napaman.com: Oregon Pinot Noir -- Proof that the Best Things in Life are NOT Free!

Recent Wine Pleasures

1998 Domaine de Pegau
Good friends Barry and Lea Stern, brought this perfect, perfectly aged, 11-year-old Chateauneuf du Pape to our home to complement a roast chicken dinner. I know that it is early in the year -- only March -- and crazy to say, but this is likely the Wine of the Year. Already. I can't think of a wine that has brought so much pleasure to the dining table in half-a-dozen years. A complete, compelling beverage, filled with fruit, earth, complexity and elegance. A truly remarkable wine. At its peak. Not one day too young, not one day too old, on either side of Perfection. 100 points.
2001 Vieux Donjon, Chateauneuf du Pape
The only wine in my life of which I have drunk an entire case and rated every single bottle of the case a near-perfect wine was the 1990 Vieux Donjon. I LOVED THAT CASE. I was apparently justified in my thinking about the 1990 Vieux Donjon; in a recent issue of Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, he quoted sommelier Doug Mohr of Vidalia restaurant, in Washington D.C., who marveled that “the greatest wine he had ever tasted was the 1990 Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf du Pape.” Gentlemen of the jury, I rest my case. For dinner this week, to complement Carol’s perfectly prepared pappardelle with veal ragout (a variation of a Mario Batali recipe, only she did it better!), I opened the 2001 Vieux Donjon, which offered a near-duplicate experience of the 1990 vintage. Here was a wine of exceptional length, extraordinary quality. This is a perfect wine, a brilliant wine, elegant, rich, balanced. A 100-pointer. There was nothing missing, no flaws, only gemstone brilliance, bright mature fruit, terroir, minerality, and a finish that Burgundian producers would kill to have. The 2001 Vieux Donjon is long gone from retailer shelves, but look for the 2005 and 2006 vintages, which are helluva good. This is a wine that will improve with age; I like to drink my CDPs (Chateauneufs-du-Pape) with not less than seven or eight years on them.
1997 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon
I have long respected Ed Sbragia’s work as wine director at Beringer and thought that his best-ever achievement (of many brilliant achievements) was his 2001 Beringer Private Reserve Cabernet. But the 1997 vintage, which we opened this week for out-of-town visitors from Canada and England, was, to my mind, perhaps the single most compelling wine of Ed’s that I have ever tasted; it is rich, rich, rich (did I forget to say rich?) in complexity, flavor, and texture. To be blunt: it is a textbook-perfect wine at this age and stage of evolution. You may have read reports in Wine Spectator that the 1997 Napa Valley Cabs are beyond their prime, dried up, finished, kaput. Forget that nonsense. I have opened more than a dozen different 1997 Napa Valley Cabs this year from many different producers and they have been spectacular. In essence, don’t believe what you read, unless, of course, you read it here. But not a one of the dozen or so 1997 Napa Valley Cabs, which we opened this year, stroked my palate the way Ed’s 1997 Beringer Private Reserve Cab did. A 100-pointer any way you look at it.
2006 Aterberry Maresh Pinot Noir, White Rose Vineyard
