And the Winner is! - Group Syrah Tasting Results

Saturday night a group of 20 people gathered in Weston, CT for a blind tasting comparison of Syrah, Shiraz, and Petite Sirah from around the world. There were 7 wines in the tasting line-up. There was a brief discussion that Syrah and Shiraz are the same grape. Aussies just prefer their made up name Shiraz. Petite Sirah is an entirely different grape--the Durif grape originating from France.

The wines were brown bagged and numbered 1-7. Each person had a sheet listing the name and vintage of each wine along with a brief description and price. Prices ranged from $11.99 to $46.99.

During the tasting period there were some smiles of delight and a few grimaces of displeasure. After everyone had an opportunity to taste the wines, we asked each person which two wines were their favorite and why. Wine #1 and Wine #7 were the winners with Wine #6 and Wine #5 falling closely behind. The brown bags were removed to reveal the winners. To the dismay of many, the top two wines happened to be the least expensive and the most expensive--2007 Cupcake Petite Sirah, California and 2005 Mitolo Reiver Shiraz, Australia.

The group recognized and commented on unique regional differences between the wines. California Syrah was dense with firm tannins, French Syrah was earthy, gamey, and herbally with high acidity, and Australian Shiraz was jammy, mouth-filling and chocolaty. All of the wines had a spicy characteristic typical of Syrah. The grape that seemed to shine was the Petite Syrah. Both wines made from this grape were fresh and charming with sumptuous aromas and flavors.

Below was the tasting lineup in the order tasted with a few participant comments quoted. If you would like to arrange a group tasting, contact Monica at tasting@anconaswines.com.

1. 2007 Cupcake Petite Sirah, Central Coast California, $11.99 (2 for $20) - "Flavorful", "fruity yet spicy with depth", "easy drinking", "delicious", "soft and rich with style", "lovely red berry fruit and pepper with a long finish".

2. 2008 Yves Cuilleron Syrah VdP, $19.99 - "Light and fresh", "fruity and floral", "Beaujolais-like", "clean and pure red berry fruits", "young with high acidity", "easy wine for the non-red drinkers".

3. 2007 R Wines Boarding Pass, South Australia $14.99 - "Easy drinking", "pleasant aromas", "sweet and supple fruit", "not too complex".

4. 2003 Ken Brown Bien Nacido Vineyard Syrah, Santa Maria Valley $37.99 - "Dry", "dark fruit", "firm tannins", "leathery", "needs more aging time", "big wine that drys my mouth", "hard to drink now".

5. 2006 Tardieu-Laurent Crozes-Hermitage Vielles Vignes $34.99 - "Elegant", "earthy", "smoky and meaty", "French-tasting", "nice blackberry fruits", "licoricey", "high acidity", "too barnyardy", "lots of terroir".

6. 2006 Girard Petite Sirah, Napa Valley $29.99 - "Well-balanced", "blueberry pie", "very enjoyable wine", "gorgeous", "fragrant", "delicious", "soft tannins", "a bit of earthiness", "a little mocha with the fruit".

7. 2005 Mitolo Reiver Shiraz $46.99 - "Luscious", "soft and concentrated", "licorice and chocolate flavors", "rich and full-bodied", "ripe fruit with supple tannins", "plum and blueberry fruit", "smooth--goes down easy".

Chianti at its Best!

The modern recipe for Chianti Classico was created by Barone Bettino Ricasoli in the middle of the 19th century. It consisted of two red grapes--70% Sangiovese, 15% Canaiolo-- and one white grape--15% Malvasia. Barone Ricasoli was not only Prime Minister of Italy, but also an entrepreneur and researcher dedicated to farmland and vineyards. Today the Chianti forumula includes 80% Sangiovese and 20% of other grapes. Malvasia is only used when the wine is not meant to be aged.

The thought of Chianti may drum up pictures of a squat little bottle in a straw basket called a fiasco ("flask") which was rather basic table wine. However, today due to proper planting of Sangiovese on hillsides of limestone coupled with later harvesting and yield reduction, world-reknown Chianti is being produced that is both elegant and robust.

The Castello di Brolio Chianti Classico 2006 from the Ricasoli estate is a world-class wine that is Wine Spectator's #5 wine for 2009. The grapes came from the Brolio vineyard in the commune of Gaiole within Chianti. The vineyards are 1200 ft above sea level on south/southwest facing slopes of calcerous rock. The 2006 long, warm, and dry growing season was one of the best of the decade allowing the grapes to reach perfect ripeness. All of these factors are expressed in the Catello di Brolio with stunning aromatics of cherry, blackberry, and dried fruit along with mocha and spice. The tannins are fine, the acidity in balance, and the finish long. It is a complex wine with great style worthy of aging up to 20 years.

