Showing posts with label aged wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aged wine. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Transformers
I remember vividly the trip to our local toy store, "Toys Unlimited", to buy Optimus Prime. I was five years old with two fingers jammed into my suck hole. Mom- never above bribery when desperate- decided to cut a deal. I was way too old to still be sucking my fingers (far superior to the thumb, by the way), and the gorgeous, unscathed, fearless leader of the noble Autobots was the bargaining chip.
But the transaction couldn't have been that simple. Mom understood the effectiveness of tangibility when it came to malleable youth, so she bought the toy on the front end. Then, seeing that pristine, tantalizing, Transformers-emblazoned package daily (out of my clutches atop a tall dresser), I was charged with not sucking my fingers for TWO WEEKS. Upon completion of this impossible task, the bounty would at last be mine.
That two weeks must've lasted ten years. But the will of an Optimus Prime-desperate child is strong, and I outlasted Mother and her Herculean trials. I shall take to my grave any infidelity during the probationary period.
The point is that some things are worth the wait. Wine is a particularly good example. High-quality Cabernet Sauvignon is an even better example. And Napa's Quixote Winery makes a product that not only fits the bill, but- serendipitously- was recently in my possession. Sucking your fingers in anticipation yet? Me neither!
Situated in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, Quixote- quite simply put- is a silly place. From the Dr. Seuss architecture to the screw caps placed on $60 bottle of wine (which is fine), these folks do a pretty good job at turning the ubiquitous Napa tasting room on its ear.From a production standpoint, Quixote basically bottles four wines: a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Petite Sirah each for the "Panza" and "Quixote" labels. Made of 100% organically-farmed, estate-grown fruit, those wines- unlike the atmosphere from whence they came- are anything but silly.
A buddy and I had purchased a few bottles there a couple years ago, and being the booze-swilling derelicts that we are, it seemed only fitting that we knock back a few on a Friday night. Among those bottles in our eventual boneyard were the 2003 Panza Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2003 Quixote Cabernet Sauvignon. Both wines sourced fruit from the same vineyards. Each featured primarily Cabernet with a little Merlot mixed in. Yet, while the Panza featured a great nose of all those wonderful Cab idiosyncrasies- [insert all the Cab aromas you read about everywhere, and tell me where to buy some damn black currants, please]- in full force, the Quixote (which was $20 more, mind you) had a tighter nose. It also had a lot more "fuzz", or tannic structure, in the mouth. The Panza- conversely- was as smooth as my baby daughter's bottom after an assault with the powder bottle.
In short, the Panza was a tastier, better-drinking wine when compared head-to-head with it's bigger brother.
The takeaway here- one that can often elude the hasty drinker such as myself- is that the Quixote was MEANT to not show as well as the Panza...for now. Upon gleaning some info from current winemaker Matt Reid, I discovered that the 2003 Quixote was made with 95% Cabernet Sauvignon and 5% Merlot. The '03 Panza, however, consists of 76% Cabernet, 14% Merlot, 7% Mourvèdre, and 3% Syrah (since both contain 75%+ Cab, they can legally be labeled "Cabernet Sauvignon" in the States). The great presence of Merlot and those Rhône varieties softened the Panza, offered less tannin structure, and made for a wine that is "something to enjoy while waiting for the Quixote to mature," according to Reid.
But why pay more for something that you can't have now? All I can say is: try some Cab with age on it. A good one...fine Bordeaux, high-end Napa Cab, something from Washington State. Not all wines are meant to age for 10, 15, 20+ years (few are, in fact). But a good Cab from a good vintage can. Seek one out. Beg, borrow, or steal. Because a well-aged Cab is like the Optimus Prime of wines. It's a transformer. It becomes something completely different over time. And that something is definitely worth the wait...every painful second of it.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Well Aged.
I've heard it said that a finely-aged wine is like Sophia Loren: rare, classic beauty that only improves as time passes (within reason...she's not really doing it for me at this point). The comparison is heightened by the existence of massive, extracted, fruit-monsters that are so popular. They can definitely be bombshells in their youth, but all the airbrushing, makeup, and silicone (that is to say, abuse of mega purple, excessive fining, micro-oxygenation, etc.) usually ends badly. And while I don't intend to poke fun at Anna Nicole Smith's tragic story, there's no denying she went from sex pot to train wreck faster than you can say "Aussie Shiraz".
