The Wine Curmudgeon

Mini-reviews 7: la Freynelle, White Hall, Rex Goliath, Beaujolais

· Chateau la Freynelle 2007 ($15, purchased): This white Bordeaux has a bit more citrus than in the old days, but the minerality is there, and the semillion adds a nice, rich touch.

· White Hall Vineyards Viognier 2008 ($17, sample): Virginia winemakers continue to impress with viognier, and this wine explains why. It's much closer to a French Rhone than California, with a bit of oiliness and not too much oak.

· Rex Goliath Pinot Noir NV ($9, purchased): The Wine Curmudgeon has always been ambivalent about Rex Goliath as a brand, so I was surprised to find this pinot to be as pleasant as it was. It's not red Burgundy, but it's not $60, either. Note: Rex Goliath does two pinots: a California and this, which is from southern France.

· Louis Jadot Beaujolais Villages 2008 ($10, purchased): I have been drinking this wine for about as long as I have been drinking wine, and it remains more or less the same -- cheap, grapey, and dependable.

wine reviews, cheap wine, inexpensive wine, Virginia wine, white Bordeaux, pinot noir, Beaujolais

Amazon.com, Prohibition, and the three-tier system

Prohibition -- the constitutional amendment that made it illegal to manufacture or sell alcohol in the U.S. -- ended 76 years ago. But its legacy is still with us.

That's what I find most intriguing about the news that on-line retailer Amazon.com has killed its plan to sell wine through a business called AmazonWine. It has been running a pilot program for about a year, testing the incredibly complicated logistics involved in selling wine to 50 different states. Last week, though, it said enough was enough. The company didn't give a reason, but most people who are supposed to understand these things say Amazon couldn't solve the distribution problems.

Or, as industry consultant John Fredrikson, who knows as much about this stuff as anyone, put it: "People have no idea how complex this is, dealing with 50 different [state] governments. You wonder if a company like Amazon, which is well organized to sell just about anything, can't pull it off. But wine is different from anything else they are selling."

More about the decision and what it means after the jump:

Wine of the week: Melini Chianti Borghi d'Elsa 2008

Much has changed in the wine world over the last 70 years. This wine is not one of them.

Do you want an old-fashioned, "this is the way Italy used to make cheap wine" wine? Then look for the d'Elsa (about $10, sample). My Italian wine expert tells me that Melini has been exporting this wine to the United States since at least the end of World War II, and probably did it before then as well. So what will you find? A simple, satisfying, well-made wine that is about as Old World as wines get these days. That means tell-tale Italian acid, some red fruit and more tannins than we're used to from this kind of wine. In fact, the d'Elsa is still made with the traditional Chianti grapes -- a mix of sangiovese, canaiolo, and the white grapes malavisia and trebbiano. Drink this with anything remotely resembling Italian food, and especially spaghetti and meatballs or sausages, peppers and onions with tomato sauce. Highly recommended, especially for those of us who are tired of Old World wines that have abandoned their birthright in an attempt to appeal to the so-called American palate.

wine reviews, wine of the week, Melini, Chianti, red wine, $10 wine, cheap wine, inexpensive wine

Wine bits 101: Amazon ends wine plan, soil and wine, top value wines

· Amazon won't sell wine: Amazon.com has ended a trial program to sell wine on-line, the company has confirmed. The Wall Street Journal reported that the online retailer killed its pilot plan, which has been underway for about a year, in the wake of the bankruptcy of the company which was supposed to handle  plan and continuing frustrations with with individual state liquor laws. This is huge news, and I'll probably have more about this later this week. The three-tier system that governs U.S. liquor laws makes it almost impossible for a national retailer to sell wine.

· Soil doesn't flavor wine: If you teach wine, you teach that soil -- the mineral quality, the type of soil -- affects the flavor of wine. But, says a study at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, that probably isn't true. Research has shown that the theory that minerals could influence the flavor of wine is flawed, since the amount of minerals in wine is so small that it can't be detected through human taste and smell. More research is needed to figure out why some wines have a mineral flavor, if it isn't the soil.

· Best cheap wines: The Beverage Testing Institute, which focuses on value wines, has picked its top labels for 2009. Among the winners: Black Box shiraz, Ravenswood's $8 zinfandel, and Hogue riesling.

Amazon wine, soil, terroir, minerals, cheap wines, Beverage Testing Institute

Wine review: Las Rocas Garnacha 2007

The Wine Curmudgeon has always been ambivalent about the Las Rocas, a Spanish red wine that is one of wine guru Robert Parker's favorite wines. It wasn't so much the quality of the wine as the hype and the price. In Dallas, it's almost never less than $12, and, frankly, for $12, I always expected a lot more than the Las Rocas delivered.

The 2007 vintage is mostly more of the same, though I found it for $10 (purchased) as an increasing number of local retailers are trying to clear out inventory. It's fruity and extracted (think very dark berries that coat your mouth), high in alcohol at 14.5 percent, and has lots of oak, especially for a wine at this price. No doubt those qualities are why it appeals to Parker.

I don't think it's a better value than Osborne's Solaz, but if you drink the Las Rocas with grilled beef or something similarly hefty, which will match the fruit, oak and alcohol, you'll understand why so many people enjoy it.

Technorati tags: wine reviews, red wine, Spanish wine, Robert Parker, Las Rocas, garnacha

Even the big shots want us to drink local

A couple of very odd wine articles this week, in which two of the most important wine writers in the United States take restaurants to task for not serving local wine:

· The New York Times' Eric Asimov writes that "Nobody goes out to dinner in the San Francisco Bay Area to eat food flown in from Europe."

· Jon Bonne in the San Francisco Chronicle asks: "Do our wine lists ignore California?"

Why odd? First, because Asimov and Bonne have not always been at the forefront of the Drink Local movement. Second, of course, because drinking local in this case means drinking California, which isn't very local for the rest of us. Obviously, it would be better if Asimov criticized New York City restaurants for not serving New York state wine, and if Bonne criticized Washington state restaurants for serving California wine.

Still, we'll take any help we can get. Because, if Mainstream Media types like Asimov and Bonne are starting to understand Drink Local, it means we've made progress. And, to paraphrase Paul Henreid in Casablanca (shameless plug here), "Welcome back to the fight. This time our side will win." Which also gives me the chance to include this video, courtesy of cyberperson53 at You Tube, that includes Henreid's line.

local wine, regional wine, Eric Asimov, Jon Bonne, Drink Local

Wine review: Chateau Boisson Blanc 2008

Long before New Zealand -- and even most of California -- figured out sauvignon blanc, Bordeaux produced cheap, quality wines. They're not what they were 10 and 20 years ago, unfortunately, but some producers can still do what needs to be done.

Chateau Boisson is one of them. This wine ($10, purchased) is close to what white Bordexaux used to be, though it does have too much New Zealand-style citrus and not enough of what used to be the region's trademark minerality.

Still, it's a professional and competently made wine that is worth trying. Drink it chilled on its own or with the usual sauvignon blanc dishes: grilled seafood, oysters, and anything with garlic and parsley.

white wine, French wine, sauvignon blanc, white Bordeaux, wine reviews, cheap wine, $10 wine, inexpensive wine