J. Brix Vin Gris and Grilled Shrimp, A Sensory Feast

I want to share a wonderful wine Becky and I had recently, and show some support for two of San Diego's best winemakers, Emily and Jody Towe of J. Brix Wines.

Sunday night, Becky grilled some shrimp, green peppers, and stuffed portobello. The fresh shrimp rested in a garlic-lime marinade for a few hours before meeting our grill. The portobellos were stuffed with cheese, spinach, and onion. Our green bell pepper was left by its lonesome self, but that is just fine.

Our wine was the 2011 J. Brix "Uncontainable" Vin Gris of Grenache, an unfined, unfiltered, non cold-stabilized, purpose-picked ode to the versatility of grenache. Emily told me that they chose to use "vin gris" instead of "rosé" because vin gris implies a purpose-made rosé wine, instead of one made by bleeding off red wine or blending red and white wine together. Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyard produces some of California's best grenache, and you may recall seeing the name on Angela Osborne's stunning "A Tribute to Grace" grenache bottlings.

The vin gris had some facets of a red wine, with the interplay of tannin and acidity, creating a beautiful complex texture. It also had the lightness, that lifting, crisp mouthfeel of a great white wine. Flavors of orange peel, raspberry, green herb, and wet rocks played around on my palate, while the marinade used on the shrimp allowed the fruit flavors to emerge right in the middle of my tongue. All of this finished in a tart, lively finish that resulted in a near-constant grin on my face.

Becky knows that when I chatter incessantly about a wine, I truly love it. I fell in love with the J. Brix rosé vin gris, the marriage of complexity and charm. Blind, I could see people picking this as one of the great rosé wines of France.

Whether you call it a vin gris or rosé, the Uncontainable is a special wine. It begs to be shared with family and friends, to be explored, pondered, and above all, enjoyed. 

There are a few cases left but I recommend tweeting at Emily or Jody, or visiting the J. Brix website to make sure you don't miss out. They can be found on the J. Brix Facebook page as well, for more up to date information and sneak peeks on their future projects.

Beau Carufel

Domaine Carneros, by Taittinger

(img src: www.luxist.com)

The wines I'm writing about in this feature were originally to be part of an Easter article, suggesting you pair sparkling wines with your Easter meal. Unfortunately due to a shipping mix-up, the wine didn't arrive in time.

Allow me to clarify though, sparkling wine should be enjoyed year-round. It's always a good time for bubbles.

Fast forward several weeks and I had occasion to open the 2005 Domaine Carneros Le Reve Blanc de Blancs and NV Domaine Carneros Cuvee de la Pomadour.

Our good friends Lars and Dave were celebrating their wedding anniversary and stopped by on their way home to say hi and catch up. Seeing as we get together all too infrequently, I decided that we were going to open a special bottle of sparkling wine and chilled the Le Reve immediately. Knowing its provenance, I anticipated a wonderful experience for us on that special day.

Domaine Carneros is owned by the famous French Champagne house Taittinger, which was founded in 1734 in the city of Reims. Over the years it has established a reputation as one of the foremost Champagne producers in the world, so when the Taittinger family started Domaine Carneros in Napa Valley, there was considerable expectation put in place. That was back in 1987. Since then, the Taittinger family has always exerted a light touch, allowing CEO/Founding Winemaker Eileen Crane to go about her pursuit of great sparkling and still wines with considerable freedom.

The selection of Carneros in Napa Valley was no accident either, and the region is now home to many of California's most admired pinot noir and chardonnay vineyards. As of now, the estate produces six sparkling wines, all done in the methode champenoise style. Methode champenoise means that the wines are made the same way as in Champagne, with the wine undergoing its secondary fermentation (the one that produces the bubbles) inside the bottle. That's the quick way explain, but there are many other factors that make this method unique when compared to others such as carbon dioxide injection or the Charmat Method.

How were the wines, you might ask?

