In the 1980s Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon and Bob Linquest of Qupe led a movement in California making Rhone Valley grape varietals (Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache) popular. The group became known as the Rhone Rangers. Today there is a new movement which is becoming popular, the influx of Spanish varietals.

Argentina has experienced a swell of wineries and vineyard plantings in the wine region of Patagonia. Patagonia is about 400 miles south of Argentina’s already famous wine region of Mendoza and next door to the lesser known regions of Neuquen and Rio Negro.

If you have no knowledge of the "Judgement of Paris" go see "Bottle Shock" when it is released, it should be out any time now. A brief rundown follows (of actual events, not the movie). 

In 1976, a 10 person panel was convened in Paris to taste the 5 great French White Burgundy's and Red Bordeaux against the best 5 California could offer up in both categories. California was not supposed to stand a chance, and rightfully so. Napa had been turning out wine for only about 10 years at that point, where as Chateau Mouton-Rothschilde (one of the Bordeaux entrants) has been making wine since Napoleon ruled the European continent. Here are the results:

Cab: #1 Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, #2 Chat. Mouton, #3 Chat. Montrose, #4 Chat. Haut Brion, #5 Ridge Monte Bello.

Chardonnay: #1 Montelena (Grgich fruit), #2 Domaine Roulot, #3 Chalone, #4 Spring Mtn Vineyards, #5 Domaine Drouhin

Every Frenchman screamed foul. 8 of the 10 judges were French, one Englishman and one American. They then said that the French wines would age better and the contest was not indicative of the actual quality because the wines were young. The French Culinary Inst. repeated the test in 1986:

#1 Clos du Val Winery, #2 Ridge Monte Bello

Wine Spectator repeated the test in 1986 as well:

#1-#5 all California wineries

Steven Spurrier (the original organizer and judge) repeated the test in 2006:

#1-#5 all California wineries

Fun stuff!

My actual point to all of this however is bittersweet. Chateau Montelena was sold in July to Michel Reybier the owner of Chateau Cos D'Estournel, and Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is currently being shopped for sale, with most of the suiters being foreign wine companies. All the great family owned and run wineries from the 1970's, which was the birth of the great California wine tradition, are dealing with legacy issues and whether or not to sell or try to keep in the family, and so far most are electing for sale. Sad.

My current love affair with Syrah rewarded me again this weekend. More on that in a minute.

Syrah, or Shiraz if you will (and not Petite Sirah!), is the fastest growing (in popularity/planting) grape in our country. Cabernet is still king, but more like a modern day king in his waning years, who has no heir of his own. People are moving on. I attribute this greatly to 2 things; the obvious similarity in taste from one Cab to the next, and the increasingly unaffordability of California (and now Washington) Cabernet. Syrah is being planted EVERYWHERE and can, and does, taste dramatically different from one area to the next, hell even from one slope to the next. The same can be made true of Cabernet, of course, but not for the right price.

Great syrah's are coming from some very inexpensive land areas: Paso Robles, Eastern Washington, Missouri, California's Central Valley (long the home of "bulk wine"), and even San Diego County. Pick a couple up from different areas and taste how amazingly unique they can be. Some of my current favorites are Star Lane (Santa Ynez), its little brother Three Saints (also Santa Ynez) and Foley (Santa Rita Hills).

I broke in my new smoker with some friends this weekend and a batch of mesquite smoked babyback ribs. One friend, who has now acheived "great friend status" brought a bottle of Peter Lehmann Stonewell Shiraz 1998! Everyone knows P-L and they consistently make great shiraz, but Stonewell is kind of rare even in the business. And 1998 is considered the best year for Aussie reds in a generation. He knew neither and just wanted to share a great bottle with friends. Keeper (the friend and the bottle)! After 2 hours in decanter the whole house smelled like plum and raspberry and spice. This wine was still young at 10 years. I have not seen any in years, but if you do, I would love a comment as to where.

I am going to talk a bit about Cabernet with some age on it. Tango just stumbled upon a 10 case lot of a 9 year old Australian Cabernet from Burton Winery, who no longer imports into the US. The distributor needed to move their remaining product and we negociated an awfully nice deal on it (check out the wineries price @ www.burtonpremiumwines.com, we are a "bit" less)!

"Aged" can mean many things. France and Italy generally don't start discussing age until at least 15 years for red. California can be a mere 5. Nine years for a inexpensive Australia red is definitely aged!

Aged reds can often be like the Grandfather that seldomly visits. Usually cranky on the ride home from the airport, he can be abrasive until he gets his bags unpacked and is in a comfortable chair. While he is never going to be as cool and chatty as the uncle that is only a little older than you (we all have one), once he is in his zone, Grandpa is great in his own right and usually has some pretty interesting stories to tell.