I could write a sonnet, a book, an encyclopedia about my love for this extravagant, balanced, elegant, mature, brilliant Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley in Oregon. I learned about this wine at The Tasting Room, in Carleton, OR, during a May visit. I have opened many bottles in my home and every one gets a forehead-slapping, “I can’t believe how good this wine is” remark from Napa Valley winemakers, visitors, friends, and knowledgeable sommeliers for whom I pour it. 96-98 points. Available at The Tasting Room, Carleton, OR, at 503-852-6733. Or from the winery. Speak with talented winemaker Jim Arterberry Maresh at 503-434-7689.
1990 Ridge Montebello Mataro
Brought to dinner at one of my favorite Napa Valley restaurants, Bistro Don Giovanni, by one of my favorite wine-sharing friends, was this stunning, ethereal, syrupy rich wine, made almost exclusively from the Mataro (Mourvedre) grape. Call it the existential libation: "How do they get an 18-year-old wine to taste like a 3-year-old wine?" The wines from Paul Draper at Ridge continue to confound; even at 15... 20... 25 years... they are young, young, even younger. Is there a Ridge genie who goes around topping up older bottles with youthful juice while we sleep? How the hell does Draper do it?? A fabulous wine, screeching of fresh, youthful cherries, ambitious young fruit -- and yet the wine in the bottle is 18 years old! Easily a 97-point wine. Thanks for bringing it to dinner, Homer!
1959 Jaboulet Cote Rotie, Les Jumelles
Took this rare, 48-year-old wine to Redd restaurant, in Yountville, and experienced no disappointments as you might anticipate them from a wine of this age -- still sealed with the original cork. The wine, purchased from Garagiste, in Seattle, a year ago, was bright garnet in color with virtually no fading and no paleness at the rim. On the nose, the wine showed signs of well ridden saddle leather. We chose not to decant and after about a half-hour, the wine went into a phase of aromas which included a typical Syrah-ness. On the palate, the wine exhibited Burgundy characteristics, reminding me very much of a 64 Vosne Romanee. Toward the end of the meal (awesome braised lamb snippets with housemade pappardelle), the Syrah showed elements of black cherry and licorice that were not earlier noted. An inspiring wine, making those at the table think back to where each of us was in 1959 when the fruit for this bottle was harvested. 93 points. And worth every Garagiste penny.
1997 Robert Mondavi Stags Leap District Cabernet Sauvignon
Deep, dark and delicious, exhibiting rich, ripe black fruit flavors. 10-years-old and at its prime. Surprisingly syrupy, with a velvet mouthfeel. A 97-point wine any way you look at it.
2004 Olabisi, Suisun Valley Syrah
A powerful wine from Ted Osborne, 100 percent Syrah. Rich aromas of earth and dark ripe fruit lift from the glass. There is deep extraction, lots of spice and dark cherry in the middle palate, and great depth of flavor on the finish. A serious Syrah, but it doesn’t cost like one - $30 retail. They ran through a case quickly at Gary Danko in SF. 91 points.
2003 Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon
Served at dinner at a friend's home with a series of other Cabs, this was the wine that stood out for the evening. Gorgeous mouthfeel, almost silken; lush fruit, supple texture and a pleasing finish. 92 pts.

