"07 Tres Ojos, Old vine Granacha

The new wine rep. for Kenco came in with a lot (and I mean a lot) of wine for us to taste the first one to blow us away was a and old vine Granache from Spain. Tres Ojos is named after the three viaducts in the local valley--there are photos of them on the label and they look roman. Soft but rich with a long dark plum finish IWR 90 points $10.

Skyy Ginger Vodka

Well I guess this is the vodka day. Skyy just came out with a ginger flavored vodka. And it is good, very good. It tastes like ginger ale made with fresh ginger. If you've ever tasted the pickled ginger at a sushi restaurant of perhaps the candied ginger from a high end supermarket you have some idea what I'm talking about. I don't know what it would mix with (don't pour it in ginger ale) but i think it will be fun to find out.

Three Olives Rangtang

Gee whiz, I walk in the door this morning and am immediately presented with vodka. Well, at least it was orange/tangerine flavored vodka. So it's kinda like breakfast, right? Right? Right.

Vodka companies love flavored vodka, because it is inexpensive to make and they can experiment different flavors and still be guaranteed to make money. At least in first year--until everyone gets tired of the old flavors and wants to try something new. The newest entry in this niche is Three Olives Rangtang. Now I could go on to describe the flavor in detail but quite frankly it easier to just say it taste like......Tang. But, it's fun and orange (most flavored vodkas are clear), It mixes well with any number of juices and sodas and I like Tang. So for $20 you can bring it to a party everybody will want a taste be glad that you brought it. What more do you want?

867-5309

For technological reason I don't understand, we only can get two stations on the radio here at The Enchanted Forest. But that's okay, because one is designed to appeal to people in their thirties and forties which means--lots of songs from the eighties. Which in theory should work for me (I'm 42). In practice it means that if I hear "867-5309" one more time I'm going to start screaming and I'm not sure that I'm ever going to stop.

'04 La Bouscade, Les Sept Vents, Minervois

About five or six years ago David Cowderoy, the British wine consultant, managed to acquire a winery in the Pyrenees mountains--Minervois to be exact. He has a very small production that is, unsurprisingly, not widely available in the U.S., in fact it is only in four or five states, fortunately for me, Maryland is one of them. Because, I love Ch. La Bouscade's Les Sept Vents, his reserve "best of his vineyards" wine it's big and hearty full-bodied classic Syrah, Grenache, blend with a heavy mouth feel and a lot of cherry, flowers and spice flavors with a long lingering almost citrus finish. And more's the wonder--in the past year the price actually went down to $17.99. In the past few months we have sold cases of this wine--or at least we should have, but we didn't have any to sell. The distributer was out, the importer looked down for the count, and it seemed as if we were not going to be able to get anymore (I did manage to snag few bottles the warehouse still had because the labels were messed up). Now it's back--which is the good news. The bad news is because everybody I introduced to it hasn't seen it for such a long time they've stopped looking for it, and I now have reintroduce everybody to it. More importantly I have to remember to reintroduce everybody to it because nobody comes in asking, "Do you carry any Minervois?". And the bonus fun is that the winery is going to change the name to QED which will make it even more difficult to rebuild the fan-base.

The Singleton 12yr

Since Highland Park 18 might be a tad on the expensive side, I thought is might be a good idea to talk about a single malt that is on the other end of the price spectrum. Whenever somebody comes in who wants to start learning to like single malt scotches (and it does take a great deal of practice) I start them with The Singleton. It is a ludicrously smooth and rich single malt with just enough smoke and peat to let you know you are drinking scotch, but not enough to scare away the novice. A perfect every day single malt for the serious drinker and at under 40 bucks ($38) the most inexpensive 12yr old I've ever found.

Highland Park 18yr

In 2005 F. Paul Pacult reviewed Highland Park 18 for "The Spirit Journal". In the review he referred to it as, "the best spirit in the world". Not the best single malt, or the best scotch, or even the best whisky, but the best spirit. As you might guess the folks at Highland Park (Scotland's northernmost distillery) were quite pleased with this review and they began slinging that quote around everywhere they possibly could. Even (in a display of great chutzpah)on the box the whisky comes in. You would expect that such a display of arrogance would create a significant of a backlash. And it would, if it weren't for the fact it just might be.....you know.....the best spirit in the world. This scotch is phenomenal and unlike most single malts is accessible to non-scotch drinkers--something that is unheard of in the world of scotch.