Aged reds, in this case Cabernet Sauvignon, need to get into their comfort zone, and pulling the cork and pouring isn't going to do it. Just like that ride from the airport! Frequently they need to breathe. That can mean decanting or letting them sit, in a glass, for a "while". The while is completely dependant on the particular grandpa. Decanting is done differently than with younger wines. You are going for gentle (think old) and slow to prevent any sediment from leaving the bottle. And don't expect exciting Vegas stories from an aged wine. Instead, listen to the long, in-depth epic about the land and how things have changed over the years. We are talking Terms of Endearment and Amadeus, not 300 (not that 300 wasn't great). The other great thing about aged reds, is that with the mellowing, they often become much more accessible for drinking without a big meal, not often I can sip Cabernet on the couch! Personally, I have found the Burton to only need 15-20 minutes in a glass, and as little as 10 in a decanter, which is a small time-price to pay for such great stories.

Until next time, glasses up!

   I had been pining to try the food at The Better Half in Hillcrest ever since the review came out in The Reader. A few weeks ago I finally had the opportunity.and it was "better" than advertized. If you have not heard of TBH, you are not alone. It is a very unassuming, cozy little place on the 100 block of University with both indoor and outdoor seating. Unfortunately for us, the word is out...Wine Spectator just awarded TBH an Award of Excellence in this months issue.

The hook at TBH is that all their wine is in half-bottle. All of it! Somewhere around 100 different bottles. They have something for almost any palate. This would be a great list if it were all full bottles, the fact that you can share 2 half bottles for about the same price as 1 regular bottle allows you and your dinner companion to each have a full glass of 2 different wines, very convenient when you both have different menu directions (ie. fish and steak). We started with a half bottle of Duval-Leroy Brut Rose, one of my all-time favorite champagnes, and a steal at ~$55. With our appetizers (they make the best charcuterie tray in SD) we enjoyed a half-bottle of Adelsheim Pinot Noir from Willamette, which can often be hard to come by as it always scores well. With our main course we slurped on Tablas Creek's Esprit de Beaucastel, their hommage to parent company Chateau Beaucastel's Chateauneuf du Pape, grown on clippings from said chateau. As the wife and I don't get out as often as we would like, we splurged on the wines, which made up the "better half" of our $200 (after tip) bill, but a meal for two with 2 half-bottles could easily come in around $100.

Great meal, great selection of wine, and great service. Make your reservations.

   Last weekend and old friend from the east-coast and his wife stayed with us and we used the opportunity to try through some new and old wines from both of our cellars (mostly his). Here are my thoughts:

1997 Bell Cabernet Sauvignon Baritelle Vineyard - This wine was very bricky/brown when first poured. It had some of the minty dusty nose associated with Rutherford, but not as much as I would have expected from such a great vintage. Slightly reductive, as if it got air in it, and tangy/salty on the tongue. The cork appeared fine, so I would have to say that this wine was over the hill. Much dismay!

2005 Domaine St.-Prefert Chateauneuf-du-Pape Auguste Favier Reserve - This was high on Wine Spectator's Top 100 last year, and it was easy to see why. Huge nose with tons of graphite and raspberry, and a meaty quality. Silky smooth on the palate with great tannins. The finish lingered forever. Absolutely top notch CNdP from a great vintage.

2005 Sea Smoke Pinot Noir Southing Vineyard - I have been tasting a bottle a month of this wine since it was released last Spring and it is finally coming around to deserving it high points. Extremely dense, almost chewy. The fruit is so dominant it almost punches you in the nose. Definitely not a old-world Pinot. Long, long finish. Unfortunately, since this wine is list only, you almost cannot find it outside restaurants. Try anyway.

2004 Red Car Pinot Noir Amour Fou - Another list only, huge, new-world Pinot Noir. This beauty almost drank like good syrah it was so heavy. Great minerality, lots of black cherry and dark fruits. Showed a bit of its extremely high alcohol, but then again, I am a pick picky on that issue. This winery does great hand painted labels from an obviously talented artist and seals in wax. Neat packaging. A friend of ours recently became an investor in this culty winery.

1999 Gaja Barbaresco - What to say about this epic winery? This is consistantly one of the best Barbaresco's made, year-in, year-out. It took 1+ hours to open after decanting and filled the room with rose petals and black liquorish. Insanely smooth and the decanter went dry way to quick. 94 points from Wine Spectator and a release price of $185, and that was 6 years ago. Must have more! More I say!

2003 Calera Pinot Noir Jenson Vineyard - Completely different style from the other Pinots of the night. Very meaty smelling, much lighter in color and body. This wine was the most elegant of the 3. Nice high acidity made this go so well with food. Made in a very Burgundian style. After the Gaja, this was my favorite of the wines. Also, this should be the most available of any of the above, just in a more recent vintage.

I have been a long-time reader of The Wine Spectator magazine. I have watched it go through its ups and downs, its ongoing feud with Robert Parker, its spin-off Cigar Afficianado magazine, and its depressing shift toward advertizing-influenced ratings (my belief). Through all of this, I have always looked forward to the December issue and its Top 100. That began to change a few years ago when the magazine redefined its criteria for the Top 100. Price became a factor (actually, a major factor). At first I thought this would be an interesting spin on a Top 100, since low price generally means more made and hence more "available". That all came to a screaching halt this year, when to my dismay I saw that Yellowtail Reserve Shiraz came in at #72. Really, ...Yellowtail?!? Yeah, I get it, it is good and available, but one of the 100 best wines of the year. Really? 28 places ahead of Caymus Cabernet. Really? Valdicava Reserve Brunello, at 100 points (no better possible) was on the list, but Casanova di Neri Reserve, also 100 points and $15 cheaper did not make the list at all! By their logic...you know what, I cannot even begin to understand their logic.

