A few words on the subject of online auctions

This may not come as too great of a shock coming from a wine retailer, but there's something about online wine auctions I JUST DON'T TRUST. It's not that I distrust all online auctions, in fact I am a frequent eBay buyer, having purchased everything from shoes and clothes to sporting goods and even a 120 bottle Haier wine cooler unit. I hear from clients and friends all the time who have "gotten a steal" on some rare hard to find gem on one of the auction sites. I've also been there when said gem bottlings were opened only to find that maybe some of the sparkle is just not there. Aside from the obvious flaws, wines that have been mishandled can simply not live up to their potential. A "bargain priced" bottle of Guigal Cote Rotie "La Mouline" 1991 purchased by a friend on an online auction comes to mind. Having tasted the wine in question a number of times at Charleston, I knew what to expect and was excited for my friend's $199 steal... Alas, the wine wasn't bad...it just, wasn't good. And 91 La Mouline should be, at the very least, pretty damned good. I felt that the wine had just been badly stored, not enough to make vinegar or oxidize the treasured syrah, just enough to make the wine the equivalent of a nice $13 Cotes-du-Rhone. Sure $199 was cheap for 91 La Mouline, but it's a shitload to pay for a bottle of mediocre syrah.
Issues of provenance come into play when purchasing a trophy wine, but not a pair of Nike running shoes. As long as the shoes are the right size, you're pretty much fine to run your Visa through PayPal with little or no concern. Remember that wine is a living breathing thing, you can't stick it in a warm closet next to a vibrating elevator, even for a little while, without the product in the bottle suffering. Trouble is, there's no easy way to know. Without knowing the cellar conditions of ALL the previous owners (including distributors with giant non-climate controlled warehouses and trucks and cut rate retailers with less than ideal storage) it's impossible to know if the wine you're buying is up to snuff. It can be hard to tell even upon physical examination of the bottles, much less sight unseen.
I tend to buy wines from retailers that I trust, and this is what I tell my friends in other cities. Find a small fine wine shop with a well educated staff and make friends with one or all of the clerks. I'm not saying you have to invite the guy to your wedding, but a little good cheer and remembering a name goes a long way. Never underestimate the value of having someone you trust who knows your palate. No matter how well educated you are in the wine world, there's always a producer you've never heard of, or an exciting up and coming region you're not comfortable with yet, and a trustworthy wine consultant is your ticket to these new experiences. Not to mention that this sort of contact (and spending some cash in the store) will help put you near the top of the list when the cult cabs come in and you might be surprised how thoughtful a wine clerk can be if you're one of his favorite clients.
"We just got in this amazing value from Priorat, I thought about you Mr. Smith since you love Clos Mogador, it's amazing and only $20 a bottle, but we only got two cases in..."
This type of well thought out opportunity to buy wines with limited availability is irreplaceable. A well trained wine clerk can be your best friend in the wine world, steering you towards new and exciting things as well as giving you a shot at the hardest to find of your favorites.
Happy hunting, and I still want the invite when you've got a bottle of 91 La Mouline to taste...from an online auction or not.
Cheers
TRC

2005 Tantara Releases

Speaking of California...Here's a California Pinot Noir producer y'all should start making yourselves familiar with.
Tantara. Never heard of it you say? You will. They started up in 97, based at the Bien Nacido vineyard in Santa Barbara County, they produce a number of vineyard designate Pinots as well as a few Chards. I got a super early preview of the lineup just after bottling. The 2005's just became available 3 weeks ago, just after being bottled unfiltered and unfined, and they are made in miniscule quantities, the maximum being around four hundred cases produced. Winemakers/owners Bill Cates and Jeff Fink were uber-excited about the vintage and I can see why. The quality across the board was fantastic and the wines show amazing depth for having been just bottled.

Tantara Pinot Noir "La Colline", Arroyo Grande Valley 2005
The softest and most feminine of the lineup, the "La Colline" is farmed from the Laetetia Vineyard. It exhibits softer cherry fruit and floral tones on the nose. On the palate the wine is elegant and balanced with good acidity and a ripe, soft endpalate. Very nimble and light on the palate, it almost dances. This would be ideal for salmon in a fruit based dark sauce. $55 at retail.
92 points

Tantara Pinot Noir "Rio Vista" Santa Ria Hills 2005
Riper and more fruit forward is the Rio Vista vineyard from the Santa Rita Hills appelation. Exotic cherry and berry flavors are very prominent on the nose, along with hints of cola and spice. On the palate, the fruit gets more intense and riper. Loads of sour and candied cherry dominate with blueberry and raspberry in the mix. New French oak gives just a shade of cocoa to the proceedings. Nice long supple finish. Screaming for duck breast and some sort of reduction. $55 at retail if you can find it.
91 points

Tantara Pinot Noir Bien Nacido "Adobe" Santa Maria Valley 2005
The dark and saturated color of the Bien Nacido "Adobe" is just a foreshadowing of the intensity of fruit and spice on the nose. Very ripe blackberry and cherry form the backbone, with layers of spice and caramel. This is the most tannic of the bunch with a more gripping presence and dryer mouthfeel. The glycerin is high as well, rounding out the middle of the palate. Very intense wine to pair nicely with rich game dishes. A whole lot of pinot for $55
91 points