Highland Park 18 is rich, smooth and full-flavored with perfectly (and I mean perfectly)balanced flavors of toffee, honey, peat, and a long sweet smoky finish. It is a perfect single malt scotch. It is also $124 which is not cheap. But even if it cost five times as much (and I am serious about this) it would be a fantastic price to value ratio. Buy it, buy it, buy it.

Is The NYT Insane?

Duvel isn't even in the top ten?

Why I Deserve The Name "The Wine Wizard"

It happens about once every two weeks. A woman in her thirties or forties comes in because she is planning a very nice dinner party. And by nice, I mean very nice. She is making Beef Wellington, or something else which is just as extraordinarily difficult and expensive to prepare. She wants help picking wine to go with her extravagant meal, which I of course provide. And then it happens, she hesitates for just a moment and says, "We have a guest who only drinks....." and she can't finish.

So, I finish for her, "White zinfandel?"

Her head droops in frustration and shame, "Yes" she whispers.

"Your Mother-in-law." --Her head pops back up and her eyes get very wide.

"How did you know?" she says, amazed.

I am "The Wine Wizard".

'04 R. Merlo Zinfandel

This is my my favorite red zinfandel. For those who are concerned; red zinfandel has nothing, I repeat, NOTHING to do with white zinfandel. Do you understand? NOTHING!.....Well, nothing other than the fact that it is the exact same grape. Other than that, it's a completely different and unbelievably flavorful grown up wine.

R. Merlo is from Trinity County CA, which is so far north that it is practically Oregon. This is a very odd place for a California winery, but apparently the warm days and cold nights are similar enough to Napa & Sonoma that the grapes are superb.

There are two big flavor components to a good red zin--jam (mostly strawberry jam) balanced out by black pepper spice. And R. Merlo? Jam? Times ten. Black pepper? Also times ten. It's heavy with a creamy mouth feel and is all-around wonderful. Open it and let it breath for a couple of hours before drinking. $19.99.

Oh, it's unfiltered, so you'll find red flakes at the bottom of the bottle. That's normal.

A Tale of Two Wines

It was the best of wines, it was the blurst* of wines.....Alright, never mind. That opening is too stupid even for me. But I do want to talk about two very different wines. Pinot Noirs to be precise.

I've mentioned before the two different styles of Pinot Noir. These two wines really typify those two different styles, Les Jamelles has that light fruity "cherry soda" style, while Les Tours has that intense mineral style. Both of them are $9.99 so if one were of a mind to, one could buy both to compare and contrast and have a fun little wine tasting for under $20 (admittedly only $.02 under $20 and that's only before taxes but I still think my point is valid).

Les Jamelles Pinot Noir-- is from France but the style is pure Californian. Immediately accessible, lush, fruity, with a lot of residual sugar. if you like red wine at all you will like this wine--you might not be excited by it (for some wine drinkers accessibility can be boring)--but you will like it.

Les Tours Pinot Noir-- is not only from France, it tastes like it's from France, Burgundy in fact. But since it's not from Burgundy instead of 50 bucks it's 10. Lots of mineral supported by floral, wild strawberry and rhubard. Those of you who are only used to new world wines (which are far more fruit-forward than old world wines) might think I'm crazy to say that this wine is great. But it is great--it's designed to go with food. For instance, Beef Bourgogne (duh), or even just a really rich and very salty French Onion Soup.

Now here is where it gets weird. These wines are totally different from each other. Well, sorta. Not only are both of these wines from the same country (France) and the sames region (Languedoc) and the same grape (Pinot Noir), they are from the same vineyards. Seriously, these two wineries get their juice from the same growers. The only difference is the wine makers. And that's why tasting these two wines together is so interesting. The most important variable in wine is not country, region, or even varietal, but may be, who the wine maker is.

*Bonus unnecessary Simpson's reference. "You stupid monkey!"

