001 Gaja Sorì San Lorenzo
2001 Paolo Scavino Bric del Fiasc

A new (old) Pelaverga clone finds its way to the U.S.

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It was way back in 2006 that then New York Times dining editor Frank Bruni brought a bottle of Pelaverga to Eric Asimov’s Thanksgiving tasting panel.

“Among the reds,” wrote Eric at the time, “Frank, naturally, brought the most arcane wine of the meal, a 2004 Verduno Basadone from Castello di Verduno, made from the Pelaverga Piccolo grape, which is obscure even in its home territory in the Piedmont region of Italy.”

In the wake of that piece, Pelaverga seemed to explode in the Italian wine scene in the U.S.

American wine cognoscenti have a quenchless thirst for “arcane,” highly localized Italian grape varieties. And Pelaverga, with its distinctive white pepper note and purported aphrodisiacal properties, really hit the spot (and paired exceedingly well with Thanksgiving turkey!).

Today, Pelaverga from legacy estates like Castello di Verduno and Burlotto are sine qua non for any self-respecting Italian wine lover.

In the light of this, there’s no doubt in my mind that American wine professionals are going to be eager to taste a new-old Pelaverga clone that just found its way to our shores. The wine comes from a farm called Cascina Melognis in Saluzzo township in far-western Piedmont at the source of the Po River.

Full disclosure: the wife and husband, Vanina and Michele, who grow and vinify these wines are our good friends. And Michele is also technically my boss: he is the director of the master’s programs in food and wine communication at the Slow Food University of Gastronomic Sciences in Bra (Piedmont) where I have been teaching for the last three years and where I’ll be returning again for the 2018-19 session.

When Michele told me that Kevin Pike of Schatzi Wines had decided to import their organically farmed and spontaneously fermented wines, I couldn’t have been more thrilled for their family. Arguably one of the most scholarly among wine purveyors in the U.S., Kevin is one of the brightest rising stars in our industry imho.

The Schatzi producer page devoted to Cascina Melognis is some of the finest wine writing on the internets today. And I’ll leave it to Kevin to tell the story of the clones, soils, and unique climatic conditions of Revello hamlet where Vanina and Michele farm.

“Pelaverga Grosso (distinct from the Pelaverga Piccolo variety of Verduno),” writes Kevin, “is characteristic of the area around Saluzzo. Here it was long a staple in blends, but its importance shrank over time, until it nearly vanished in the 1970s. Today, careful site selection and pruning are bringing about a small and welcome renaissance for the grape. Its peppery, high-toned freshness, and delicate floral and herbaceous notes are quintessentially Alpine. It is still rare to find monovarietal Pelaverga from anywhere in the Piedmont, let alone the Colline Saluzzesi.”

I know this wine is going to be a big hit among Italian wine lovers. It has everything going for it.

But my favorite wine in their lineup is the Ardy, a lip-smacking blend of Barbera and Chatus grapes.

Chatus, you ask? Click the link to read Kevin’s excellent write-up.

Vanina and Michele’s wines are vibrant, electric, wholesome, and delicious. They are the children of their deep knowledge of grape growing, winemaking, and aesthetics.

Mazel tov, Vanina and Michele, for your new relationship with Schatzi! And chapeau bas, Kevin, for bringing these extraordinary wine to our country and our dinner tables!

“THAT FLAG HAS, in fact, now become synonymous with hate, bigotry, ‘white supremacy’ and pro-slavery.”

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Please join our protest of the newly constructed confederate memorial in Orange, Texas tomorrow morning.

Two weeks ago, I posted about our ongoing protest of the newly constructed confederate memorial in Orange, Texas where Tracie grew up. I also wrote about the Sons of Confederates Veterans member behind the memorial. I believe that he is also behind the anonymous letter he sent to Tracie’s 97-year-old grandmother in order to terrorize her and harm our family.

