The Wine Curmudgeon

Wine of the week: Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône Belleruche 2009

White wines from France's Rhone region aren't particularly well known and, at least in this country, don't get all that much respect. You don't see many of them on store shelves or restaurant wine lists, and you don't see many of them reviewed, for that matter.

Which is a shame, given that white Rhones are usually different and interesting, and that's something the Wine Curmudgeon is always looking for. The Belleruche ($12, purchased), from one of the Rhone's largest producers, has always been one of my favorite wines for just that reason (when I can find it, of course).

This is a previous vintage, and the extra year of bottle age has given the wine, a blend of grenache blanc, clairette and bourboulenc, a little more character. There is lots of white pepper, some oiliness and just a hint of a green fruit, like lime or apple. This is a not a white wine for people who need something fruit forward, like sauvignon blanc or chardonnay, but it's not supposed to be.

And don't worry that you haven't heard of the grapes used to make it -- almost no one who isn't in the wine business has heard of them, either. Which is another reason why the wine is so interesting, and that's three more grapes for your Wine Century Club effort. Chill this and drink it on its own or with something like goat cheese; roast pork with apples would be terrific, too.

Buy tickets for DLW 2012: Colorado

Tickets are on sale for the fourth annual DrinkLocalWine conference, set for April 28 in Denver and focusing on Colorado wine. All you need to know is here, along with the link to buy tickets.

We're excited about this year for a couple of reasons (besides the usual amount of fun we always have). We're going to stage a Colorado Blind Challenge, in which several big-time wine experts taste similar Colorado and California wines and try to tell them apart. In front of a cheering audience, no less. The other reason? The event is being held at St. Cajetan's in Denver, which used to be a church. Which means we can get a member of the clergy to bless the Twitter Taste-off.

By the way, we're giving this away -- $35 a session, and $65 for both, which includes lunch. I got an email the other day for a similar event in Texas, and the prices start at $85. And I know they don't have as much fun as we do.

Winebits 214: YellowTail, winery growth, wine smuggling

• Better living through currency hedging: Or, to put it in English, the Australian company that owns YellowTail made more money betting on the price of the Aussie dollar in fiscal 2011 than it did by selling YellowTail. In fact, reports the Australian Financial Review, the company is so concerned about the strong dollar that it's considering a price increase. The Australian dollar was worth about 50 cents U.S. a couple of years ago, but has been at parity for the last year or so. YellowTail sells about two-thirds of its wine in the U.S.

• Damn the recession, full speed ahead: The number of U.S. wineries grew six percent last year, which is kind of hard to believe given how much whining we heard from the wine business during the recession. Nine states that aren't California, Washington and Oregon had more than 100 wineries, reported Wines & Vines magazine as part of its annual study. These included Ohio and Illinois, hardly considered wine country. But, as the magazine noted, "many states are now making excellent wines and have developed regional, if not national, customer followings." Now, if we can only get the magazine to send someone to the DrinkLocalWine conference.

• A life sentence: That will teach you to cheat the Chinese liquor cops. Reports Decanter magazine: A Chinese man has been given a life sentence for illegally importing more than $7 million of fine wine into China. He altered the name, details and price of high-end wines imported from France, Britain and Hong Kong, stating they were cheap alcohol, the court said. It is not clear which wines were imported, although one report said there were large amounts of Chateau Lafite, Latour and other blue-chip wines.

The Cajun wine scoring system

What wine goes with crawfish? Whatever wine you want.

The Wine Curmudgeon has made a breakthrough in wine scoring systems.
Forget points and stars and thumbs up. Forget controversy. Forget Parker. Never again will we have to argue about whether a 90-point wine is any good.

Welcome to the Cajun wine scoring system, based on years of extensive research eating and drinking in south Louisiana; my tenure
as the sports editor at the Houma, La., Daily Courier; and the wit and wisdom of the inestimable Lynne Kleinpeter, a native of Thiboduax, La., and a descendant of Rousseau's and Boudreaux's.

Why Cajun? Because few cultures understand food and drink as well. It's not about pretension or celebrity chefs, but about the freshest possible ingredients and what tastes good. I've had dinners at someone's home in Acadiana that would put pricey restaurant meals to shame. In addition, it's a culture that has little patience for foolishness, and what's more foolish than the 100-point scoring system? 

Plus, Cajuns understand that you don't put tomatoes in gumbo.

After the jump, the Cajun scoring system:

Mini-reviews 32: Antinori, Marques de Caceres, Souverain, Parlay

Reviews of wines that don’t need their own post, but are worth noting for one reason or another. Look for it on the final Friday of each month:

• Antinori Pèppoli 2008 ($27, sample): Modern style of Chianti, with more red fruit in the middle. But still a fine wine -- balanced and fresh. The price is problematic, though.

• Marqués de Cáceres Rioja Blanco 2009 ($8, purchased): Traditional style, so not much fruit a little more rustic than California. Offers more than than $8 worth of wine, and more than suitable for a weeknight dinner.

• Souverain Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 ($22, sample): Grocery store quality -- thin, flat and uninteresting, with little terroir. Seem to remember this producer being much better than this.

• Parlay The Bookmaker 2005 ($20, sample): Lots of sweet black fruit in the middle of this red blend, but very well made with a long chalky finish and sturdy tannins. Not my style of wine, but well done nonetheless.

Easy ways to learn more about wine

Yes, she's drinking white wine, but why not try a red?

Wine drinkers are creatures of habit. We tend to drink the same wines and shop in the same places for those wines. Which, frankly, doesn't do much to expand our wine horizons.

This is an especial problem for beginning wine drinkers, whose lack of experience is compounded by the intimidation factor -- wine can be a scary place for newcomers, who are overwhelmed with labels, names, terms, and the like.

Hence this post, part of my New Year's resolution to write more items for people just getting started with wine. And a big tip of the Wine Curmudgeon's fedora to Dave McIntyre, who has written about some of this and jarred me into action.

After the jump, four easy things anyone can do to boost their wine savvy:

Wine of the week: Layer Cake Shiraz 2009

The Wine Curmudgeon has always been ambivalent about the Layer Cake wines, which have always seemed to focus more on the chocolate cake label than what was in the bottle. It's not that some of them weren't eminently drinkable, and I have reviewed them favorably (and those that weren't elicited a reply from the producer). Rather, they always made me wonder if they would have been better with a more ordinary label and if had they cost a couple of bucks less.

Not this time, though. This version of the Layer Cake shiraz ($13, sample) is less expensive and isn't as over the top as some of the other vintages. There's less sweet fruit, the tannins are much more integrated, the 14.9 percent alcohol isn't overbearing, and the wine shows some unexpected polish, especially on the finish. Having said that, it's still a very Australian-style wine, with lots of cherry cola-ish fruit that practically explodes on your nose and in your mouth.

It's a big wine that even those of us who aren't all that fond of big wines can enjoy. Drink this with barbecue (beef, pork or chicken) or burgers and enjoy the label. Which is quite clever, especially when it doesn't get in the way of the wine.