The Wind Kept Me Awake Last Night

Well, not the wind so much as the six-year-old. She kept waking me up every 20 minutes to ask, "What was that sound?" In her defense, it did sound like monsters trying to get into the house.

'05 Jaume Mesquida Negre

Finally, finally, the distributer shows up with a case of Jaume Mesqueda Negre, we have been out for weeks.

Jaume Mesquida was my first big personal wine discovery I found it at a Spanish wine tasting where--unusually for me--I was trying to take copious notes. My tasting notes for this wine was "WOW". Evocative, if not copious. The first time I recommended it to somebody who actually bought it, he sent his wife back the next day with instructions to buy eight more.

Jaume Mesqeda is the product of of a brother and sister team from Mallorca. Even though the silhouette looks exactly like Robert Mondavi or maybe Alfred Hitchcock, it is in fact their father--Jaume Mesquida. Now, since we first brought it inevery time I talk about this wine I mispronounce his first name a different way, is it Ywahm? Is it Ywahmay? I had no idea until one of our customers who is actually from Barcelona (I'm sure she is telling the truth because she pronounced it Barthalona) declared with great confidence that it is Djow-may a version I would not have hit on in a thousand years.

What neat about this wine is that, beside the fact that is from the island of Mallorca it is made from a native Mallorcan grape that you have never had before--the callet. It's a deep, rich, very very austere with silky tannins but still a little more fruit forward than most Spanish wine. But what's really interesting bout this wine is that you have never tasted fruit flavors in wine like this before because you have never had this grape before. Run out and buy this wine. Unfortunately the exchange has not been kind to us and the price has moved up from $17 to $23--but that's okay, because even if they charged $80 it would still be a fantastic value.

Oh, since nobody has heard of this wine before and it's not completely clear from the review I thought I should mention, the wine---it's red.

Well, At Least It Wasn't White Zinfandel

"Lost The Battle To Chardonnay" writes to Dear Abby:

The other day I asked my husband a question and told him to be honest. If given a choice between giving up wine or giving up sex with me, which would he choose?

You guessed it. He said, “Giving up sex with you.”

It Puts The Price For Cognac Tesseron In Perspective

Louis XIII Black Pearl $99,999.99

And before you ask, no, I've never tried it. Presumably, it's pretty good.

Cognac Tesseron

Oh, woe is me. I was intending to do posts on some wines we've finally gotten back in after long hiatus( Les Jamelles, Maipe, etc., etc.,). But, no. I had to be interrupted by people from Cognac Tesseron who without an appointment or any warning just dropped by and wanted me to taste their line-up of cognacs. And what is Cognac Tesseron, you ask? Well it's just the best damn Cognac in the history of the universe that's all. The Tesseron family has been making cognac since 1905 mostly selling to big cognac houses like Hennessy. About 8 years ago the Tesserons realized that they had a collection of the oldest and rarest cognacs in the world and somebody had the bright idea to bottle it and release it under their own label. And what an idea that was.

Tesseron only makes XO (extra old) cognacs. Their different blends are given different lot numbers that denote the average vintage in the blend. So for instance, Lot 90 is made from cognacs from 1990 on average, Lot 76 from 1976, well, you get the idea. The signature style is incredably smooth with lots of toasty vanilla notes and well balanced fruit flavors. AWESOME.

Lot 90--Sweet with creme brule and that lovely toasty wood and a long fruity finish. $50

Lot 76--Deeper, richer, nuttier, lots of vanilla again with the long finish. $89

Lot 65--A different style from the others, very spicy with cedar flavor, the alcohol is little hot on the tongue, but in a good way. $135

Lot 53--Incredibly intense and complex, a wonderful cacophony of vanilla, nut, and fruit flavors. $178

Lot 29--Wow. Smooth, smooth, smooth. Dried fruit flavors, chocolate mixed with vanilla and nuts. Wow. Parker rated this cognac a perfect 100 out of 100. Wow. $350. Wow.

