Tavola Rosso » Mark Stoltz

2005 Inniskillin Gold Vidal Ice Wine

Mark Stoltz — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:00:14 +0000

For those unfamiliar with ice wine, it is a process whereby the grapes are naturally frozen on the vine and picked when the temperature drops below –10°C (–14°F). So what better place in North America to implement such a technique than our friendly neighbors in Canada. The Inniskillin winery of Canada specializes in ice wines and is a label you are likely to see in the U.S. The winery is unique in that its vineyard properties are located thousands of miles apart: the Niagara in Ontario and the Okanagan in British Columbia.

So more about ice wine: When the temperature is cold enough to harvest, the pressing process commences. Ice crystals are separated from the frozen grapes during pressing and this procedure concentrates the juice into a truly unique and typically sweet libation called Icewine.

Last night, my wife and I had Inniskillin’s 2005 Gold Vidal. Before I even pulled the cork I learned something: vidal is a grape varietal. It is an aromatic and hardy French hybrid is supposedly ideal for making icewine. No other more common varietals are blended as this is a 100% Vidal wine grown on the Niagara Peninsula in Ontario.

Icewine is a dessert wine, so we sipped it after dinner. While the wine had distinct apple aromas and taste, complemented with a little spice, it didn’t jump to the top of our favorite after dinner wine list (We’ll stick to the Port and Tokaji). Overall though, I would still recommend giving this wine a shot the next time a pear tart or apple pie is your dessert of choice.

James Bond’s Champagne

Mark Stoltz — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:04:28 +0000

Yes, I realize James Bond is a fictional persona. But his creator, author Ian Fleming, had a penchant for the luxurious life. Fleming’s iconic character of James Bond 007 was not only a world class espionage agent, but had impeccable taste as well. In many Bond novels (and movies) his choice of martini – Gordon’s gin stirred, not shaken – takes center stage as his famous go-to cocktail. But Mr. Bond also has a very discriminating taste in champagne as well.

Champagnes from the Bollinger estate are the choice of 007:

Live and Let Die: Bollinger
Moonraker: Bollinger RD ‘69
License to Kill: Bollinger RD ‘75
The Living Daylights: Bollinger …
Goldeneye: Bollinger Grande Année 1988
Tomorrow Never Dies: Bollinger Grande Année 1989
The World Is Not Enough: Bollinger Grande Année 1990
Die Another Day: Bollinger ‘61
Casino Royale: Bollinger Grande Année 1990

While Dom Perigon, Veuve Cliquot and Moet & Chandon are household names, Bollinger has quietly built an impressive reputation. Perhaps the strongest tie to this being James Bond’s champagne is the fact that in 1884 Bollinger was deemed to be the official champagne of England’s Royal Court. High honors indeed, but what impressed me most as I researched this legendary estate was the fact that Bollinger is still an independent grower – which we at Tavola Rosso advocate heavily.

Although it could be a little difficult to find, Bollinger’s non-vintage brut retails for around $50. If you are into collecting Bollinger’s R.D. and Grand Année champagnes will run you several hundred dollars. Not only are those two wines vintage, but both are very unique in how they are produced.

The Grand Année is only produced when Bollinger believes there is an exceptional harvest. This choice is designed to express the character of the vintage. The house will select the best wines, cru by cru. The wine spends five years on its lees and is aged in bottle under cork, instead of crown seal.

The R.D. takes the Grand Année further by extending the aging on lees. R.D. spends eight years on its lees, and is also, like the Grand Année, aged under cork, not crown seal. R.D. is a registered trademark of Bollinger which stands for récemment dégorgé (”recently disgorged”). In the mid-1990s, Bollinger sold Année Rare which was an R.D. that had gone under even longer aging on the lees. The disgorgement date is given on the back label. The 1981 R.D. is unique in that there was no Grande Année produced from that vintage.

For your next special occasion – or if you are just looking to add a little romantic intrigue like 007 – look for a bottle of Bollinger as a fantastic substitute to the usual suspects. Cheers.