To be fair to the ladies (since I don't know a single one who appreciates the virtues of a youthful Anna Nicole), think of it this way: I don't suspect we'll ever see milk-drinking stallion Zac Efron peddling aftershave when he's knocking on death's door. I bet Zac Efron needs some fancy cologne to tell him he's a man. But not Jack Palance. RIP, you handsome bastard. Confidence, indeed, was very sexy. Even if my wife gags when I splash on the Skin Bracer. Guess I need to tack on about 40 years and try again.
Enter Ridge Vineyards. A stalwart in the wine world. One of the two names (along with Seghesio) that put dry red Zinfandel wines on the map. As it turns out, they have some vineyards at Lytton Springs in Healdsburg, CA. I happened to be out there and managed to weasel my way into a vertical tasting of several vintages from Lytton Springs, along with a few from Monte Bello (south of the Bay Area). Right place at the right time, I suppose. Or maybe it was the confidence I had from all the Skin Bracer I put on that morning. I'm going with the former.
Courtesy of the dapper Chris Watkins (who totally pull off wearing a sweater and jacket in 105 degree weather), I tucked into the 1987, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2007 Lytton Springs bottlings, along with 3 Monte Bellos from the early 90's ('91, '92, '94).
Sipping on these beauties on the Ridge crushpad, surrounded by formerly twitter handles, facebook profiles, and blog editors (now friends who I have connected with in person...who says social media is impersonal?), I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of enjoying some maturity in the glass.
Like child actors, most wines aren't meant to age...their values are all in their youth. If cellared too long, they become awkward and unmarketable. Why is this? The answer lies in preservatives. Natural preservatives- namely, phenolic compounds and acids (and high alcohol in fortified wines, but that's another story altogether...like Mickey Rooney). Phenolic compounds include anthocyanins, tannins, and non-flavonoids like resveratrol (among other stuff) found in the skins, seeds, and stems of the grapes, and also in oak. Tannins in particular act as natural preservatives, and give many young red wines (especially Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Nebbiolo, and Tannat) that dry, fuzzy feeling in the mouth. They are also quite astringent, so very tannic wines can taste bitter. However, as a wine ages, the tannins bind to form larger molecules and eventually get too heavy, thus precipitating out of the wine. The anthocyanins also bind and precipitate out. Since they're responsible for the red and blue hues in red wines, this is why aged reds tend to lighten in color over time.
Acidity plays a big role in preserving wines, and is the key reason why many cool climate whites (which- unless heavily aged in oak- are usually devoid of much tannin due to very limited skin contact during fermentation) can be aged. Fine German Riesling, in particular, is known for its searing acidity and its chops for cellaring. Some of the great White Burgundies (made from Chardonnay) and crisp Champagnes have also managed to mature nicely.
However, most consumers these days don't want to sit on bottles for 5-10 years before consuming, nor do they have the proper storage to do so. So many producers have found ways to "artificially mature" wines so they are more approachable in youth. Fruit is picked when riper, offering bigger fruit flavors (but as fruit ripens, its acidity drops). Food additives such as mega purple enhance the color and mouthfeel of wines in lieu of extracting these properties with skin contact, resulting in "desirable" attributes without the side-effect of heavy tannic fuzz and astringency. Chemical processes like micro-oxygenation introduce oxygen into fermented wines, helping polymerize tannins (which gives a "softer" mouthfeel, but hastens the life of the suspended tannic compounds).
To be fair to the ladies (since I don't know a single one who appreciates the virtues of a youthful Anna Nicole), think of it this way: I don't suspect we'll ever see milk-drinking stallion Zac Efron peddling aftershave when he's knocking on death's door. I bet Zac Efron needs some fancy cologne to tell him he's a man. But not Jack Palance. RIP, you handsome bastard. Confidence, indeed, was very sexy. Even if my wife gags when I splash on the Skin Bracer. Guess I need to tack on about 40 years and try again.Enter Ridge Vineyards. A stalwart in the wine world. One of the two names (along with Seghesio) that put dry red Zinfandel wines on the map. As it turns out, they have some vineyards at Lytton Springs in Healdsburg, CA. I happened to be out there and managed to weasel my way into a vertical tasting of several vintages from Lytton Springs, along with a few from Monte Bello (south of the Bay Area). Right place at the right time, I suppose. Or maybe it was the confidence I had from all the Skin Bracer I put on that morning. I'm going with the former.