Books that I have enjoyed

Steve Toltz: A Fraction of the Whole
A wonderful, fun contemporary romp through the eyes of a wholly (nothing fractionated here!) dysfunctional Australian family. Steve Toltz, for whom this is a debut novel, had me laughing out loud to myself many times (the first sign of a GREAT read, or the early warning sign of serious mental instability to follow, take your pick). Imagine: you pour into a blender the novels of Kurt Vonnegut (Cat’s Cradle, et al), Tom Robbins (Even Cowgirls… Frog Pajamas, etc.) Evelyn Waugh (Black Mischief), John Irving (take your pick…) , Jonathan Safran Foer (Everything is Illuminated) , Voltaire (Candide) and pulse on High for 1 minute; remove cover, season with a bit of Malraux (Man’s Fate) and perhaps some H.L. Mencken (any of his backhanded witticisms) and voila! – you have Steve Toltz and A Fraction of the Whole! Ingest slowly to make the flavors last. I haven’t had as much fun reading a book since the early days of Vonnegut. Even though the book is 530 pages, I never raced through sections and, instead, found myself savoring every word. I didn’t want this book to end from Page 1. The plot twists and turns unexpectedly and the reader will never guess what’s coming up because Toltz has an inventive spirit, creating characters when he needs them to move the story along. (*****)
Chandler Burr: The Perfect Scent
Only the New York Times could dream up – or justify – having a writer who specializes in perfume – a scent columnist! I love Chandler Burr’s writing, especially his evocative, florid, colorful, imagery-rich descriptions of commercial perfumes. They should let this guy loose on restaurants – he’d make a killer reviewer. I read Burr’s previous book, The Emperor of Scent, and was dazzled by that story, a review of contemporary attempts to explain how we smell things, the last of our senses to be scientifically explored. We know how we see, we know how we hear, but, in truth, we haven’t got a fucking clue how we smell things! Now comes Burr’s best work, a stunning overview of the commercial perfume industry – The Perfect Scent (Henry Holt & Co.). This is the story of how Coty launched Sarah Jessica Parker’s perfume, Lovely, and how, at the same time, Hermes launched Un Jardin Sur le Nil – both told from Burr’s insider vantage. Both large commercial houses let Burr sit in on ALL aspects of the development of these perfumes. There are tons of wonderful, gossipy elements, scientific explanations of how they make perfume, gorgeous descriptive paragraphs in which Burr disses many popular perfumes. An example? “Yves Saint Laurent poured a river of money into launching M7, created by the star perfumers Alberto Morrilas and Jacques Cavallier of Firmenich. M7 smells like a Fiat engine engulfed in flame on a shoulder of the A6, an alarming chemical storm of burned rubber, charred metal, torched leather and toxic melting polycarbon. This is not necessarily a criticism; it was a well constructed, thoughtfully built scorched car in flames. But people stayed away by the million, and the scent was a disaster.” If you love good writing, have an interest in food or the industry that propels it to your table, this book is a good corollary backgrounder. For many of the firms, which I have hired to flavor the 8,000 food products that I have brought to market, are the same ones (IFF, Givaudan, etc.) that scent the perfumes that whisper behind your ear. And much of the way they invent new perfumes is how we invent new food products – often with more concern for the packaging than for the product, which goes into it. The Perfect Scent is a wonderful, entertaining, richly written book. I can’t recommend it enough. (*****)
Richard Preston: The Wild Trees
Half of all the living species in nature are unknown -- and even more bizarre, they live in forest canopies hundreds of feet above the earth in the planet's tallest trees, according to non-fiction writer Richard Preston. I have read everything Preston, who is a regular contributor to The New Yorker, has written, including The Hot Zone (about the Ebola virus scare...), for which he is probably best known. But in reality, his best works may be his two earliest; I LOVED his account of the Hale Observatory in First Light, and his take on Nuco Steel, in the book American Steel, was a classic. Preston's new book, The Wild Trees, is a perhaps too-detailed, but very compelling look, at the ecosystems abundant in the verdant, earth-filled canopies that are 200+ feet off the ground in the majestic redwoods of northern California. This is NOT one of those anti-logging treatises but, instead, is a positive spin on how fragile, how vital and how important is the biodiversity of the towering redwoods. Preston micro-paints his lead protagonists in such fine detail that we learn extremely intimate details of their lives and you find yourself asking, "How the hell did he get THAT piece of information out of the subject?" If you're into botany, biology, or Richard Preston as a writer, this book is a must-read. If you're interested in well-crafted sentences, colorful writing, or have a basic interest in tree hugging, this book could be for you, too!
Elizabeth Gilbert: Eat, Pray, Love
Everyone around me was reading this book - my good friend Richard, my wife, our friend Wendy - so I picked up a copy. And couldn't put it down. This is a must-read diary of a woman who left her husband, her lover and her life in New York and hit the road for a year, one third of it spent in each of Italy, India and Indonesia. It has food, philosophy, laughs, and a textural richness not often found in non-fiction. Each one of us, hooked on this book, read the last third more slowyly than the first; we didn't want this search-for-self saga to end. (*****)
Bill Buford: Heat
A compelling, and fabulously written, book about Mario Batali. The writing is as colorful as the chef. (*****)

May 26, 2008

Oregon Pinot Noir -- Proof that the Best Things in Life are NOT Free!

Just returned from a week's travel in Portland, OR, and nearby Willamette Valley, home of my favorite North American Pinot Noirs.

