Wine

Château Bouscassé: Wine Worthy of a Lover’s Last Night

by liz · May 28, 2012

Matching the right wine with specific foods/dinners can dramatically enhance both the food and the wine, as well as the dining experience. And sometimes your dinner company too.

To accomplish this, the wine needs some acid, good balance and something interesting to offer for pairing — like a pleasing mix of spice, fruit aromas or bold flavors that don’t overpower other elements. And please, no extra oak or residual sugar designed to trick your palate into liking it. (Which is more than I can say for some of the company I’ve kept.)

This French wine, 2008 Château Bouscassé, Les Jardins de Bouscassé, Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh Sec, was the most local thing on the menu. Literally. Our waiter said it was the wine made closest to the town of Eugénie-les-Bains, the town where famed chef Michel Guerard cooks works of art and improves your figure at his restaurant/spa hotel Les Prés d’Eugénie.

The beautifully balanced wine was 80% Petite Courbou and 20% Petit Manseng, two grapes indigenous to southwest France, and it paired very well with all courses in this meal and the elegant restaurant itself. Beguiling and lovely in its acidity and floral-ness, understated with the promise of more to come, this wine from this small corner of the world was deserving of much more attention than it ever receives (much like this relationship with the Baker).

It was perfect. We drank in its beauty, trying to hold the brightness inside ourselves. And we ate gloriously for this one last night, temporarily averting a creeping sadness and slowly devolving palate for each other.

Santé!

Rioja Crianza: Tempranillo Everyone Should Drink

by liz · Nov 9, 2011

Rioja Spain is a red wine heaven full of Tempranillo. This lovely, russet-colored, medium-bodied varietal excels in all renditions here in its homeland of Spain’s oldest wine region.

The Spanish have a foolproof way of guaranteeing what the drinker will get in the glass…at least as far as time in the barrel and time in the bottle. Something the Spanish seem to have more of than its New World Counterparts: time.

The only wine released early here is vino joven, or young wine, which is the daily drinking wine at the tapas bars and at most dinner tables. This wine has only been through basic fermentation, then barreled or bottled for immediate drinking to local restaurants, bars and their own front-of-the-house shops, so locals can fill their own bottles bound for home.

The next youngest red wine is Crianza, which must be aged for 2 years, with at least 6 months in oak. This is the basic level of wine in Rioja, and has spent more time in the barrel and bottle more than many California wines ever do. If you love Tempranillo, this is a wine to try.

Reservas and Gran Reservas have spent even more time in barrel and bottle, but the Crianza has a special place in my heart (along with all the jamón ibérico). It has smoothness, hints of cherry and herb, with a fresh roundness to the palate and an elegance of acid and earth.

In Spain, it’s accessible everywhere at great prices and goes with everything you’re gonna eat. Rioja Crianza: what more can a girl want?

Txakolina: Basque Wine with the World’s Best Grilled Food

by liz · Jun 20, 2011

On my recent trip to Spain, I got to eat at the world famous Asador Etxebarri (Anthony Bourdain’s best meal of his life – and mine now too) in the middle of Basque country in Spain. Home of the world’s Grill Master Victor Arguinzoniz, he’s known for cooking with fire over coals and wood, and pairing different foods with the correct type of coal or wood that suits it best. He even makes his own coal.

And the 7-course tasting menu was indeed out of this world!

But one more thing that impressed me was the very accessible wine list. The prices were really reasonable (less than some of the food!), making it easy to order a bottle – not a glass – of local white to go with the many varied seafood dishes and a bottle of Rioja red (made mostly from the Tempranillo grape) to go with the meatier ones. Since lunch would be a 4-hour affair, we had time to take the wine all in.

The white we ordered was a local grape called Txakolina shown above, from Itsas Mendi which means “sea and mountain” in Basque. The Basque make Txakolina in flat and sparkling varieties, and drink it with everyday meals in their homes. This flat Txakolina was lively, a bit lemony and briny. It’s made from a local grape called Hondarrabi Zuri, grown and bottled overlooking the bay near Bilbao. A bit wild and windy, perfect for the Grill Master’s typical meals and seafood dishes.