Tantara Pinot Noir "Gaia" Santa Rita Hills 2005
Darkly colored and lavishly scented, this reminded me on the nose of a super ripe Chambolle-Musigny, but it was indeed farmed in the Santa Rita Hills. All cherry and cola spice with hints of flowers, coffee, cocoa and rootbeer. Big and bright but perfectly balanced on the palate, the depth of this wine took my breath away. Seemingly endless finish is just amazing with layer upon layer of cherry fruit, spice and floral tones. Amazing. $59 at retail...go find some.
94 points

Tantara Pinot Noir "Pisoni" Santa Lucia Highlands 2005
The now legendary Pisoni vineyard in the Santa Lucia Highlands and its owner Gary need no introduction to wine geeks, as many of the pinot worlds luminaries have purchased from this legend. If the Tantara is any indication of what Pisoni harvested in 2005 I will be hunting for every other bottling I can find. Put simply this is truly amazing stuff. An ever evolving nose of cherry, kirsch spice and hazelnut creme. On the palate the Pisoni is a monster of a mouthfilling pinot, all broadness and depth with a full minute finish that evolves from ripe cherry to spice and back to dried and candied cherry.
Retail is around $75
95 points

Tantara Pinot Noir "Evelyn" Santa Maria Valley 2005
The flagship of the Tantara line is a super rich and exotic Pinot from two select blocks in the Bien Nacido Vineyard. Treated with 60% new French Oak, it has gorgeous layers of caramel, spice and kirsch/cherry fruit on the nose. Simply gorgeous with loads of super rich and ripe cherry and berry fruit. Seamless and perfectly integrated with enough acidity to balance the formidable tannin and alcohol, Evelyn pulls off one heck of a balancing act. Forget pairing, just immerse yourself in this one...Retails around $100
95 points


Cheers,
TRC
"Wine can of their wits the wise beguile, make the sage frolic and the serious smile."
Homer, "Odyssey"

Wine Literature

So for the past few days I've been reading Noble Rot, by William Echikson, a slightly fragmented, ok that's not true, it's borderline scizophrenic, narrative about the state of affairs in Bordeaux. Echikson does a fantastic job developing the history of some of Bordeaux's most revered estates, Yquem and Mouton Rothschild, but fragments his timeline so badly that by the middle of the book, the reader is entirely unsure which century, let alone decade, he/she is reading about. The lurid, but true, tale of Alexandre Lur-Saluces and his family is both captivating and truly scary, and it's this part of the narrative where Echikson does his best work. The reader comes away from this section(s) feeling like a distant cousin of this great family, connected enough to care about the waxing and waning fortunes of the sauternes barons. Echikson's detailing of Chateau Mouton's rise to premier cru status is similarly interesting to read and the author does an excellent job of filling in all of the background necessary to make sense of Baron Phillipe's struggle. From the entrenched merchant system to the once temporary, but now (except for Mouton) impenetrable classification system, the background is well detailed and Baron Phillipe's struggle to reach Premier Cru status is very engaging. "Premier je suis, Second je fus, Mounton ne change--"First I am, Second I was, Mouton does not change" One gigantic bright spot is his attention to cooperative winemaking in Entre-Deux-Mers, an area of bulk wine production that has massive economic impact on the agricultural economy of bordeaux, but gets no press from any of the major critics. These low cost wines are the backbone of daily consumption in France, and it's nice to learn something of their production and some of the people behind the massive machine. While these character driven portions of the book succeed, Echikson loses the reader in a muddled accounting of the rise of Robert Parker and his sphere of influence. While Echikson does give a good history, he doesn't connect it well to what I think is his overall scheme of the book, which is to detail the friction between bordeaux's old guard and the garagistes whose wines Parker (and this reader) rates so highly. The main problem is the almost A.D.D. pacing and skipping around. If Echikson would slow down and offer his narrative as a series of well composed parts, it would make much more sense and be an easier read. Still, he hits the historical mark and "Noble Rot" will certainly satisfy any true wine geek's lust for background information about Bordeaux.
Read it if...you're a wine geek with a hankering for some more info on bordeaux's history.
What to drink while reading it...1982 Mouton Rothschild of course (or another bordeaux if you must...)

"Judgement of Paris" by George M. Taber, the only journalist at the now famous "Paris Tasting", is an accounting of the people and wines that shocked the world that fateful day. Taber's inside perspective and his excellent background work, highlighting such Napa luminaries as Andre Tschieleff, Mike Grgich and Warren Winarski, is fashioned into a cohesive, and very readable narrative. Younger wine lovers will find this to be an excellent resource for information about the golden age of Napa and the people who built the foundation of American wine culture. "Judgement of Paris" however transcends wine geekdom into the realms of social history, and anthropology, and is well written enough for a non wine drinker to fully understand the events portrayed.
Read it if...you have any interest in wine, california, american history, french history...well, if you're reading this blog and you haven't read this book yet, you should...
What to drink while reading it...California baby. This book makes me patriotic.