Once you taste the Castello di Brolio you will most certainly shed the Chianti image of the straw basket wine of old. A little Pavarotti in the background, a plate of Bistecca Fiorentina, and a glass of Chianti from Barone Ricasoli will produce images of Tuscan hillsides dotted with vineyards being tended by a caring Italian farmer.

Salute!

Dessert Wine for the Sweet Tooth

First you enjoy a glass of sparkling wine with appetizers, then you have a glass of white and/or red wine with your entree and finally your palate desires something sweet. Dessert wine is a perfect ending to a meal. It is so luscious that it is dessert in itself.

Dessert wines vary from light, grapey versions to intense liqueur wines. The grapes used vary depending on the region/country where it is produced. Semillon is the primary grape used in the dessert wines of Sauternes and Barsac, two regions in Bordeaux, France producing exquisite dessert wine. Chateau d'Yquem is the most famous and the most expensive Sauternes.

Australia is also a fine producer of Semillon stickies", the Australian word used for dessert wines. Semillon has been planted in Australia for two hundred years and up until the 1960's Aussies produced mostly sweet and fortified wine. The method of producing these luscious dessert wines is the same method as that used in Sauternes.

To produce a dessert wine the winemaker stops the fermentation before all of the grape sugar is converted to alcohol leaving some residual sugar. This results in a wine that is sweet and low in alcohol, unless the grapes have a naturally high sugar level to produce both sweetness and alcohol. This is what makes the difference between dessert wines.

How does a grape gain natural high levels of sugar? Like any fruit, grapes that remain on the vine longer will become riper. But if you wait too long and the weather becomes cold and rainy, the grapes will get moldy and be ruined. However there is a particular kind of mold called Botrytis cinerea (aka "noble rot") that when it forms on the grapes the water within them evaporates and they shrivel. The grapes raisinate and their sugar becomes concentrated while maintaining high acidity. This allows the wine to be sweet and have high alcohol (usually over 15%).

Surely the first dessert wines were by accident. The vineyard owner probably thought the wine was completely ruined by this mold, but decided to produce the wine anyway. Today viticulturists know that to get the right kind of mold (the wrong kind is called Grey/Black rot) there needs to be specific conditions--morning mist from a lake, sea, or river that burns off during the day by dry, hot sun. This allows the grapes to remain on the vine longer for a late harvest.

Why are dessert wines so expensive? The grapes have to be picked by hand and they have to go through the vineyard several times over the course of a few weeks. The yield (# of grapes) is about 1/3-1/2 of vineyards producing dry wine and the shrivelled grapes have a less amount of juice. One vine may produce only 1 glass of wine.

Other grapes and regions that develop "noble rot" and produce exquisite dessert wines are Chenin Blanc from Quart de Chaume in the Loire Valley of France, Riesling from Germany producing Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese, Furmint from Hungary producing the famous Tokaji Aszu, and Muscat grown throughout the world which is made in a natural sweet style low in alcohol or one that is fortified with grape spirit to create a wine higher in alcohol.

The common flavors in dessert wine produced from "noble rot" such as Sauternes or Tokaji is apricot, honey, and peach. The best can age for a 100 years and their color turns from a golden yellow to a golden brown. Usually it is best to have a dessert wine as dessert. But if you are serving it with a dessert, be sure the dessert is not sweeter than the dessert wine.

Here are some wonderful examples of dessert wines from around the world:

Chateau Guiraud Sauternes 2005

97 Points - Wine Spectator

"Delivers lots of botrytis spice, with lemon tart and cooked apple. Full-bodied, with loads of cream and vanilla and an intense tropical fruit and honey aftertaste. Long and viscous, with a layered and beautiful spicy finish. Hard not to drink it now. Best after 2014."-(WS)

Disznoko Tokaji 5 Puttonyos 2000

92 Points - Wine Spectator

"Very clean, fresh and fruity, showing orange blossom, peach and butter notes in a rich, medium-sweet style. It's well-balanced and supported by moderate acidity, followed by a lingering aftertaste of peach."~(WS)

Weingut Gunderloch Nackenheim Rothenberg Riesling Auslese 2005

"The flavour of this fine wine is due to its location, the steepest terrace of our red slope. Great complexity, distinctive flavour, reminding of tropical fruits, in connection with sweetness, acidity and a fine minerality. We recommend this wine with salty cheeses, blue cheese and light sweet desserts." (Winemaker)