2005 Domaine Carneros "Le Reve" Blanc de Blancs:
Beautiful aromas of lemon peel, brioche, red apple, and bracing minerality. This is 99% chardonnay and 1% pinot blanc. On the palate it's creamy and smooth while retaining a pleasing lightness. Flavors of cake frosting, golden apple, spiced lemon slices, and a yeasty richness emerge from the bubbles. The complexity is what you'd expect from a wine with this provenance, in a word: impeccable. That said, I'm equally amazed with the integrated flavors, a testament to the vintage and time spent on the lees. After each sip I reflected on how much it felt like a complete experience, so good was the balance. One of the best California sparkling wines you can buy, period. $95 SRP.

NV Domaine Carneros Cuvee de la Pompadour Brut Rosé:
This wine pours a beautiful rosé color, and when held up to the sun it reminded me of bright, shiny copper reflecting the sunlight. A beautiful bouquet of flavors wafts out of the glass, among them strawberry, brioche, hints of orange zest, and a lovely, delicate potpourri. While not quite at level of the Le Reve, this rosé (58% pinot noir, 42% chardonnay) does have a fine bouquet. On the palate it's light and dry, with plenty of tart red fruit and citrus, lifted by vibrant acidity. Fine, delicate bubbles create a lovely textural sensation that only ends many seconds after you swallow. Again I found the balance of flavors to be excellent. For a brut rosé, this is a wine I'd happily pour for a group of Champagne lovers, blind. At a suggested retail of $45, but available at $35, it's half the price (or more!) of brut rosé Champagnes.




Both of these sparkling wines were excellent, and much to my delight, neither showed any signs of oxidation. This is a testament to good winemaking, as well as perhaps indicative of the committment the Taittinger family has to making Domaine Carneros the best sparkling wine producer in the United States. With wines like these, I suspect they're close to accomplishing that goal.

For the 2005 Le Reve, I'd suggest pairing almost anything with this wine, short of a steak. I'd have enjoyed some oysters, lobster, caviar, or even more humble fare like fried chicken and french fries. Honestly, the wine would have been amazing even with a pizza. For the Cuvee de la Pompadour, I'd have paired it with grilled shrimp or chicken, anything fried, or even some berry sorbet.

These wines were media samples for review purposes.

Beau Carufel

The Occasional Hiccup In My Wine Journey

I love rosé. Where else can you find the flavors of a red wine with the light body and textural components of a white wine. Actually, you sometimes can in orange wine, but that's a topic for a different blog post. Tonight I decided to open up two bottles of rosé, in celebration of the warming weather and advent of spring.

The first bottle I opened was from Sokol Blosser here in Oregon and the (to me) wonderful 2010 vintage. That year was marked by cool conditions, leading to higher acid and tannin levels in the grapes. In other words, conditions favorable to great rosé. The second bottle, from Don Sebastiani & Sons, hails from a single vineyard in Clarksburg, California. It too is from a cooler year, 2011, one where the conditions were conducive to making great rosé. Of course, that's contingent on the site being cool enough too.

Both bottles were highly disappointing, for two very different reasons. 

2010 Sokol Blosser Rosé of Pinot Noir Dundee Hills:
The wine has a gorgeous color, a vibrant pinkish-red that sparkles in the glass. Aromatically it's full of ripe strawberry and melon, summer flowers, and a hint of something I describe as pine-sol. While not necessarily a game-changer, the aroma was curious. On the palate, it's got perceptible sweetness that manifests as sweet green melon and strawberries. There's also a richness that comes from aging on the lees, or at least I think that's what caused it. This wine is lacking in minerality and crispness, unfortunately. The finish has some strange taste, like what I imagine industrial floor cleaner would taste like. In short, not a wine I would want to drink. We dumped it out. SRP: $16. 13.0% abv.

