The Wine Guild of Charlottesville

California Crowd-Pleaser

Posted on Mar, 30. 2012 by Chad Zakaib

Categories: Wine

Lately, all I can think about is acid. Whether its sea-shell infused Chablisien, Loire valley limestone or the polished purity of California, I’m thrilled to feel the tingle. The rub is, the wine’s also got to have some decent weight to it, so there needs to be some fruit to the thing, otherwise — no dice.

When I find the right combination, I tend to buy heavy because the right combination for me always includes the ability to please a crowd. For me, a true crowd-pleaser is complex without being boorish, enjoyable without being too simple, classic while still capable of surprise. It should be interesting enough to make you want to see the label, not peel it off for your trophy case.

I’ve been tasting a lot of acid-driven whites in the last few weeks, and today bring you the Franciscan Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2010. Its a crowd-pleaser, and it meets quite a few requirements of my “go-to” California Sauvignon Blanc checklist:

• Fresh, expressive, lemon-lime, slightly floral nose – CHECK
• Medium weight palate full of all sorts of citrus and the lightest touch of wood — CHECK
• Classic Napa polish throughout – CHECK
• Sub-$20 regular retail – CHECK

Its funny that our friends in Napa pride themselves on their monster red wines and massive chardonnays, priced so much higher than the occasional estate grown Sauvignon Blanc … that drinks so well and at such a reasonable price. I’ve always maintained that to truly know the quality of the house, you must know the “lesser” wines. (“Lesser” being defined, for example, as wines without proprietary names.) After all, anyone can blend the top few barrels of their best lots to produce a fabulous wine for the collector’s cellar. I find myself more interested these days in what’s on the winemaker’s table when the wine has already been poured and an old friend appears at the door unexpectedly.

Parker and the press will get their hands on this soon enough, and past vintages have certainly met their approval. As yet, the 2010 has not been given a number, except by me:

And my number is 12.

Franciscan Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2010
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Retail Price: $17.99
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Not Your Average Chardonnay

Posted on Mar, 01. 2012 by Chad Zakaib

Categories: Wine

I have a friend who is very, very French (and when I say very French, I mean, for example, that he is overly passionate about soccer and the invention of the diesel engine and disputing the details of various wars between France and England). The upside is that he has a deep, broad experience in French wine, and an even deeper cellar.

We were talking some years ago about a study that had come out of a particular West Coast University, showing undeniably (!) that there is in fact no such thing as terroir, and that soil has no impact on the flavor and aroma of a wine. “Ridiculous” I said. “A farce.”

“No no no!” he whispered, “No. Hopefully the world will believe this nonsense – hopefully they will think its all the same, and we’ll be able to buy all the best Chablis.”

Let me be honest here and just say it: I love good Chablis. I love it! I treasure it in my cellar. So … regarding the “study” referenced above, this offer – for the Josephine Dubois Chablis 1er Cru Montmains 2009 – may be both a result of the lingering effects of that study and my best white wine find in quite some time.

All that said, a love of Chablis is not for the faint of heart. It requires commitment and discipline in the consumer – this is not consistent, mass produced chardonnay. This is fruit grown on the viticultural “razor’s edge” -- in one of the coldest places where wine is made! The village of Chablis is actually above the 48th parallel, roughly the same neighborhood as Alsace!!! The risk of severe frost damage in the Spring and Fall -- chardonnay blooms early and is harvested typically well into October -- is just part of the equation. A cool, wet vintage produces thin, acidic, unripe fruit, with the resulting often simply to be avoided. But a great vintage – like 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009 -- without frost, or hail, or too much or too little moisture, produces a profound expression of place and a wine that remains one of the world’s most distinct reference points for Chardonnay.

WARNING: None of the following has any correlation with growing fruit in a downright cold climate and in a unique limestone infused clay, absolutely loaded with decomposed seashells. Seriously. No connection. I swear.

On the nose … there is the rather tart combination of lemon rinds and Granny Smith Apples, infused with the unmistakable salinity of seashells. There is unplumbed depth here that only time will reveal, but I can imagine mellowing and melding until the aroma becomes more of a perfume, showing apple flower blossoms along with the above. That perfume is just profound.

On the palate … these combine with surprisingly subtle but persistent acidity to deliver a beautifully linear, medium-bodied presentation of ripe, fresh cut apples and citrus with a pronounced tightness in the mid-palate and finish, indicating another year or two of very positive evolution for those with patience.

On the wallet ... you’ll never regret drinking this one on a weeknight, and never fear opening it for your wine-snobbiest friend with my personally recommended caveat that “this is the house Chablis.”

Josephine Dubois Chablis 1er Cru Montmains 2009
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Retail Price: $22.00
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Close your eyes, take a sip and before you know it, you’re in…The Macon!

Posted on Feb, 07. 2012 by Chad Zakaib

Categories: Wine

Editor’s Note: Please take a minute to collect yourself. Center yourself, if you will. Close your
eyes, sit up straight and breathe deeply more than a few times. Refresh yourself, and focus. If
you do, you’ll have properly prepared yourself to taste a wine. When settled, read on and know
that I hope my words can do this one justice.

Honey, and the distant smell of a well-prepared tart tatin. The aromatic impression of a river
running down a bed of well-worn stones with honeysuckle lining the far bank, and apple trees on the hill. The aroma with a humid weightiness to it, as if when you slowly draw it swirling off the liquid.

The palate starts with something akin to the lemon tart that my wife makes, with all fresh lemon and lemon peel and only the slightest amount of sugar, but almost immediately, there are those roasted apples, with some white grapes halved, in the slightest bit of butter and maybe a drop of apple brandy. The palate evidence’s an engineer’s precision, a master craftsman not showing off, just showing how it is done.