Step Road Reserve Selection Semillon 2002

91 Points - Robert Parker, Wine Advocate

"Readers looking for a Barsac look-alike should check out the 2002 Semillon Reserve Selection from Australia, a sweet, botrytized cuvee made from 100% Semillon. Gorgeous aromas of honeysuckle, creme brulee, apricot jam, and pineapple soar from the glass. In the mouth, fresh acidity buttresses the wine’s rich, unctuous style. " ~(WA)

90 Points - Stephen Tanzer's I.W.C.

"Orange-tinged gold. Explosive aromas of orange, apricot, candied peach and floral honey, with a light touch of coconut. Dense, weighty and palate-staining, the ripe apricot and cling peach flavors displaying excellent focus and power. Finishes supple and rich, coating the palate with a flavor of orange marmalade." ~(ST)

Wine and Food Buddies

Wine and food typically like to hang-out together either casually with pizza at the kitchen table or formally with a rack of lamb in the dining room. There are some matches made in heaven and others that will never have a love affair no matter how hard they try. Wine and food have personalities that either bond harmoniously or are completely off-key.

The goal is that neither the food nor the wine should overpower the other. Here are a few quick rules for finding wine and food buddies:

Rule #1: Balance the body of the wine with the body/richness of the food. A full bodied wine (think Barolo or Bordeaux) is mouth-filling and rich which would overwhelm a delicate fish and a light bodied wine (think Pinot Grigio) would not make a good couple with rich venison. The more extreme the body, the less food-versatile the wine will be. Example of body: Light=skim milk, medium=whole milk, full=heavy cream.

Rule #2: Acidity in the wine or food needs to be considered. Everyone has experienced brushing their teeth with minty tooth paste and then drinking orange juice. The taste is terrible! Likewise, eating foods that have a lot of acidity such as tomato sauces or lemony sauces are not matches for high tannin, oaky wines. The clash is unpleasant. Rather, think Chianti with tomatoes and Chablis or Sauvignon Blanc with lemon.

Rule #3: Match or contrast flavors/spices. We are surrounded by food affinities: peanut butter and jelly, French fries and ketchup, chocolate chip cookies and milk, oil and vinegar, etc. A simple sautéed chicken breast will pair fine with a light white wine such as a Sauvignon Blanc, but when you add a port cherry sauce, a Pinot Noir with bright red berry flavors would be complimentary. A spicy Thai dish may call out for a wine with a little sweetness such as a Riesling. Barbecue ribs are smoky, spicy, and sweet. They will feel comfortable with a light tannin, juicy red wine such as an Australian Shiraz or Spanish Garnacha.

Rule #4: Tannins are friends or foes. Tannins are not a taste, rather a tactile sensation that exudes bitterness. Tannins and color comes from the skins of the grape. When you bite into a grape the inside is juicy and clear, but the skins are often chalky and leave a dry sensation in your mouth. That is what tannins do with wine. Wine with a lot of tannins coats the mouth and often blocks the fruit. Pinot Noir grapes have thin skins and thus have less tannin levels than Cabernet Sauvignon with thick skins. Other foods that have tannins are tea and walnuts. Just like milk (fat) in tea is complimentary, a strongly tannic wine is well-matched to very fatty foods such as steak. The tannins help break down the fat. On the other hand, a high tannin wine will clash with briny or fishy tastes and other bitter tastes like funky cheese. It will give a metallic taste. Salty foods also clash with tannins.

Rule #5: Match the fruit. Each type of wine has fruit flavors ranging from a tart/tangy green apple or cranberry to a soft juicy melon or plum. Some fruit is tropical such as mango and others are dried such as fig. The element of fruit improves a food pairing. When you make or order a dish, think of what fruit you would put with that dish. If you have a light white fish, you may not want a blackberry, but rather an apple or lemon. A rack of lamb might not taste as good with a pear or a peach, but would taste excellent with blackberries or figs.

Rule #6: When in doubt, match country of food. Italian food goes well with Italian wine. Spanish food pairs with wines from Spain. French foods deserve a French wine.

Rule #7: Drink what you like. Often the meal is consumed within 15 minutes and you are stuck drinking the rest of the bottle on its own.

Here are some top food-friendly wines to drink any night of the week:

Trimbach Riesling 2007 - Asian dishes or Alsatian Onion Tart
Wilhelm Walch Prendo Pinot Grigio 2008 - Seafood Pasta
Domaine Cheavau Macon-Chaintre 'Les Clos' 2008 - Pork or Chicken with Cream Sauce
Perrin & Fils Cotes du Rhone-Villages 2007 - Duck Cassoulet
75 Wine Company The Sum Red Blend - Beef Short Ribs
LAN Reseva Rioja 2004 - Lamb Stew