2011 The Crusher Rosé of Pinot Noir Merwin Vineyard Clarksburg:
A sample sent to me back in February, I had high hopes for this latest release from The Crusher. I've tasted and enjoyed wines from Don & Sons before, but oh boy was this a shock. When I poured a glass, the smell that assaulted my nose was that of rubbing alcohol and mashed up strawberry. Unpleasant to say the least. I don't think the problem is with alcohol, The Crusher comes in at a listed 13.6% abv. I'd venture to guess a volatile acidity problem exists here. On the palate, it's harsh and green, with more of that rubbing alcohol. The finish is evaporative, almost mocking your palate as it scurries away. A disaster. SRP: $18.



Keep calm and carry on.

My issues with the Sokol Blosser rosé are twofold; more of a stylistic difference of opinion, but also me letting my expectations get in the way of my evaluation. There's nothing I could find technically wrong with their rosé, but I also don't feel it represents the 2010 vintage that well. Out of all the rosé from that year that I've tried (around 30), none have had either the level of sweetness or the strange quality on the finish.

The Don & Sons is much worse though, and I rarely write so strongly about a wine but based on the sample I received, I would not recommend purchasing it. When a wine reeks of rubbing alcohol it usually means something went horribly wrong during the wine making process OR the juice was low quality to begin with. Garbage in, garbage out, so to speak.

Despite my disappointment this evening, I'll keep buying and drinking rosé and continue to recommend it to everyone who'll listen to me. There is rarely a more perfect summer beverage.

Beau Carufel

Continuing With Rosé Wines, Here Comes the Rhone!

While a bunch of my Twitter/blogger friends were up at the annual Hospice du Rhone celebration in Paso Robles these past few days, those of us who didn't/couldn't go had to make do with what was in our own cellars. Since the weather has been beautiful and only promises to get better over the next week, today seemed like a wonderful day to open another rosé. I chose the 2009 Chateau de Nages from the Costieres de Nimes appellation in the Rhone Valley.

The 2009 Chateau de Nages was made with 70% grenache and 30% syrah, a fairly standard blend and proportion for Rhone rosé wines. Sometimes you'll see a bit of cinsault and counoise tucked in there too. If you happen to be a big fan of rosé then by all means keep your eyes open for wines from Tavel or Bandol, as they're reputed to produce the best examples on the planet. I don't disagree..

First off I look at the color, it's like a piece of fresh salmon, absolutely gorgeous! Not light like a Silverbrite, but dark like Coho or King Salmon. Why, you ask, might I know about fish coloration? It's where I work that does this to me. Granted, it also drives me to drink..The workplace, not the fish coloration..

Anyways! On to the "sniffy-sniff" as Gary Vaynerchuk calls it. Nice bit of herb, red berries, river stone, grapefruit, and a hint of fresh melon. Before sipping the 09 Chateau de Nages, I predict it'll have some bright acidity and be very dry. Or am I projecting my desires onto this wine? You tell me!

Well I was right..sort of..Bright acidity pops right away, lip-smackin' good..The ripe strawberries and melon come along right behind that opening volley of acid, to give the wine a sense of depth and structure. I picked up a dollop of ruby red grapefruit too, so that balance of sweet and acid is there throughout the wine. This is very good, each flavor is blending together seamlessly for me. There's a sense of depth and weight here but it leaves so quickly that you retain the refreshing quality which makes rosé so alluring. At 13.5% alcohol, it sure isn't a lightweight for a rosé but that's hidden fairly nicely. You get a bit of heat through the finish but it's barely there. I would say that it prevents this wine from getting an A-, truth be told. On a warm, sunny day like today, this is something to enjoy while sitting on your patio reading or hanging out with your friends.

I gave 2009 Chateau de Nages a B+ and a STRONG BUY especially since it lists at under $15, but I bought it for $7 at San Diego Wine Company. Are you freakin' kidding me?! $6.99 to be precise, and it's worth every single penny. I'm going back to buy more bottles. You should too, especially if you live in San Diego.

Beau Carufel