A Running List of Champagne Favorites

Mark Stoltz — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:47:26 +0000

Champagne is synonymous with celebrations and the marking of important events. So, over on our Facebook discussion page we are listing out our favorite champagnes and recounting why they are so memorable to us. Feel free to let us know if you have a top pick and why.

L’Histoire de Champagne

Mark Stoltz — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:06:34 +0000

For those familiar with the fact that Catholic monks are responsible for perfecting beer, introducing free enterprise and the preservation of thousands of handwritten historical works, it should then come as no surprise that these most humble of men also brought Champagne to the forefront of the wine world.

It was French monks who were the first to bottle a sparkling form of wine called Champagne, named after the Champagne region of France. The method of making “mousse” (another name for bubbles) in a bottle was enhanced by the efforts of Frère Jean Oudart (1654 – 1742) and Dom Pierre Pérignon (1639 – 1715), Benedictine monks and cellarmasters at their respective abbeys of Saint-Pierre aux Monts de Châlons and Saint-Pierre d’Hautvillers.

The appellation of Champagne has a colder and shorter growing season than the rest of the French wine growing world. Therefore, Champagne grapes had to be picked late in the year, with less time available for fermentation. For those that have tried fermenting wine in the cold (Sean) you will know that the cool temperatures stop the process of converting the sugar from the grapes into alcohol. The French monks perfected a new method of making wine – methode champenoise – by using a second fermentation process that took place in the bottle during the following spring. The second fermentation created carbon-dioxide bubbles that are the sparkle of Champagne.

On behalf of all lovers of bubbly: Merci beaucoup, Dom Pérignon et Frère Jean.

You can pick up a bottle of the Dom Pérignon 2000 vintage for about $125. Salut!

A Blue Moon for a Blue Moon

Mark Stoltz — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 21:01:51 +0000

Last night at dinner my mother, wife and I had the pleasure of drinking a very nice pinot noir from Oregon: a 2007 Blue Moon from Bridgeview. We dined at a truly exceptional seafood restaurant here in San Antonio called Sandbar, which is run by one of the country’s best chefs Andrew Weissman. I’ve been down to Sandbar a number of times now for fresh oysters, fish and a lobster bisque that absolutely fantastic. Most of the time a white is the wine of choice, but this time around we decided to change things up a bit a have a red.

I mentioned this in my piece about the Ritual from Chile, but one of the great things about pinot noir is its versatility with food. The Blue Moon pinot was great to drink on its own pre-dinner, held up to the creaminess of the bisque and worked well with a selection of both east and west coast oysters. Retail for this wine is around $20. Was I the one that recently said there was no such thing as a good pinot under $20? Yeah, I did and now I’m eating my words.

The moral of the story: there are plenty of great value, excellent wines of all varietals once one is able to get through the massive amount of mediocre big name wines.

On a final (ironic note): I believe this New Year’s Eve there will be a blue moon – the second full moon of the month – in the night sky. If you’re looking for alternative to sparkling this evening, and you too want to be ironical, keep and eye out for the Blue Moon pinot!

Happy New Year everyone.

A Good Sav Blanc… Even For Winter

Mark Stoltz — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:03:10 +0000

In recent years a good family friend has been getting into wine. Like many, it was a trip to Napa Valley that got him interested. Also like most newcomers, he started with the big name California houses and has slowly worked his way to discovering the gems at smaller estates. Last week I dropped by his house to see how his collection is growing and with what wines. Every visit in the past revealed an extensive collection of Napa cabs, and perhaps a zinfandel here and there.

I was thrown a complete curve ball last week: he gave me a bottle of sauvignon blanc that I had to try – a 2007 Round Pond from the Rutherford appellation. After researching the winery I found that they only started producing sauvignon blanc in 2005 on a small 4.87 acre plot. Only just over 650 cases of this wine is produced each year. I like it.

For me sauvignon blanc is a consistently solid white wine, though I’ve tended to drink most of them from New Zealand, South Africa and Chile. The Round Pond was a very good wine, showcasing nice crisp fruit, with that nice touch of minerality that good sauvignon blanc gives. From what I’ve seen the price of a bottle is around $25.