A week after I shared my posts on Facebook, the following comment was posted on the Facebook page that I’ve devoted to our efforts to stop construction of the site. I don’t personally know the woman who wrote them. I do know is that she is white and, gauging from the news stories she shares on her personal Facebook, she is very conservative. When I thanked her for sharing her insights and for her support, she responded with the second set of comments below. They speak for themselves.
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In Italy, debate over copper fungicide grows increasingly ugly

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As European Union organic grape growers anxiously await a Brussels decision on new and more stringent restrictions on copper fungicide use, the highly controversial issue continues to be a focus of media, industry observers, and winemakers in Italy. In many instances, organic and conventional producers — together with their supporters and detractors — are pitted against one another in an increasingly bitter fight. And the exchanges are growing ugly.

My colleague and fellow Slow Wine editor Fabrizio Giavedoni summed it up best in a post published earlier this week on the Slow Wine and Slow Food blogs (translation mine):

    The debate over copper fungicide in grape growing resurfaces frequently these days — in conversation, in print, and online. And the discussion focuses on organic wine.
    For the most part, there are two principal positions.
    On the one hand, many organic grape growers are racking their brains as they try to limit or find alternatives to the use of this metal in their vineyards. They are clearly worried about the accumulation of copper in their soils. There’s no doubt that it’s not a healthy or acceptable situation. And we wholeheartedly share their concern over this serious issue.
    On the other hand, conventional grape growers have also been raising their voices, often with the support of writers (including some leading journalists) and bloggers who have little knowledge of viticulture. They point their fingers at organic growers and accuse them of poisoning their vineyards. In many cases, these winemakers and/or journalists have no idea — because they are ill-informed or even ill-intentioned — that commercial products normally used in conventional farming contain substantial levels of copper. Obviously, they aren’t concerned about this because it’s challenging to calculate the exact amount. But more importantly, they aren’t worried about copper levels because there are no legal limits on the use of this metal [for conventional farmers].

(For background on the question of copper fungicide and its risks in organic grape growing, see this post.)

Fabio’s position seems to be at odds with a statement issued by agronomist Francesco Sottile, a member of Slow Food’s technical advisory committee and a professor at the Slow Food University in Bra, Piedmont (UniSG).

“We are in favor,” wrote Sottile in a post published in late August, “of the reduction in the quantity of copper allowable per hectare that the EU is currently discussing. We hope it will lead to broader efforts in research on alternative and supplemental products.”

In this week’s post, Fabio previews the findings of a Slow Wine report on copper levels found in organically farmed vineyards. According the still unpublished study of farms where grape growers are converting or have completed a conversion to organic growing practices, copper levels have actually decreased, he claims. Despite increased spraying of copper sulfate, he writes, the amount of copper present is lower thanks to the fact that synthetic products have been eliminated.

Like many of my colleagues, I’m eager to read the study’s conclusions. In the meantime, I know the sparks will continue to fly.

As one Italian organic grower put it in a cryptic but powerful Facebook post, the question is “a sad truth.”

A California Chardonnay that widened my horizons, a Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo that knocked my socks off, and a not-to-miss tasting in Houston

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More than once, a mea culpa has been published on this blog: I was wrong about California wine.

My experience writing and editing for the Slow Wine Guide to the Wine of California has really reshaped my perceptions of the wines from my home state.

Like many people in my generation coming up in wine, I toed the party lines: California Chardonnay is overly oaky and lacks acidity; California Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot are overly oaky, excessively extracted and fruit-forward, etc.

But over the course of my tastings and winery visits for Slow Food publishing, it became abundantly clear to me how abundantly wrong my thinking was.

One of the wines that really turned me around was the 2015 Santa Cruz Mountains Chardonnay Trout Gulch Vineyards by Ceritas, one of the wineries included in the 2018 and forthcoming 2019 editions.

Our family budget doesn’t allow us to drink it liberally. But a generous friend recently gave us a bottle that Tracie and I shared on Monday night for Rosh Hashanah dinner.

Man, what a wine! A nearly Platonic expression of laser-focused stone and tropical fruit dancing atop a seascape of saliva-inducing minerality and electric acidity.