Hi Dana

I went over my parents house to drop of the four year old this morning and found a plastic bag in the driveway. Inside was "The Baltimore Sun" printed on actual paper--if you can imagine such a thing--and on the the front page (it's like an analog "home page") was a big picture of one my favorite Catonsville based author/professor/archeologist/forensic anthropologist, Dana Kollmann. She's going to Haiti help identify the remains of US citizens. I knew she was going but when I was over her house (her husband Bob and I took our respective kids sledding on Catonsville's traditional sledding hill all day Sunday) she never once mentioned any forthcoming article. Naturally, in a profile that's referencing such a horrible task the article can only hint at her supremely quirky and irrepressible sense of humor. I recommend you read her book, "Never Suck A Dead Man's Hand: Curious Adventures of a CSI" . Seriously were I a Hollywood producer I would definitely option it for a cable series. Do you hear me, Hollywood?

By the way the "Hi Dana" title is a bit misleading--neither she nor Bob know I'm blogging yet.

"Do You Really Think This Is The First Time It's Been Warm?"

It happens about three times a week. Some one comes in for beer, a twelve pack, a case, a thirty pack, whatever. They hesitate for just a moment and say, "We're not going to drink it right away...do you have it warm?" The running joke in the industry is that the correct response to that question is, "Do you really think this is the first time it's been warm?" You see, beer is delivered in trucks. Trucks from the brewery to the train/plane/ship, from the train/plane/ship, to the warehouse, from the warehouse to the store, in trucks. Non-climate-controlled trucks. Trucks that get hot in the summer. Trucks that get cold in the winter. And when the trucks get hot or cold so does the beer.

In the 21rst century, beer, and the bottle and cans it comes in, are designed to withstand this kind of abuse. And if beer can deal with trucks it can certainly deal with being in somebody's basement for a few days. The only problem is coming up with a way to gently break this to the customer. If the customer is a woman, it's really not that difficult I just say,"oh, if you are going to drink it in the next month or two it won't make any difference."

and they just buy the cold beer.

But, men. Ah, men. Men will take any challenge to their knowledge of beer as a direct challenge to their masculinity. I have yet to figure out how to let them know they are wrong without the conversation ending...um...awkwardly. Someday I will, but that day has not yet arrived.

Cameron Hughes Lot 119 Meritage

Meritage is a stupid marketing word that is used denote a Bordeaux-style blend from California (merit + heritage = meritage, see what I mean?--stupid). But the wine can be fabulous, and Lot 119 is fabulous. It's a traditional blend of Cab, Merlot, and Malbec. Now, even though the blend is traditionally French the flavors are very much New World. It's more fruit forward than a real Bordeaux would be with an upfront smoky raspberry dominating that trails into a great lingering mineral/chocolate/tobacco finish. This is a $50 Meritage for 18 bucks.

One word of caution, unless you are used to $50 Meritage's from California the flavors might be to severe for your palate at first but this is great way to begin to learn about a style of wine that many in the US have never experienced. Remember, wine is an acquired taste, good wine doubly so.*

*It didn't take me too long to quote myself, now did it?

Superstar Vintners and Wines Under $20

Slate, which has surprisingly frequent really good articles about wine, asks why Superstar west coast wine makers don't sell wines for under $20. The short answer turns out to be, that good vineyards in California are expensive and a lot of these guys are already very wealthy anyway so they don't have to. It's good article but the premise is a tad off. It's not that these superstars don't make wine that sells for under $20, it's that these superstars don't make wine that sells for under $20 under their own label.

During our current economic unpleasantness the demand for pricey wines is low. But to lower prices would be a loss of status that the wineries simply won't tolerate. So, what happens when supply outstrips supply and prices don't compensate? Surplus. In other words; a lot of these high-end wineries are sitting on a lot of high-end wine that they can't sell for high-end prices. And then in walks Cameron Hughes.

Hughes is what is called (at least in France) a negociant, he uses his connections to buy leftover wine from these superstars and the bottles it under his own label. Most negociants buy wine on the open market to make their proprietary blends vintage after vintage, But where Hughes is different is when he buys wine from a particular winery he gives it a special lot number and it's on label. So the wine in bottle is the exact same famous wine that is being sold somewhere else for $50 to $100. Now, you may ask, what wineries does he buy from? Well, I'll tell you---I don't know. It's a secret, but the wine is great.