A final note: a lot of people gravitate toward sauvignon blanc only in the summer time. True, it is a great wine to have a warm summer days, but it does have it’s place during the winter months as well. I’ve found sauvignon blancs to be great pairs with Latin foods with a little spice.

Chilean Pinot: A New Ritual?

Mark Stoltz — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 01:13:52 +0000

When asked the general question: “What is your favorite type of wine?” I struggle to really feel confident in my answer, but my default is usually pinot noir. This has nothing to do with Sideways either. I think I give this answer because some of the most memorable wines I’ve had have been pinots, like the 2003 Joseph Swan Trenton Estate from the Russian River Valley or a 2006 Bethel Heights from Oregon. That said, I was quite excited – and intrigued – to open up a pinot from Chile: a 2008 Ritual Casablanca Valley made by Veramonte.

This wine was very good and distinctly different from it’s Oregon or California counterparts, and I like that. The color and fruit was darker and deeper than most pinots – especially compared to the reds of Burgundy. But this added depth did not make the Ritual any less drinkable without food. In my opinion, this point is especially key in a pinot: good on its own and good with food.

The Ritual did spend some time in new oak and it showed. Maybe the clear oak notes will subside over time, but right now they over power a lot of the unique terroir offered by the fruit of this wine. This was really my only complaint with the Ritual.

Something to not complain about one bit: the wine retails for $18. If someone asked me, “What is the best pinot I’ve had under $20?” My answer would be that it does not exist. Well, now it does. Like it’s sister wine, the Veramonte sauvignon blanc, the Ritual pinot noir looks to be one of the best values to be found for its varietal.

Texas Wines

Mark Stoltz — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:22:55 +0000

For my birthday recently my lovely wife surprised me with a trip to the Texas hill country north of our home in San Antonio. The wine industry is Texas is young – 10 years – and most places are trying to see what grows best. Nonetheless having a great wine country ambiance within an hour is nice.

We went to two wineries: Becker and Torre de Pietra. Critique #1: having a huge tasting room jam packed and with pourers who know little if anything about the winery or the wines is lame. Critique #2: a portfolio of over a dozen wines is a bit much, right? Both places committed these errors.

That said, the chenin blanc and reserve cab from Becker were solid wines at good prices – $16 and $24 respectively. The vintage port from Torre was a nice surprise too.

There still much to be discovered in the world of Texas wines, but my hope is we can find a place that cares more about their craft than simply offering $5 tastings to folks excited about having an excuse to drink before noon.

2005 Palladian Cabernet Sauvignon

Mark Stoltz — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:07:22 +0000

Estate grown Napa cab for $30? Believe or not the ‘05 Palladian cab is just that. While most California cabs keep going for ‘big’ and ‘complex’ – which usually means oak, too much blending and and extra $30 on average – the Palladian is content with showcasing great Oakville fruit from a single vineyard.

If you’ve read more than two wine reviews you know the authors of this site are big on terroir. The Palladian isn’t shooting for your private cellar or trophy case, but instead to be great with that great steak your grilling this summer. And it succeeds quite well!

Chianti Classico – Firenze – Memories

Mark Stoltz — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:40:58 +0000

The birthdays of me and my wife fall sixteen days apart; mine the fifteenth of August and her’s the thirty-first. Instead of celebrating only on our actual birthdays we have declared a two week long celebration. What does this mean in terms of wine? It means we have a great excuse to pull out some special bottles.

With a nice little Italian dinner made and my mom in attendance we opened a wine we bought at a wonderful enoteca in Florence a year and a half ago: a 2003 Monterponi Chianti Classico riserva.

Twenty months ago we drank the non-reserve from Monterponi at dinner with our good friends the McIntyres. The manager of the restaurant and wine shop recommended the reserve when we asked him about a good bottle to bring home with us. The wine was excellent: perfectly Italian, just enough dryness but full of deep berry flavors that Sangiovese gives. This was not a simple wine, as I would have a drink, continue in conversation, then stop to have another drink thinking ‘wow, this is really good.’

Like many of the great wines from our memory the Monterponi brought us back to a place and a time – Florence at Christmas, with friends and a table full of great Tuscan food. Therein lies the beauty and charm of wine: it helps us remember truly joyful times.