If there is a Ground Zero for Willamette Valley Pinot Noir, it is the tiny hamlet of Carlton, at the intersection of two country roads that meet and then go off in divergent directions to never meet again.

It doesn't look like Ground Zero of anything... but it's really the epicenter of fine Oregon Pinot Noir, a converted 1910 bank, home of the Tasting Room, in Carlton, OR.

Here you will find the definitive Pinot Noir outpost, a former rural bank, now called the Tasting Room, which is owned and managed by renegade shopkeeper-turned-winemaker Jay McDonald. The bank’s vault, protected by a huge steel door, houses a different kind of treasure than it once held – verticals of some of the best Pinot Noir made in America.

On my last visit to the Portland area (the Willamette Valley is a 45-minute drive from town) I bought many mixed cases of killer Pinot Noir on Jay’s recommendations. And once I got them home, every one of the wines, opened over the past few years, has been a stellar drinking experience.

On my visit last week, Jay was running out for a wine event, so he put me in the very capable hands of Christie Shertzer, who poured a series of astounding 2005 and 2006 Willamette Valley Pinots. A tasting flight here is $25.

Christie Shertzer pours EIEIO and other small production wines at The Tasting Room, in Carlton, OR.

Of all the wines Christie poured, the wine I repeatedly asked to retaste, thought about for days afterward, and of which I bought a case was the 2006 Arterberry Maresh, Dundee Hills Pinot Noir, White Rose Vineyard.

Don’t ask me how the locals get away with pronouncing Maresh as “Marsh,” but they do. Kind of like the way Newfoundlanders pronounce words with their own spin. On paper, in my tasting notes, I pronounced this mispronounced Pinot a serious 95-point wine.

Call it “Mar-esh” and they’ll know you’re a tourist! Ask Christie for Arteberry “Marsh” (as in harsh) and she’ll think you’re a local – might even give you a second sip!

My first tipple of Arteberry Maresh came from a bottle that had been opened 24 hours. This gave me an idea of how perfectly structured and balanced this wine is; it was a step-up from everything else I tasted that day, a wine of uncanny balance, elegance, power, and weight. The wine, poured from a different, just-opened bottle, exhibited aromas of Royal Anne and Bing cherries and offered a spectrum of classic, textbook Pinot flavors. You know the litany – cherries, dark ripe fruit, Oriental spices. All that jazz.

I also like Jay McDonald’s playfully named, but classically made, Pinot Noirs, which bear his EIEIO label. Get it? He’s a McDonald and lives on a farm.

Jay has acquired fruit from a number of regional grape growers and fashioned some memorably good own-label wines, available only at The Tasting Room, in Carlton, and to mail-list members.

I really liked Jay’s 2006 EIEIO Blackburn Reserve from the Dundee Hills, a gorgeous wine with a lovely, fruited nose, and a surprisingly huge, stuffed, full-bodied finish. 93 points.

If you can’t make it to Carlton, the least you can do to satisfy that gaping hole at the center of your cellar – slotted for near-perfect Pinot Noir – is to contact The Tasting Room and get on the mailing list, which you can reach through the website. The address says it all: www.pinot-noir.com.

Where else to stop for wine in the Willamette Valley

The Willamette Valley is Oregon’s coolest wine appellation, producing ethereal Pinot Noir. The Willamette River runs through the valley south to north and the center of the wine region is about 50 miles east of the Pacific Ocean, providing a subtle, but important, marine air influence.

Domaine Serene, from a distance.

In Willamette wine country, two of my all-time favorite winery pit stops are at Domaine Serene and Archery Summit, which happen to be near-neighbors and from whom I have been buying Members Only wines for close to a decade. To not be on these mailing lists is not only criminal, it may also be insane, especially if you think of yourself as a true Pinotphile.

For me, stopping at these nearly adjacent wineries is like going to Wine Mecca and I could not legitimately be within 300 miles of Portland without planning a detour to these wineries. But be forewarned: call the wineries in advance of your visit because tasting rooms here are NOT open seven days a week, 10-5 pm, as they are in Napa Valley. For one thing, they don’t have the same volume of tourists to support such commerce. This, in fact, is part of the charm of visiting the Willamette Valley – you won’t be fighting traffic, or hoards of other wine geeks.