They often get it right, though. I just drank a bottle of the new vintage of Beringer Alluvium Blanc, an interesting blend of 4 different white grapes. It has the weight of Chardonnay but the spice of good, French Viognier, all tangy and spicy, with the spice originating in the grape, not the oak. Spectator just gave it 92 points, deservingly, but depressingly, because it is almost sold out a mere 1 week after release. Get some while you can.

Yesterday, the list of the most overused phrases in the American Lexicon was released yesterday, and "perfect storm" was #1 followed by "post 9/11" and "surge". If they ever make such a list for the wine world, "legs" is going to wine by a landslide! If I had a nickel for.... damn, now I'm doing it. We are a society that loves their cliches, but really, a wine's "legs" has got to go. If I go to one more dinner party where someone swirls their wine and then holds it up to the light and comments on the legs (or tears), I cannot be held responsible for my actions.

Alcohol and water have dramatically different evaporation rates and surface tensions. High surface tension will repel low surface tension (physics, sorry). Capillary action (physics again) causes wine to try and climb the side of the glass, thinning out. The alcohol in this film evaporates, making it more watery, thus with higher surface tension. This film is then repelled farther from the rest of the wine, which has a higher percentage of alcohol and lower suface tension. This process continues until gravity overcomes all and the weight of the liquid cascades back down. An easy proof is swirl your wine until you see "legs" then put a book over the top of the glass and repeat. No "legs". The book leaves the alcohol no place to evaporate.

So, "legs" have no relationship with quality, or sugar content as some also think. Merely a indicator of alcohol content. I think in this post 9/11 world, we can come up with something a little more relevant to say about our wine. That way I won't have to unlease a perfect storm on someone. Until next time, glasses up.

About 3 weeks ago, while working on a slow Thursday afternoon, I received a call from a local resident who asked if I was willing to help him asses the quality and possible value of some bottles that he had recently found in the basement of the house he had just inherited from his father. I end up doing this a few times every year, it seems, and it generally results in showing the owner how he/she can type the name of the wine into Google and discover that the bottle of White Star/Beringer/Mondavi/etc. is worth exactly what it is worth everyday.

 Then he walked in.

Carrying a dusty cardboard box filled with very dusty, oddly shaped bottles. The bottles were labeled as Moet Champagne 1922, and had clearly been reused. Back then, many bottles were hand blown, and these certainly had been. Immediatly I was disappointed when I saw that the corks were loose, port corks. Bad sign. We poured 2 glasses and it instantly smelled and looked like old Sherry. Obviously fortified (high alcohol), but still a nice nuttiness. I braved it and while it was completely vinegarized, it wasn't bad. At some point, his father had made a very passable, basement Sherry, that had survived for as many as 40 years without tight corks or good conditions. It was one of the most interesting days I have had since I started in this business.

I love vintage port, but like many, I don't have the opportunity to drink it as often as I would like. Recently, we made plans to do a Saturday night barbeque with a few close neighbors. As Texans (the neighbors), barbeque consists of brisket, and only brisket, smoked for 10-11 hours. Not having a smoker, I decided to bring a few racks of mustard/bourbon glazed baby back ribs. We paired a nice Sonoma Zinfandel which worked out great.
I had been looking for an excuse to open a bottle of vintage port that had been languishing in the cellar for years, and this looked to be as good a time as any. Now for the real problem. How long to decant a 1985 Fonseca Port. The commonly accepted theory is no more than 2 hours, but as this was the only bottle I had of a particularly great year; I didn't want to risk it. I emailed Fonseca, and, surprisingly, they responded. Contrary to what most drinkers think, Fonseca recommends extended decanting. They turned me on to what is referred to as the Hersh Method. I have included it below, without the lengthy explanations.

7 years or less:  *10-12 hours of decanting time
8 -15 years old:   *8-10 hours of decanting time
16-25 years old:   *6-8 hours of decanting time
26-35 years old:   *4-6 hours of decanting time
36-45 years old:   *3-5 hours of decanting time
46-60 years old    *2-3 hours of decanting time
60 years old:        *1-3 hours of decanting time

I gave it 7 hours, and was overwhelmed by the intense blueberry, raspberry jam, and graphite notes pouring out of the decanter. A few hours later, we were all regretting the retarded amount of meat we had just consumed. Time for a great cigar and the port.  So sad! I had pulled the cork years too early. This wine has so many more years to go, that while we all fully enjoyed it, I could only think of how it would taste in 10 years.

As a bit of a foodie, and the primary meal maker around my house, I am always experimenting with recipes and sauces. When I want a quick steak, I generally pan-sear and broil NY strip. Too