Courtesy of the dapper Chris Watkins (who totally pull off wearing a sweater and jacket in 105 degree weather), I tucked into the 1987, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2007 Lytton Springs bottlings, along with 3 Monte Bellos from the early 90's ('91, '92, '94).
Sipping on these beauties on the Ridge crushpad, surrounded by formerly twitter handles, facebook profiles, and blog editors (now friends who I have connected with in person...who says social media is impersonal?), I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of enjoying some maturity in the glass.
Like child actors, most wines aren't meant to age...their values are all in their youth. If cellared too long, they become awkward and unmarketable. Why is this? The answer lies in preservatives. Natural preservatives- namely, phenolic compounds and acids (and high alcohol in fortified wines, but that's another story altogether...like Mickey Rooney). Phenolic compounds include anthocyanins, tannins, and non-flavonoids like resveratrol (among other stuff) found in the skins, seeds, and stems of the grapes, and also in oak. Tannins in particular act as natural preservatives, and give many young red wines (especially Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Nebbiolo, and Tannat) that dry, fuzzy feeling in the mouth. They are also quite astringent, so very tannic wines can taste bitter. However, as a wine ages, the tannins bind to form larger molecules and eventually get too heavy, thus precipitating out of the wine. The anthocyanins also bind and precipitate out. Since they're responsible for the red and blue hues in red wines, this is why aged reds tend to lighten in color over time.Acidity plays a big role in preserving wines, and is the key reason why many cool climate whites (which- unless heavily aged in oak- are usually devoid of much tannin due to very limited skin contact during fermentation) can be aged. Fine German Riesling, in particular, is known for its searing acidity and its chops for cellaring. Some of the great White Burgundies (made from Chardonnay) and crisp Champagnes have also managed to mature nicely.
However, most consumers these days don't want to sit on bottles for 5-10 years before consuming, nor do they have the proper storage to do so. So many producers have found ways to "artificially mature" wines so they are more approachable in youth. Fruit is picked when riper, offering bigger fruit flavors (but as fruit ripens, its acidity drops). Food additives such as mega purple enhance the color and mouthfeel of wines in lieu of extracting these properties with skin contact, resulting in "desirable" attributes without the side-effect of heavy tannic fuzz and astringency. Chemical processes like micro-oxygenation introduce oxygen into fermented wines, helping polymerize tannins (which gives a "softer" mouthfeel, but hastens the life of the suspended tannic compounds).
I guess what I'm saying is that the bottle of 1997 Yellow Tail Cabernet your folks have been "storing" in the basement isn't going to taste any better than it did the year it was made. In fact, all those processes have crippled the wine's natural preservatives, so it's very likely not been able to fight off the inevitable infitration of oxygen into the bottle through the cork, and you've probably got a bottle of vinegar. And I like my wine vinegar from purposeful Italians, not accidental Australians, thank you very much.
But good age makes you quickly understand why folks pay high prices and exercise tremendous patience. The softer tannic presence creates smooth, velvety wines. The nose reveals totally new flavors that have emerged from continual chemical reactions in the bottle. Even a bit of oxydation can create nutty, caramelly (is that a word?) aromas and tastes. It's a totally unique experience to those who thought they'd really knew wine before (present company included).
I recall really digging the Ridge 1992 and the 1996 Lytton Springs (primarily Zinfandel blends). All the Monte Bellos were awesome (mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cab Franc). I hope you get a chance to try these. Or, grab a recent vintage and let it sit for a while (away from heat and sunlight). Your patience will be rewarded, like a child star getting an adult gig. Meh, I guess Rick Schroder was pretty forgettable on "24". Bad example.
But good age makes you quickly understand why folks pay high prices and exercise tremendous patience. The softer tannic presence creates smooth, velvety wines. The nose reveals totally new flavors that have emerged from continual chemical reactions in the bottle. Even a bit of oxydation can create nutty, caramelly (is that a word?) aromas and tastes. It's a totally unique experience to those who thought they'd really knew wine before (present company included).
I recall really digging the Ridge 1992 and the 1996 Lytton Springs (primarily Zinfandel blends). All the Monte Bellos were awesome (mostly Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cab Franc). I hope you get a chance to try these. Or, grab a recent vintage and let it sit for a while (away from heat and sunlight). Your patience will be rewarded, like a child star getting an adult gig. Meh, I guess Rick Schroder was pretty forgettable on "24". Bad example.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