Port - CU Domaine Serene Two Barns label

At Domaine Serene, put yourself in the hands of tasting room manager Tara Shepersky and taste through a flight of wines. My top favorite was the 2005 Domaine Serene Pinot Noir, Two Barns Vineyard, which can only be purchased at the winery. This single-vineyard Pinot will leave your tongue clacking for a full minute after you swallow; this is liquid gold, an elixir to put a smile on your face no matter how dull the day (and they get many of them in the Pacific Northwest. I reckon that they had to invent a magic potion like this to help them cope with the rain...)

I scored Two Barns 95 points. It is worthy of being placed in a time capsule to tell future generations of wine-consumers how good we had it in the early 2000s!

Domaine Serene is at 6555 NE Hilltop Lane, Dayton, OR.

Tel: 503-864-4600.

While I wait for my newly purchased Pinot Noirs to arrive from Archery Summit, I content myself with older vintages in the cellar.

At Archery Summit, my other must-visit winery, A-list membership has its privileges. I love the many times a year that a special bottle is delivered, often not something that can be purchased in retail stores.

On this visit, I tasted two stunning 2005 Pinots – the Archery Summit Renegade Ridge Estate Pinot Noir and the Archery Summit Estate Pinot Noir and scored each of them 94 points.

These are compelling, seriously made, richly structured, classic Pinots that would drive a Burgundy lover insane. Call these two wines the catnip of Pinot Noir… because they are proof that you do not have to spend $350 a bottle for Premier Cru Burgundy to have a breath-taking, gasp-inducing Pinot Noir experience. These are awesome achievements at Archery Summit!

The winery is at 18599 NE Archery Summit Rd., Dayton, OR.

Tel. 800-732-8822.

With respect to Portland

Portland is filled with a thriving coffee culture, lots of heavily tattoo’d young’uns, and one killer bookstore (Powell’s) with several locations.

Over six days, I ate in seven restaurants, sampled dozens of wines, and tried many local coffee houses. Here are my top-of-mind reflections:

+ Five days in Portland and the nearby Willamette Valley are enough to get an overview of the region on a first visit.

+ I have now stayed at two downtown hotels – the Heathman and the Westin – and can recommend both. At the Westin, on this recent visit, I really liked the accommodation, the helpful and knowledgeable concierge Adam Marland, and the efficient and amiable car valet staff. Would definitely stay here again.

Drink the tap water in Portland and look what happens to you! Actually, he’s a balloon vendor at the small-townish Saturday morning flea market.

+ It’s wonderful to be able to drink the tap water in this town! In most US cities, I feel forced to order bottled water in restaurants because the municipal tap water is so over-chlorinated you could develop black and white prints in it. But the water in Portland is clean, sweet and drinkable. Diners can save $6-12 a meal in this town by not having to buy bottled water. (Spend the savings on a better Pinot Noir – why you came here in the first place!)

+ You save even more at mealtime because there is no state sales tax, no pesky percentage, which creeps onto restaurant tabs, winery purchases, or anything, for that matter. How old-fashioned!

+ At the Peruvian restaurant Andina, in the tony Pearl district, do not miss appetizer dishes, served in a tapas-like format.; they can be ordered in small, medium, or large plates. I loved the Musciame de Atun, which is a plate of cured, thinly sliced tuna loin, served with a drizzle of garlic oil and a guacamole-like criolla, or dip. In fact, our small group ordered a second serving because the first was practically inhaled off the plate.

+ At Andina, also try Pescado “5 Elementos,” a traditional Peruvian seviche, presented with chunks of ono the day of our visit.

Andina is at 1314 NW Glisan Ave. Tel: 503-228-9535.

+ If I had only three restaurants to visit on my next trip to Portland they would be 1001, Le Pigeon and Blue Hour.