What’s strikes is what’s NOT present: there’s no toast, no pain grille, no caramel, no vanilla,
no baking spices. If there was oak, it was certainly very large, very old casks imparting no oak
flavor, but instead just allowing a slight mellowing of the acids. Medium weight, with heft but not fat, like the presence of an accomplished former athlete - a discretely sizeable fellow, maybe 6’ 3” and 220 pounds, who if pressed, can still dunk a basketball.

If you are a fan of the style or the region, or just want to continue to explore the wonders of
Chardonnay, this is an absolute steal, produced by Daniel Barraud, a man many call the best winemaker in the Macon.

Domaine Barraud Macon-Chaintre 2008
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Retail Price: $21.00
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White Burgundy that will bring you to your knees!!!

Posted on Oct, 03. 2011 by Chad Zakaib

Categories: Wine

Over the summer, I asked our friends at The Country Vintner for samples of some older white wines. Of about 100 labels, we chose 8 wines, ranging widely in vintage, price and origin, and found two worth your time. You'll recall our foray into this topic with a beautifully aged and preserved Macon from 2006.

Today's wine is the stunning 2005 Bouzereau Meursault Les Tessons. Continue reading...

Chardonnay, Evolved.

Posted on Jul, 25. 2011 by Chad Zakaib

Categories: Wine

Two months ago, I asked our friend and regular supplier Ellen (of The Country Vintner) for a list of older white wines. The best whites, as you will certainly know, need time to evolve, to knit together seamlessly. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective), in a world of instant gratification, the best whites go under-appreciated, simply because they are consumed far too early and so appear simple, or too acidic or too much trouble to hold onto.

To that end, Ellen sent two full pages, single spaced, of some of the world’s finest white wines, with at least 3 or 4 years on them, that are in stock. The reason these aged whites remain available today is precisely because of the reasons I outlined above. To put it in everyday parlance, people jus' don't know!

Alsace and Burgundy dominated this list, with a diverse selection and deep troves of Domaine Weinbach and Zind-Humbrechts, a wide variety of Domaine Michel Chablis, various Montrachet villages, Meursaults and the odd Vire Clesse and St. Veran. I worked through the list, sent it to a select few others and asked for samples. Seven bottles arrived, two of which were particularly outstanding. The first (the other will be forthcoming, stay tuned!) is a 2006 Verget Saint Veran “Terroir de Davaye”, and while its quality is not accidental, here we benefit from the confluence of vintage, producer and technology.

2006 in Burgundy was a cool, rainy vintage – typically resulting in strong acids and lean fruit, a combination that often scares average consumers; Saint Veran, too, is a lesser known village in Southern Burgundy whose wines are oft-overlooked by the non-French wine markets. As a result, the terroir is largely unheralded, resulting in a region where average producers settle for average wines. Jean-Marie Guffens is not an average producer, though, and has never settled for average anything. He’s made major investments in a number of regions, all going hand in hand with his ultra-disciplined vineyard and wine-making practices, resulting in wines that shatter stereotypes and anger colleagues. Certainly Mssr. Guffens will never win a popularity contest among his winemaking colleagues, but life is not a popularity contest.

(To wit, screw-caps have never won any popularity contests. They are not romantic. They do not look cool. They are made of tin. But screw caps are the perfect closure if you do not want oxygen to enter the bottle, thereby preserving every bit of fruit and acid for as long as they will hold together.)

Enter the Verget Saint Veran, where we have the confluence of an acidic vintage (making for long lived wines), a top producer (making quality wines of enduring character) and a screw-cap (preserving the work of mother nature and man). The result: a pristine chardonnay of exceptional quality and long life, peaking when most consumers are looking ahead to new releases. Checking a few reviews of the '06 on CellarTracker, the impressions go from "meh" to "wow!" as time marches forward, which again speaks to the bottle-evolution of a wine like this. The effects of time, though, are elusive, often understood only by tasting hundreds of wines over many years. And who has time for that? Well…

Josh Reynolds at Stephen Tanzer’s Inernational Wine Cellar: “Yellow gold. Smoky pear and honeydew on the nose. Fresh and spicy, with deep melon and pit fruit flavors gaining a firm citric bite with air. Clean, precise and youthfully taut, with impressive finishing grip and lift. 90 points.”

The Wine Advocate (Schildknecht): “The Verget 2006 Saint-Veran Terroirs de Davaye exudes vanilla-tinged pear and purple plum; offers a seamlessly rich, creamy palate with more than enough vivacity and minerality; and a clear, long, invigorating finish. This excellent value was fermented half in tank and half in barrel; then the vessels of residence for each batch were reversed for the eight months until bottling. It should drink well at least through 2010. 90 points."

But I invite you to judge for yourself what wonders the combination of age, the right vintage, provenance, and masterful winegrowing can produce. And if time is truly of the essence in a literal sense, then I encourage you to move quickly – there are just 20 cases of this profound beauty to be had and I claim one of them.

2006 Verget St. Veran 'Terroirs de Davaye'
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Retail Price: $25.00
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Sabatino Truffle Sea Salt

Posted on Dec, 09. 2009 by Chad Zakaib

Categories: Food

A Guild favorite back by popular demand!!! Sicilian Sea Salt with dried summer truffles. I assure you that is a small price to pay for such a marked improvement in your culinary life. A small jar goes a VERY long way. To that end, I would propose systematically adding it to everything you eat. In these uncertain times, in fact, I keep a jar on my person at all times, in case I should be confronted with some delectable morsel in need of proper seasoning. I suggest you do the same.” A great gift for your foodie friends….they won’t stop talking about it!
Retail-$15.50, GC-$8.50, PC-$8.89 • Inquire about this Sea Salt!