For the meat dishes, we chose an affordable Rioja 2007 Crianza from Fernández de Piérola. La Rioja is just an hour’s drive or so from here, and remains the locals’ wine of choice for nicer bottles with dinner. What I love about Rioja wine is how the laws about grape quality and specific requirements for time in barrel and in bottle assure the drinker of how the wine will taste. I love the youthfulness of Crianza over Riserva and Gran Riserva for pairing with various meat dishes – it’s a pretty versatile wine. This wine was elegant in the background of the food’s main stage, complementing without being too brash.

Wines were perfect and food was plentiful in our day of eating at Etxebarri. Now all we had left to do was nap.

Sometimes You Need a Bomb – Buoni Anni Sangiovese

by liz · Dec 1, 2009

Chianti and Italian food: is there a better combination in the world? Ok, maybe champagne and oysters…or perhaps foie gras and Sauternes, but I digress. Sangiovese has a covert power; it can stand up to the biggest of dishes and also display complex and even pretty flavor combinations. It can almost seem elegant, sitting quietly in a corner – until provoked to attack with bold strokes and a long finish.

This 2006 Buoni Anni Sangiovese from Cent’Anni vineyards in Happy Canyon near Santa Ynez Valley doesn’t disappoint. It has notes of dried rhubarb and toasted tree branch, a lighter body which is slightly rounded in the mouth, and a finish long enough to satisfy La Cosa Nostra. It packs a punch.

I’m all for wines sanctioned by the A-FWE, and I’ll admit this wine’s got pretty big amounts of fruit and wood, high alcohol and earthy tones, but it’s also balanced. And it’s heavy. Heavy enough to muscle in among bites of bistecca fiorentina, braised meat dishes or even pizza. Elegant until provoked. Then, it’s strong enough to obliterate from your memory anything you no longer wish to keep there. A good friend to have.

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé – Joseph Drouhin

by liz · Nov 20, 2009

Beaujolais Nouveau - Joseph Drouhin — Beaujolais Nouveau – Joseph Drouhin

Fall is not the time for a new beginning, but I desperately needed one. The last few months were all about endings: the Hollywood Bowl season was over, my latest relationship crashed and burned as well as daylight savings time (signifying the real end of summer in LA). No more outdoor symphony, no more romance, no more light.

So when the third Thursday of November rolled around, I headed over to Silverlake Wine to taste the 2009 Beaujolais Nouveau. After having aged just 6-8 weeks in the barrel, this 100% gamay wine is released from Beaujolais, France on this specific day each year. It’s meant to be drunk now, fresh from the vine to the barrel to you, the way French peasants have been drinking it for generations.

The tasting went from lightest (pleasing, but not enough body for a new beginning), to fruity (too aspirational) to earthy (grounded, yet fresh and interesting). This Joseph Drouhin (who’s mostly a producer of Burgundy, my favorite!) Beaujolais was perfect. Just in time for harvest feasts, new friends, new beginnings.

I see a light, at the end of the bottle.

Walking the Swiss Wine Trail

by liz · Aug 22, 2008

Imagine yourself high in the Alps, overlooking the clear blue waters of Lake Geneva. There are acres of terraced vineyards all around you following a wide path that cuts across the vineyards, winding through medieval villages and Swiss country cottages. Welcome to the Lavaux Vineyard Trail in the Riviera of Switzerland, just 30 minutes northeast of Geneva, and directly across the lake from Evian, France. This is some of the most beautiful and austere scenery in the world, a perfect place for some walking, hiking and wine tasting.

The wine trail begins at the waterfront Olympic Museum in French-speaking Lausanne, and meanders across the steep alpine hillside along Lake Geneva (Lac Léman in French) to Chateau Chillon 20 miles later. There are some steep climbs and downhill sections, but most of the trek is easy strolling. The entire trail lays out breathtaking panoramic views of the country; this really is the best way to see the Swiss Alps. You can take a boat or a train to a jumping off point like Lutry, Cully or Rivaz. There are several more trains – the Lavaux Express & the Lavaux Panoramic – which allow you to jump on and off. A map from the Tourist Office and a snack for longer hikes, both available at larger train stations, are all you need to be ready to go. Here’s another great guide to the area. All you need to do is pick a section, get there and follow the yellow arrows!