+ At 1001, the maitre d’, Damian, makes sure guests are comfortably seated, while sommelier, Erica Landon, walks guests through her thoughtful, large, and impressive wine list. She is as knowledgeable as she is free of attitude and will happily work with you to pick the best bottle, or two, to complement your food choices. (I keep raving about Oregon’s fabulous Pinot Noir, but while you are here, be sure to try the local Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and Rieslings. The state produces marvelous whites. Ask Erica to pick her favorites off the wine list.)

+ The food at 1001 is memorable. Do not miss the house-made herbed pappardelle, tossed with fresh peas, threads of tasty pork, liased with Parmesan cheese and a dollop of foie gras. The serving is crowned with a gloriously fresh, sunny-side-up, quail egg.

Restaurant 1001 is located at 1001 NW Couch St., Portland. Tel. 503-226-DINE.

+ Equally as impressive was dinner at Le Pigeon, a quirky, small boite, where sommelier Andrew Fortgang has assembled a kickass wine list. Andrew and his wife said goodbye to New York, where he was THE Wine Guy at Craft restaurant, and moved lock, stock and wine barrel to Portland for a simpler way of life. Lucky are the locals who have this fine restaurant – and Andrew’s phenomenal wines -- in their neighborhood.

Dessert profiteroles filled with foie gras, drizzled with caramel sauce, served at Le Pigeon.

+ The best entrée at Le Pigeon was a richly sauced, beefy Bourguignon made with chunky beef cheeks. Desserts, too, can be worthy of Hall of Fame status. My favorite was the weird-sounding “Profiteroles, made with foie gras, served with a caramel sauce!” As weird as they sound – they were that awesome!

Le Pigeon, 738 East Burnside, Portland. Tel. 503-546-8796.

+ “Blue hour” in French literature refers to a time of day inwhich one is filled with heightened emotion. In Portland, the term refers to an 8-year-old restaurant, considered by many residents to be one of the top three dining rooms in their city.

+ As good as the food is here, the wine service is also to be commended. Ask sommelier Gaironn (rhymes with Erin) Poole to match your dining selection with her favorite regional wines. You will be pleasantly surprised that you can drink so well for so little.

Blue Hour is at 250 NW 13^th Avenue, Portland. Tel. 503-226-3394.

Coffee time!
Portland, like Seattle, has a rich, thriving, exhilarating coffee house culture. Several new kids on the block are trying to give Peet’s and Starbucks a run for their money. These include Caffe Umbria (which started in Seattle and now has a satellite location in Portland) and Stumptown, which makes serious espresso seriously good.

Interior of Caffe Umbria. The small, round, stand-up tables make you feel you are in Italy. So do the espresso and food options.

+ While in Portland, check out Caffe Umbria, in the Pearl district. It's as close to a real Italian cafe as
you're going to find in the Pacific Northwest.

I am still thinking about the very thin grilled panini I enjoyed for breakfast with a double-shot cappuccino;
the heated sandwich was loaded with smoky ham and melted Mozzarella, and served with olives – at 9 in the morning! Just as they do in Italia.

Stumptown coffee has four locations in Portland; my favorite is the location adjacent to the Ace Hotel on Stark St.

One of the habits, which I looked forward to daily, was to walk five blocks from the Westin to the Stumptown location adjacent to the Ace Hotel. I’d buy a croissant, or other morning pastry, order a double-shot cappuccino, or macchiato, and then walk my morning fix into the lobby of the Ace, where there are papers, books and many visitors with whom one can engage in conversation.

Portland, in general, is still one of those American cities where the locals are pleasant, easy to engage in conversation, and where they're truly concerned that you, as a visitor, are having a good time in their town.
Which makes a visit here as memorable as the wine and food.

Posted at 09:14 AM in Food and Drink, Restaurants, Travel, Wine | Permalink

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May 26, 2008

Oregon Pinot Noir -- Proof that the Best Things in Life are NOT Free!

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