There are a handful of wines from the ancient seabed soils of Skyline Ridge in the Santa Cruz Mountains that have truly thrilled me. And this one is a stand-out among them. (I just wish we could afford it! Thanks again to our generous friend who shared it with us!)

Now that all of our editors tastings and winery visits have been completed. I’m working diligently on putting the guide together. It will include Oregon this year as well. Stay tuned…

In other news…

SO MUCH great wine was poured this week in Houston at the Abruzzo wine growers association tasting.

One of my stand-outs was this pergola-trained Cerasuolo d’Abruzzo Baldovino by Valentina Di Camillo at I Fauri. Like Valentina, this wine is authentic as they come, with the brilliant fruit but also the classic notes of earth that I consider a sine qua non of great Abruzzo wines.

I loved it and I also love that her father is an enlightened Marxist like me (we also tasted her family’s “Red October” Montepulciano d’Abruzzo).

Tracie and I probably drink more wine from Abruzzo than any other Italian region (no joke). The price-quality ratio in Abruzzo wines is hard to beat. And the pristine, undeveloped countryside there, combined with its mountain-meets-sea topography, makes it easier to grow grapes using wholesome farming practices.

Hopefully, her wines will make it back to our market soon!

In other other news…

When was the last time that Maurizio Zanella (above), Chiara Lungarotti, Alois Lageder, Piero Mastroberardino, Alberto Chiarlo, Giovanni Gaja, and Francesco Marone Cinzano were in Houston? When was the last time they were all here at the same time, at the same tasting pouring their wines?

They and a bunch of other marquee producers will be here on Monday, October 15 for the Grandi Marchi (Top Estates) trade tasting.

I’ll be presenting them and leading a guided tasting of their wines. (I’m actually kinda nervous about it!)

Click here for more info and registration. I hope to see you there! It’s going to be an amazing tasting.

Scenes from a week of Slow Wine California…

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Images from a week of tastings and winery visits for the Slow Wine guide to the wines of California 2019. Thanks to everyone for taking time out to meet with me!

Sam Coturri of Sixteen600. Love that guy and love the wines. Favorite “new old school” Zinfandel. His family has grown organically since the 1970s. Great wines, all around.

Meeting and tasting with Hank Beckmeyer at his house in Fair Play was a genuine dream come true. I love everything he releases at La Clarine Farm.

“Winemaking is all about timing,” said Gideon Beinstock of Clos Saron. Tasting and chatting with him was one of the most inspiring winery visits of my whole career. “It’s actually very simple,” he told me. “The grapes tell you when to pick them. The wine tells you when it’s done fermenting. The wine tells you when to bottle it.” His wines are simply astounding.

The vineyards at Volker Eisele, producer of my favorite Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, have been organically farmed since the 1970s. It’s one of the most beautiful growing sites I’ve visited in California and I love Alex and Catherine, the owners and winemakers. Such cool people, such gorgeous wines.

The delicious burger at Compline, the super cool newish wine bar in downtown Napa.

The “hard press” Pinot Gris from Donkey & Goat, tasted yesterday at their wine club release party in Berkeley where they make their wines. Jared Brandt’s wines have always been great and we’ve always enjoyed drinking and sharing them. But man, he is on fire right now. His new Linda Vista Vineyard Chardonnay was one of my favorite wines from this trip.

It’s hard to describe how cool Ordinaire natural wine bar in Oakland is. By the end of my night, I had made all kinds of new friends and tasted a ton of compelling wines. Isabelle Legeron just happened to stop by! I was completely starstruck. She is super cool. I loved this place. I hugged all of the sommeliers before I left. It was such an awesome experience.

Just had to drink Gideon’s 2011 Texas Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir. What a wine and what a great coda to my trip.

No trip to California is complete without a Double-Double. I am a native Californian, after all!

Thank you, California, for an unforgettable experience. And thanks yall for tagging along. I’m on a plane back to Texas where I belong. Can’t wait to get back to Tra and the girls. L’shanah tovah, yall!