The wine cellars, called les caveaux, don’t open until 4 or 5 p.m., so you want to plan your train ride/walk to end in a larger wine-making town around that time. Other caveaux will open upon request earlier in the day and allow you to sample wines, provided that you can find someone to ask – or you can always book ahead via email or phone. Make sure you have practiced your winning smile and a little French (Bonjour Madame will do nicely) before approaching the Swiss for special requests. It’s best to plan your walk in 3-4 hour sections, with a break at the end of each section to stop for rest and refreshment. You can do two sections in a day making it a full day in the vineyards, or just one section leaving time for taking a boat ride or browsing in the local villages before your walk.

Section 1: Cully, Epesses and Riex
Begin in the lakeside village of Cully, which is a small hamlet on the water’s edge. This is a charming place to begin your walk, and it’s the largest town in this section making it a great place to have breakfast or buy sandwiches for the day. The wine trail begins in the town center, just follow the signs uphill toward Epesses. The trail cuts directly through the vineyards and you will find yourself surrounded by grapes as far as you can see up towards the crest of the Swiss Alps and all the way down to the water. The trail has been made from the old workers’ routes through the vineyards, so you will see plenty of workers in the fields as you walk. Most will be happy to stop and answer any questions you may have. Be sure you take your time as you walk to take in the surrounding beauty. The air in Switzerland is very clean and clear and the idyllic country landscape is simple and magnificent at the same time. From up here it feels like you’re inside an enormous painting.

Once you reach Epesses, you will find many caveaux des vignerons in the narrow cobblestone streets, as well as small hotels and restaurants. You can also fill your water bottle from the water fountain in the center of town, and find many picturesque spots to take photos. Take some time to read the signs and locate the wineries in town, which only spans about a mile. If it is not yet 4 p.m., try knocking on the wineries’ doors and asking politely for information about their wines. On the far side of town is a small park, perched on a high terrace with trees, picnic benches, fountains and flowering plants. Above, you can see a medieval tower; it is the perfect place to end your walk.

To return to Cully, walk back the way you came, or walk along the motorway toward Riex, a small picturesque village with one cellar for tasting. Then, continue down the path to return to Cully, a short distance away.

Section 2: Chexbres, Rivaz and St. Saphorin
To get to Chexbres, take the wine train from Vevey to save yourself the steep climb. Chexbres is a delightful village that has one of the best spots perched high above the lake, and is often called the balcony of Lake Geneva. One of the most ancient buildings in this little town is the Crousaz Castle, creating a stunning backdrop, and the church’s spire can be seen rising above the town’s rooftops. One wine cellar is housed in a building dating from the 18th century, the Maison Wittenbach. Many wine cellars and country cottages line the path you will follow toward Rivaz and St. Saphorin. The wine path leads out of town and down the hillside, a wonderful stroll, until you must choose between Rivaz and St. Saphorin. You can choose one to visit, or if you have time, you can walk another trail between the towns to visit both.

Rivaz is the smallest town in this area of Switzerland, and 75% is covered with grape vines. The wine cellars here are probably the most traditional and typical of the Swiss, making it a great place to end the day and sample the wines. There is only one wine cellar and one café, both have astounding views of the lake and are easy to find.

St. Saphorin looks like a mini medieval village. It is only slightly bigger than Rivaz, and cars are not allowed on most of its cobblestone streets. It has a charming gothic church as its centerpiece, and is the home of Jean Villard Gilles, a celebrated songwriter and poet. The wine cellar here is very traditional, and has been modernized into a large open room. The wines of St. Saphorin are considered some of the best whites Switzerland has to offer. This is also a wonderful place to stop for wine tasting. You can walk back to Cully, or catch the train from either St. Saphorin or Rivaz.

This gives you just a taste of the hiking trails and wines the French speaking part of Switzerland has to offer. There are many other sections to consider in Lavaux such as Lutry, Grandvaux, Villette, Chardonne, and Vevey. There are also other superb wine producing regions in the cantons of Vaud, Genève, and Valais. The natural beauty of the area, the Swiss traditions of grape growing and wine making, and the exhilaration from being high above the world in the alpine air combine to make this amazing trip one that you will never forget.

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