The Wine Curmudgeon

Expensive wine 32: William Fèvre Chablis Champs Royaux 2009

The Wine Curmudgeon is not a big vintage guy. The charts and ratings that are supposed to guide us through the maze that is vintage aren't really necessary for $10 wine -- or for most wine, in fact. Remember: 9 out of 10 bottles of wine that are made aren't made to age. They're made to drink.

Having said that, when I find wines that are worthy of age, I pay attention. And it looks like the 2009 vintage from Burgundy is going to be one of those vintages. I reviewed a Macon in August that was amazing (and for only $13), and the Fevre ($22, purchased) is even better. The 2009 vintage in Burgundy should keep those of us who like that style of wine happy for a long time.

Why do I say style of wine? The Fevre is white Burgundy, which means chardonnay (and one from one of the best producers in the region of Chablis). But it's not New World style chardonnay, with oak and butter, and, in some cases, tropical flavors. It's very Old World -- no oak at all, with lots and lots of minerality, a steely character, and very tart green apple fruit. But it's very well put together and not a simple wine by any means. Best yet, look for this to add character over the next couple of years and become even more interesting -- which, for $22, is saying a lot.

Serve this with roast chicken (which I did, with chicken cornbread dressing) or almost any grilled seafood. It's also a handy wine to have around as the holidays approach, whether to pour at dinner for guests or to save for yourself after a long day. Highly recommended.

Expensive wine 31: Clos du Bois Marlstone 2003

Fall means it's inventory time for the Wine Curmudgeon, when I go through the wine closet and try to figure out what I still have, what I need to drink, and why CellarTracker (the blog's unofficial wine inventory software) says I have a bottle of $8 Australian pinot grigio that I haven't seen in years.

That's how I found the Marlstone ($50, sample). The Big Guy was over for his regular Sunday afternoon wine visit, and we were looking for something that needed to be tasted. I rooted around, and there was the Marlstone.

I don't want to say that I was surprised it held up so well, since this kind of wine should age for eight years without too much trouble. But I guess I was surprised; my only complaint was that I didn't really notice any influence from Alexander Valley, where the grapes are grown. Otherwise, it was an excellent example of a Sonoma red Bordeaux blend (mostly cabernet sauvignon). There is lots of ripe red fruit, rich and luscious, and the 14.5 percent alcohol didn't get in the way.

The Big Guy was quite pleased, which is saying something. He isn't much of a fan of New World-style red blends like this, preferring the less fruity French style. Serve this with any fall red meat dinner, especially any kind of beef braised in wine.

Expensive wine 30: Twomey Cellars Merlot 2005

Yes, this seems like an odd choice for the Wine Curmudgeon, even for the expensive wine feature. It's a California merlot made, more or less, by the same people who make Silver Oak, which is a grape and a style of wine I'm not especially fond of. But, as I always insist, one should not judge the wine until after one tastes it.

And the Twomey ($40, sample) is very much worth tasting. I don't know that it's quite the French-style wine that the tasting notes say it is; it tastes very Napa Valley, though without many of the excesses that other wines of this kind have. How else do I know this? Many comments on CellarTracker for the Twomey are particularly vehement (and not fit for a family blog like this), criticizing the wine for not being big and over the top enough. There is even a plea for CellarTracker users to unite and overthrow the tyranny of wine critics, since the latter were so wrong about this wine. And, apparently, many retailers have been heavily discounting this vintage.

Otherwise, the Twomey features beautiful fruit made in the Silver Oak style -- soft, rich and velvety. The longer the wine sits open, the more the parts come out, and the parts are impressive, mostly equal parts oak, chocolate, and red fruit. Let this sit for 20 or 30 minutes before you drink it, and pair with it with beef and anything with red wine sauces.

