Trust Me

posted by Dan in Wine, Guest Bloggers

In my last post I wrote about getting to Napa and Sonoma and getting through a day of wine tasting. Today I want to talk about trusting the man or woman holding the bottle. Please note that I have promised myself not to rant in any one place about any one wine thing. Wine culture in America has going through such a transformation these past few years, that us winos should all stand up and applaud – well, not like a State of the Union, every four or five sentences applause; maybe just sit back, kick the chair on its heels and smile, one big, mouth guzzling grin. That sounds about right. However. What happened this past Friday night saddens me. And I get this bile ridden, guttural feeling that it happens – a lot. I went to a cultishly popular wine store in Napa Valley for an Italian wine tasting. It is rare that we California wine country types drink anything but California wines, so this was a treat. I adore Italian wines, more than, well, maybe, my dog. And since she can’t read and is not Italian, but Belgium, I know I am probably pretty safe with that hypothetical comparison.

I mentally committed myself to the event weeks in advance. I even tried to get an insider’s sneak peak at the lineup, but the proprietor is very particular about what wines will be poured and tastes through everything, not for marketing and sales purposes but for the best mix of what presents the epitome of such and such sector of wine in the world. Days before when the store website posted it would be a Tuscan and Piemontese tasting, my palate was going pazzo (crazy) with anticipation. I drove in on the early side to secure a good spot, nodded vigorously my anticipation and eagerness to begin the begin. My excitement settled itself with the first sip of Sangiovese. The remainder of the tasting took some rolling hill turns up North Eastern Tuscany and down Southern style, before jetting back north to Alba and Barbaresco. It was pleasant as punch. I was satisfied and ready to head out to dinner. But before I did, I saddled up to the tasting bar and caught the eye of the Distributor who was on hand to help shepherd the wines. If not an Italian by blood, he was an Italian by hand gestures and lack of modesty. Our eye contact did what Italians do best, speak without talking. He knew I meant business and he reached under the bar and pulled out some “under the table wines” to try. The night just got more interesting. These wines were higher price points (from ~ $20 to $40 during the tasting to ~ $40 to $80/bottle). I can’t really remember how many there were, but it was at least four, maybe five wines, some from the same producers and these were their “Riserva” wines. I swirled, sniffed and sipped with appreciation. And on the final wine, I Sodi di San Niccolo vintage 2000 from Castellare in Chianti I was floored.

When tasting or dining out, I tend not to mention I am in the business unless the event or the occasion calls for it. This night I was a consumer, albeit an educated one, and I wanted to let the wines speak for themselves. And when the occasion calls for it, I want the person pouring the wines to show their enthusiasm for the wine and their passion for the business that gets me excited to experience it with them - that beyond all the negative connotations that wine culture has endured is what is going to keep elevating wine drinking in this country. After a flurry of superlatives slipped from my mouth about the wine, I mentioned that the wine really stands up to the Brett-iness on the nose. [For a simple summary of Brett and its causes, check out the “Wine Tasting Articles” link here.] Upon those words of mine, you would have thought I massacred a small village of rabbits for fun and profit. The Distributor immediately got defensive and started spouting out that these aromas (which he did not describe) were the classic aromas of Malvasia Nera (of which the wine in question was cut with 15%). Hmm. Immediately we think of sweet and delicious Malvasia, could its sibling be so dirty and demonic? Yes. Every ounce of Malvasia Nera in the world, I was told, has the same characteristic, and every vintage of this wine has the same characteristic even at such low percentages in the blend. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to trust him. Even without exposure to this grape, I couldn’t believe him. I couldn’t trust him. Everyone knows when someone is pulling a sack of Bretty horse manure over thine eyes. I smiled, I smelled, I bought a bottle to examine in the comforts of my own sanitary stall I call my cottage in the country. I have yet to open the wine, and spent the larger part of the next afternoon, fingering pages of all my wine books, doing countless web searches on the wine and reading vintage notes in Italian and English and trying to find out more about Malvasia Nera, none of the information I reviewed mentioned anything about faulty (but sometimes fabulous) aromas associated with Malvasia Nera. So, I just sent off an e-mail to the wine shop owner to see if he can secure me a vertical of the wine. Trust me, I’ll keep you posted.

Dan Petroski is Assistant Winemaker at Larkmead Vineyards in Napa Valley. Dan has an MBA from New York University and worked as an Ad Exec in New York for several years, before switching it up and trading his suit for a move out west.

(No) Power Tasting

posted by Dan in Wine, Guest Bloggers

I received an e-mail from my sister last week asking me for some wine country recommendations – restaurants and winery tasting rooms – that she can share with a friend visiting San Francisco this holiday weekend. Since leaving New York City in June 2005 to pursue a career in wine, I have received similar electronic queries and the occasional, desperate phone call or text message (always at New York City dining hours) from friends who are eating out and looking to order a decent wine from a lexicon of a wine list. I always feel a bit chuffed being considered the quote unquote wine expert but that moment of pride is a bit fleeting because it is always followed with the feeling of walking to a bookstore with a dozen titles on the tip of the tongue that I am supposed to read (i.e. buy for my bookshelf and never actually read) and once I cross the threshold of the store, I draw a blank like the pages of a brand new Moleskin (notebook of choice). It is at these moments that I promise myself that I will draft a document to cut and paste in reply. To this day, I have not done that and I feel terrible about it. So, I have decided to begin here with two suggestions that need to be considered when planning a trip to Napa or Sonoma.

1. Driving Distance. Contrary to popular belief, Napa and Sonoma don’t reside “just outside” the confines of San Francisco. No real mass transit options are available to tour Napa or Sonoma. Limo rentals from SF are reserved for those who could afford to buy $100 bottles of Napa Cabernet by the caseload, and bus tours from the City are usually reserved for the crowd that were on last month’s round-trip to Atlantic City.

On a good day, your rental car will get you up to Sonoma (city) in about an hour. But true Sonoma wine country tasting would have you starting about a half hour north of that in Healdsburg or Dry Creek and making your winding way back down to the Golden Gate. Top-notch Sonoma (Russian River Valley) wineries are spread out just a few miles west of Highway 101, the County’s main artery. A map is necessary and I recommend the “Quick Access Laminated Map and Guide of Napa-Sonoma Wine Country” available on Amazon or the wine store at the Ferry Market (Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant) in SF for about seven bucks.

Napa, however, is a different experience whatsoever. It will take you about 1.5 hours by car to get to Napa (city), but the real wine tasting begins when you pass the city and head up Highway 29 (or Silverado Trail) for what should be deemed adult Disneyland – 26 miles long and a mile wide, two roads in and out, plump clusters on vines contained by two mountain ranges and (some of) California’s best expression of grape juice. Driving up 29 is like walking the aisles of your wine store. All the wineries behind the shelf talkers unfold in front of you. However, be prepared to spend thirty minutes driving 29 and crawling towards St. Helena on a Saturday afternoon.

2. Power Tasting. Sadly, for those visiting, wine tasting tends to be too much like my golf game – out there taking as many swings at the ball to get my money’s worth. But winery hopping, like bar hopping on Amsterdam Avenue is not recommended. And with many wineries being “appointment only” these days you don’t want to be stuck behind a wall of tasters sticking your arm over another’s shoulder to get a glass of that “oh, so delicious twenty dollar Chardonnay.” You didn’t come all this way to shop at Costco. Do your research because you want your trip to pay the huge dividends that are achieved when you return home to impress your friends with your “in the know” knowledge and first hand experience tasting at the source.

End Note: Congrats to the guys and gals at Snooth for accomplishing as much as they have in the few short Beta months they have been in existence. And I am sure they have better things on their to-do lists to keep this site up and running than this idea – but maybe we can get collective power behind suggesting a communal section on the site that lets users post their favorite wine country tasting room experience(s) for the would be wine country traveler. [Just typing out loud. Keep up the good work guys.]

Dan Petroski is Assistant Winemaker at Larkmead Vineyards in Napa Valley. Dan has an MBA from New York University and worked as an Ad Exec in New York for several years, before switching it up and trading his suit for a move out west.