Wine my brother drinks 4: Peter Michael Les Pavots 1997

My brother Jim is a wine aficionado of some repute, though he hangs out in much more rarefied wine circles than I do. His thoughts on the Peter Michael, a big-name Napa red wine that often shows up at state dinners. It's part of a feature that appears occasionally -- Wine my brother drinks. Jim writes:

The late 90's: I was in my late 30s, starting to make money and beginning to grow up. Nicer restaurants, better cars and the dawning realization that there was more to life than Budweiser and the right field bleachers at Wrigley Field.

One night my business partners and I went out to eat at a hot new restaurant that a client of ours had a small stake in. We let the sommelier choose the wine and the rest is history. His selection was the 1997 Peter Michael Les Pavots. I can still remember the explosion of flavor of the first taste -- arguably the first time that I had really ever noticed the nuance and complexity of wine and the resulting effect on one's palate. It was love, pure and simple and I was hooked.

More, after the jump:

Expensive wine 29: Pol Roger White Foil Brut NV

The Wine Curmudgeon reported a couple of weeks ago that a study found that French wine gets a disproportionate amount of Internet buzz given its declining share of the world market. There are any number of reasons for this, including the Winestream Media's obsession with red Bordeaux and the sense among many consumers that French wine remains La Grande Dame despite its many problems.

This month, I'm going to add to the Internet buzz, but not for either of those two reasons. The White Foil ($47, sample) can stand on its own as an example of what Champagne is and what French wine can be when the French aren't preoccupied with selling wine to the Chinese, rioting vineyard owners, and sneaking one past all those stupid Americans.

Those of us who write about wine use terms like classic a lot (probably too much, in fact), but that's what the White Foil is. If you want to taste real Champagne -- sparkling wine grown in the Champagne region of France -- then try this. As Champagne goes, it's not ridiculously expensive, and has all of the qualities Champagne is supposed to have.

Look for lots of green apple fruit in the front and streams and streams of bubbles in the glass. The wine is crisp and fresh and fine, and has a bit of the toast quality of classic Champagne -- though it's quite subtle and not as overdone as other, more popular wines, who offer that baseball bat up the side of the head effect. And leaving the wine open for a few minutes before you drink it won't hurt.

This is a wine for gifts and special occasions, and to share with someone who appreciates quality and a quiet moment.

Expensive wine 28: Robert Mondavi Reserve Chardonnay 2007

Robert Mondavi sold his self-named company to Constellation Brands in 2004, which means that at least a generation of wine drinkers knows Mondavi only as a name on a bottle of wine they see at the grocery store. Such are the vagaries of family businesses.

If they had known the pre-Constellation Mondavi, or even the pre-publicly traded Mondavi, though, the chardonnay ($40, sample) is the kind of wine they would have associated with the winery. Mondavi made his name not only by marketing Napa Valley (and, by extension, the rest of California), but by making some terrific wine. Talk to the old-timers, and they still wax poetic about the 1979 reserve cabernet, and many remember when Mondavi was about wine and not corporate wheeling and dealing.

Enjoy this wine and imagine what could have been. The chardonnay, frankly, stunned the Wine Curmudgeon with its style and complexity. I was expecting a heavy-handed, post-modern approach -- too rich, too overdone and too much of everything else. Instead, I found -- dare I say -- classicism. This is a wine in balance, with acid to offset the wonderful green apple fruit and enough oak to show it's there but not to overwhelm the wine. Drink this on its own with someone you care about or for a special occasion dinner. Highly recommended.

Wine my brother drinks 3: Quintessa 1997

My brother Jim is a wine aficionado of some repute, though he hangs out in much more rarefied wine circles than I do. His thoughts on Quintessa, a big-deal Napa red wine not usually seen around these parts. It's part of a feature that appears occasionally -- Wine my brother drinks. Jim writes:

In-laws arrived for a four-day visit so, of course, the order of the day was to start drinking.  Not that I don't like seeing them, but sharing your very personal space with anyone takes a bit of numbing.  Dinner was lasagna, so I reached into the back of the Eurocave for a 1997 Quintessa which was given to me by a good friend who I am pretty sure only drinks Quintessa. The old "Stick with what you know and like" theory of wine drinking.

More, after the jump: